Hearing date set for judicial review of COI findings on Malimali appointment

A three-day hearing has been scheduled from April 10 to 12 for three Judicial Review applications challenging the findings of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) report.

The report followed an investigation into the 2024 appointment of Barbara Malimali as Commissioner of the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) and implicated several senior officials.

Those named include Malimali, Fiji Law Society president William Wylie Clarke, his predecessor Laurel Vaurasi, and former Attorney-General Graham Leung.

The applicants are challenging the validity of the COI report and are seeking orders to quash its findings and recommendations.

The respondents include the COI, the Commission of Inquiry into Malimali’s appointment, and associated parties.

During proceedings, Justice Dane Tuiqereqere directed the Attorney-General’s Office to obtain transcripts of the COI hearings and make them available to the court and all parties.

He said that the transcripts were critical in assessing the evidence underpinning the COI’s findings.

Earlier this month, Justice Tuiqereqere granted the applicants leave to pursue Judicial Review of the adverse findings against them in the report.

He said that while the COI Act limits certain remedies for persons whose reputations are affected by findings, there must be avenues for redress, particularly where findings are alleged to be untenable or where natural justice may have been denied.

The applicants have until March 27 to file and serve their written submissions, while respondents must do so by April 2. The matter has been adjourned to next Monday for confirmation of the transcripts.