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A fact-based comparison of how Fiji’s 1997 Constitution, the 2013 Constitution and the proposed 2026 Constitution were developed, consulted on and moved from review to constitutional text.
The comparison focuses on process rather than the merits of individual constitutional provisions: who led each review, how long it took, how the public participated, what the commissions produced, what happened to those outputs, and the route taken from commission work to the final or proposed constitutional text.
The process combined an independent review commission with a bipartisan parliamentary negotiation stage.
The Reeves Commission’s recommendations were taken into a bipartisan parliamentary process. The JPSC negotiated, accepted, modified or rejected recommendations before legislation was finalised.
The independent Ghai Commission undertook extensive public consultation and produced a draft, after which Government moved to a separate replacement text.
The Ghai Commission draft was rejected by Government. A Government legal team prepared a replacement draft, which then went through a separate public consultation process before the final Constitution was promulgated.
The Constitution Review Commission conducted consultations and produced a report and draft Constitution. Government then did its own draft and introduced a separate Bill.
Government did not adopt the CRC draft as its Bill. It adopted its own positions and introduced a separate Government text. A number of CRC proposals were omitted or materially changed, including the proposed two-term limit for the Prime Minister and the proposed cap on Cabinet size, alongside changes to appointment and accountability arrangements.
| Feature | 1997 Constitution | 2013 Constitution | Proposed 2026 Constitution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary review body | Fiji Constitution Review Commission | Constitution Commission of Fiji | Constitution Review Commission 2026 |
| Commission submissions | 852 | 7,170 | 1,220 |
| Separate consultation on Government draft | No separate Government replacement draft stage of the 2013/2026 type | Yes. 19 consultations; 1,093 Government-reported submissions | Yes. Public consultations on Bill No. 32 began 15 Oct 2026; submissions ongoing |
| Treatment of commission output | Commission recommendations taken into a bipartisan JPSC process and negotiated before legislation | Commission draft rejected; Government replacement text prepared | CRC draft not adopted as Government Bill; key proposals omitted or materially altered in Bill No. 32 |
| Parliamentary / deliberative stage | JPSC deliberated for about seven months before its report was presented | Planned Constituent Assembly abandoned; final Constitution promulgated by decree | Bill introduced 30 Sep; second reading 2 Oct; committee consultation in Oct; planned third reading 2 Nov |
| Overall period shown here | Jul 1994 – Jul 1997 · about 3 years | Jul 2012 – Sep 2013 · about 14 months | Mar – Dec 2026 proposed · about 9 months to referendum |
The page uses official constitutional texts, Commission material, Fiji Government and Parliament records, and established academic or institutional accounts. Submission totals are shown as reported by the relevant body. Because different processes used different methods for receiving and counting submissions, the figures should be read as indicators of recorded participation rather than identical measures.
Important note on 2013: strong contemporaneous sources support a Government redrafting period from January to March 2013. Public comment on the published Government draft began after its release on 21 March 2013. The timeline therefore distinguishes the Jan–Mar Government redrafting phase from the Mar–Apr public consultation phase.
