The country's President, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, has sworn in Wannakuwattewaduge Jude Shavindra Fernando, who was admitted to the Sri Lankan Bar in 1987 and then represented the Sri Lankan Navy from 1998, Radio New Zealand International reported.

Judge Fernando joins nine other Sri Lankans on the Court of Appeal, the only non Sri Lankan being the Court's President, the Australian, William Calanchini who was appointed in 2009.

Fiji's Supreme Court is also heavily weighted with Sri Lankan judges, with five sitting on the list under the Chief Justice Anthony Gates.

The former regime, led by Frank Bainimarama, began appointing judges from Sri Lanka following the constitutional coup in 2009 when the all-Australian bench of the Court of Appeal ruled the 2006 coup was unlawful.