Jurisdiction in the District Court is tied to place. Where the Court sits, and for what area, determines which charges and which claims it can hear.
Established for an area
The Judicial and Legal Services Commission may, by proclamation in the National Gazette, (a) establish a District Court for an area specified in the proclamation; and (b) abolish a District Court.
The Magistrates’ Manual records that a District Court has generally been established for the area of each province. The area matters because the venue rules in section 122 for criminal charges, and section 21(5) for civil complaints, are framed by reference to the province and to “the area for which the Court is constituted”. See where a charge must be heard and which Court to sue in.
Section 15 allows the Commission, when it abolishes a Court, to direct that its books and records be transferred to another named District Court and that all pending proceedings be heard and determined there. The receiving Court then has jurisdiction to make every order the abolished Court could have made. Nothing pending is lost.
Places for holding court
(1) The Judicial and Legal Services Commission may, by notice in the National Gazette, appoint places for holding Court.
(2) A Court shall not sit in a room or place other than a courthouse unless (a) there is no courthouse within a convenient distance; and (b) as much notice of the time and place of sitting as is practicable is given to members of the public likely to desire to attend.
The second limb protects the principle of open justice. Section 57 requires the room or place in which the Court hears an information or complaint to be an open and public court, and Constitution section 37(12) requires proceedings to be held in public except in the narrow cases it lists. A Court sitting in a classroom or a council chamber because there is no courthouse within reach must give the public notice. See open court.
Sittings for particular cases
Two provisions let the Court move for a particular case. Section 122(6) allows sittings for the summary trial of indictable offences to be held at such time and place as the Court determines. Section 123 allows a Court hearing a simple offence that could lawfully be heard at one of two or more places to adjourn the matter to the other place if the hearing would more conveniently take place there, remanding the defendant or admitting him to bail in the meantime; the defendant and every summoned witness are then bound to attend at the new place.
Sundays
| Section | Rule |
|---|---|
| s 8 | A magistrate may receive an information and grant or issue a warrant or summons on a Sunday as on any other day |
| s 10(1) | A warrant for compelling appearance, for apprehending a person charged, or of commitment, search or execution may be executed on a Sunday |
| s 27 | A Court may hear and determine an information or complaint on a Sunday as on any other day |
Whether a Court actually sits on a Sunday is a matter of listing, not of law; the point of section 27 is that a Sunday hearing, if one is held, is not invalid. These provisions matter most for arrests over a weekend. Section 55 requires a person taken into custody to be brought before a Court or a magistrate as soon as practicable, and Constitution section 42(3) says without delay. A Sunday is no excuse for holding someone until Monday if a magistrate is available.
Process runs throughout the country
(1) A warrant issued by a Magistrate may be executed in any part of the country.
(2) A summons issued by a Magistrate or Clerk may be served in any part of the country.
(3) A warrant need not be returnable at a particular time but may remain in force until executed, and a warrant of execution or commitment may be executed from time to time until satisfaction is obtained.
So although the Court’s adjudicating jurisdiction is local, its process is national. A Kokopo warrant can be executed in Lae, and a Goroka summons can be served in Port Moresby. Section 12 adds that a warrant or summons is not avoided because the magistrate who issued it has died or left office. See executing a warrant anywhere in PNG.
The presumption of jurisdiction
Section 9 provides that an act done or purporting to be done by or before a magistrate shall be taken to have been done within his jurisdiction in the absence of proof to the contrary. That presumption protects the validity of orders against technical attack, but the Magistrates’ Manual is right to describe it as a presumption only: it does not relieve the magistrate of the duty to check that the Court has jurisdiction over the place, the subject matter and the amount before proceeding.
The District Courts Act is not on PacLII; it is available on vLex. The Constitution is 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.