Tonga's Justice Minister has welcomed the appointment of Laki Niu as to the Supreme Court bench saying he is the first Tongan to be appointed in over 100 years.
Justice Minister Vuna Fa'otusia, (left), and new Supreme Court Judge, Laki Niu at a South Pacific Lawyers conference in 2013 Photo: IGMEDIA / South Pacific Lawyers
Mr Niu will be sworn in this week and is expected to start his four-year term in July.
Vuna Fa'otusia said Mr Niu was ideal for the job as he is one of the most experienced lawyers in the country a former President of the Tonga Law Society and former MP.
Mr Niu will join two New Zealanders on the bench.
Mr Fa'otusia is hoping to have an all-Tongan Supreme Court bench by 2020 and hopes that court proceedings will one day be conducted in Tongan instead of English.
He said concerns about Tongan judges having too many family links could be alleviated by adding more locals.
"The thing that we have to do is to ensure that we have at least three Supreme Court judges on the bench," Mr Fa'otusia said.
"So that is something that we have to do, most probably after the contracts of our New Zealand Supreme Court judges, which is next year."
In the meantime he said the latest appointment was long overdue.
"I guess in early 1910 we had a Tongan Supreme Court but after that it has such a long time for Tonga to have someone on the bench, especially on the Supreme Court and finally Tonga accepts that there is someone good enough to be in the Supreme Court."