The Republic of the Fiji Islands is under military control following a coup that deposed the elected government in 2006. Until the coup, Fiji was a constitutional republic with a bicameral legislature.

In 2009 the Fijian Appeals Court ruled that the coup had been unlawful. This caused a constitutional crisis. President Iloilo abrogated the Constitution and removed all holders of their constitutional positions from their positions, including all judges and the governor of the Central Bank. He again appointed Comodoro Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimaramam, the key player of the coup, as Prime Minister under the "New Order", and imposed "public emergency regulation" restricting domestic travel and allowing press censorship. This ruling, which is extended every 30 days, allows security forces to ban demonstrations and meetings, to use whatever force they think necessary, to enter and remain inside any building where there is reason to believe three or more persons are meeting, and to regulate the use of any public place. Government officials took over newsrooms in April 2009 and held control over the media by censoring broadcasts and publications. Access to blogs critical of the military government has been blocked in recent months.

For a country of its size, Fiji has considerable armed forces and has played an important part in contributing to United Nations peace missions in different parts of the world. Furthermore, a significant number of the country's former soldiers have worked in private security in Iraq since 2003.

On 13 July 2009 Fiji became the first nation to be expelled from the Pacific Islands Forum for not holding democratic elections by that date. On 1 September 2009, Fiji became only the second country to be suspended from the Commonwealth. The step was taken because Frank Bainimarama refused to call elections by 2010 as the Commonwealth had demanded after the coup. The de facto Prime Minister claimed that he needed more time to put an end to a voting system which strongly favoured Fijiains to the detriment of ethnic minorities. Critics of his regime claim it has been responsible for human rights violations against opponents. Amnesty International recently reported that the human rights situation has not improved. In April 2010 the Government announced its intention to pass a decree to control the media. The draft proposes a media tribunal with powers to imprison journalists and publishers for up to 5 years and to impose heavy fines for publishing or broadcasting anything considered harmful to "national interest".

Reports describe corruption in government and administration as problematic. Human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch accuse the Government of bribery, fraud, improper use of public funds and improper financial management. Legislation does not provide for access to government information. Expressing a political opinion in public constitutes a breach of work permit regulations for foreigners. Government representatives claim that making political comments may cause work permits to be revoked. No laws specifically address human trafficking, and trafficking in boys and girls goes on. Migration to the cities, resulting from the breakdown of community structures, has left children from outer islands living separated from their families while attending school, increasing their chances of being exploited.

Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is illegal. In 2010 the Government took the decision to decriminalise sexual acts between persons of the same sex and to revoke the Criminal Code, which was replaced by a law on criminal acts which came into force on February 1, 2010. But Fiji does not recognise relationships between persons of the same sex. In 2002, the law on marriage was amended to state that marriage is the "union of a woman and a man to the exclusion of all other types of union". Homosexuality is generally subject to disapproval in Fiji.

In 2009, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) stated that the Convention on the Rights of the Child had still not been incorporated into domestic legislation and highlighted recommendations included in a report on the child protection relative to amending the laws on juveniles, adoptions, education, and drafting a new crimes act and criminal procedure code. UNICEF added that delays in developing the legislation are considerable and has recommended the introduction of a complaints procedure for cases of child rights violations.

Education is compulsory up to age 15. Enrolment costs, school transport and material restrict attendance for children whose families cannot afford the expenses. Teachers are paid incentive allowances for working in remote parts of the country. Increasing urbanisation has led to more and more children dropping out of school to work. The education system is, in practice, under the administration of various religious communities. Despite the Government partially or totally financing schools, the latter are considered private for statistic purposes, as they function under religious, non-public control.

A 3-year programme begins at age 3. All education is private at this level. The Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) is 15%. There are 414 ECE teachers (99% women). The number of pupils per teacher (PTR) is 21: 1.

Education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15. Primary education begins at age 6 and lasts for 6 years. The NER is 89% (48% girls). All primary schools are understood as being private as they are church-run, though they receive public funding. 96% of pupils enrolled in the first-year course stay on to the last year of Primary Education. 2% of pupils have to repeat a course year. There are 4,029 primary teachers (57% women). The PTR is 26: 1.

