Kiribati’s attempts to keep stranded Australian judge out of the country ruled unconstitutional

In a landmark ruling, Kiribati's chief justice ordered the government to allow high court judge David Lambourne to return

A landmark judgment in the Pacific country of Kiribati has ruled the government's actions in blocking an Australian, a judge on Kiribati's high court, from returning to the island were unconstitutional.

When David Lambourne left Kiribati in February 2020 to attend a conference in Australia, he thought it would be a brief and uneventful trip. Instead, the Australian judge, who has been resident of the Pacific nation for over two decades, found himself stranded after Covid-19 hit.