“On 19 and 21 March 2026, Grubsheet Feejee published two articles concerning The Honourable Martin Daubney AM KC. Those articles falsely asserted that Mr Daubney is a Judge of the Fiji Court of Appeal and that, in conflict of his duties as a judicial officer, Mr Daubney was improperly appearing in other courts in Fiji. I unreservedly withdraw that allegation, have amended the relevant articles and I apologise to Mr Daubney for the harm and offence caused by those publications.”
Grubsheet is in all sorts of bother with the distinguished Hon Martin Daubney AM KC for describing him as a visiting judge of the Fiji Court of Appeal because it said so on the Judiciary’s official website.
On the basis of that, we questioned why he was appearing for Manoa Kamikamica and Biman Prasad in the High Court when the Court of Appeal is set to hear an appeal by the Prime Minister against Justice Dane Tuiqereqere‘s ruling that he didn’t have the authority to remove Barbara Malimali as FICAC Commissioner.
During the week, Martin Daubney was arguing that Justice Tuiqereqere’s ruling was correct when it is about to be challenged in the Court of Appeal by two other overseas Kings Counsel, Dr Andrew Butler and Professor Philip Joseph. And on that basis we raised the perfectly legitimate point that if Martin Daubeny was a judge on the Court of Appeal, surely that was a conflict of interest?
Not so – it turns out – in a very testy letter to Grubsheet from lawyers acting for Martin Daubeny. Because according to them, the learned former Queensland Supreme Court judge isn’t a “visiting judge” of the Fiji Court of Appeal and never has been. Which raises the equally legitimate question as to why he was listed as such on the Judiciary of Fiji website.
Here’s their astonishing explanation:
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“Our client was never sworn in as a Judge of Appeal in Fiji. He has never sat on the Court in Fiji. By way of further background, our client was informally approached in 2024 by a senior Fijian judicial officer to enquire as to whether our client would be interested in serving as a visiting judge on the Fiji Court of Appeal. No formal communication followed that informal approach and no offer of appointment was ever made to our client.
Without any further communications about the matter, our client was surprised to receive in April 2024 a communication from the Chief Justice of Fiji advising that our client had been appointed to the Court of Appeal. Within a week of receiving that letter, our client contacted the Chief Justice of Fiji and informed him that he had not been formally asked whether he would accept an appointment to the Court, that by reason of other existing professional commitments he did not wish to be appointed at that point in time, and that the receipt of the letter had placed him in a situation of considerable embarrassment. He was advised that the situation would be resolved. On 10 May 2024 our client received a letter from the President of Fiji confirming that the appointment had been revoked.
Mr Daubney does not know how his name came to be erroneously listed on the Fiji Courts website. He certainly did not consent to his name being on that website. As noted above, the website has now been corrected”.
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Crikey.
How long has Martin Daubney’s name been on the Court of Appeal list of visiting judges? We don’t know. But it has only just been removed and only because he is extremely aggrieved with Grubsheet for suggesting a conflict of interest.
His lawyers are threatening to sue and say it is no excuse for me to have accepted what the website said as fact. I should have checked with him personally before I reported it, just as I presumably should check with every judge on the list. Because do they, in fact, sit on the Court of Appeal or is the Judiciary merely claiming them as judges without their permission?
Must I really contact everyone who appears on any website in any context to check whether, in fact, they hold the position they’ve been identifying as holding? The King of England? The latest Ayatollah still alive in Iran? The President of the Adi Cakobau School Old Girls’s Association?
In any event, I apologise to Martin Daubney for having said things about him on the basis of false information on the Judicial website and I undertake not to do it again.
That said, given the explanation provided by his lawyers, shouldn’t the blowtorch be directed against those in the judiciary who enabled this debacle to occur? Didn’t anyone notice in advance of such a high profile High Court hearing that Martin Daubeny was listed on the judicial website as a visiting judge on the Court of Appeal?
Don’t tell me we’ve got to the point in Fiji when we can’t trust what the judiciary tells us? Surely not.
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The original list of judges of the Fiji Court of Appeal on which Grubsheet relied:
And the revised list after Grubsheet’s articles, with Alfred Martin Daubney’s name excised.
I wonder if the Chief Justice, Salesi Temo, and the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isikeli Mataitoga, also got a rocket from Martin Daubney’s lawyers?
Maybe not, if he is intending to appear before them in any future proceedings.
Only in Fiji, eh?
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POSTSCRIPT:
Grubsheet finds it very odd that we first published the list of Court of Appeal judges mentioning Alfred Martin Daubney 10 days ago on March 12.
Didn’t either of Martin Daubney’s two local chums notice it and brief him about it before all this kerfuffle?
The list could have clearly been altered before the application for a stay of proceedings hearing and it would have avoided a great deal of angst. Alas.
Too much preening and not enough attention to detail?
If one is not to trust an official Government website for accurate information, this is very worrying. Surely one does not have to double check all such information on sanctioned websites. It would be unprecedented and require yet another layer of bureaucracy to be responsible for such clarifications at such short notice. In this modern digital age where information availability and use is paramount, surely it behoves the gatekeepers to ensure its accuracy, relevancy and veracity. Unless there is a caveat on the use of such information. Maybe Government websites should carry a rider “use it at your own peril”.
Just how much trust can we have in the Judiciary apparatus in Fiji?
A well-regarded Australian KC, who is a former judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland is erroneously listed as a visiting Justice of the Court of Appeal when he never agreed to it and had to correct it.
I am sure that GD would have been just as pissed off as Hon Martin Daubney AM KC by this woeful error.
Are there more errors on the website of Fiji Judiciary?
So, the lawyers for the “not visiting judge” wants news media to not to believe the published official information on the Government websites and to check with every one on their appointment status before publishing any article on them???? Absolutely Ridiculous. Who are these lawyers???
The only mysterious one which requires verification is Satanyahu’s AI videos on his official social media account, which purports him to be alive despite no in-person appearance.
Grubsheet, we need to have a commission of inquiry into the judiciary
in Fiji. Only then could the problems be fixed.
The lawyers are thick. Or have made themselves appear intimidating with their sights on the wrong target. No further comment required.
Yes a further comment – stop being so up yourselves and precious.
In this digital age, websites of organizations provide a range of information that we rely on to make decisions.
Too bad if the Judicial website is not up to par. It only goes to show that there are many things which need to be corrected with this government.
Dear Fiji lawyer. My name is not on the official list of last week’s lottery winners. It should be there. Please litigate for me.