The Public Service Commission will now draw up a list of civil servants above the age of 55 who will have to retire over the next few months following the Appeals Court ruling today that the PSC can reduce the retirement age from 60 to 55.
PSC chairman Mohammad Yunus said this will help reduce government expenditure and they are ready to implement the new retirement age policy.
Yunus added while some civil servants would have to be retired immediately, others may be retained on a contract basis in specialized fields.
These specialized fields include those in medicine such as doctors and nurses, engineers, accountants and economists and senior teachers amongst others.
However, the battle between the Public Sector Unions and the PSC over the retirement age in the civil service is now expected to drag on in the courts.
Fiji Public Service Association General Secretary Rajeswar Singh said they are going to the Supreme Court and will ensure the retirement age policy is not implemented.
Fiji Court of Appeal judges Justice John Byrne, Justice Andrew Bruce and Justice Izaz Khan have also quashed Justice Filimoni Jitoko's earlier judgment that the PSC's decision of 9th March, 2007, to reduce the retirement age from 60 to 55 was null and void.
The judges also noted that there was no evidence indicating that the PSC did not follow the constitution in reducing the retirement age from 60 to 55 adding the PSC did give the unions a fair hearing when reducing the retirement age.
PSC ready to implement policy
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