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The Fiji Law Society (FLS) has lost its powers to nominate commissioners to the Legal Aid Commission.
This is under amendments to the Legal Aid Act Decree 2009, approved by Cabinet.
The decision was based on a submission by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
Section 5 of the Legal Aid Act 1996, gave the Society the power to nominate three members to the Legal Aid Commission.
“The recent Legal Practitioners Decree 2009, which came into force on 22nd May 2009, makes the Fiji Law Society a voluntary entity and all annual practising certificates of legal practitioners will now be issued by the Chief Registrar and not the Fiji Law Society,” Sayed-Khaiyum said.
He said the voluntary status of the FLS had resulted in the need to amend the Legal Aid Act 1996 to ensure that the appointment of commissioners to the Legal Aid Commission appropriately reflects the seniority and expertise of the members of the legal profession.
The commission will now be have the Solicitor-General as chair, the Chief Registrar, three legal practitioners with no less than 10 years post-admission practice and two people who should not be legal practitioners or public servants.
