Procedures
High Court Rules 1988 with the Supreme Court of Fiji as final
A three-tier hierarchy — Magistrates Court, High Court, Court of Appeal — capped by the Supreme Court of Fiji, which replaced the Privy Council. Costs generally follow the event.
Key rules
- Deadline — Contract and tort claims are generally barred after six years
- Deadline — Appeals to the Court of Appeal are normally filed within 42 days in civil matters
Governing law
- High Court Rules 1988, Or. 18
- Magistrates Court Act 1944
- Court of Appeal Act 1949
- Limitation Act 1971
In practice
The High Court Rules 1988 follow the older English Rules of the Supreme Court, so pleadings, discovery and interlocutory practice will look familiar to anyone trained in pre-CPR English procedure — but not to someone expecting the modern English Civil Procedure Rules. Magistrates Courts handle claims up to a monetary ceiling; the High Court has unlimited original jurisdiction plus specialist divisions. Small claims go to a separate Small Claims Tribunal where lawyers are generally excluded and the process is designed to be quick and cheap. Customary land disputes are dealt with outside this hierarchy.