Court clarifies stance on adulterous relationship

COURTS do not have any legal power to stop people caught in adulterous relationships from getting married, senior magistrate Tracy Ganaii says.
“The law is clear. If the court finds someone guilty of committing adultery, the court will just make an order for compensation.
“A time frame is given for compensation payment. If compensation is not settled, warrants of arrest can be issued to arrest the adulterers and to be remanded in jail,” she said.
Ganaii made the remarks at the National Capital District Family Court on Friday after an adulterous couple settled a K1000 compensation under the Adultery and Enticement Act of 1988.
“What happens after (paying compensation) is a whole new case again. Courts do not have the power under the Act to order or stop people from seeing each other.
“If I make such an order, it’s unconstitutional. I have no power to stop people from getting married, unless you go through a legal dissolution of marriage, then courts can make such orders.
“Otherwise, our powers are limited to just deciding on compensation. We cannot go beyond (that),” she said, adding that polygamous relationships were founded in such cases in PNG.
“We don’t have laws on polygamy. We used to have polygamy laws ages ago but that law was shelved due to customary laws,” she said.
“And so you can’t come and ask the court to make an order to stop your spouse from marrying someone else.”