THE military has sent Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki on leave to allow investigations into the judiciary to proceed.
Military commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama also announced that Chief Magistrate Naomi Lomaiviti had been sent on leave for the same reason.
He told reporters that this followed the involvement of certain members of the judiciary in questionable activities since the events of 2000, the subsequent politicising of the judiciary, questionable appointments to the bench, in particular the magistracy, and numerous complaints received of corruption, irregularities and gross inefficiency in the judicial system.
"The Chief Justice has been sent on leave on full pay until further notice,"he said.
"We recognise his wisdom in this respect and the Chief Magistrate has been sent on leave on full pay until further notice.
"Their absence from office is necessary to facilitate a full, proper and unrestricted inquiry into the judiciary and the judicial system as a whole."
He said the military had always maintained that a truly independent, clean, non-corrupt and efficient judicial system was essential and integral to the maintenance of the rule of law.
He said the military had asked Justice John Connors and Tony Gates to handle the file management.
"In the Chief Magistrate's absence, we will be asking Magistrate Ajmal Khan to handle file management,"he said.
"This will ensure that none of the services provided by the judiciary to the public will be affected. We have also asked the various registries to co-operate in this respect."
"We note that the legal vacation ends on 15 January 2007,"he said.
He said that in the absence of Ms Lomaiviti and Mr Fatiaki and depending on the time taken to carry out the inquiry and the practicalities of running the judiciary, the appointment of an acting Chief Justice and acting Chief Magistrate may be necessary.
Commodore Bainimarama said these appointments would be made in accordance with the Constitution.
"As stated, the leave of absence of the Chief Justice and Chief Magistrate will not disrupt any of the day to day functioning of the judiciary and the judiciary will continue to function as an independent institution,"he said.
Ms Lomaiviti preferred not to make any comments on the statement made by Commodore Bainimarama yesterday.
Attempts to get comments from Justice Fatiaki last night were unsuccessful.
Ousted Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase last night condemned the military's decision.
He said whether there was corruption in the judiciary could only be determined fairly by an independent commission of inquiry.
Speaking from his village in Mavana, he said that the inquiry should not be initiated by the military.
"This move by Commodore Bainimarama is totally unacceptable in the judiciary,"he said.
"The commander has effectively dismissed the chief justice and chief magistrate.
"The rules and procedures for appointments to the judiciary are set out clearly in our Constitution. There is no place for the military commander in this process."