"The court will have to keep on going whether you are vaccinated or not"
This was made clear by High Court Judge Justice Salesi Temo after two men facing serious aggravated robbery charges were not present in court.
It was heard in court that Anare Turaga and Lekima Tunidau are remanded at the Nausori Police Station because they are not vaccinated.
The prosecution told the court that the remand centre is refusing to accept the two men because they are unvaccinated.
Justice Temo then said that he can see police stations getting overcrowded because of this problem.
He said police stations and remand centres were already overcrowded before COVID-19 and now you throw in this vaccination issue, it further complicates things.
Justice Temo says if the system stops because of this vaccination status issue, it is the public that will suffer.
The Judge said he would be greatly assisted if the Office of the DPP or defence counsels would look into what courts overseas are doing in relation to this issue.
The prosecution has been given 14 days to make submissions on the powers of the court to order accused people to be vaccinated so that the criminal justice system maybe allowed to continue to move forward.
Justice Temo says in the meantime he will do his own research and ask the other judges about what is happening.
The submissions will be heard on 15th November.
