Refugees’ bid to review high court verdict deferred

National

AN application to review a Supreme Court decision of Nov 7 in relation to the detention of refugees in Manus has been adjourned to Nov 22.
The application was filed by lawyer Ben Lomai, representing the refugees, to review the decision by a single judge pursuant to Rule 11, Order 25 and 26 of the Supreme Court rules.
The court, presided by Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia, listed the application for summary determination before a three-man Supreme Court bench.
Lomai later brought to the attention of the court that his clients believed that Sir Salamo should not preside the matter in summary determination since it was his decision the application intended to review. Lomai requested for the matter to be presided by Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika and other judges.
Sir Salamo told Lomai to file formal application in order for his clients’ request to be granted by the court.
The initial application filed by Kurdish-Iranian journalist and refugee Behrouz Boochani was seeking to restore basic services to the closed detention centre in Manus. It was refused by the Supreme Court after it found that the Government, with the assistance of Australia, provided alternative accommodation at three sites outside the regional processing centre.