THE Supreme Court will deliver its opinion on the validity of acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku and Appeal Court judge Justice Alipate Qetaki’s appointments on June 28.
The case was called for the first time yesterday before Justices Sir Terence Arnold and Brian Keith. The court will provide its opinion on whether the duo’s appointments were in accordance with the 2013 Constitution.
Suva lawyer Feizal Haniff appeared for the Cabinet while Munro Leys lawyer Richard Naidu appeared for the Fiji Law Society, which has been invited by the court to participate in the proceedings.
Fiji Human Rights and Anti Discrimination Commission chairperson Pravesh Sharma appeared for the FHRADC, which has also been invited to participate.
Former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who is applying to join the proceedings, was represented by Suva lawyer Gul Fatima while former supervisor of elections Mohammed Saneem, another applicant, represented himself. The court will rule on their applications tomorrow.
Setting out the terms of reference, Justice Arnold said each participant in the proceedings would be required to submit written arguments by May 22 and any submission responding to each others’ arguments by June 12.
The case has been set down for a two-day hearing on June 19 and June 20.
Justice Arnold says the court would then provide its opinion on June 28.
