Supreme Court

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.

Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia granted the stay order this afternoon.

This means the arrest warrant that was issued by the Waigani District Court, on 12 June 2014, cannot be effected by police on the Prime Minister until the court determines the appeal.

PM O’Neill’s lawyers filed the appeal in the Supreme Court yesterday to challenge the decision of the National Court, which dismissed the judicial review former Police Commissioner Geoffrey Vaki filed in 2014.

The dismissal of the case also means the interim relief of March 23, which stayed their termination as well as eviction from Air Niugini’s accommodation, was also discharged.

Captains Joseph Kumasi, Boris Ageda, Vincent Tongia, Benjamin Lopa, Norman Daniel, and first officers Elijah Yuangi, David Seken and Abel Kanego, were terminated in September over allegations of misconduct.

They filed a judicial review in the National Court and a stay against their termination was granted on Oct 7, 2016.

The Ombudsman Commission filed a special reference in the Supreme Court and successfully obtained the orders on Friday at 4:30pm.

The court allowed for the extension of the return of writs from July 28 to July 31.

Ombudsman Commission was ordered to serve the court orders on the Electoral Commission by Friday 10pm.

The Clerk of Parliament and Secretary for Justice will also have to be served the orders by 2pm of Saturday, July 29.

The writs were returned to the head of state on Friday at 4pm, however only 80 of the 111 electorates’ writs were given. 

The court today heard an application by lawyer representing incumbent Kandep MP, Don Polye, asking the Supreme Court to admit two ballot boxes and refuse nine from being counted. 

The two ballot boxes are from the Kanian and Kinduli polling areas and were set aside from counting by the returning officer, without any objection raised, the court was told.

This appeal was filed by James Yoka Ekip and Simon Sanagke.

According to Electoral Commission list of candidates, Ekip and Sanagke are two candidates vying for the Hagen Open seat this election.

The appeal is challenging the National Court’s decision in refusing leave to judicially review the decision of Electoral Commissioner, Patilias Gamato, in appointing Paul Goema and Andrew Kerowa, as the returning officer and assistant returning officer respectively.