Don’t interfere with positions

The National Letters

WHILE welcoming Justice Minister Bryan Kramer’s initiatives to reform the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, a caution should be extended, that there is clear demarcation of political responsibility of a minister in the department.
The minister can only go as far as the secretary’s level and not below that.
The last thing this department want to see is political interference in administrative matters, especially in the selection of officers.
Apart from the secretary, state solicitor and solicitor-general, all selections for positions below the deputy secretary level are done under Public Service Management Act and general orders. In terms of reforms in the department, the minister needs to revisit a ‘White Paper on Law and Justice in Papua New Guinea’ and direct the secretary to implement some of the recommendations to:

  • CREATE a lawyers’ chamber which is separate from the Justice Department so that the department can be headed by a non-legal officer as secretary while lawyers chambers should be headed by a lawyer to ensure effective general management and administration of the justice administration;
  • CREATE single land tribunal commission by merging Land Titles Commission and National Land Commission;
  • IN terms of efficiency, the issue is the removal of section 32 powers by the secretary from branch executive managers who manage programmes and activities. The removal of financial powers is causing delays for branches to implement various programmes by delaying payments for goods and services; and,
  • GIVE more prominence to village courts secretarial as it manages almost 20,000 village courts officials and land mediators, elevating to a fully pledged secretariat would be a way to go to ensure village courts deliver effective justice services at the community level.

Jaytee20
Waigani