Procedural matters have delayed submissions in the Bhosip Kaiwi case that is currently before the Waigani Committal Court.
Boship Kaiwi has been accused of killing his wife and therefore charged with Willful Murder.
The matter returned today before Magistrate Tracy Ganai.
Police prosecutions although had submitted their files to the defendant’s lawyers earlier, today informed Court, that they had made minor amendments to their files and would like to resubmit.
The amendments include the inclusion of an interpretation clause and the renumbering of the pages.
The interpretation clause is to advise all parties that some witnesses had given their statements in Pidgin and the investigation officer had translated.
The intention to serve the amended police files was objected to by Kaiwi’s lawyer, Mathew Wenge from Luther’s Lawyers.
Wenge argued that it was unfair to hand over an amended Hand -Up Brief or the police file to Court when they had already based their submissions on the original Hand Up Brief.
He submitted that such practice is an abuse of the court process and would infringe on the defendant’s right under Section 37 (4)(c) which requires that the Defendant be given adequate time and facilities to prepare his Defense.
He said it is an unusual practice that would only derail the committal process and infringe on the defendant’s right to be tried within a reasonable time.
Wenge further argued that there is no provision in the District Court Act that allows for amendment of the Police Hand Up Brief.
The practice is that, where there are major errors or flaws in the Police Hand Up Brief, the Court usually strikes out the matter and then the police would amend the Police Hand Up Brief and re-arrest the Defendant and re-charge him.
While the police prosecutor affirmed that the evidence has not changed despite these minor amendments, Kaiwi’s lawyer asked if the Prosecutor could point out the relevant laws.
With the prosecutor unable to assist the court, Magistrate Ganai took the points into consideration and adjourned the matter to Friday to make a decision.
