Supreme Court dismisses Nomane challenge

The Supreme Court has dismissed an application filed by Opposition Leader, James Nomane, challenging the validity of Constitutional Amendment No 48, which changed the rules for motions of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

The court ruled that Nomane did not have standing to bring the matter under Section 18 (1) of the Constitution.

Nomane went to court in March this year on two main issues: to declare constitutional Amendment No 48 invalid and for the court to rule that the rejection of a notice of motion of no confidence filed in October 2025 was unconstitutional.

In the substantive application he argued that the amendment unreasonably restricted MPs’ rights under Section 50,and thus undermines the principle of collective responsibility in Section 141, and conflicted with Section 145 of the Constitution.

The amendment in challenge was passed on March 12, 2025, and inserted a new subsection that prevented another no-confidence motion for 18 months after an unsuccessful attempt.

The Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney-General joined the proceeding as interveners and filed objections to the competency of the proceedings, along with an application for summary dismissal.

The full bench comprising Justice Cannings, Justice Manuhu, Justice Hartshorn, Justice Yagi and Justice Makail heard the objections and the standing issue in April this year.

It also found that the validity of Amendment No 48 had already been addressed in an earlier Section 18(1) application seeking a similar relief.

The Court unanimously refused Nomane's request for a declaration as to standing and upheld the Attorney General's summary dismissal application and dismissed Nomane's application for being frivolous and abuse of process.

The dismissal of this application now grants a free pass for the government without any further legal challenge until the 2027 national elections.