Grubsheet has obtained a copy of the advice from the New Zealand King’s Counsel, Professor Philip Joseph, requested by the Commission of Inquiry into the appointment of Barbara Malimali as FICAC Commissioner that gives the lie to the claim by the Chief Justice, Salesi Temo, that the state doesn’t have the legal power to suspend her for firing her chief investigator, Kuliniasi Saumi, while Saumi was still giving evidence to the Commission.
It is an explosive document, not least because as well as contradicting the Chief Justice, Professor Joseph advises that Salesi Temo and the Judicial Services Commission he heads can be bypassed altogether by the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, advising the President, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, to suspend Barbara Malimali and appoint an acting FICAC Commissioner.
Professor Joseph confirms what Grubsheet has reported for almost three weeks – that Section 44 of the Interpretation Act gives the State the power to remove as well as appoint, something that Salesi Temo has persistently refused to recognise as he defies the call by the Commission of Inquiry to suspend Barbara Malimali. In addition, Professor Joseph says Section 81 of the Constitution also allows the Prime Minister to advise the President to remove her.
But the Professor goes further, effectively saying that what the Chief Justice thinks doesn’t matter – that it is the Prime Minister, not the JSC, who has the power to advise the President that an Acting FICAC Commissioner be appointed.
It puts an end to Sitiveni Rabuka being able to make the constant excuse that there is nothing he can do because removing Barbara Malimali is a matter for the JSC and it is independent. According to law, the buck stops with him.
This advice throws a grenade into the current standoff between the Chief Justice and the Commission of Inquiry into Malimali’s appointment by the Supreme Court judge, Justice David Ashton-Lewis.
Salesi Temo hasn’t just been humiliated by Professor Joseph’s advice and boxed into a corner. So has the Prime Minister, who is returning to Fiji from his overseas trip today (Friday) facing a major crisis on which the credibility of his entire government rests.
Because in the latest development in this extraordinary saga, the Commission says it will not be hearing from the remaining witnesses until Barbara Malimali has been suspended. Which means the Commission of inquiry – which was to have wound up this week – has ground to a halt until this issue is resolved.
First, Professor Joseph’s advice in full:
And now the state of play at the end of Wednesday – an extraordinary showdown between Justice Ashton-Lewis and Justice Temo, in which Ashton-Lewis is telling Temo – through Janet Mason, his Counsel Assisting – that unless he suspends Barbara Malimali, he will not be proceeding with the Commission hearings.
Here’s the story as reported by FBC News…
So a massive showdown is coming to a head, not just between Justice Ashton-Lewis and the Chief Justice, but now encompassing the Prime Minister, who has been told that the buck ultimately stops with him and it is for him to advise the President to replace Barbara Malimali with an Acting FICAC Commissioner.
One thing is certain with the revelation of this advice. That Salesi Temo’s position as Chief Justice is untenable and he must go. Because he doesn’t understand the law in Fiji and it has taken an outsider to interpret it for him. Not only a rogue because of his persistent defiance of the Constitution but someone who is ignorant of the most basic legal principles and is unfit to be at the apex of the judiciary.
The role of the Attorney General, Graham Leung, also deserves intense scrutiny and the blowtorch. Because as chief law officer of the government, he has also turned a blind eye to upholding the letter and spirit of the law. It is either ignorance or wilful defiance. Yet either way, he too is unfit to be AG.
Why hasn’t Leung – as the Prime Minister’s chief legal advisor – informed him of his responsibilities under the Constitution and the Interpretation Act? Why has it been left to a foreigner to do so?
Sitiveni Rabuka should be rightly angry with his Attorney General for failing to point out this obvious circuit-breaker power under the Constitution. What earthly point is there in Graham Leung being AG when he has failed the most basic test of the job? Or has his role in recommending Barbara Malimali to be FICAC Commissioner in the first place blinded him to his duty?
