Each District Court is established for an area. A civil complaint must be brought in a Court whose area has the right connection with the defendant or the dispute, and the Act gives three connections to choose from.
The three connections
Subject to this section, a Court has jurisdiction when (a) the defendant, or one of two or more defendants, is usually resident, or carries on business; or (b) the cause of action wholly or partly arose; or (c) the defendant has given an engagement or written promise to pay a debt or sum at a specified place, in the area for which the Court is constituted.
The Magistrates’ Manual notes that, unlike the National and Supreme Courts, which have jurisdiction throughout the country, the District Courts have geographic jurisdiction only over the areas provided for by statute, and that in civil cases it is determined mainly by the defendant’s residence or business or the place where the cause of action arose. A District Court has generally been proclaimed for each province, so the practical question is which province.
| Facts | Where the complaint may be brought |
|---|---|
| Goods sold in Lae to a buyer who lives in Goroka and has not paid | Morobe (cause of action arose) or Eastern Highlands (defendant resides) |
| Contract signed in Port Moresby for work done in Wewak, with a clause saying payment is to be made at the contractor’s Madang office | National Capital District, East Sepik or Madang (written promise to pay at a specified place) |
| Two defendants, one in Kokopo and one in Kimbe, jointly liable | East New Britain or West New Britain (residence of “one of two or more defendants”) |
| Company with its registered office in Port Moresby and a branch in Mt Hagen where the dispute arose | Western Highlands (carries on business; cause of action arose) or NCD |
Defendants in Australia
Section 21(6) to (8) contain an unusual extension: a Court has jurisdiction although the defendant is not in the country if the defendant is within a State or Territory of Australia, whether or not he has ever resided or carried on business in Papua New Guinea. The provision dates from the colonial period and has never been repealed. Service in Australia would still have to be effected in a manner the Court accepts, and enforcement of the resulting order in Australia is a separate question governed by Australian law on foreign judgments.
Brought to the wrong Court
On the hearing of a complaint, if the defendant objects that he is brought to the wrong Court and if, before any evidence is given in support of the complaint, he satisfies the Court that the complaint could more conveniently and more properly be heard before some other Court, the first Court shall not proceed further but the Magistrates present, by memorandum signed by them or one of them, shall adjourn the complaint to the other Court, which shall hear and determine it.
Three features. The objection must be taken before evidence, so a defendant should raise it at the first appearance. The test is convenience and propriety, not strict jurisdiction; a defendant may succeed even though the complainant’s Court technically had jurisdiction under section 21(5). And the result is an adjournment to the other Court, recorded in Form 8 under regulation 36, not a dismissal; the complaint continues there.
A vexatious choice of Court
Where an objection under section 150 is established and the defendant at once complains that he has been brought to the wrong Court vexatiously and oppressively, the Court shall immediately and without further summons hear and determine that complaint in a summary way, and if it agrees may order the original complainant to pay the defendant, by way of compensation or amends, such reasonable sum as the Court directs, together with the costs of the order.
Section 151 is the sanction against suing a villager in a distant town to make it hard for him to appear. The compensation is in addition to costs and is fixed by the Court on the spot.
Transfer at the Court’s initiative
Independently of any objection, section 24(1) lets the Court at any time before judgment, for recorded reasons, stay a complaint and transfer it to another District Court, or to the National Court if it could have started there. See transfer of cases. And where a case has been decided, section 166 lets enforcement be moved to the Court nearest the debtor; see enforcement in another town.
Criminal charges are different
Venue for a criminal charge is fixed by section 122: the province where the offence was committed or where the defendant lives or is when the information is laid, with the 33-kilometre rule for offences near a boundary. See where a criminal charge must be heard.
The District Courts Act and Regulation are not on PacLII; both are on vLex (Act, Regulation).
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.