National and Supreme Courts

Court Told To Prioritise Cases

Mr Namah said he had filed an urgent Section 18 (1) Application to have the Supreme Court rule on whether or not Parliament was in breach of the Constitution on the 63 Days Mandatory Sitting Days in relation to the 2021 Parliamentary Calendar Year.

“By my count, Parliament is in breach but only the Supreme Court has the powers to interpret and put this matter to rest beyond any doubt as it is its sole mandate to do so,” Mr Namah said.

New protocols for Courts

The new protocol came into effect today Tuesday 13th April and will remain for the next 3 months.

Following the partial lockdown of all court houses throughout the country from March 30th to April 13th, all staff have been asked to return to work on a two-week shift.

Augerea said the COVID-19 pandemic in PNG will continue to be a serious concern therefore the judiciary is imposing these measures and at the same time will carry out its mandated duty to serve the public.

​Legal battle on CS Commissioner’s post continues

This follows the lengthy submissions presented yesterday by parties involved.

The court will hear an application from National Court re-instated commissioner, Michael Waipo challenging the competency of Ben Nepo’s appeal that was heard yesterday.

Yesterday Nepo’s asked the court to stay the National Court’s decision of May 5 reinstating Michael Waipo as Correctional Service Commissioner.

More judges appointed

The appointment of the five acting judges will bring the total number of judges to 43.

The five  new judges will be officially sworn into office at a later date.

The appointment of the five acting judges was announced by the Chairman of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission and Minister for Justice and Attorney General Ano Pala following a meeting last month.

This will help strengthen the judiciary’s capacity in dealing with the backlog of cases pending before the courts, especially those criminal cases.