Courts’ decisions must be respected

Letters, Normal
Source:

The National, Wednesday 08th Febuary 2012

THE action by the NEC to prevent the chief justice from entering his office when there was a stay order by the Supreme Court is very dangerous in a country that is governed by a Constitution and the rule of law
In the constitutional democracy we adopted, each of the three arms of government exercises the powers and responsibilities of the people independently and collectively.
The legislative power of the people is exercised through the elected members of parliament.
The executive power is exercised through the National Executive Council.
The judicial power of the people is exercised through the judiciary.
The three arms of government are independent and complementary.
Then it makes sense when we say that the government is by the people and for the people.
The ongoing political crisis is a cause for concern.
The politicians’ (who make up the parliament and the NEC) fight for power has spilled over to the judiciary.
The executive arm, which controls the police, is already undermining the court decisions and court orders.
In a society governed by its constitution and the rule of law, court decisions are sacrosanct, meaning that one cannot disobey them.
The court order should always take precedence over any other decision, including NEC decisions and decisions by parliament.
If one does not agree, they will have to go back to the same court or to a higher court of appeal to challenge that decision.
The courts’ primary function is to interpret the law and to apply or enforce the law.
The police and the correctional service come in to help enforce the law as interpreted and ordered by the court.
The recent action by the NEC to use the police to prevent the chief justice from entering his office to perform his duty when at the same time there is an order by the Supreme Court staying the NEC decision to suspend the chief justice is not in line with the idea of the rule of law as many of us, lawyers and non-lawyers, would understand.
A court order is a court order, which cannot be undermined or disobeyed, even by the NEC.
If the NEC does not agree, it should go to the Supreme Court which granted the orders and challenge it.
The NEC cannot resort to the use of force to disobey a court order.
It is a very bad and dangerous precedent.
Let us be clear that PNG is not a police state.
PNG is a constitutional democracy governed by the rule of law.
The political leaders who caused this crisis must quickly put an end to this fight for power and privileges.
The fight only amounts to an abuse of the people’s power vested in those leaders.
The people have exercised lot of restrain in the recent past already.
The crisis must not be prolonged to test the patience of the people.
All law-abiding citizens, law enforcement officers and agencies must take a united stand to condemn this contemptuous action by the NEC.
Judges, who have been recently appointed in this crisis situation, should not take up the appointments announced by the government.

Paul Harricknen
Via email