Court halts Namah tribunal

By DEMAS TIEN
LEADERSHIP Tribunal members who have been presiding over allegations of misconduct against Vanimo Green MP Belden Namah have been permanently restrained from further convening and inquiring into determining the allegations.
The tribunal members are Justice Goodwin Poole and senior magistrates Mark Selefkariu and Ernest Wilmot.
This is an order of the Waigani National Court penned by Justice David Cannings on Friday.
Cannings upheld submissions by Namah’s lawyer, Greg Sheppard, that the conduct of the tribunal members provided a possibility of a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the tribunal.
The court ruled that the tribunal had taken an aggressive approach and attitude against Namah throughout the trial, as well as during a Supreme Court reference that emanated from Namah’s case.
The court ruled that the tribunal members should have remained neutral as the approach taken by the chief justice throughout the proceedings.
“The tribunal’s approach was imprudent and unnecessary. A reasonable person with knowledge of the approach taken by the tribunal in the present litigation, would reasonably suspect that the tribunal is biased against the plaintiff (Namah) and that if allegations of misconduct in office were to return to the same tribunal, it would not inquire into and determined the allegations impartially,” Cannings said in his 14-page judgment.
The court has refused an argument raised by Namah regarding the appointment of the tribunal by the chief justice. Cannings said the appointment of the tribunal by the chief justice did not give reason for reasonable apprehension of bias.
He also said the decision did not protect Namah from prosecution before a differently constituted tribunal.
Cannings said the decision put Namah to the position he was in prior to the appointment of the tribunal. “He (Namah) will have to wait for the public prosecutor to decide whether he still wishes to bring the proceedings.”
Namah filed an originating summons, which was further amended and filed on Nov 20 last year, for the enforcement of his human rights, which he argued were breached in regards to the appointment and the proceedings of a leadership tribunal that was appointed to inquire into and determined allegations of misconduct in office against him.
He named the leadership tribunal members as first defendant, Public Prosecutor Pondros Kaluwin as second defendant, Ombudsman Commission as third defendant and Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia as the fourth defendant.