Commonwealth Secretary-General, Shirley Botchwey on Monday urged authorities to uphold the rule of law, saying people feel the effect when it is undermined.
Botchwey stated that trust erodes when laws are applied unevenly, inequality grows when accountability fades, and democracy weakens when justice is delayed or denied.
“This is what happens when the rule of force begins to edge out the rule of law,” she said in Fiji at the start of the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting (CLMM) 2026.
The convention brings together top law officers from the 56 member countries to discuss responses to emerging legal issues affecting people’s lives and livelihoods.
Botchwey reminded the Justice Ministers and Attorneys-General that the work they do matters profoundly, echoing the grievance about distant or unresponsive institutions.
According to the Secretary-General, the people’s perception of uncertainty in politics, volatility in economies, and threats to the environment that sustains them demands action.
Botchwey advised the CLMM participants to agree on strengthening democratic resilience, ensuring technology serves justice, and protecting maritime rights in the face of climate change.
Urging governments to expand access to justice to accommodate all, the Commonwealth chief said doing so would restore trust between institutions and the people they exist to serve.
“History will remember not the turbulence of our times, but whether we had the courage to rise above the chaos and recreate a better world,” Botchwey added.
Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Feleti Penitala Teo, Tonga’s Deputy Prime Minister Viliami Latu, and over 250 delegates witnessed the opening ceremony in Nadi.
In his remarks, Rabuka observed the rule of law is under growing pressure worldwide, adding that it is not abstract systems that suffer but “ordinary people, real lives.”
He enjoined the law officials that their deliberations and recommendations should reflect people’s expectations of dependable justice and laws that serve those who rely upon them.
The meeting, under the theme “Anchoring Justice in a Changing Tide: Strengthening the Rule of Law for a Resilient Future,” is chaired by Fiji’s Justice Minister and Acting Attorney-General, Siromi Turaga.
