Transcripts obtained upon payment

JUSTICE David Cannings says court transcripts are obtained upon payment at the National and Supreme Court’s registry.
Justice Cannings said this in Waigani on April 11, when a lawyer representing an ex-chief executive officer of Asia Pacific Insurance Broker Limited who was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for misappropriation, requested for the court to issue an order for them to obtain a transcript.
He said the court may issue an order for the court officer responsible in preparing the transcript, but “you must pay to get it”.
Lawyer David Dotaona, representing Robert Ralewa, 56, of Hula in Central, said he wanted the transcript of the Supreme Court decision made in December last year when they refused Ralewa’s appeal against his conviction and sentencing.
This was because Ralewa, through Dotaona, was filing another appeal (slip rule application) challenging that decision, saying that parts of the decision were erred.
Ralewa was convicted of misappropriating K931,800 belonging to Asia Pacific Insurance Broker Ltd after a trial.
He was convicted on May 5, and sentenced on July 28, 2022.
He then filed a review against his conviction.
A three-man Supreme Court bench after considering submissions from him and the State, dismissed Ralewa’s appeal and confirmed his conviction and sentence.
He has now filed a review claiming that part of the decision was erred.
The matter returns on May 7, for further directions hearing.