Injunction denied applicants in Tourism Authority case [1]
Monday, September 19, 2016 - 18:53
The Chief Justice was convinced that the availability of an early hearing date of the applicants' case, by Mr Justice Scott on 21 September “strongly indicates to me that the overall justice of the case favours refusing the injunction.”
The Chief Justice stated that an injuction would not advance the interests of the applicants or the Authority before the substantive action is heard and could possibly cause further disruption should the applicants ultimately be unsuccessful. He also noted that the Court should have regard to the public's interest that the decisions of public authorities are respected until dealt with before the court.
The applicants are arguing that they had a legitimate expectation of appointment for three years which it would be unjust to frustrate, but there are counter arguments that the applicants were never offered appointment for three years bu only for "up to three years".
Judicial Review
The applicants (Paea and Kami) on 12 August 2016 applied for an Injunction and a Judicial Review of a note from Hon. Sika on 17 June, informing them that their appointments had expired on 3 May 2016.
The Chief Justice on 15 August granted the application for Judicial Review but reserved his decision for an Injunction to 8 September.
The TTA Board has been without a Chairman since 2013, when Ross Chapman resigned. Three other board members also resigned during 2015.
During October 2015, when ‘Etuate Lavulavu was the Minister of Tourism, the Cabinet approved for Tomifa Paea to be the Chairman and Simana Kami to be one of the new directors.
According to the 13 September decision by the Chief Justice, the Cabinet approval on 2 October 2015 of Tomifa Paea as Chairman and Simana Kami as director, “did not otherwise state the terms and conditions of the appointments.”