High Court Judge Justice Andrew Bruce will deliver his ruling on Thursday on whether the decision of the Judicial Services Commission to appoint Judge Anthony Gates as Acting Chief Justice can be judicially reviewed by the courts.

Representing the JSC and the state, Lawyer Adish Narayan yesterday told Judge Bruce that the matter should not be allowed to proceed as there was undue delay in bringing the case to court and that the Fiji Law Society had gone into hibernation soon after Judge Gates appointment.

He also stressed that there was no arguable case as the meeting of the JSC on January 5th, 2007 where Judge Gates was appointed Acting CJ was lawful and valid and two members, PSC's Rishi Ram and former Fiji Law Society President Devinesh Sharma were properly appointed to the Commission.

He also stressed that JSC had acted under the doctrine of necessity to appoint an Acting Chief Justice to ensure the Judiciary continues to operate.

Lawyer representing Judge Shameem, Chen Young also submitted that his clients name be struck out of the proceedings as she had acted under necessity at the time. Meanwhile, Lawyer representing the Fiji Law Society Samuel Ram called on Judge Bruce to make a pronouncement to outline the steps which would be legal and constitutional to appoint an Acting Chief Justice when the incumbent is unable to perform his or her duty due to unforeseen circumstances.