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David Lambourne, the former judge, said on Saturday he was
served with a deportation liability notice at his home on Friday
evening by Kiribati's director of immigration, after President
Taneti Maamau had approved his removal.
Lambourne, who has lived in Kiribati for 30 years and is married
to the opposition party leader, said the decision was
politically motivated.
The U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and
Lawyers Margaret Satterthwaite said the process by which
Lambourne was removed violated international standards, and a
special tribunal convened by the president was "marred by
procedural irregularities".
"I am appalled at the impact that this case has had on the
independence of the judiciary in Kiribati," Satterthwaite said
in a statement late on Friday.
"The removal of judges without due process is a huge blow to
judicial independence," she said.
Lambourne has been living in Kiribati without a visa or salary
since 2022 when President Maamau suspended him from the High
Court. Maamau then suspended all three Court of Appeal judges
and the chief justice, after they ruled Lambourne should not be
deported.
Kiribati will hold national elections this year, and Lambourne
appeared in court last month in a failed bid to have his
suspension overturned.
A special tribunal recommended Lambourne be removed for
misbehavior because it said he delayed delivery of written
reasons in a judgment in a case during an election period.
Lambourne has said the delay was because he was stranded outside
Kiribati due to COVID-19 border closures. Parliament voted on
Friday to accept the recommendation.
Lambourne said he has been given 21 days before he can be
immediately deported, and intends to leave before the deadline
to avoid being "whisked to the airport without notice".
An attempt to forcibly deport Lambourne in August 2022 failed
when a Fiji Airlines pilot refused to accept him on the plane
against his will.
His wife, opposition leader Tessie Lambourne, will stay in
Kiribati to contest the national election.
The Kiribati president's office said in a statement it had
complied with the constitution to remove Lambourne from office.
"The serious misbehaviors of the judge include his persistent
disregard of the importance of promptly delivering written
judgments in cases affecting public confidence," it said.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Tom Hogue)
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