POSTSCRIPT:
More evidence of Graham Leung’s incompetence. Maybe he should be spending more time in his office instead of gallivanting around the world. Useless.
I say it again and people forget, the CJ does not have to understand the law or interpret it with independence and integrity. He is an iTaukei and therefore he has a God-given right in his own land to make the law as he goes along to suit the purposes of the iTaukei. Do you think this “kaisi” gives a hoot about the opinions of the vulagi KC?
Numbnuts, why do you want to go back 200 yrs
I don’t think he does – he’s just tempering our “normal” expected outcomes of these things.
BTW I actually think its more than 200 years when you look at SR Facebook post about cosy conversations with Netanyahu and his supporters comments below it.
Sorry, I did not realise that the CJ is actually now an Israelite living in the Pacific.
Both histories are now very similar we are told. With the kaiviti, the similarities became even more intense in the last 5 or so years, because that is when the kaiviti realised they are actually Israelites. It is all very twisted and logical in their own minds.
But the most striking similarity is both are highly racist.
As for going back 200 years, let us not go back 200 years, let us go back just 38 years. Going back 38 years is better than going back 200 years. Let us all forget and be in denial about 200 years ago but not 38 years ago, shall we?
But most importantly, backwards it is we shall go – just a question of how far backwards.
That’s exactly correct. No one will listen. They will do as they please.
Ultimately shameful for Fiji that the chief judicial officer doesn’t know his own rules.
It means that this guy cannot be trusted on any case in Fiji, together with the clowns at ODPP.
The AG is just another example of the further corruption of the system.
No wonder the people and investors have lost interest.
Anyone with half a brain would stand down if they had an investigation into them. Biman and the rest of the ministers under FICAC investigations must do so too. A useless PM leads the way to now tell the world how clueless we are in Fiji. Rabuka the master of nothing.
GD
All these shenanighans has in my opinion undermined the judicial integrity of the Commission of Inquiry because Justice Temo, together with his Team of untouchables, had failed to act on initial instruction from the CoI to suspend Malimali, and as a result of that, the CoI has lost its credibility as a “Tribunal/Court”. They should pack up their bags and go back to NZ and only then the Fijian government will understand its ramifications. Because Fiji’s judiciary has undermined the CoI’s credentials and authority by ignoring their orders to suspend Malimali for interfering with a witness.
Usually, the CoI’s (under the Civil Rules Procedure (CRP)) act as a “Tribunal or Court” a judicial body, having legal powers to manage and conduct the Hearing as it sees fit and call, recall witnesses, and also have the powers of “contempt” against those who don’t cooperate, including issuing “contempt” proceedings against a hostile witness.
And now, there is a “legal” opinion from an outsider, whose opinion has vindicated and upheld the original decision of the CoI (Tribunal). Despite this doube whammy fact finding judgment against them – I have a gut feeling that they are likely to ignore this continuing saga.
Seems to me that the Kings Counsel has nailed it, but there are far too many words in there for a PM of Rambuka’s intelligence to be able to get the gist of what he is saying.
All that the PM needed the KC to say is ” Yes Prime Minister, you have the power”
Reading all those pages of words would have frazzled the poor old guys mind !!! He would have had to recruit another Minister ‘For Interpretations’
Spot on! Should have been a summary of say 1 sentence and in plain language – yes or no. And a detailed report in legalese language.
The only person who probably reads the full report is the secretary who types the judges thoughts, be it orally dictated or written.
Come on. We have known the answer to whether it is “yes” or “no” for nearly three weeks. It is “yes”. She can be suspended. Surely it isn’t too much for you to read the Professor’s advice and take in all the reasons for “yes” or “no”. Then you’ll be able to explain them to someone without the same ability to understand the finer points in law.
Like Salesi Temo and Graham Leung.
Oh look! He didn’t even copyright that document. Tell nephew to let uncle know.
#mo #momo
Stand Malimali down.
