Ritika Pratap 
Lawyer - Tevita Vakalalabure
There is no evidence before the court that the people of Fiji accept the 2013 Constitution, says the lawyer representing Iowane Naivalarua’s group in parliament.
Tevita Vakalalabure says the court could take judicial notice of the platforms on which the current government went into elections, beginning in 2014, through 2018, and in the 2022 elections.
Vakalalabure states the current government members were against the 2013 constitution.
However, one of the judges stated that this doesn’t mean that these politicians didn’t accept that the Constitution was valid in the meantime.
“Well, sir, we’ve got evidence of elections, but this, under a de facto doctrine, goes only to compliance. It does not go to a freely informed consent to accept the 2013 constitution. This is our position, sir, according to our understanding of our common law.”
While responding to the five questions in his submission on behalf of the G11 members of parliament, Vakalalabure stated that sections 159 and 160 of the 2013 constitution are entrenched provisions.
He says that the G11Tevita Vakalalabure believes the 1997 Constitution remains the de jure constitution of Fiji. He added that it was never lawfully repealed by the processes outlined in the 1997 constitution.
Vakalalabure stated that the 2013 constitution, however, operates de facto, but not in law.
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