Remedy Increasings Election-Related Cases

Sir Arnold Amet... launched book.

Former Papua New Guinea chief justice Sir Arnold Amet has criticised the country's judiciary saying it is not adequately upholding the application of the rule of law in Papua New Guinea.

Amet said the many cases that went before the courts were dismissed on technicalities particularly election related cases.

Amet said the most important thing the judiciary should do now is to look at the cases and make appropriate laws to remedy the situation in relation to election processes.

He was speaking at the launching of a book titled Judicial Scrutiny of the Electoral Process in a Developing Democratic State, authored by several academics at the University of Papua New Guinea. Amet expressed concern that the courts are still dealing with the same inefficiencies relating to elections all the time.

"It is extremely important that we must improve our ability to respond to these repeated inefficiencies," he said.

"The judiciary has an important role to play in these cases. Instead of just dismissing them on technicalities and forgetting about them, they should know that more of such cases will pop up in the courts in future."

He said it is proper for stakeholders to take seriously the concerns and opinions raised in the book to remedy situations related to election disputes in the future because most of these cases are a "waste" of the court's time.

The book is a contribution from the university and the School of Law to the growth of knowledge of stakeholders. It provides guidelines in dealing with or minimising inefficiencies that result from democratic elections.

Amet and Chief Ombudsman, Ila Geno also contributed chapters to the book.

Geno said the perception of getting "rich overnight" has been an influencing factor in the increase of candidates in general elections.

High election or political casualties and inefficiencies usually occur as candidates go through fierce battles to win elections.

He said that violence and battles occur when the race to the finish line becomes an affair of families, tribes, and clans.

This is driven by the perception that once a person becomes an MP, they become rich overnight. This gives rise to the sharing of these riches to benefit clansmen and tribes.

He said Papua New Guinea's constitution guarantees anyone the right to stand for public office and the right to vote.

This plus the perception of getting rich overnight has seen an increase in the number of candidates in every election.

This being the case, all stakeholders should anticipate an increase in election petitions in the 2007 election.

There is absolutely no shortage of allegations for the courts to go through to arrive at the facts nor is there any lack of allegations to sometimes muzzle the number of disputed returns.

"The courts and lawyers must be properly prepared for the deluge of election petitions, and this book provides some guidelines to address the issues that come before the courts," he said.

Contributing editor, Alphones Gelu urged for collaboration between all academic units to publish books.

He said a multi-disciplinary approach is the best way to publish books. Gelu who completed his PhD at Auckland University was part of the three-man editorial team that put together the book. The others are Eric Kwa currently pursuing PhD studies in Auckland and law lecturer, Wilfred Golman.