Fiji is a plural society with a colonial legal history. The laws presently on our statute books reflect this colonial legacy, just as our norms and institutions reflect the British systems of government.  However, as time has progressed, so have our ability to develop our own legal precedent, shaped by our own experiences.

However society has changed since colonial times and these changes not only affect our values and institutions, but also the very conditions of everyday life. This means that laws from the early 1900s or even the 1950s may not be appropriate for today.

This has resulted in laws which may be inappropriate, unfair, outdated, uncertain and expensive.

The Commission was established to resolve these difficulties with the law by asking the public for their views and then comparing our existing law with developments in other countries before making proposals to the Attorney General for the modernization and simplification of the law.