By: L.N. Reklai

Petitioner Bisure Kanai filed two motions in court on December 16, 2016 regarding his Civil Action No. 16-111.

One amended his original petition for Declaratory Judgment but still seeks to declare Justices Kathleen Salii and Lourdes Materne’s as unauthorized to hear and/or issue ruling on his appeal case.  The second one seeks to disqualify Land Court Judge Quay Polloi who had earlier issued an order for Kanai to Show Cause stating that Kanai had failed to state a claim upon which he seeks relief.

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In the first motion, Kanai amended his earlier petition and removed President and the Republic of Palau as employers of Justices Salii and Materne but maintained the suit against the justices in their official and individual capacities.

Insisting that both Salii and Materne have no authority to make ruling on his appeal and that by making such ruling, Kanai said they deprived him of his right to have his appeal considered and decided by Justices of the Appellate Division of the Palau Supreme Court.

Kanai asserted that both Salii and Materne are Justices of the Trial Division and since the Appellate Division has been created and appellate justices sworn in, the Justices of the Trial Division have no right to address his appeal.

Petitioner Kanai requested the court to declare both justices to have no authority to address his case, nullify the opinion they issued on November 23, 2016 and declare his right to have his appeal addressed by the duly sworn in Justices of the Appellate Division.

In his second motion, Kanai asks the court to disqualify Land Court Judge Quay Polloi.  In his petition, Kanai argues that Judge Polloi is not the proper judge to address his case as he is a judge of an inferior Land Court and because Land Court as of August 11, 2016, had no judicial authority to hear cases.

Moreover, Kanai argues that Judge Polloi is biased in favor of respondents, Salii and Materne.  According to his petition, Kanai claimed that Judge Polloi made a very hasty decision which “timing” and “tenor” reflected “bias and prejudice by a fellow judge in favor of his “sister judges”.

Petitioner asks the court to disqualify Judge Quay Polloi from presiding over his case. [/restrict]