Transcript
DW: Last month, the Nauru Supreme court judge Geof Muecke declared the Civil Procedures Amendment null and void and ordered the government pay $US166,606 thousand dollars in legal fees for the 19, who were arrested during an anti government protest in 2015. The money was due to bepaid by last Friday. But that hasn't happened. Nauru's Justice Minister David Adeang says the ruling was surprising given that the legislation already gave defendants access to legal aid. But Justice Muecke said the maximum payable per case of US$2,231 was "absurd". He says in his judgement that he calculated reasonable fees that he set significantly below what lawyers would get under legal aid in New South Wales. Mr Adeang says Nauru can't be expected to fund expensive international lawyers and that the ruling sets "an unfortunate precedent". "The ruling by His Honour means that we must pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide expensive international lawyers to defendants charged with criminal acts. This is not only unprecedented but excessive." he said. "While funds allocated for the recruitment of lawyers under legal aid are comparatively modest, this has to be seen in the context of Nauru's economy which is small. He said defendants wanting private representation should pay for it themselves. "Those who cannot should, in line with a fair and just legal system, be provided with a public defender, which is what the Government ensured in the recent legislation." But despite the protestations of poverty in 2017 the Nauru government itself hired one of the biggest law firms in Australia, Ashurst, to prosecute the case for it. That relationship ended unhappily about six months later.
DG: What ability do the Nauru 19 have to pay any legal fees?
DW: Now....after nearly three years of legal action - none. The judge in his judgement pointed out that the Nauru 19 have been denied work on the island. The lawyers from Australia have been working pro bono since August of 2016, but say they are not in a position to do that any longer. Justice Muecke was also scathing about the Civil Procedures Amendment Act being rushed through parliament at the beginning of last month.He ruled that its provisions on legal representation and legal aid clearly contradict provisions in the Nauru Constitution and he declared the entire bill void and of no effect.
DG: Mr Adeang made reference to the 19 accused, saying they should use the public defender if they needed a lawyer.
DW: Justice Muecke said Nauru does not have enough lawyers with the appropriate skills to provide the Nauru 19 with fair represention.
DG: Well what happens now?
The government says it is appealing but earlier this year it got rid of the Australian High Court as the final court of appeal and that has not been replaced - so it has no court to appeal to. Justice Muecke meanwhile, who is a former a chief judge of the South Australia District Court, and was brought in specifically to hear the trial of the Nauru 19, said failure by the government to make the payment could result in him putting a stay on the case until October. As it stands the trial is due to begin in three weeks, and be completed before leaders from around the region arrive in Nauru for the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in early September.
