Posted By Staff Reporter
By PNG Party This afternoon, the Supreme Court comprising of Kandakasi DCJ, Cannings J and Sheperd J, upheld an objection to competency, by PMJM, to the section 18 Supreme Court Reference (Application) filed by Opposition leader Hon Belden Namah, which challenged the constitutionality of the appointment of Hon James Marape as the Prime Minister. Out of the four objection points raised by PMJM, three were dismissed and only one was upheld, in which the Application failed to conform with the prescribed form under the Supreme Court Rules (Form 1) and was incorrectly entitled as a “Reference” when it ought to have been titled “Application”. As for the other objection grounds, the Supreme Court interestingly found that – (a) Hon Belden Namah was the Leader of Opposition and had the capacity to file the application; (b) The other parties (including PMJM) to the application were estopped from raising arguments as to whether the Application failed to adequately state the preferred interpretation of each proposed constitutional provision, as these arguments were previously raised and dealt with in the recent application for standing, which ruling was given earlier this week. As is always the case and in this case, an objection to competency does not concern the merits of a proceeding, but rather relates to procedural and mandatory compliance with the rules and relevant laws. The merits of the Application can only be dealt with provided that the Application is in itself competent. In this case, the Application was incompetent due to non-compliance with Form 1, as pointed out by the Court hence, it was dismissed. The merits of the Application remain intact, and are yet to be deliberated upon. The Opposition Leader now has the option of amending the Application to conform with the Form and relevant rules, and refile it and also seek an expedited hearing and consent to any party wishing to intervene. There are no restrictions imposed by the Constitution prohibiting the Opposition Leader from doing that. A section 18 Application is unique in that sense, as unlike ordinary cases where there are time restrictions for a litigant to refile his case after the Courts find it to be incompetent. The Opposition Leader can do so only if he is truly concerned about the constitutionality of the appointment of PMJM. If the Opposition leader refiles a new application, PMJM and other Interveners to the proceeding would be barred from raising the same issues, which are: Standing and Capacity and whether the application fails to state each provision of the constitutional laws ought to be interpreted, as these issues have already been dealt with. Next : Judiciary: PNG’s Last Defense Against Executive Carnage, And A Legislature On Her Knees Note: Let Your Views be heard : Send all your Political Commentaries to us through our email : pngfacts@gmail.com Share this Comments are closed.
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