{"id":"C1971A00137","name":"Judicial Appointment (Fiji) Act 1971","slug":"judicial-appointment-fiji-act-1971","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"137 of 1971","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":2451,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1971A00137-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-29","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Judicial Appointment (Fiji) Act 1971","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nJudicial Appointment (Fiji) Act 1971\n\n \n\nNo. 137 of 1971\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act relating to the Acceptance and Holding of the Office of Chief Justice of Fiji by a Judge of the Commonwealth Industrial Court\n\n \n\n \n\n  \n\nContents\n\n[1 Short title](#_Toc4655997)\n\n[2 Commencement](#_Toc4655998)\n\n[3 Section 103a(2) of Conciliation and Arbitration Act not to apply to a certain appointment](#_Toc4655999)\n\n \n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nJudicial Appointment (Fiji) Act 1971\n\nNo. 137 of 1971\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act relating to the Acceptance and Holding of the Office of Chief Justice of Fiji by a Judge of the Commonwealth Industrial Court\n\n[Assented to 16 December 1971]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Judicial Appointment (Fiji) Act 1971.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.\n\n3  Section 103a(2) of Conciliation and Arbitration Act not to apply to a certain appointment\n\n  If the Honourable John Angus Nimmo, a Judge of the Commonwealth Industrial Court, accepts appointment to the office of Chief Justice of Fiji, subsection (2) of section 103a of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904‑1970 does not apply in relation to his appointment to that office.\n\n \n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-batch","completionTokens":719},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains exactly as narrow as originally intended — a specific nominative statute (personal law) applying only to John Angus Nimmo and his appointment to the Chief Justiceship of Fiji. The scope has not expanded beyond this original purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Only 3 operative sections total","No defined terms section","Single, specific factual scenario (one named individual)","Only one cross-reference (to section 103a(2) of another Act)","No conditional logic, exceptions, or nested provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does**\n\nThis Act creates a one-off legal exemption for a specific Australian judge, **the Honourable John Angus Nimmo**, who was a Judge of the Commonwealth Industrial Court (an Australian federal court that handled industrial relations matters).\n\nNormally, Australian law prevented judges of the Commonwealth Industrial Court from holding other positions or offices at the same time. This law says that rule **does not apply** if John Nimmo accepts the job of **Chief Justice of Fiji**.\n\n**Why it matters**\n\nWithout this law, Nimmo would have had to resign from his Australian judgeship to take up the Fiji appointment. This allowed him to hold both positions simultaneously (or at least removed the barrier that would have prevented him accepting the Fiji role while remaining an Australian judge).\n\nThis is an example of \"personal legislation\" — a law passed to address the specific circumstances of one named individual."},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act has a single, laser-focused purpose and there is no indication its scope ever changed from its original intent. It was designed to do exactly one thing — disapply a specific provision for a specific appointment — and it contains no provisions that could be expanded or reinterpreted over time. Its scope is essentially coterminous with a single historical event."},"complexity_factors":["Only 3 sections in total — short title, commencement, and one operative provision","Single operative clause with no conditional logic, no defined terms, and no schedules","No cross-referencing beyond a single reference to section 103A(2) of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act","No exceptions, delegations, regulations-making powers, or administrative machinery","Plain, direct drafting with effectively one sentence of legal effect"],"plain_english_summary":"This short Act creates a single exception to a restriction in the Conciliation and Arbitration Act so a specific judicial/arbitral appointment connected with Fiji could proceed despite the statutory bar. It affected essentially one appointment and shows Parliament’s pragmatic, one‑off fix to enable Australian support for Fiji’s post‑independence legal institution‑building."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/judicial-appointment-fiji-act-1971","history":"/api/acts/judicial-appointment-fiji-act-1971/history","analysis":"/api/acts/judicial-appointment-fiji-act-1971/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/judicial-appointment-fiji-act-1971/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/judicial-appointment-fiji-act-1971/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/judicial-appointment-fiji-act-1971/documents"}}