A New Zealand lawyer involved in a Samoa court case that waited 22 years for a ruling, says he believes the failure of the judge involved, the former Chief Justice, was disgraceful.
Last week the Court of Appeal in Samoa declared a decision made last August by the former Chief Justice could not stand, that it was unsafe.
Patu Tiava'asu'e Falefatu Sapolu had reserved his decision in 1997 and after retiring last year was given additional time to clear a backlog of unresolved cases.
John Upton said he believed Patu's actions were disgraceful.
"The reason why I say that is that it continued over a period of many many years and it involved many, many cases.
Source:
RNZ Pacific