ABSTRACT

Gates J in Chandrika Persaud v Republic of Fiji noted that, inevitably, the affidavits submitted would not present all of the facts before the court. The wide-ranging history of the matter and of its numerous events and the logistical difficulty in presenting opinions and views representative of the people of Fiji and of its various groups, religious and ethnic, meant that he had to take a more generous approach as to what were notorious facts than might be appropriate in an ordinary case. To do so would be in accord with the approach taken above-constitutional cases where events were numerous, fast flowing and fluid. It was an approach that was necessary in such cases in order to see justice done both to the litigants and also to the wider public, which had a proper interest in their outcome.