23 Feb 2018

Wallis and Futuna prosecutor takes up job

5:12 pm on 23 February 2018

The chief prosecutor in Wallis and Futuna has taken up her job again after a five-month hiatus.

Last October, it had been established that Atonia Tamole had held the post for 27 years without having been duly appointed.

A 1983 law change had transferred some judicial powers from Noumea to Paris, but the prosecutor had still been chosen from Noumea according to the system installed in 1928.

Ms Tamole has now gone through retraining and been sworn in again to resume her post.

The flawed appointment process had come to light in a court case when a defence lawyer successfully challenged her right to act as a prosecutor.

To shore up the judiciary, magistrates had to be flown in from New Caledonia to Wallis and Futuna.

  • Wallis judicial system being shored up