Compensation necessary for peace

Letters

COMPENSATION is the civil remedy to persons who are wronged by others.
This is according to Western law.
For crimes being committed, whether it be summary or indictable, there is criminal law in place to deal with.
A fine or a prison term is the remedy for committing crimes.
It does not allow for compensation.
The courts cannot impose a settlement order/compensation for a criminal offense.
The peacekeeping methods in Papua New Guinea involving compensation for crimes being committed is the only outside of court medium mixing customary and criminal laws.
This peacekeeping has been working well in our societies.
Because of the tribal system and customary obligations that we already have in place, we can’t do away with compensation in our locality.
We know for certain that pigs, money and other valuables don’t bring back life.
They don’t fix the damage someone has suffered, but has been an age-old tradition which is widely accepted in order to maintain peace.
Even if the criminal is arrested, compensation is the way forward, as it is perceived by many of those who are aggrieved.
In the courts, the judges weigh out the mitigating factors of the allocutus presented by the defence and the aggravating factors presented by the lawyer prosecuting the case and strike a decision in between.
If compensation is paid for a wilful murder committed by a criminal in the village, it doesn’t mean that the criminal is free because the compensation is paid.
That person still has a case to answer.
Judges review the mitigating factors in a prisoner’s statement and can reduce the severity of the penalties if compensation is truly paid.
For example; if the maximum penalty is 25 years for wilful murder, it can be reduced to say 10 years hard labour or so depending on its jurisdiction and judges power of hearing.
If a tribe/clan/family is accused of some form of crime, and if you know that you are criminally responsible, you need to accept the communal responsibility of compensation before you lose something of value.
Pigs, money and other valuables are nothing compared to a life, so just give it to them.
Other innocent lives can be lost because of ignorance.
The 21st Century is a gun century.
Guns are doing the actions indiscriminately.
The society responds quickly to a barrel of a gun.
This is actually happening in the upper highlands of PNG.
This is one way PNG is moving one step ahead.
Bows and arrows are becoming a thing of the past.
They are obsolete weapons that were used by our ancestors.
Compensation can be scrapped off by the Government by a new legislation if it is in the interest of the majority of the people.
The Government can then resort to other methods of peace making.
If it does so, it (Government) needs to send the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission to conduct awareness and lobby to eradicate our customary method of peacekeeping.
Get the views of the people and present them to Parliament in a bill for our leaders to consider.
The Constitution and the Customs Recognition Act recognises compensation because it is a good practice.
Most people resort to compensation as a medium of peacemaking.
I do not agree with compensations because it has cost me a lot of resources on several occasions.
Compensation will continue to cost me a lot of resource.
I cannot runaway to another country.
Even if I go, people in the village will say “we have a compensation to be paid, send pig and money”.
I can’t neglect this communal duty when I know too well that such ignorance can cost the whole village.
Compensation defeats the intention of someone who is to bring the law into their own hands by way of revenge.
Compensation is a method of wealth sharing.
In the capitalist society, the few who are accumulating wealth in the towns and cities do come home and share with their people.
It is the customary method of peacekeeping.
This method has been passed on from generations and will keep going for the generations to come.

James Litai,
Wabag