John Rabuku – the illegal Acting DPP – and the illegal judge, Alipate Qetaki, would have had a sickening feeling in their bowels today with the news that their appointments won’t be rubber stamped after all by Salesi Temo as President of the Supreme Court but decided by a trio of distinguished expatriate judges.
Justice Sir Terence Arnold, Justice Sir Brian Keith and Justice William Young will hear the case brought by cabinet to advise it if John Rabuku and Alipate Qetaki can stay in their positions despite the constitution stipulating that they are barred because they have been found guilty of professional misconduct by the Independent Legal Services Commission.
The hearing will be held on June 19 and 20 and the judges will give their ruling on June 28. Their appointment has upended the hopes of John Rabuku and Aipate Qetaki that they can remain in their positions because the Constitutional provision is quite clear. They are barred from holding office. Which means that the writing is on the wall about an eventual ruling.
Why did Salesi Temo decide to bring on the trio of distinguished foreign judges when all the signs were pointing to him hearing the case himself? It was certainly what the Attorney General, Siromi Turaga, was confidently expecting – a short, sharp ruling that whatever the constitution says, Rabuku and Qetaki can continue in office. Alas.
The Acting CJ is under increasing pressure about the allegations against him of bias against Frank Bainimarama and Sitiveni Qiliho and the submission by lawyers for the two that he should recuse himself from hearing the ODPP’s appeal against their sentences in the magistrate’s court. Did Justice Temo decide that rubber stamping the Rabuku and Qetaki appointments was a bridge too far? It sure looks that way.
Justices Terence Arnold, Brian Keith and William Young – all three with distinguished careers in New Zealand and the UK and judges on the Supreme Court of Fiji – don’t have skin in the game locally. They can be expected to make their ruling solely on the letter of the law. Which is extremely bad news for the Acting DPP and Judge Qetaki and also any hope that Filimoni Vosarogo will have had for eventually becoming attorney general because he has been found guilty of professional conduct not once but three times.
An astonishing prospect is now emerging. That unless the suspended DPP, Christopher Pryde, is eventually found guilty of misbehaviour when the new order finally calls the judicial tribunal it has been stalling on for an extraordinary 13 months and counting, the chances of Pryde eventually being cleared and being reinstated by the President has suddenly got a lot closer. Wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall at Gunu House and Suvavou House tonight as that possibility sinks in?
The illegal judge…
This trio will decide…
I bet you 5 will get you 10 the CMDR RFMF intervened.
What a bunch of idiots. I am not surprised that these lot are unable to interpret the laws themselves.
The CJ probably because hes not impartial and the DPP, AG because they not that smart.
This must be a real comedy show for people of the justice fraternity all over pacific and Australia/NZ.
The circus has truly nominated clowns to run Fiji.
I am in complete shock.
WOWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!
GD did you turn off comments on your last post about Radrodro?
SHAME ON YOU RABUKA.
Absolutely SICKENING.
No. Comments are on but I adjudicate them first.
I think the feeling by the acting DPP and the Appeals Court judge would be why are a bunch of whites still deciding on matters in Fiji, the land of the iTaukei, when there are plenty of qualified and dodgy Fijians around to decide these things. It is no longer a good fit for white people to decide things in this Third World country of ours. We have Third World standards to maintain. This is just ridiculous.
Three whites to right a wrong.
What if, say Rabuka gives orders to the 3 distinguished judges to rule in his favour else the trio will be kicked out of Fiji? Think, think, because any unfavourable ruling means a slur on Coalition Government
Wananavu!
What a waste of taxpayer funds!
Laughing stock.
The news that will once again drive investors away.
The main reason why White judges will hear the case is that ST wants to keep his job as AG at the expense of Alipate Qetaki, John Rabuku and Filimoni Vosarogo. Clearing these three means ST’s days as AG is over.
As per late ADPP David Toganivalu, AG and ACJ are collaborating and ST’s interest is to hold onto power as AG means ACJ also survives to keep his portfolio otherwise both go into oblivion hence only white expat judges can save AG and ACJ.
No wonder politics is a dirty game.
Well if you step back a bit and think, it was Rabuka’s decision to put Cabinet’s decisions to the test by referring the appointments for a jurdical ruling. Of course, he may have had second thoughts but his motivation to correct them is commendable.
When you do the same analysis about the acting CJ Temo, you arrive at the same conclusion. In spite of the nasty inferences made about him, his decision to appoint the three wise men was the correct one and he should be commended.
It may appear as a 2-step dance, two steps forward followed by one step back, but there is progress on one step across the dance floor. The key is to focus on the one step forward, and less so on all the other moves
The logic of this coalition government will look like this, not 1+ 1 = 2 which is the expectation of most, but more like 2 – 1 = 1 = progress.
Whoever suspended Pryde (if not the PM himself) must have been grogging too much.