By Lindy Suharupa
Papua New Guinea’s Higher Courts system will see an introduction of the Appellate Court between the Supreme and the National Courts.
This was announced on Thursday, 23rd March, 2023, by Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Pila Niningi.
The Court Restructure Committee comprises of six (6) senior Judges including Justices Gavera Nanu, Ere Kariko, Elenas Batari, Greg Lay, George Manuhu and Joe Yagi as well as the State Solicitor and his team of lawyers.
The Appellate Court, according to Minister Niningi will see a large number of backlog cases being addressed efficiently.
The minister mentioned some advantages of the Appellate Court saying, “the Higher Court Restructure is intended to achieve an improved working system for judges, resolve judge’s remuneration issues, enhance disposal of cases and more significantly build a vibrant judicial system that will further develop jurisprudence in Papua New Guinea.”
Minister Niningi clarified that the restructure will also see separate Judges for each of the three Courts.
The Supreme Court will be headed by the Chief Justice, Appellate Court will be headed by the President and the National Court will be headed by a Principal Judge.
Minister Niningi explained that the current court system where Judges sit on both the Supreme and National Court allowed a perception that the Courts were not impartial hence, this perception needs to be removed.
“Other legislative changes under the Higher Court Restructure Program include amendments to the Organic Law on the Terms and Conditions of Employment of Judges so that it recognizes the three separate Courts with three different levels of Judges.
“This will also be expanded to include the Judges’ qualifications for appointments to the specific Courts and the basis for an appointment process that is open and transparent and requires consultation with judges of the Court to which an appointee is selected to be a Judge.”
The current Court Complex Project was designed to cater for the proposed three-tier higher judiciary comprising of the National Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, with continuous funding from the Marape/Rosso Government.
