22 Jan 2014

Dismissed Nauru magistrate considers taking legal action

7:30 am on 22 January 2014

The resident magistrate deported from Nauru says the government statement about him is defamatory and he is considering legal action.

Peter Law was sacked on Sunday and deported back to Australia while the visa of Chief Justice Geoffrey Eames has been withdrawn.

The Government says it dismissed Peter Law because it lost confidence in him, and that it received complaints against him including about misconduct.

Peter Law, who recently granted injunctions against the deportation of three business people, is also alleged by the government to have interfered in cases.

He says the allegations totally lack substance.

"Firstly, none of those allegations have been put to me. I'll have to consider whether I'll institute legal proceedings against the government. It's an outrageous statement, it's full of a great deal of lies and innuendo and hearsay."

Peter Law says there was only one appeal against all the decisions he made as a judge in three years on Nauru.