High Court Judge, Justice Dane Tuiqereqere will decide today on whether the Office of the Attorney General will release the full transcripts of the Commission of Inquiry into the appointment of Barbara Malimali as FICAC Commissioner.
The Solicitor General's Office has opposed the release of the transcripts in court.
They did confirm that they got the transcripts from the Office of the Prime Minister and are going through it.
The counsel for the applicants want the full transcripts of the COI as only the redacted report was made public, and it did not have the details of full hearings on what was said.
The applicants, Malimali, former Attorney-General Graham Leung, and lawyers Wylie Clarke and Laurel Vaurasi, through their lawyers have asked for the release of the transcripts.
They are challenging the validity of the COI report and are seeking orders to quash its findings and recommendations.
During the earlier court 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 are critical in assessing the evidence underpinning the COI’s findings.
Malimali is represented by Tanya Waqanika, while Richard Naidu represents Clarke and Vaurasi.
Leung is represented by Seforan Fatiaki.
The Office of the Solicitor-General is representing the President, the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General and the Commission of Inquiry.
Justice Tuiqereqere had also directed Waqanika, Naidu and Fatiaki to make formal applications.
Meanwhile, the hearing on whether COI Chair Justice David Ashton-Lewis will be joining the proceedings will be on April 7th.
The hearing for the judicial review into the COI will be held from the 10th to the 12th of April.