Her service should be suspended asap given that she is hindering the COI by firing witnesses. This is illegal and highly dangerous act by Malimali and one that is endorsed by the CJ and AG.
Where is spineless Rabuka?
Get home now and clean up this mess you have left the country in.
I love how Janet Mason says she and J. Ashton have sworn an oath to carry out their duties impartially, freely, and faithfully. A similar oath was taken by all the so called high shot lawyers in Fiji but they are doing the opposite. If only we had the same caliber of people in positions of authority who had the same moral, ethical, and legal standards as Mason whilst serving this country. Imagine how better a place Fiji would be.
It’s shameful that we don’t have competent lawyers in Fiji nor one with integrity, for if we did, then we wouldn’t have had to engage a KC to tell us what we already knew.
I fully agree GD that Leung needs to go, it’s a combination of incompetence and wilful ignorance. Leung, Apted, Richard, Wylie, the Law Society, Temo, Rabuka, and the lot are rotten to the core. Morally and ethically bankrupt.
The legal profession which was once a noble and prestigious profession has become a joke because of the many shady lawyers we have in Fiji, who still walk around as if they are God’s gift to the profession and the nation. The lot of them need to FO..they need to go.
After weeks and months of kicking the can around, making excuses, covering up, lying through their teeth- this confirms how the team who is entrusted with oversight of our laws and administrative and operational processes is either incompetent or severely politically influenced.
Any Fijian with common sense could spot the breaches in process and administrative procedures relating to the whole FICAC saga from day 1, but it was made out and dragged out in-front of us all like it was breaking some mysterious code that landed from space!
The King’s Counsel’s independent and unbiased opinion exposes the level of incompetence, bias and unprofessionalism that exists amongst the current caliber of public officials mandated with oversight of Fiji’s justice system. And confirming that we the Fijian people are in grave DANGER as a result.
The million dollar question becomes what are they covering up for? What is their agenda ..and more importantly what else have the officials perverted in the due course of their duties?
They should all be tried in some international court for abuse of powers! This is serious – What else has this lot messed up!? I can only imagine the comprehensive list of cover-ups and lies. They are compromised and as a result we are all compromised as a nation …
And how will they (PM, CJ , AG, JSC) all be punished or reprimanded or is this the acceptable standard of fairness and justice by the coalition government ?
We the people deserve answers !
What an interesting few hours and days this will be as we wait in anticipation of how the powers that be will sort out this messy legal blunder. The Prime Minister better be ready to hit the ground running when he lands in Fiji!
Fijians are watching this mess and realise like never before that we deserve better than this substandard, mediocre service being served up to us by public officials appointed by the Coalition Government .
How the Coalition justifies and articulates its position on this will be a test of its humility, if any, and more importantly its stand on fairness, transparency and justice .
It’s simple Prime Minister. Do the right thing – sack them all and resign yourself.
Let’s call a snap election this year (2025) as a result of the breakdown of trust and law and order in the country … we have enough evidence to do so now . .. no need to drag this out any further .
Do the honourable thing ..
We the Fijian people we deserve so much better than this!
The KC’s analysis is nothing new. Even a child in preschool could have told Rabuka the same thing, and the iTaukei government wouldn’t have had to pay the child 15k.
This was simply a part of the dodge and weave games Rabuka is playing to buy time and enjoy the luxuries of life being paid for by the Fijian taxpayers. Who wants to go back to collecting bottles for a living?
Rabuka aims to return in 2026. He has the numbers to do it, given he’s also managed to buy the disgusting political prostitutes from FFP who defected.
The other minor and useless parties who are still hanging on to Rabuka for their own political survival are no longer needed.
Unless someone quickly forms a party which can drum up enough support to beat Rabuka’s PAP, Fiji is going to suffer a few more years of hell, which suits Rabuka as he has already started the process to amend the constitution for his own political survival.
