Compensation does not pay

PAYING compensation should never be seen as a way to pardon an offence by the victim or his or her family because justice has been undermined.
At the same time, taking revenge is the opposite end of the spectrum but just as wrong.
In Papua New Guinea, a country that has the majority of its people living in rural areas, this practice is usually upheld because the law is not present throughout the villages and districts.
It is time for law enforcement agencies to discourage the use of compensation to avoid prosecution for serious criminal charges.
We start off with police, they should not close cases simply because the victim’s relatives have withdrawn their charges after being paid compensation.
Lae Police boss Anthony Wagambie Jr felt compelled to publicly call on community leaders who are encouraging out-of-court settlements to stop the practice and refer sexual crimes to police.
Wagambie said all sexual offence cases should be referred to police and not dealt with elsewhere.
All sexual offences cases were serious and should be dealt with by police according to law and not at the community level.
And rightly said, those who entertain compensation and out-of-court settlements are as guilty as the offenders.
We support Wagambie on his stand that anyone found to be facilitating such activities must be arrested and charged.
Echoing the same sentiments, NCD police boss Perou N’Dranou said compensation was not part of the law and police will not entertain it.
However, he explained that people could pay compensation if the parties agreed to do that outside of the police station.
And because it is not part of the law, N’Dranou said police do not want to do it within the precinct of the police station because they could be seen as accommodating such things (compensation).
People in the rural areas are much less inclined to seek out the police if they can first solve the trouble peacefully and amicably among themselves.
But where does that leave the law and its precepts?
The most common way of solving problems was to give the aggrieved party a payment in the form of valuable goods with the intent of easing tension and to make amends for a wrong committed on another.
The more serious the offence, the bigger the payment.
This practice may have sufficed in a traditional society but it cannot in modern PNG.
If this practice was allowed to continue, money would become the sole arbiter of crime and punishment.
In many regards, compensation demands are seen as an easy way out for both parties who do not wish to go through the drawn-out process of the courts.
There are also selfish reasons for wanting compensation by relatives of the deceased or injured party.
It is not uncommon for relatives to want to benefit from a loss in any way they can.
The danger here is that a murderer could conceivably go unpunished if society deems compensation an acceptable form of justice.
The onus is on the police and law enforcement agencies not to accept compensation as a means to an end and see that justice is served whenever and wherever possible.
Lawyers — defence and prosecution — have a responsibility to ensure that justice prevails in all matters they are called to and not allow the law to be weakened and diluted.
For progress to be made as a nation, and as a people, the law must be the only bench mark by which we measure ourselves and by which order and peace is maintained.