Parliament declaration form ‘not statutory’
THE Member of Parliament Declaration Form (MPDF) is not a Statutory Declaration, says Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) lawyer Ashish Nand.
He said this during the hearing of Opposition MP Salote Radrodro’s application for a permanent stay of proceedings in the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court (ACDHC) at Suva yesterday.
Ms Radrodro was charged with one count of giving false information to a public servant and obtaining a financial advantage, for allegedly falsely stating her permanent residence to be Namulomulo Village, Nabouwalu in Bua, to former secretary general to Parliament Viniana Namosimalua by way of the MPDF.
And knowing that information to be false, caused Ms Namosimalua to pay allowances to Ms Radrodro that she was not entitled to under the Parliamentary Remunerations Act 2014.
Mr Valenitabua brought the application on the grounds of an abuse of court process by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) in Ms Radrodro’s prosecution under Section 201 (A) of the Crimes Act 2009 which dealt with false information, when Section 180 of the Act dealt directly with the alleged conduct of Ms Radrodro — making a false declaration.
He said it was a blatant endeavour by FICAC to avoid the time bar of Section 180 under Section 187 of the Criminal Procedure Act and expose Ms Radrodro to more serious punishment.
Mr Valenitabua also said FICAC manipulated the process of the Magistrates Court and High Court to deprive Ms Radrodro of the protection under Section 187 of the Criminal Procedure Act and by prosecuting her in the High Court when she was charged with two counts of summary offences which should be tried in the Magistrates Court.
He said a fair trial would not be secure if a permanent stay was not granted because Ms Radrodro was being tried for summary offences in the High Court which was statutorily mandated to try indictable offences only.
Mr Nand said the application brought by Mr Valenitabua was an abuse of process itself.
He said the High Court had unlimited original jurisdiction to hear any civil or criminal matter under any law, that permanent stay was only granted in exceptional circumstances and that the argument that FICAC only brought the charge under Section 201 (A) of the Crimes Act for the harsher punishment.
Mr Nand said the prosecution had the discretion to choose which charges to lay and the discretion was there because there was a choice to be made.
He said for a charge to be brought under Section 180 it would need to be established that the information provided was in either a statutory declaration or a declaration that the MP was required to make under a particular Act at the material time.
He also said FICAC was of the view that the MPDF was not a statutory declaration.
In reply, Mr Valenitabua said a statutory declaration is a declaration made pursuant to an Act of Parliament and that the MPDF was made by the secretary general to Parliament at the time under the powers given to her by the Constitution, which he said was an Act of Parliament.
High Court judge Justice Dr Thushara Kumerage will pass judgment on the application today, a decision for Ms Radrodro will stop her trial and a decision against her will start the trial immediately after the judgment.