Ministers of State could attend government meetings as no constitutional breach established

The High Court (sitting as a division of three) refused an application for judicial review brought by a member of the legislature challenging the regular attendance and participation of certain ministers of state at government meetings, known as 'Super Junior Ministers'. The applicant argued that this practice was designed to circumvent constitutional limits on the number of government members and infringed principles of collective responsibility and cabinet confidentiality. The court found that while only up to fifteen members may be formally appointed to government, the Constitution does not expressly or impliedly prohibit non-members, such as ministers of state, from being invited to attend and contribute to government meetings. The court concluded that there was no clear disregard of constitutional requirements, nor any undermining of government accountability or confidentiality, and thus refused to grant any relief. As a result, related challenges to the payment of allowances to such ministers of state also failed.