Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia

Injia: Closely scrutinise bail applications on medical grounds

He said bail being sought from the courts on grounds of medical condition is becoming a common practice. It has developed over time in just every bail application involving high level people imprisoned for serious offences.

Sir Salamo made these comments when he refused bail to Western Governor Ati Wobiro, former Western Provincial Administrator Dr Modowa Gumoi and founder of Fly Care Inc. Norman May on Thursday by the Supreme Court.

Late Justice Davani’s casket arrives in PNG

Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia, Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika and other judges received her honour’s casket at 2pm after it arrived on board PX 004 from Brisbane, Australia.

The late judge’s husband, John Arthur Davani, was pushed out in a wheelchair, along with family members behind the casket, to a crowd of mourners before member of the PNG Defence Force carried her honour’s casket behind the Correctional Service pipe band.

Her body was taken to the funeral home where it will be kept.

PNG Judiciary starts using sentencing database

This will also reduce the number of appeals against sentencing.

Deputy chief executive of the Judicial Commission of New South Wales, Murali Sagi, said the sentencing database is not to limit a judge’s discretion but is a guide to deciding sentencing.

Designed by the Judicial Commission of New South Wales under the guidance of PNG’s Chief Justice, Sir Salamo Injia, the sentencing database provides judges similar cases and other reference materials to assist them with their decisions.

Five refugees for resettlement ‘test cases’

Lawyer Ben Lomai, who is representing over 600 residents at the processing centre, will be assisting the Supreme Court to identify five of his clients to undergo the resettlement test case.

The request came from Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia on Monday when receiving an update of the progress on processing on the island from Laias Kandi, the lawyer representing Immigration Minister Rimbink Pato and the Chief Migration officer Mataio Rabura.

Kondra’s appeal on fast track list

The case returned for directions on Thursday afternoon before Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia.

He directed parties in the case to return to court on Monday, July 18, and settle index books in the appeal before a hearing date is allocated for the appeal to be heard.  

Leave was granted by a three-judge Supreme Court bench on June 21 to hear the appeal. A stay was also granted on that day against the decision of the National Court on March 1, dismissing his judicial review.

​Ombudsman Commission’s appeal dismissed

Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia dismissed the appeal on Thursday. However, he said the Ombudsman Commission is at liberty to file a Supreme Court review of the National Court’s decision of Jan 28, 2015.

He said if a review is filed by the Ombudsman, it will be determined on its merits.

The Ombudsman’s appeal was dismissed after the court was told that the documents for the appeal could not be located in the registry, despite a Supreme Court reference number or court file number being given for the case on March 6, 2015.

​1010 transferees termed as ‘residents’ in Manus

This was what the lawyer representing the chief migration officer and Minister for Immigration, Laias Kandi, told the Supreme Court.

Kandi returned to court on Tuesday afternoon with a list of particulars, as requested by Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia on June 22, of all transferees brought to Manus from Australia in 2013. 

They have been categorised into three main groups; those processed and identified as refugees, the asylum seekers currently still undergoing processing and those identified as non-refugees.

Supreme Court ruling seen as protecting PNG rights

The changes, introduced by the Peter O'Neill-led government, included extending the grace period protecting a government from no-confidence votes from 18 to 30 months after an election. On top of the existing grace period of 12 months before an election, this amendment meant that government was effectively locked in and largely unaccountable for over two-thirds of PNG's five year parliamentary term.