The Minister for Justice and Attorney General Pila Niningi has announced the restructure of the High Courts of Papua New Guinea.
Niningi said, “The Marape/Rosso government remains fully committed to ensuring that the legislative reforms to the Higher Courts are passed by Parliament and implemented successfully.”
In a press conference on the afternoon of Thursday Mar 23, Niningi revealed that the Court Restructure Committee comprises of six (6) senior Judges and the State Solicitor and his team of lawyers.
These Judges are:
- Justice Gavera-Nanu,
- Justice Ere Kariko,
- Justice Elenas Batari,
- Justice George Manugu, and
- Justice Joe Yagi.
Justice Les Gavera-Nanu, chairs the Committee. The State Solicitor also provides secretarial support apart from the technical legal assistance on the constitutional and other legislative reforms relating to the Court Restructure.
Niningi said the restructure will see the introduction of an “Appellate Court” between the Supreme and the National Court.
The Appellate Court will hear appeals from the National Court whilst the Supreme Court will review matters from the National Court and hear Constitutional references.
“The introduction of the Appellate Court will increase efficiency in Judiciary which will address the large number of backlog cases,” said Niningi.
The restructure will also see separate judges for each of the three courts, being the Supreme Court, which will be headed by the Chief Justice, the Appellate Court, which will be headed by the President, and the National Court which will be headed by a Principal Judge.
“The current system where judges sit on both the Supreme and National Court allowed a perception that the Courts were not impartial,” said the Minister.
The proposed changes to the current higher courts structure are aimed at implementing the proposals contained in the “Report in the 21st Century Court Restructure for Papua New Guinea” and the 2007 White Paper on Law and Justice.
In supporting the restructure program, a policy submission is before the National Executive Council seeking approval of the constitutional amendments.
Niningi says the restructure is intended to achieve an improved working system for judges, resolve their remuneration issues, enhance disposal of cases and more significantly, build a vibrant a judicial system that will further develop jurisprudence in PNG.