On the advice of then-Chief Justice Sir Timoci Tuivaga, the Interim Military Government of Commodore Frank Bainimarama promulgated three decrees suspending the Constitution and reforming the judiciary.
Gordon Ward was appointed as the President of the Appeal Court, which position he held until 2007.
[1] In 2007, following the military coup of 5 December 2006, six Australian and New Zealand judges resigned from the court.
[2] A Court of Appeals ruling in April 2009, which found that the 2006 coup had been illegal, triggered the 2009 Fijian constitutional crisis.
Two of the three judges were on a plane bound for Australia at the time of the President's actions.