Lawyer fails to get Gamato charged

A LAWYER has failed to get Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato charged with contempt over the Southern Highlands Regional election last year.
Judge Collin Makail, in the Waigani National Court on Monday, dismissed the case after finding that the proceedings were based on a case that was discontinued by lawyer Daniel Tulapi on Sept 24 last year.
The defendants in the matter were Gamato, Electoral Commission lawyers and Southern Highlands Governor William Powi.
Tulapi had started proceedings to challenge the legality of the decision of the defendants to count votes well past the time fixed for the return of writs for the 2017 general election for Southern Highlands Regional. On the day of the trial, Tulapi discontinued the proceedings on the ground that Powi was returned as elected by the Electoral Commissioner under special circumstances pursuant to section 175 of the organic law on National and local government elections.
Tulapi believed that there was no utility to pursue them. He later changed his mind and filed notice to continue the proceedings.
The court found that on discontinuance, proceedings were terminated and ended.
“In this case, these proceedings were terminated at the date of discontinuance,” Justice Makail said.
“The collateral effect was that the term ‘proceedings’ referred to in Order 8, Rule 66, of the National Court Rules did not refer to the discontinued proceedings but the further proceedings.
“Thus this proceedings cannot be reinstated in the manner proposed by Tulapi.
“If parties agreed that discontinuance shall not bar the plaintiff from bringing a claim based on the same, or substantially the same cause of action and the discontinued proceedings is no defence to the further proceedings.”