The New Zealand Centre for Public Law at Victoria University of Wellington School of Law
and The New Zealand Association for Comparative Law
invite you to a public lecture

In Dire States? Democracy and the Rule of Law in Nauru

Presented by
Hon Roland Kun and Dr Katy Le Roy

Nauru’s independence Constitution (1968) establishes the institutions of a constitutional democracy with parliamentary responsible government and an entrenched bill of rights. The way these institutions and rights operate in practice depends on a range of factors outside the text: the history and norms of the Nauruan community, the individuals that populate these institutions, and outside forces to name only a few. While bending the constitutional rules has been a national sport in Nauru since independence, challenges to the rule of law in Nauru have in the past 18 months reached new extremes – including a six month period in 2014 in which Nauru had no Supreme Court. In this lecture we will discuss some of the dramatic legal and political events of the past 18 months and the challenges these events pose to democracy and the rule of law in Nauru. We will also consider how these challenges can be met.
Hon Roland Kun has been a member of the Parliament of Nauru since 2004. He was a Cabinet Minister from 2006 to 2013, holding various portfolios including Education, Fisheries, Justice and Finance. He is currently in opposition.
Dr Katy Le Roy is a public lawyer and a former Research Fellow at the Melbourne Law School. From 2008 to 2013 she was the Parliamentary Counsel of Nauru, and from 2006 to 2008 she was legal counsel to Nauru’s Constitutional Review Committee.

RSVPs not required