Fr Jan ‘not immune’ from criminal prosecution

POLICE followed correct processes in laying charges against Fr Jan Czuba, the Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (DHERST) secretary, a magistrate says.
Waigani Committal Court Magistrate Seth Tanei in a ruling yesterday said Fr Jan was taken to court legally and ordered that committal process against him should proceed.
“Fr Jan is an employee of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea and is subject to the laws of the country,” he said.
“He is the current secretary for DHERST and honorary consular of the Republic of Poland to PNG.”
Magistrate Tanei upheld prosecutor Const Peter Samghy’s submission that Fr Jan was not immune to criminal prosecution as he was not a career consul but an honorary consul and the acts that he was charged with, did not, in any way, connect to his functions as an honorary consul.
“It is my view that the Vienna Convention does not give any immunity from criminal prosecution to honorary consuls,” he said.
“Paragraph three of article 41 of the convention provides that a consular officer must attend court when he is charged with a criminal offence.
“Fr Jan is not immune from criminal prosecution, the committal court has the jurisdiction to administer committal proceedings against him.”
Magistrate Tanei made his ruling on an application by Fr Jan seeking dismissal of a committal court proceeding against him because he said the court had no jurisdiction to hear or preside over a matter if the law was not complied with, and that, he (Fr Jan) was immune from criminal prosecution by virtue of his position as honorary consul of Poland.
He submitted that the offences that he was charged with, related to his work as the Polish honorary consul, thus, he was performing his functions as a Polish honorary consul to PNG by connecting a Polish company with PNG.
Fr Jan is to return to court next Thursday.