Fijileaks: It is clear that Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum and his staff in the Attorney-General's Office were aware of Chandra's failure to comply with the Trust Accounts Act, for they approved four consecutive extension letters to the Chief Registrar * SURESH CHANDRA was elected Chairperson by former President LETS HOPE CHANDRA WILL GET OUT OF AUSTRALIA in February for his hearing, for many before him who went never came back to Fiji
"The Interim Administration is showing blatant disregard for proper judicial appointment procedures. The Judicial Services Commission should have first dealt with the removal of the former Solicitor-General NAINENDRA NAND, before making another appointment [of Christopher Pryde]. I am disgusted at the manner in which Mr Nand was removed after the military takeover. What power did President Iloilo have to terminate Nand from the position" FLS President Sharma, 2007 "The president of the Fiji Law Society, Devanesh Sharma, has suspended military lawyers and is demanding to know what help, if any, they gave to Commodore Frank Bainimarama when he took over the Laisenia Qarase government on December 5. He says these lawyers risk losing their practising certificates if they do not give a satisfactory explanation. He says the lawyers failed to uphold the law because in the opinion of the society, the coup is illegal...Mr Sharma's actions against the military lawyers, however, raise some very fundamental and disturbing questions: what role should a lawyer play in society or to what extent must he or she provide legal advice to an institution to which he or she belongs; and why should there be two laws, one for fat pay lawyers in private practice and one for military lawyers? Unlike the private lawyers, both civilian and military laws govern the military lawyers like their foot soldier colleagues. However, as part of their employment, they were required by military law to tender legal advice to their military boss, the Commodore on the Doctrine of Necessity. It was up to the Commodore, who to some extent was the author of the creation of the necessity, to accept or reject their advice. Mr Sharma also alleges that some members of the legal profession outside the military are heavily involved in giving legal advice, doing research and writing speeches supporting the military. Who are they? Can he provide names? If the Commodore's actions (based on legal advice from his or outside lawyers) are illegal, than surely it could be challenged in a court of law by none other than Mr Sharma who has a history of defending those accused of coup and mutiny related cases. Mr Sharma was part of the legal team that defended Mr Rabuka who [on December 10] was acquitted after a split verdict (guilty and not guilty) on two counts of inciting mutiny against the Commodore at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in July and November of 2000. What difference does it make if one military lawyer, in the course of his duty, has tendered legal advice that might have resulted in the recent coup, and another private lawyer has no hesitation or conscience to defend the Father of Coups in the country - Mr Rabuka - who accepts that he committed treason in 1987 when he executed two coups against the democratically elected Bavadra government because "There Was No Other Way." The law is meant to be blind. Why should there be two laws: one for private lawyers and one for military or government lawyers when it comes to questions of legality and illegality in Fiji? It is time, to use a lawyer's phrase, Mr Sharma recused himself from lecturing to the military lawyers or to other lawyers who have tendered legal advice to the Commodore or will continue to do so in the future. The "clean up" begins with him. |
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