District Courts make restraining orders every day: stop harassing the complainant, stop removing the fence, stop interfering with the business. The power exists, but it is narrower and harder to enforce than the National Court’s, and it has a clear boundary.
The source of the power
A Court has jurisdiction in all personal actions at law or in equity within the money limit (s 21(1)).
Subject to this Act, a Court as regards a cause of action for the time being within its jurisdiction shall, in proceedings before it, (a) grant such relief, redress or remedy, or combination of remedies, whether absolute or conditional; and (b) give the same effect to every ground of defence or counterclaim, whether equitable or legal, as ought to be granted or given in a similar case by the National Court and in as full and ample a manner (s 22).
The Magistrates’ Manual describes section 22 as the general authority to make appropriate orders, supplemented by regulation 46, which lets the Court look to National Court practice where the Regulation is silent. So on a claim for breach of contract the Court may order specific performance of a small contract; on a claim in nuisance it may order the nuisance to stop; on a claim between partners it may order an account.
The limit: a cause of action within jurisdiction
A complaint in the Port Moresby District Court sought to restrain a man from interfering with unregistered land at Erima on which his estranged wife had built a house. The magistrate dismissed it as an abuse of process: the true nature of the complaint was a claim to title to land and not a claim for equitable relief, and a claim to title is available under section 6 of the Summary Ejectment Act to a person with clear title, not under section 22. Makail J dismissed the appeal.
Section 22 opens with the words “as regards a cause of action for the time being within its jurisdiction”. It adds remedies to a case the Court can hear; it does not add cases. A restraining order about land whose title is in dispute, or about a matter in section 21(4), or worth more than the money limit, is outside power however it is framed. See land disputes.
Interim and ex parte orders
The Act has no provision like Order 14 of the National Court Rules for interim injunctions, but the Manual treats interim orders as within section 22 and regulation 46, and refers to the enforcement of “interim orders in the nature of injunctions” under section 171. An interim order is commonly sought at the first return of the summons, and sometimes ex parte where urgency justifies it. Two cautions apply. An ex parte order is liable to be set aside under section 25 on the ordinary grounds; see setting aside an ex parte order. And the District Courts (Amendment) Act 2009, when it commences, inserts a section 24A providing that an order made when one party does not appear shall not be granted unless the Chief Magistrate has made rules of practice and procedure for such orders under section 21A.
How a restraining order is enforced
Where a Court orders the doing of an act other than the payment of money and directs that, in case of the defendant’s neglect or refusal to do the act, he shall be imprisoned, and the defendant neglects or refuses, the Court or a Magistrate may issue a warrant of commitment for such time as the conviction directs.
The District Court has no inherent contempt power, so an order that does not itself state the consequence of disobedience is difficult to enforce. A complainant seeking a restraining order should ask for the order to include a direction under section 171 fixing a term of imprisonment in default, so that breach can be dealt with by warrant. See enforcing an order to do something and contempt.
Statutory alternatives
| Situation | Order |
|---|---|
| Violence or harassment within a family | Family protection order under the Family Protection Act 2013; breach is an offence carrying three years |
| Threats by anyone else | Surety to keep the peace under Part X of the District Courts Act |
| Convicted offender to be kept away from an area | Restriction of movement under s 205B |
| Property in dispute pending a decision | Interim order under s 22 with a s 171 direction, or an order retaining exhibits under s 145(3) |
Each of these carries its own enforcement mechanism, which is why they are often preferable to a bare injunction under section 22.
When the National Court is the better forum
An injunction that must bind a company’s operations, restrain a public body, protect land whose title is contested, or be enforced by committal for contempt is a National Court matter; see the National Court series on judicial review and interim injunctions. The District Court’s equitable jurisdiction is real but it is for small, clear, personal disputes.
The District Courts Act is not on PacLII; it is available on vLex.
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the District Courts Act (Chapter 40) and check for later amendments. The Act is not on PacLII; the figures and time limits quoted in this series come from the consolidation to No 8 of 2000, and the District Courts (Amendment) Act 2009 changes some of them once it is brought into operation. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.