Bid to stop top NAC officials from duties fails

A BID in court by a state minister to stop Peter Neville from performing the roles as director and chairman of the National Airports Corporation has failed.
Civil Aviation Minister Puri Ruing and two directors of the corporation had tried to convince the court that Neville’s appointment was illegal.
Justice Derick Hartshorn dismissed the case saying Ruing had acted “contrary to the principle of collective responsibility”.
He also ordered that Ruing, NAC directors Jerry Agus and Steven Pim pay costs to Neville and Joseph Kintau, the NAC’s managing director.
Ruing, Agus and Pim had sought a declaratory order that the appointment of Neville was illegal when the then acting head of state Ano Pala certified his appointment.
But Neville and Kintau applied to dismiss the proceeding as an abuse of process.
They had argued that Neville was sworn in by the head of state following advice by the national executive council, of which Ruing was a member.
Hartshorn said: “The principle of ministerial collective responsibility is that once an agreement has been reached or decision made by the NEC, all members of the NEC are bound to speak in support of the agreement or decision.
“There should be no public dissent or adverse criticism of the agreement or decision.
“This applies even if a particular minister was not a party to the agreement or decision.
“The principle may be waived by the prime minister on any given occasion.”