The Judiciary has presented its 2015 annual report to the Governor-General in the hopes it will be presented and debated in parliament when the new government comes in.
Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia presented the report to Governor-General Bob Dadae today at the government house.
He said the judiciary would want to see the report tabled in parliament, through the office of the speaker, for debate because that is the only avenue for the courts to report on its activities to the public and the people of Papua New Guinea.
“It seems the reports have not been reaching parliament or if it has reached parliament and the reports end up in the business papers of parliament, they may not be presented formally and being debated. And I would like to see any parliament, the future parliament to receive this annual report and debate it,” he said.
He was unable to disclose the content of the report but generally outlined its features, such as the backlog of cases and suggestions on how to address them.
Sir Salamo said they identified 10 reasons for the backlog of cases in 2015, which resulted from low productivity in terms of disposing the case.
A report of complaints made against officers of the court, including judges, is another area highlighted in the report. Those complaints relate to both judicial and non-judicial functions.
A detailed report on the number of complaints received, their particulars and how the judiciary, through its own internal complaint investigation mechanism, addressed them, is also contained in the 2015 report of the judges.
(Loop PNG Picture by Kennedy Bani.)
