Submission to be made for Court of Appeal: Sir Gibbs

By LUKE KAMA
CHIEF Justice Sir Gibbs Salika says a submission will be made to Parliament to establish a Court of Appeal in between the National Court and Supreme Court.
Sir Gibbs was at Government House in Port Moresby to present to Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae the 2017 annual management report of the National Judicial Staff Service.
He said one of the recommendations in the report was the need to establish a Court of Appeal.
“As you know, we are trying to get a three-tier court structure in the high court. Currently, we have the National Court and the Supreme Court,” he said.
“We have the District Court there but that is in the lower judiciary.
“The high courts are the National Court and the Supreme Court. And we want to have a Court of Appeal in between so that we will have a three-tier high court system.”
Sir Gibbs said the idea was to separate the Supreme Court from the National Court.
“There must be a separate Court of Appeal. In the other parts of the world and in the Pacific, some of the countries already have those separations,” he said.
“So that’s where we also want to get to. And in our country, the population is growing and the demand for court services is increasing all the time.”
He said the number of cases was increasing all the time and the same judges were presiding over cases in the National Court and Supreme Court.
“Thus, the judiciary need to have that Appeals Court in place to separate the Supreme Court from the National Court,” Sir Gibbs said.
He said the financial implication was a big factor which Parliament needed to approve.