31 Jul 2008

Ministry of Justice in Samoa under scrutiny for missing court case file

6:47 pm on 31 July 2008

Samoa's Minister of Justice and Courts administration, Unasa Mesi Galo, has ordered the CEO of the Ministry to look for a court case file belonging to a former court employee.

The senior employee was sacked amid allegations of a missing criminal case file and is suing the Ministry for wrongful dismissal.

The case is due to be heard in the Supreme Court in October.

The Minister was told the file was missing this week, however the Ministry's CEO, Masinalupe Tusipa, has denied the file is lost.

He says one of the senior registrars is checking if the file is in the possession of a judge.

Masinalupe says the minister has raised concerns over the matter.

Last month, the assistant police commissioner, Papalii Lio, raised police concerns that several court files had been found in the rubbish.