A RECOMMENDATION is now before the Constitutional Offices Commission (COC) to shift the power to appoint Fiji’s independent Commissioner Against Corruption (FICAC) from the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) to the COC.
Prime Minister and COC chairman Sitiveni Rabuka confirmed the recommendation came from the Commission of Inquiry report into the appointment of former FICAC commissioner Barbara Malimali.
Mr Rabuka said the COC had not yet acted on the recommendation and it would first have to be considered by the commission before being taken through the required constitutional process.
“It will have to be considered first by the COC,” he said.
“And when we do, because it’s a constitutional provision, it will have to go through the whole process of constitutional map.”
The proposal, if taken forward, would require a constitutional amendment because the appointment of the FICAC Commissioner is currently a function of the JSC.
Chief Justice and JSC chair Salesi Temo had earlier raised his opposition against the proposal before the Constitutional Review Commission saying any such amendment would be “the biggest disaster.”
Justice Temo argued that the FICAC Commissioner’s appointment was given to the JSC because the role required an assessment of a person’s legal ability, courtroom experience and professional standing as a lawyer.
“That would be the biggest disaster because politicians will be choosing who comes in to be the FICAC boss,” Justice Temo said.
“And that will be worse in this situation. Because politicians haven’t sat in the courtroom to assess lawyers as they argue cases in the courtroom on how they prove themselves as lawyers.”
He said his view was based on 31 years in the courtroom, where he had seen lawyers appear, argue and prove themselves.
“My working life, five days a week, is looking at lawyers, how they survive in the court.
“It’s a battleground. And on the basis of that, we choose who becomes the commissioner.”
Mr Rabuka was asked whether the proposed change amounted to a political move to appoint someone to what should be an independent position.
In response, he said those who opposed the recommendation could raise their objections when the matter was considered and debated.
“But again, because it’s a constitutional provision, it will have to go through the whole constitutional rigamarole (process),” Mr Rabuka said.