The ball is in the PM’s court now…he must act NOW within the advice of the KC and suspended the corrupted SIREN OF TUVALU, the low-rated lawyer…COI has to do its duty within the LAW for the people of Fiji…this is the major obstacle, KC’s ruling is clear – PM must act swiftly, suspend the FICAC Commissioner, get on with COI and whatever the results he should also sack, CJ, AG and all the bunch of lawyers advising the PM’s Government with wrong legal advice….Fiji need to progress forward!
In any other “democratic” country, JSC or similar by now would have resigned but on Fiji no way. Keep going though you have been proven wrong many times and embarrassed many times and pointed out you don’t know what you doing but still keep your job and sit around grog bowl and act like nothing happened.
Politicians- don’t let Fiji become a lawless country which is driven by etho-nationalism. Please. We the people beg you! We want democracy and equality for our beloved nation!
This jurisprudence will have an impact on any workings by FICAC under Milamila. Effectively all investigations under her are subject to being challenged. Furthermore, legal action can be brought against the PM, CJ, AG, SG, CR, President, et al in the future for abuse of office. Seems like the party is just getting started.
But this is classic Steve leadership. Create multiple chaos situations to distract from sinister inner workings on other matters. Like nobody has bat an eyelid on the Qoliqoli Bill equivalent being touted by Iferemi Vasu.
Snap election time.
Rabuka must go.
Graham, what we really want to see is the transcript from the COI!!!! I HAVE GOT TO READ THAT! Temo has ordered all the Judges to vacate their cases to later dates and attend a meeting with him today. What is happening?
You tell me. Anyone know what is happening? Is it true that Temo has called a gathering of all the judges?
Yep, true. He has gathered all Judges. All cases have been vacated. Some are saying it has to do with what happened in Bainimarama’s pension case yesterday. The media reported that the AG’s Office had delayed the filing of their documents as directed by the Court in November 2024 and they were, as per the order of the Court, directed to pay costs in the sum of 2k to Bainimarama. If this is why Temo has called a meeting then that is a laugh and a half!
https://www.fijivillage.com/news/Bainimarama-pension–Defence-ordered-to-pay-Bainimarama-2000-for-failure-to-file-documents-on-time-fxr548/
The Fiji Transparency Page on Facebook wrote yesterday “Sheer incompetence by the AG’s Office. Graham finds any opportunity to attack the former AG, but that guy got the job done while Graham twiddles his thumbs and collects huge allowances travelling the world.”
Graham Leung has reportedly told a number of people that Rabuka, Biman, Manoa and Gavoka do not listen to his advice and he should have never taken up the opportunity to join this Government. Well well well.
What do you think GD? Is Yaca staying or going?
Because from where I’m sitting, he surely doesn’t know if he is coming or going!
They know full well the law, but prefer to cherry pick when it suits them.
I have a suspicion they thought they could just stall and drag this all out long enough for the COI to be complete before they had to take their stooge out of her position.
But his honour has now backed them into a corner. I think Rabuka has been surprised by Ashton-Lewis’ capacity for professionalism and independence despite church connections. Rabuka knows no integrity or objectivity, so he can only cognise from within the kere kere mindset. So he has been completely (and rightly so) blindsided.
My memory is not as weak as some may think. I remember well when Graham Leung was appointed as Attorney General. Everyone cheered up thinking that change is imminent but little did they realize that one shit is replacing another shit.
Fiji’s political dynamics have changed since 1987 and every indigenous leader has proven that they are as greedy as leeches.
Fiji will never go back to being a real democracy and will sink when the freebies (donation, grants, and loans) stop coming. The economy is in so much shit and ministers blatantly tell lie after lie, and public are so stupid that they quickly forget what the minister said the previous day. A good example is the funding for CWM (one day there is no funding, the next a minister is saying the budget was underspent)
The KC has done a brilliant job. He has not only told us what a vast majority of laymen already knew, but what’s more interesting is the fact that he stated that dumbo Rabuka cannot hide behind his usual statements by passing the buck to someone else.
