An application by lawyers for the Ombudsman Commission to add more materials in a Supreme Court reference, relating to the K3 billion UBS loan, has been dismissed.
A Supreme Court bench consisting of five judges refused the application because it was incompetent and an abuse of the court process.
The court will now proceed to hear arguments from parties in the reference under section 18 (1) of the constitution. This will take place at a later time.
The application which was refused last Friday was filed on Oct 20.
The application asked the five-man Supreme Court bench to allow the Ombudsman Commission to include additional materials or facts into the reference book, to assist the court in its deliberation of the reference.
It asked the court on Dec 12 to add three sets of facts containing materials which the Ombudsman Commission said was necessary for the full court to have in order to determine the reference properly.
This is in a Supreme Court reference in relation to the K3 billion UBS loan that was referred for interpretation early last year.
The materials contain the process the Ombudsman Commission follows when someone becomes the subject of an investigation, the terms of enquiry and persons whom the Ombudsman gives notice to prior to commencement of investigations or notice under section 17(1)of the Organic law.
But the full bench, in its ruling last Friday, said the reference met all its requirements and was properly before the court.
"We are obliged to determine the reference. It will be heard as soon as practicable," the court ruled.
Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika, Justices David Cannings, Panuel Mogish, Terrence Higgins and Stephen Kassman, said the Ombudsmen Commission ignored the preferred practice where they did not invite the bench to consider giving a direction to a single judge to hear the application. Instead they went directly before the full court and asked the court to allow them to add more materials and invite the court to make findings.
"This is most irregular," they said.
The full court also said the Ombudsman Commission could have made an application for directions in the Supreme Court to add more materials.
The Court said they (OC) could have either made an application to the referral judge, or in absence, any other National Court judge to amend the reference before it is argued, applied for leave to appeal against the decision of the National Court to make reference to the Supreme Court or filed a slip rule application to the National Court.
A total of 11 questions were referred to the Supreme Court by late Justice Catherine Davani on Jan 28, 2015, over certain constitutional questions surrounding the alleged improper borrowing of K3 billion from the Union Bank of Switzerland AG by the Government.
Parties in the case are the Ombudsman Commission, former Chief Ombudsman Rigo Lua and former Acting Chief Ombudsman Phoebe Sangetari, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and the Attorney-General.
This case stems from a National Court proceeding filed by O'Neill against the Ombudsman Commission publishing a preliminary report on the alleged improper borrowing of the UBS loan.
The case is stayed pending this reference.