John Sullivan

John specialises in Pacific Islands law, including Solomon Islands and elsewhere.  John has practiced in Solomon Islands for nearly 40 years with a wide ranging constitution and commercial practice, mainly in the Court of Appeal and High Court, and was appointed Queen’s Counsel there in 2003.  He has a particular interest in the interface between the common law and equity with customary law in commercial and constitutional settings.

BA (Cantab NZ)

LLB (Hons) (University of Queensland)

Barrister and Solicitor of High Court of Solomon Islands (1984)

Barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland (previously a solicitor of that Court) (1985)

Barrister of the High Court of Australia (1985)

Barrister of Supreme Court of New South Wales (1992)

Legal Practitioner of Kiribati (1993)

Queens’ (now King’s) Counsel for Solomon Islands (2003)

Life Member, Solomon Islands Bar Association

Member, Bar Association of Queensland

Sunbird Plaza Pty Ltd v Maloney (1989) 166 CLR 245 (Vendor and Purchaser, Rescission, Guarantee)

Beti v Allardyce Lumber Co Ltd [1992] SBCA 2 (Forestry Licensing for Customary Land)

Simbe v East Choiseul Area Couincil [1999] SBCA 9 (Validity of timber rights over customary, interlocutory injunctions in customary law cases)

Slater and Gordon v Ross Mining (Solomon Islands) Ltd [2002] SBCA 2 (Service ex jurisdiction and conditional appearance)

Aerolift International (SI) Ltd v Mahoe Heli-Lift (SI) Ltd [2001] SBHC 139 (Civil Aviation, illegality, foreign investment)

Aerolift International (SI) Ltd v Mahoe Heli-Lift (SI) Ltd [2003] SBCA 16 (Illegality, Quistclose trust)

Great Woods Ltd v Springhill Ltd [2012] SBCA 14 and Austree Enterprises Pty Ltd v Guo [2012] SBCA 19 (Stamp Duty)

SMM Solomon Ltd v Axiom KB Ltd [2016] SBCA 1 (Conversion of customary land to registered land, exception to indefeasibilty, mining law and international tender)

Van Vlymen v Levers Solomon Ltd [2021] 2 (Default judgment, conduct of legal practitioner)

Co-editor (with Dominic Katter and Jason Ward) of Civil Procedure in Solomon Islands (Lexis Nexis 2020)