The High Court in Suva has directed the parties in the judicial review challenging the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the appointment of FICAC Commissioner Barbara Malimali to provide clarifications ahead of a judgment set for August 3.
In a Minute issued on July 28, 2026, Justice Dane Tuiqereqere ordered the matter to be called for mention this morning at 9am.
The direction follows a three-day substantive hearing which took place in April.
Justice Tuiqereqere has directed Government respondents, which include the COI, the President, the Prime Minister, and the Attorney-General, to confirm whether Ms Malimali and her legal representative were excluded from the courtroom during the oral evidence of key high-profile witnesses.
The list of witnesses cited in the Minute includes Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka (January 6, 2025), Chief Justice Salesi Temo (January 23 and February 27, 2025), Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad (February 11, 2025), Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica (February 18, 2025) and other political figures and state officials.
If the respondents do not dispute the exclusion, the court requires them to provide the reasons given by the Commissioner for barring Ms Malimali and her lawyer, along with any relevant written minutes or transcripts.
The court has also instructed the respondents to produce a copy of a letter dated December 13, 2024, sent by Ms Mason to the Chief Justice, in which the Commission sought the suspension of Ms Malimali while its inquiry was under way.
The applicants are Ms Malimali, senior lawyers William Wylie Clarke, Laurel Vaurasi and former Attorney-General Graham Everett Leung. Justice David Ashton-Lewis, the Commissioner, is a third party in the proceedings.
