Tetiro Semilota

Tetiro Semilota Maate Moaniba is an I-Kiribati jurist who has been serving as acting Chief Justice of Kiribati since 2022 and was involved in the 2022 constitutional crisis.

Semilota was appointed by president Taneti Maamau as the first woman to serve as Attorney General of Kiribati on 30 September 2016. In this role, she became the government’s chief legal officer. In December 2021, Semilota was found guilty by a court after ordering a government official to disregard a High Court order. She was sworn in front of Maamu in a private ceremony. Her appointment was viewed by legal experts as an erosion of judicial independence and a cause for concern regarding the decline of democracy, given that she played a role in the wave of suspensions of high-ranking judges that led to the constitutional crisis in summer 2022.