Defining Group Rights and Delineating Sovereignty: A Case from the Republic of Fiji

Type Journal Article - American University International Law Review
Title Defining Group Rights and Delineating Sovereignty: A Case from the Republic of Fiji
Author(s)
Volume 14
Issue 3
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 1999
Page numbers 735-759
URL https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1323&context=auilr
Abstract
Tensions among Fiji's distinct ethnic communities' have shaped political dynamics in Fiji since colonial times. In recent years, however, conflicting currents in Fiji's bicultural and biracial society2 have presented particular problems for the nation's constitutional governance, and have prompted a formal review of Fiji's Constitution over the last three years. Of fundamental importance in the recent review of Fiji's Constitution are: (1) the recognized rights of the indigenous people to their traditional lands; (2) the right of the indigenous people to selfdetermination within this bicultural society; and (3) the resulting implications for national sovereignty. In particular, this essay explains the strong popular tendency to interpret the right to selfdetermination in terms of the paramountcy of indigenous Fijians over other ethnic groups in political life3 and how this link is partially justified by appeal to the collective right of indigenous Fijians to ownership of eighty-three percent of Fiji's land.4

The popular debate about indigenous Fijian self-determination presents the problem as a competition among different ethnic groups for sovereign rights in Fiji. A constitutional review, however, reveals a more fundamental tension between the individual and collective rights of indigenous Fijians themselves, with regard to both self determination and land ownership. As these rights are more clearly defined through the constitutional review process, tensions become salient, rights become more limited in scope, and the need for compromise becomes apparent. Nevertheless, these apparent limitations and compromises are perhaps necessary if the concept of group fights is to be effective in shaping the governing structures of Fijia society and if these same governing structures are to protect and enforce such rights.

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