JANET Mason, the counsel who assisted Fiji’s Commission of Inquiry into the appointment of the Commissioner of FICAC, will be suspended from practising for three months effective July 11.
The suspension comes in the wake of controversy in Fiji around the appointment of Mason and Commissioner David Ashton-Lewis.
Disciplinary proceedings against Mason began in Fiji and led to charges of unsatisfactory conduct, including failing to complete a required civil litigation skills course.
Mason was initially suspended for three months after the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal found she had willfully breached the rules of the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act in 2020.
She appealed the decision, and the High Court of New Zealand reduced the suspension to one month but upheld the ruling that she had breached regulations.
Mason had secured a delay in hearing her appeal to this month from April at her request so that she could complete the COI Report.