Court dismisses DDA Act case

THE Supreme Court has dismissed a special reference filed by several provincial executives challenging the constitutionality of amendments to the organic law on provincial and local level governments and the District Development Authority Act (2014).
The decision was made at Waigani on Friday by a five-man bench comprising Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika and Justices Ellenas Batari, David Cannings, Colin Makail and Berna Joan Collier. The court ordered that the objection to competency by interveners was upheld and the special reference was dismissed.
Justice Cannings said the costs of the first intervener the Attorney-General would be paid by the first, second, third and sixth referrers and the third intervener (Western Highlands executive).
“The other parties shall bear their own costs of the reference, including all applications and interlocutory proceedings relating to the reference.”
The referrers were Enga executive (first referrer), Southern Highlands executive (second referrer), New Ireland executive (third referrer), Gulf executive (fourth referrer), Oro executive (fifth referrer) and East Sepik executive (sixth referrer).
The Madang executive was named as the second intervener.
Justice Cannings said the Attorney-General objected to competency of the reference on two grounds – first, that the reference did not meet the signing requirements of the SCR and was not properly authorised; and, second, that the reference was filed by multiple referrers and there was no provision in the Constitution or the SCR for such a procedure.
The court stated that the signing requirement was not complied with, therefore, the reference was unauthourised, the court’s jurisdiction was not properly invoked and the reference was incompetent.
The special reference sought clarification of the interpretation and application of a point of constitutional law by the Supreme Court pursuant to Section 19 (1) of the Constitution, being the following two questions – is Section 33A of the Organic Law on provincial governments and local level governments (district development authority (amendment)) Law 2014 unconstitutional, invalid and of no effect? and, is the District Development Authority Act 2014 unconstitutional, invalid and of no effect?