The question on who is responsible for the resettlement of residents at the Manus processing centre will go before the same Supreme Court bench that declared it unconstitutional and illegal on April 26.
Three of the five judges that sat in that case, filed by former Opposition Leader Belden Namah in 2013, will determine the issue on August 22.
Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia, in a Supreme Court sitting, issued the directions today after parties returned to court for the inquiry into the orders of April 26.
The question the same Supreme Court bench will try to address is whether order number 6 from that decision on April 26 includes both the Australian and PNG governments. It will choose who is solely responsible in taking steps to settle the transferees (now called residents), following orders to close the centre.
What the court will now determine will come in the form of an ancillary order. An ancillary order supports a previous order given by the court.
In this case, the previous court order was for both the Australian and PNG governments to take necessary steps to cease the unconstitutional and illegal detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island.