The National Court can commit a person to prison for disobeying its orders. The District Court cannot. Its contempt power is a short statutory list, and understanding it explains why District Court orders are enforced the way they are.
The offences
(1) A person who (a) wilfully interrupts the proceedings of a Court; or (b) conducts himself disrespectfully to the Court during the sittings of the Court; or (c) obstructs or assaults a person in attendance, or an officer of the Court, in view of the Court; or (d) wilfully disobeys an order made by the Court under Section 63, may be excluded from the Court and is guilty of an offence. Penalty: a fine not exceeding K200.00.
(2) A person who, in the opinion of the Court, wilfully prevaricates in giving evidence is guilty of an offence. Penalty: a fine not exceeding K100.00.
(3) The Court in the presence of which an offence under this section is committed may immediately convict the person, on its own view or on the oath of some credible witness.
(4) If a person convicted under Subsection (1) makes to the Court, before its rising, such apology as it considers satisfactory, the Court may remit the fine wholly or in part.
Section 63 is the order that witnesses other than the parties go and remain outside the hearing of the Court until called. Disobeying it is the fourth head of contempt.
Three features
| Feature | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Confined to conduct in the face of the Court | Interruption, disrespect during the sitting, obstruction in view of the Court, prevarication in the witness box. Nothing done outside the courtroom falls within it |
| Summary conviction | The Court may convict immediately on its own view, without an information or a separate hearing, though the person should be told the charge and given the chance to answer |
| Fine only, with exclusion | No imprisonment, except in default of the fine under s 168 and the s 201 scale; the person may be removed from the Court |
The Magistrates’ Manual notes one unusual point: unlike other convictions, where the magistrate is functus officio once sentence is pronounced, a fine under section 277 may be remitted on an apology before the Court rises. That reflects the purpose of the power, which is to restore order rather than to punish.
No inherent power
The Manual states it directly: District Court magistrates do not have the inherent power to punish persons for contempt of court in the same manner as do National and Supreme Court Judges. Where an order directing a person to do or not do something is disobeyed, the consequences must come from a specific statutory source. This follows from Ex parte the Acting Public Prosecutor [1976] PNGLR 344, which held the District Courts to be creatures of statute with only the powers the Act confers, and from Constitution section 42(1)(b), which contemplates imprisonment for contempt only under the order of a court of record. See is the District Court a court of record and, for the National Court’s power, what is contempt of court.
So how is a District Court order 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 to do the act, the Court or a Magistrate may issue a warrant of commitment for the imprisonment of the defendant for such time as the conviction directs.
The Manual identifies this as the provision that enforces interim orders in the nature of injunctions and final orders for the delivery of a thing. The key words are “and directs”: the order itself must state the imprisonment that will follow non-compliance. An order that simply says “the defendant shall not enter the premises” has no teeth of its own; an order that adds “in default, imprisonment for 14 days” can be enforced by warrant. Orders for money are enforced under Part IX by execution, garnishee and, for fraudulent debtors, commitment. See enforcing an order to do something.
Contempt-like powers in other statutes
Some Acts give the District Court sitting under them a specific power. Section 73 of the Juvenile Justice Act 2014 deals with contempt of a Juvenile Court. Section 28 of the Coroners Act gives a coroner power to punish for contempt, subject, as the Act’s own annotation notes, to the Constitution. Breach of a family protection order is not contempt but a substantive offence under section 20 of the Family Protection Act 2013 carrying three years’ imprisonment, which is why that Act’s orders are more readily enforced than a Part X recognizance.
Procedure when section 277 is invoked
Because subsection (3) allows immediate conviction, the safeguards are the magistrate’s own. The Manual’s advice is a clear warning first, an even-tempered response, and use of the power only when a warning has failed. A person accused of contempt should be told what conduct is alleged and be allowed to explain or apologise; Constitution section 37 applies to this offence as to any other. A conviction under section 277 is a conviction for an offence and may be appealed to the National Court under section 219, though the more sensible course is usually the apology that subsection (4) invites.
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.