Secondary education begins at age 12 and lasts for 7 years. 3% of pupils at lower secondary level and 8% at upper secondary level study technical training programmes. The NER is 79%. 2% of pupils have to repeat a course year. There are 4,558 secondary teachers (50% women), 3,022 at lower secondary and 1,536 at upper secondary. The PTR is 19: 1.

12,717 students (53% female) are studying at tertiary institutions, giving a Gross Enrolment Ratio of 15%. There are 4,211 foreign students studying in Fiji, but no details have been issued on their countries of origin. Meanwhile, a number of Fijian students are studying overseas, mostly in Australia (758), New Zealand (386), the USA (177), the UK (29) and Japan (27).

Discrimination in education and other public services is illegal. However, persons with mental disabilities tend to be separated from society and kept at home with their families. Persons with severe mental disabilities are kept in a single, overcrowded institution. There are a number of special education centres, but their high costs limit access.

The law provides for asylum or the status of refugee to be granted in accordance with the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.

Schools are operated by religious communities in a complex system of education. Children belonging to minority groups are largely educated among their own ethnic groups. There is long-standing tension between ethnic Fijians and Indo- Fijians. The composition of public services at all levels reflects the ethnic composition of the population, but the "paramountcy of Fijian interests" is the norm. Ethnic Fijians hold more than 80% of the land, while the Government holds 8%. This means that Indo-Fijian farmers have to rent land to work, a system they see as discriminatory. Evictions of Indo-Fijians and their displacement to illegal settlements contribute to the tensions.

Government regulations on work permits and the South Pacific University rules on contracts prevent most university staff from taking part in national politics.

Women have property and inheritance rights but tend to be excluded from decision-making on the disposition of communal land. Women are paid less than men for the same work or work of equivalent value. The law does not specifically prohibit sexual harassment. Violence against women is a problem. Traditional reconciliation practices reduce sentences in cases of domestic violence, and particularly in the case of incest. Sex tourism is prohibited by law, but continues to be a problem.

Although in 2010, the United Nations Committee for the elimination of discrimination against women expressed satisfaction over the creation of a number of institutional measures for promoting sex equality and the implementation of an Action Plan for women, it noted the absence of efficient mechanisms for fighting discriminatory practices, and urged the Government to implement a specific procedure for enforcing women's fundamental rights, and to introduce an equal opportunities law covering women not working in the public sector.

The Committee also recommended the early implementation of a wide programme of education on human rights and awareness on sex equality, and to make amendments to laws and statutes so that they recognise women as the heads of households.

Youth under 12 are only allowed to work in family businesses or agricultural companies; from 12 to 14 years old they can be employed in non-industrial work but must return to their parents or guardians every night. Teenagers from 15 to 17 years old are not allowed to work with heavy machinery. However, in practice these regulations are not strictly enforced, and there is no comprehensive policy for eradicating child labour. Both young males and females continue to migrate to the cities, where they work in the informal economy. The December 2010 ILO report on child labour in Fiji notes that the majority of girls and boys work in hazardous jobs, including children under 15. They also discovered boys and girls forced into prostitution.

Private contracts are discouraged in legislation but are common in practice. Employers tend to offer new employees a package of terms and conditions, particularly to qualified workers and those with skills in essential trades, so as to encourage individual contracting. This practice considerably reduces the chances of collective bargaining and weakens unions.

Around 36% of the active population is unionised, which includes the main sectors of the economy. While some unions are ethnically based, both Indo-Fijians and ethnic Fijians hold leadership roles in the union movement.

Workers are entitled to bargain collectively and to strike. Intimidation is reported as a problem in export processing zones, where collective bargaining agreements are not applied. The Ministry of Labour sets the minimum wage for each sector. Entry-level wages fail to provide a decent standard for most workers and their families. There are no laws on maximum working hours.

Dismissal of the President of the Fijian Teachers Association: 30 April 2010, the President of the Fijian Teachers Association (FTA), Tevita Koroi, lost his job as head teacher of Nasinu secondary school after a decision by the Public Services Commission of Fiji, which accused Mr Koroi of allegedly breaching the Fijian public services code of conduct by launching - in his position as union leader - a coordinated campaign for the return of parliamentary democracy to Fiji in December 2008. Following the abrogation of the constitution, the judicial system provides practically no channels of appeal against the dismissal. La FTA and Education International (IE) decided to file a complaint at the ILO Committee for Trade Union Freedom for breach of ILO Conventions 87 and 98.