Suspended Australian-born judge challenges deportation in Kiribati

David Lambourne, an Australian-born High Court judge whose aborted deportation two years ago from Kiribati sparked a judicial crisis in the Pacific Islands nation, appeared in court on Tuesday, in a case closely watched by the United Nations and international legal groups.
Lambourne, who has lived in Kiribati for 30 years and is married to Opposition leader Tessie Lambourne, faces deportation if he loses a High Court challenge to Kiribati president Taneti Maamau’s attempt to sack him. Kiribati will hold national elections later this year.
Lambourne has been living in Kiribati without a visa or salary since 2022 when Maamau suspended him, and then suspended all three Court of Appeal judges and the chief justice after they ruled Lambourne should not be deported.
One attempt at forced deportation amid legal proceedings in August 2022 failed when a Fiji Airlines pilot refused to accept Lambourne on the plane against his will.