A civil servants' association yesterday accused the Government of defrauding the courts, and vowed to take fresh legal action to prove it.
The Association of Expatriate Civil Servants said high-ranking officials had lied under oath by saying the Government's controversial Opening Up scheme was not part of the disputed localisation programme.
Association vice-president Michael Scott asked the Court of Appeal to take the extraordinary step of re-opening a case, claiming a January court decision to uphold the scheme was won by fraudulent means.
But Mr Justice Barry Mortimer told the association their battle should be fought in a lower court to allow accused officials to present their side of the story.
'You can't expect the court to condemn someone for dishonesty without asking them what they've got to say,' he said. 'That's not fair.' The Court of Appeal refused to reopen the case and ordered the association to pay the Government's legal costs.
Outside the courtroom, Mr Scott said the expatriate civil servants would 'definitely' take their case to the Court of First Instance.
The Opening Up scheme, implemented in September 1995, removed high-ranking civil servants from their posts and put their jobs up for grabs. The ousted officials could then reapply for their old jobs.