This time he is pinned into a corner. If the corrupt Temo does not move to suspend the inbred Malimali, then Buks has the powers to go straight to the Pedo President to recommend suspension.
Either way, the characterless Malimali will have to go.
to my DeepSeek AI agent Sitiveni
Q. How many adult people that live in Fiji can read and comprehend the Constitution of Fiji?
A. 64,128
Q. How many lawyers in Fiji can read and comprehend the Constitution of Fiji.
A. 100%, all of the lawyers in Fiji can read and comprehend the Constitution of Fiji.
Q. How many Judges can read and Comprehend the Constitution and Laws of Fiji.
A. All judges can, they must have years of experience as lawyers and in addition served as magistrates as an added benefit for the role, though this is not a pre-qualification.
Q. What is the job of a Judge
A. Judges have lawyers representing the two parties to a dispute who make arguments in favour of their clients using evidence and precedent, and every trick in the book, including blatant lying. The judge has to decide between case law precedent and evidence presented and who is lying, giving differing weight on these, depending on if the case is civil or criminal.
Q. What is the court system?
A. All those who work in the system are “Officers of the Court” , who serve the Crown/ State. All those of particular responsibility must make oath to serve the Crown/ State and pledge allegiance to the Laws of the Crown/State.
Q. Are there other forms of courts?
A. In the democracies there are Commissions and Tribunals with other systems providing similar objectives with differing structures.
Q. Is everybody bound by these Courts, Tribunals, Commissions?
A. Everybody is bound by the decisions of entities that provide order for a civilized State to function. The system allows for an apex body to hear individuals and the State and give judgement which everybody is bound by for good order.
Q. What if decisions of an apex body is ignored or outright rejected?
A. Considering that all those involved are Officers of the Court and Oath Takers, one is entering the realm of subversion or treason.
Q. DeepSeek AI agent Sitiveni, what is your evaluation of the situation in Fiji in regard to their Justice System?
A. There is subversion of the Apex bodies of the Justice System, which edges towards treason.
This maybe ridiculous and far fetched to say the least, but…
Rabuka could just ignore the KINGS Counsel’s decision and declare that he does not recognise any of the recommendations on the following grounds:
That Fiji is now a “repulic” he having committed treason which removed the monarchy as head of state and as such the KC’s ruling is void…even though his counsel was sought to deliberate on this sordid saga!
Now is there any other way out for this military madman and his troupe of louts in the Judiciary??
When our corrupt government puts bush lawyers into positions, this is what we can expect. A circus in town.
These idiots really have no shame.
The three Stooges know what they are doing. iTaukei interests are above all. The Snake violated the first rule of Inquiries by holding an Inquiry when he wasn’t sure of the outcome. If the CoI is unable to proceed until Malimali is suspended, it is an easy way out for the Stooges to shut down the CoI by not suspending her. Rabuka will still be the “I know nothing” PM even if the evidence is shoved in his face.
Oh wow😳. This is so clearly written that a lay person can get the gist of the maliciousness of the current government.
They are caught in trying to be too smart. The best paragraph is 21 which is scathing about JSC’s “dereliction” of duties. As legal professionals both the Chiefs Justice and AG should be ashamed for being exposed as grossly incompetent. This alone provides basis for sacking for bringing legal practice into disrepute.
Let’s look at AG’s legal practice prior to appointment. At grassroots they could not even competently get conveyancing done with all standard agreements in place. Legal advisor to country is a step too far.
Legal academics cannot possibly keep up with the circus and corrupt behaviour. Future students and lawyers will read volumes in disbelief of standards hitting rock bottom. Rabuka and Temo will be remembered as corrupt and incompetent clowns by Future generations.
Breaking Fart – Malimali sent on leave after weeks of ducking and dodging.
Barb Milamila has gone on leave 😆