A great deal of ordinary crime is technically indictable and yet ends in the District Court. The bridge is Schedule 2 of the Criminal Code and the election that goes with it.
The Criminal Code provision
(1) Where a person is charged before a District Court constituted by a Magistrate Grade V [now a Principal Magistrate] with an offence specified in Schedule 2, the Court may deal with the charge summarily according to the procedure set out in Section 421.
(2) Where the maximum penalty provided in this Code for that offence is imprisonment for a term exceeding 10 years, the maximum penalty which may be imposed is imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.
Section 421(1) provides that the proceedings follow Part VII of the District Courts Act, the same Part that governs simple offences. Section 421(2) lets the Court order restitution of the property concerned or payment of its value, with a scale of imprisonment in default. Section 20(1)(b) and (1A) of the District Courts Act mirror all this from the other side: the offence shall be heard by a Court constituted by one or more Principal Magistrates.
What is in Schedule 2
| Code section | Offence |
|---|---|
| 335, 340, 341 | Common assault; assault occasioning bodily harm; serious assaults |
| 322 | Wounding and similar acts |
| 328(5) | Dangerous driving of a motor vehicle causing death |
| 359, 362 | Threats; desertion of children |
| 372 | Stealing, including stealing by clerks, servants and agents |
| 383 | Unlawful use of motor vehicles |
| 395–401 | House-breaking, burglary, breaking into buildings and places of worship |
| 404, 406, 410 | False pretences; obtaining by fraudulent trick; receiving |
| 443, 451, 467 | Setting fire to crops; injuring animals; malicious injuries in special cases |
| 227–234 | Indecent acts, obscene publications, common nuisances, bawdy, gaming and betting houses, lotteries |
The full list is at the end of the Code on PacLII. Misappropriation under section 383A, robbery, rape and the homicide offences are not in it; those always go to the National Court. The Schedule was last amended in 1991, and the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission has since reviewed it, so the list should be checked against the current Code before any assumption is made about a particular offence.
The rationale is workload. The Magistrates’ Manual describes the Schedule as roughly eighty offences that are serious enough to be indictable but common enough that sending every one to the National Court would overwhelm it. Summary trial before a Principal Magistrate gives the State a faster route and the defendant a lower sentencing ceiling; the election lets the Public Prosecutor decide, case by case, which route the public interest requires.
The Public Prosecutor’s election
The Public Prosecutor may, in his absolute discretion, elect the method of proceeding under Section 420 of the Criminal Code, including the withdrawal of an information.
— Public Prosecutor (Office and Functions) Act (Chapter 338)
In The State v The Principal Magistrate, District Court, Port Moresby; Ex parte the Public Prosecutor [1983] PNGLR 43 the Supreme Court held that when an information is laid for a scheduled offence, the matter is, and must proceed on the basis of being, a committal matter, until or unless the Public Prosecutor elects for it to be dealt with summarily. Until the election, the person is not “charged” under section 420 at all.
The Magistrates’ Manual describes the “Schedule 2 arrangements” that followed: the election is to be made after the charge is determined and before the documents are served under section 94, and if the Public Prosecutor fails to elect within a reasonable time the case is treated as an ordinary committal. If the Public Prosecutor elects summary trial, the case is transferred to a Principal Magistrate and the Public Prosecutor keeps the power to withdraw it.
Section 61A(2) of the District Courts Act reflects the same control: an information for a section 420 offence cannot be withdrawn without the consent of the Public Prosecutor. See withdrawing a charge.
What the election changes for the defendant
| Feature | Summary trial before a Principal Magistrate |
|---|---|
| Procedure | Part VII: plea, hearing and sentence in the District Court, without a committal or a National Court trial |
| Time limit for the charge | None: section 36(2) disapplies the six-month limit for Schedule 2 offences |
| Sentence | The Code maximum, but no more than 10 years (s 420(2)); the Court may still abstain under s 23 if the case is too grave |
| Appeal against sentence by the State | Available: s 219(4) lets the Public Prosecutor appeal a sentence for a s 420 offence to the National Court |
| Record | The conviction, or the certificate of dismissal, must be transmitted to the Registrar of the National Court under s 208 |
The cap in section 420(2) is the reason section 23 matters. A Principal Magistrate who hears the facts and concludes that ten years is not enough must abstain and commit for trial. See the heaviest sentence the District Court can give.
The District Courts Act is not on PacLII; it is available on vLex. The Criminal Code text quoted is the consolidation to 22 July 2024 on PacLII.
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.