Suva lawyer Jon Apted who is an advocate in constitutional cases says  anyone aggrieved by former Acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku’s decisions during his term in office can raise it in court either in the context of an ongoing prosecution or in an appeal against a conviction or sentence.

While responding to questions by FBC News, Apted says depending on the context it might be more appropriate for them to bring public law proceedings in judicial review or under the Constitution and this will be their call.

Following the opinion given by the Supreme Court that Rabuku was not qualified to hold the office of the DPP as he was not qualified to be a judge, raised questions on the past decisions made by Rabuku who was appointed as Acting DPP in 2023.

Suva lawyer Jon Apted

The Supreme Court had also given the opinion that Rabuku was not eligible for judicial appointment by virtue of disciplinary proceedings disqualification in Section 105(2)(b) because he was sanctioned for professional misconduct in a disciplinary proceeding.

According to Apted, the applicable principle is the de facto principle which was discussed by Court of Appeal in a 2015 appeal called Mills v the State.

He says according to this principle decisions and actions taken by an officer who was in fact disqualified from holding the office will be treated as valid unless the disqualification was notorious i.e. well known to the public or has been ascertained.

Former Acting Director of Public Prosecutions John Rabuku

Apted says in this case, there were two opinions about Rabuku’s eligibility before the decision of the Supreme Court.

He adds that until that point, he does not think it can be said that his disqualification was notorious.

However, Apted says once the Supreme Court determined that he was disqualified, any decisions that he took would be likely to be found invalid.

During his tenure Rabuku had sanctioned charges in a few high profile cases including charges against former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and former Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho.

He had also sanctioned charges against 13 people in relation to the Nadi drug bust case.