A hearing is underway in relation to a referral by the cabinet to the Supreme Court concerning the interpretation of section 105(2)(b) of the Constitution.

This is in particular to, whether an Independent Legal Services Commission finding in a disciplinary proceeding instituted against a legal practitioner, is consistent with the intended finding of guilt in the constitutional provisions.

The context in which that opinion was sought relates to the appointment of John Rabuku to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution and Alipate Qetaki to the office of the Judge of Court of Appeal.

Lawyer, Feizal Hannif who is representing the Solicitor General’s Office during his submission stated that there was finding of guilt during the proceedings initiated by Independent Legal Services Commission against Rabuku and Qetaki.

He also stated that the question is the validity of the appointment in 2023 and whether he was qualified.

Anil Singh is representing Justice Alipate Qetaki, Parvesh Sharma is appearing for the Human Rights Commission and Richard Naidu is appearing for the Fiji Law Society.

The hearing is underway.