Christopher Pryde has been kept waiting for justice to be dispensed for 15 months in violation of the Constitution since he was suspended as DPP. Sharvada Sharma – the former solicitor general – has been kept waiting six months as the Coalition government refuses to comply with a High Court order that he receive $3-million in compensation for his unlawful dismissal by the FijiFirst Government.
Mohammed Janif of Lautoka asks a very important question in today’s Fiji Times.
We know part of the answer to that question. The new Attorney General, Graham Leung, recently outlined the shocking dysfunction in the criminal justice system to the parliament.
None of it is good enough. And some of the buck, at least, stops with the Chair of the Judicial Services Commission and Acting Chief Justice, Salesi Temo, whose chronic indifference to the rule of law through his multiple violations of the Constitution is a national scandal.
It is now four days since the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, said Justice Temo was wrong to advise the President to cut off Christopher Pryde’s salary as his lawyers try to obtain a date for the tribunal hearing into the allegations against him of misbehaviour, which he strenuously denies. Has it been done? Of course not. Because Justice Temo is a law unto himself.
Christopher Pryde can’t get another job because he is still the substantive DPP. Sharvada Sharma – the sacked SG – is now Director of Professional Legal Training at USP. But it took him 28 months (from Sept 2021 to Jan 2024) to obtain justice from the High Court for his unlawful dismissal and still the government refuses to pay the $3-million he was awarded in compensation.
If these individuals as senior officers of state and with substantial media coverage behind them can’t get justice, what are your chances of getting justice, Fiji? Qori. Unfortunately, it seems, there is a great deal of truth to that old saying. The law is an ass.
The clock is ticking on whether Christopher Pryde’s salary will be restored and whether Sharvada Sharma will get the compensation the High Court awarded him. But the clock is also ticking on public confidence in the criminal justice system in Fiji. And when that goes, we are in all sorts of bother.
POSTSCRIPT: Regrettably, the attitude at the top of government is that compliance with the law is optional.
This is what the Prime Minister said about hoping to use the defectors from FijiFirst to try to change those sections of the Constitution he doesn’t like:
Subtext: We are trying to follow the rule of law as best we can but when we can’t, we don’t.
Imagine if we all took the same attitude, Fiji?
1/ It is against the law for me to steal by neighbour’s big TV and I am trying not to but the rugby is on and the temptation is too great.
2/ It is against the law for me to shoplift from MHCC and I am trying not to but I can’t resist when the temptation is so great.
3/ It is against the law to molest my neighbour’s teenage daughter and I am trying not to but, man, she is so hot and the temptation is too great.
4/ It is against the law to smoke weed but hey, a certain cabinet minister does it and the temptation is too great.
And so on.
It is no way to run any society but welcome to the new Fiji, where the Coalition government “follows the law as best it can” and so does everyone else. In other words, not very well at all.
What are the Opposition dysfunctional Members (MP’s) in parliament doing? They have a DUTY to raise the issues Graham D has been raising and highlighting in the Grubsheet recently. These are important issues that underpin the rule of law everywhere including Fiji. Meanwhile, it seems OK for the MP’s to get away with large salary increases to the detriment of others like the two named individuals. Some kind of external pressures or intervention by donor agencies or the overseas governments are needed to bring Fiji into line before the law of the jungle takes over!
Pryde can get another job. He just has to resign and know that he is not wanted here anymore.
Sharma’s $3m should be taken from Bai, Kai and Konrote’s retirement fund. It was their fault he got kicked out, not the taxpayers.
Rabuka is entitled to his opinions, like anyone else. But he doesn’t have any authority on the operations of the judiciary. That is for the judiciary and the CJ position is the head of that branch which is coequal with Govt. So Mr Temo is not accountable to the PM.
And lastly Graham, the CONstitution you harp on about was approved in Parliament. Why should it require a significant referendum when it wasn’t put through that in the 1st place? As all things with Kai’s name as author, it will soon be gone with the wind.
Just sit back and relax and see the strategy play out. The 1st obstacle is FFP and they are now out. So for the rest of this term and after the next election, where PAP will get an absolute majority, we can do a lot of things.
Yes, except obey the law.
Thanks for laying out the game plan. Sneak into government by one vote by tricking everyone into believing you had changed and then carry out the agenda from 1987.
You will never have genuine legitimacy. Because that isn’t democracy but a takeover by stealth. The conduct of the Snake and his nest of vipers.
Sack the Judicial Services Commission. It seems the Current AG is on relaxing mode till 2026. Yadra vuka Graham.