By HARLYNE JOKU
THE PNG Defence Force Board of Inquiry into the Moti affair was unlawfully set up and therefore its recommendations cannot be enforced, Defence Minister Bob Dadae announced yesterday.
He told a press conference that the manner in which the board was set up contravened the Defence Act and also suggested that its findings were biased.
He said the minister at the time, Martin Aini, proceeded with the inquiry despite the advice of Defence Secretary Fred Punangi.
“Its preparation of the report was a purported exercise of power it did not legally have, therefore the findings of fact and recommendations made in the report are of no legal effect,” he said.
Mr Punangi said he wrote two letters on Jan 17 this year, one to Mr Aini and another to the acting Attorney-General, expressing his concerns over the composition of the board which he believed was unlawful.
He said he did not get any response from either one of them.
Mr Punangi said he advised Mr Aini that he was unclear whether it was a “General Board of Inquiry” or a “Board of Inquiry”.
He wrote: “The legal effect of proceedings before an unlawfully-created ‘Board of Inquiry’ is that the inquiry proceedings will result in nullity.
“The findings and conclusions of the ‘Board of Inquiry’ cannot be recognised in law. That is they would not be binding and legally enforceable before a court of law. Hence, no one can be compelled to comply with the recommendations of the ‘Board of Inquiry’.”
Mr Punangi said he advised the Defence Council to disband the Board of Inquiry immediately.
In his letter to the acting Attorney-General, he suggested a judicial review into the setting up of the Board of Inquiry in order to protect its integrity.