The Nauru government has established the island's own court of appeal after it ended links to Australia's highest court.
New rules governing the conduct of appeals were published last week by the president of the Court of Appeal, Nauru Chief Justice, Filimone Jitoko.
The parliament building in Nauru. Photo: Supplied/ @ChrisTrott
Other members of the court who remain to be sworn into office include the Chief Justice of Solomon Islands, Sir Albert Palmer, the Chief Justice of Kiribati, Sir John Muria, and Vincent Lunabek, the Chief Justice of Vanuatu.
The government said the new court of appeal is expected to be fully functional by October this year.
The new court comes as the government prepares to appeal a court order that it pay the legal fees of the lawyers representing the so called 'Nauru 19'.
This group is seeking to have the court permanently stay their charges, which relate to an anti-government protest three years ago, because of the length of time it is taking to come to trial and the government's failure to make the court-ordered payment.
