Court rejects call by ex-solicitor-general

By TREVOR WAHUNE
A COURT has refused an application by former acting solicitor-general Faith Barton-Keene to review a decision by Attorney-General Davis Steven that advised her to retire from the position as of Dec 6 last year.
Justice Leka Nablu, in the Waigani National Court yesterday, advised Barton-Keene that her application was misconceived.
She said her case was a matter to be reviewed by the Public Service Commission and she was yet to exhaust all administrative avenues.
Justice Nablu held that the issue before the court was whether the case was subject to review or not.
She said in the present case, it was clear that the decision Barton-Keene was seeking to review was the decision of the attorney-general to revoke her appointment as acting solicitor-general. “That decision was subject to review, where an early application was dealt with in the National Court,” Justice Nalu said.
“The applicant cannot come before this court to be reviewed again. Furthermore, if leave was refused for reasons that the applicant had not exhausted all administrative avenues, that was the court’s final decision.