Supreme Court

His lawyer, John Napu, will be seeking leave of the court today to review the decision of November 16, which allowed the petition to stay alive in the Court of Disputed Returns.

Kaupa filed a motion on Oct 18 seeking dismissal of the entire proceeding, claiming the petition was filed one day late.

The National Court ruled the petition was filed within the 40-day period after the declaration date and was on time.

The court said the public holiday on August 24 (National Repentance Day) does not affect the calculation as the petition was filed on the 40th day.

The applications briefly came before the Supreme Court today and were adjourned to the end of the month.

The application seeking contempt charges were against Sir Mekere Morauta, Patrick Pruaitch, Kerenga Kua, Belden Namah and Bryan Kramer.

It was filed in the two joint appeals that is challenging the National Court’s decision of August 8, which found that the court cannot judicially review the arrest warrant that was issued against the Prime Minister in 2014.

The joint appeals have been heard with a decision pending from a three-man Supreme Court bench.

The tribunal sitting resumed this morning for the leader to give evidence after an indication was given yesterday to members of the tribunal and the counsel assisting tribunal that he will give evidence as a witness today.

However this morning, his lawyer Greg Sheppard told the tribunal he received instructions last night that his client will not give evidence.  

This comes after the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by Barava Limited, challenging the decision of the National Court dated 7 October 2016.

That decision of the National Court nullified the Special Agricultural Business Lease given to Barava Ltd, on portion 101, 102 and 307, on Milinch, Kokopo, East New Britain Province.

The National Court ordered the Department of Lands and Physical Planning, through the registrar of titles and the Minister for Lands, to issue the lease to Gire Gire Estates Limited.

The adjournment is to allow time for businessman and Madang Governor Peter Yama, to get proper legal advice and file his submissions on a counter-claim of K17 million by BSP against the Yama Group of Companies.

Yama filed the lawsuit in 2015, claiming the damage of K2.7 billion, after the Supreme Court on December 2014, ruled in favour of Smugglers Inn Ltd and the Yama Group of Companies, following a 13-year court battle with Bank South Pacific (formerly PNG Banking Corporation).

What is happening in most cases is that, rather than taking this important crucial step, they choose to deal with persons who claim to be landowners when in fact, they may not be the true and correct landowners.

This was highlighted by a three-man Supreme Court bench recently when handing down a ruling on an appeal involving customary land owners of Abau in the Central Province and a logging company.

He was sentenced last month to 13 years over the murder of Lapan Nason in 2015.

Today the Supreme Court allowed an application asking the court to appeal his sentence, which was handed down on August 21.

He was previously allowed to appeal against his conviction, dated May 29.

These two appeals will be joined and heard at the same time. The joined appeal will be set at a later date.

Justice Stephen Kassman, in granting leave to hear the appeal, was satisfied the ground proposed had merits.

Lawyer for NCDC, Peter Kuman, today asked the bench, made up of Justice Stephen Kassman, Justice John Logan and Justice Robert Lee Lindsay, to quash the National Court’s decision of 2 March 2016.

The National Court had previously ordered NCDC to pay Yama Security Services (YSS) Ltd a total of K17,871,510 in damages for breaching a contract, which was to have ended in 2002.

Today Kuman told the court that decision should be quashed because there was no evidence put by Yama Security Services of the loss it suffered then, as a result of the breach.

His lawyers filed the case, asking the court to hear the appeal, against his conviction of manslaughter that was handed down on May 29 at the Waigani National court.

The appeal is on questions of fact.

He was found guilty on May 29 for unlawfully assaulting Lapan Nason on June 6, 2015, that led to his death two days later.

Parker was convicted for manslaughter, the lesser homicide charge after he stood trial for the charge of wilful murder in the Waigani National Court.  

This appeal was filed in June, after his conviction, pending the court’s sentence.

The two seperate appeals were joined after parties in the case agreed, that they had similar grounds, as both appeals arise from the same National Court decision, which dismissed the review case, challenging the legality of the arrest warrant that was taken out against the Prime Minister in June 2014.