Kiribati judicial crisis: The President vs the High Court Judge

Kiribati High Court Judge David Lambourne has faced significant challenges from a government determined to keep him out of the country.

The 57-year-old Australian-born judge was forced to leave Kiribati in May after losing a legal battle against President Taneti Maamau's efforts to remove him from his position.

Lambourne's appeal against his deportation has been heard amid the ongoing dispute with the government.

The government had been pushing to strip him of his judicial role for nearly four years.

After Maamau was re-elected following the general elections in August, the government's attempts to keep Lambourne out intensified, igniting a judicial crisis in the Pacific island nation.

The Kiribati Court of Appeal heard Lambourne's appeal regarding his treatment by the government on Friday.

David Lambourne, right, with Solomon Islands' Sir John Baptist Muri, a former chief justice of the High Court of Kiribati. Photo/Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute

This appeal arises from a High Court decision supporting Maamau's establishing a tribunal to investigate the expatriate judge.

Lambourne's appeal also centred on his suspension from the court.

Due to circumstances, Lambourne's lawyers presented their case via video link.

The panel of judges, which includes Papua New Guinea's Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika, Vui Clarence Nelson of Sāmoa's Supreme Court, and Mohammed Khan from Fiji, has reserved its decision.

Located some 4700 kilometres north of New Zealand, Kiribati has a population of about 134,000 (World Bank 2023).

Lambourne has lived in Kiribati for three decades, and his wife is opposition leader Tessie Lambourne.

Power couple: David Lambourne and wife Tessie. Photo/Tessie Lambourne - Facebook

Between 2022 and his departure, Lambourne lived in Kiribati without a visa or salary.

Maamau also suspended three Court of Appeal judges and the Chief Justice after they ruled against Lambourne's deportation. He appointed his attorney-general to act as the chief justice.

In August 2022, amid attempts at forced deportation, a Fiji Airways pilot refused to let Lambourne board the plane against his will.

Following Lambourne's eventual deportation, Margaret Satterthwaite, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, said his removal violated international standards.

“He was not allowed to have a fair hearing after almost four years of proceedings that have undermined the independence of the judiciary in Kiribati,” she said.

Former Kiribati president Sir Ieremia Tabai criticised Lambourne's removal, calling it "a farce" and suggesting it targets the opposition leader's family.