Nauru Photo: AFP or licensors
The nineteen Nauru men facing charges over an anti-government protest will have to wait until September 13th to find out if they are free.
The men last week asked Supreme Court Judge Geoffrey Muecke to grant a permanent stay on their case, on the grounds that it had been dragging on for more than three years.
The Nauru 19, as they are called, also argue the charges should be dropped because the Nauru government failed to comply with an earlier court directive to pay the group's Australian lawyers some of their costs over the past year.
The payment wasn't made and the government indicated it would appeal, although it had no appeal court after abolishing the right of appeal to the Australian High Court earlier this year.
A replacement court is on the way, with eminent Pacific judges named last month to sit on it, but the government has indicated it may be October before it is fully in place.