Anthony Gates
| Anthony Gates | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Chief Justice of Fiji | |
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Assumed office 18 December 2008 Acting: 3 January 2007 – 18 December 2008 |
|
| President |
Josefa Iloilo Epeli Nailatikau George Konrote (Elect) |
| Preceded by | Daniel Fatiaki |
| Personal details | |
| Born | United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University |
Anthony Harold Cumberland Thomas Gates is Chief Justice of Fiji. Justice Gates is best known for his decision in Chandrika Prasad v. Att-Gen of Fiji [2000] 2 FLR 89; Prasad v. Republic of Fiji & Another [2001] 1 LRC 665; [2001] NZAR 21 in which he held that the Constitution of Fiji had not been abrogated by the military intervention in 2000, and that the Constitution continued to be the law of the land. His decision was upheld by Fiji’s Court of Appeal, in February 2001. However, the decision which should have led to the restoration of the Parliament suspended by the coup of 2000 was not obeyed by the government at that time, the Government instead choosing to call for a vote in 2001.
Justice Gates is also well known for his decisions that enforced civil rights for prison inmates (Noa Yasa & Anor v State HAM063A.05S [2005] paclii) and for the treason-related hearings of people alleged to have been involved in the political events in Fiji of 2000.
Justice Gates was born in the United Kingdom and is a graduate of Cambridge University. He went to Sierra Leone as a volunteer teacher with VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) as well as Sri Lanka where he taught English at Royal College Colombo, and to this day he retains a house in Sri Lanka. After qualifying as a Barrister at Inner Temple London he practiced law in London. He took an appointment at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Fiji in 1977. He became the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in 1981 and a Magistrate in 1985. He was dismissed as a Magistrate in 1985 when he refused to renew his oath of allegiance to coup leader Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka, the new self-appointed Head of State. He left Fiji to work for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in Brisbane, and returned to Fiji in November 1993 to work for Sidiq Koya. He was appointed to the High Court of Fiji in 1999.
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