Tonga’s Legislative Assembly Passes Three Urgent Government Bills This Week

The Legislative Assembly of Tonga has passed three urgent Government Bills that were introduced on Monday morning. Each Bill completed its first and second readings before being referred to the Committee of the Whole House. The Bills were then returned to the House with amendments and passed after their third readings.

The Bills passed are as follows:

• Constitution of Tonga (Amendment) Bill 2025
• Evidence (Amendment) Bill 2025
• Court of Appeal (Amendment) Bill 2025

The Constitution of Tonga (Amendment) Bill 2025 proposed changes to Clause 50 of the Constitution, which would empower the Privy Council to hear appeals from the Magistrate Court and the Supreme Court on matters related to customs.

The Evidence (Amendment) Bill 2025 seeks to include customs under the exceptions relating to admissibility of oral evidence to vary or contradict written documents, and admissibility of hearsay evidence.

The Court of Appeal (Amendment) Bill 2025 proposes revisions to the Principal Act to align with the Constitution of Tonga (Amendment) Act 2020 and ensure consistency with the current Court of Appeal Act.

Meanwhile, the Civil Registration and Digital Identification Bill 2025 has now been referred to the Law Committee for further consideration and for public consultation and the Committee is due to report back to the House on 4 August 2025.