Former junior minister Kern Spencer will know today if his application will be granted for his fraud trial to be put off until his appeal against a Constitutional Court ruling has been heard and determined.

The trial was to start on Monday in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court, but Court of Appeal Judge Dennis Morrison gave Spencer a stay until today.

Legal arguments were heard in chambers yesterday. Justice Morrison will give his ruling at 9 a.m.

Government lawyers Lackston Robinson and Carole Barnaby have opposed the application for the stay.

Last Friday, the Constitutional Court dismissed Spencer's motion in which he was seeking to ascertain from the director of public prosecutions (DPP) the circum-stances under which his former co-accused, Rodney Chin, had given a statement as a Crown witness while he was still an accused.

Defence lawyer Patrick Atkinson argued that the DPP's failure to give full disclosure was a breach of Spencer's constitutional right to a fair trial.

Spencer and his former assistant, Colleen Wright, are charged in connection with the Cuban light-bulb scandal. The charges range from conspiracy to defraud and money laundering to breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act.