Home›Know Your Rights
Know Your Rights
Part III of the Constitution guarantees a set of Basic Rights to every person in Papua New Guinea. They are not decoration. They are enforceable, and section 57 gives the courts an unusually strong power to act on them.
Rights matter most at the points where you have least power — in a police cell, in front of an official, in a hospital, at a roadblock. This series explains what each right protects, where its limits lie, and what you can practically do when one is breached.
-
Who Has Basic Rights in Papua New Guinea?
Every person in the country, not only citizens — and section 34 makes the rights operate between private individuals too.
-
Absolute Rights and Qualified Rights — What Is the Difference?
Some rights cannot be restricted by ordinary law at all. Others can, but only by a law that satisfies every element of section 38.
-
What Rights Do I Have When I Am Arrested?
Section 42: prompt reasons in a language you understand, contact with a relative and a lawyer without delay and in private, and a court without delay.
-
What Are Your Rights When You Are Arrested in PNG?
The same rights, from the Arrest Act side — what the officer must tell you, what may be done to you, and what to write down.
-
What Is “The Protection of the Law” Under Section 37?
The longest section in the Constitution — twenty-two subsections aimed especially at people in custody or charged with an offence.
-
What Is the Presumption of Innocence in PNG?
You prove nothing. The prosecution proves the case beyond reasonable doubt — and the one narrow reverse-onus exception.
-
Do I Have a Right to a Trial Within a Reasonable Time?
Yes — and if you are on remand, section 42(5) lets a complaint of unreasonable detention be made directly to a Judge.
-
What Is Freedom From Inhuman Treatment Under Section 36?
An absolute right. No emergency, no offence and no order makes torture or degrading treatment lawful.
-
What Does Section 41 Do About Acts That Are Harsh or Oppressive?
It makes them unlawful — even when done under a perfectly valid law — and the standard of proof is the balance of probabilities.
-
What Is Freedom From Arbitrary Search and Entry?
Section 44 and the four things a search warrant must have: a court or judicial officer, reasonable grounds, oath or affirmation, and a stated purpose.
-
Can Police Search Me on the Street?
When a search of the person is lawful without a warrant, who may carry it out, and what you should record.
-
What Is the Right to Privacy Under Section 49?
Reasonable privacy in your private and family life, your communications and your personal papers — and the narrow biometric exception.
-
Do I Have a Right to See Government Documents?
Section 51 gives citizens a constitutional right of reasonable access to official documents, subject to ten defined grounds of secrecy.
-
What Is Equality of Citizens Under Section 55?
The same rights and duties irrespective of race, tribe, place of origin, political opinion, colour, creed, religion or sex.
-
What Are the Principles of Natural Justice?
The constitutional duty to act fairly and, in principle, to be seen to act fairly — and it applies to officials, not only to judges.
-
Do I Have a Right to Reasons for a Decision?
Often, yes — and a refusal of bail must be given in writing on request under section 42(7).
-
How Do I Enforce a Basic Right?
Section 57: the court may act on its own initiative, someone else may act for you without your authority, and relief is available before the breach.
-
Can I Sue for Wrongful Arrest in PNG?
What has to be proved, who is liable, and the notice requirements that apply to claims against the State.
-
Can I Sue Over an Unlawful Search in PNG?
Constitutional relief under section 57, damages under section 58, and the separate question of excluding the evidence.
Under section 57 of the Constitution, the National Court and the Supreme Court may protect or enforce a Basic Right — including on the court’s own initiative, without a formal application by a lawyer. People held in custody can and do write directly to the National Court.
Contact the Office of the Public Solicitor as your first practical step. Under section 58, a person whose rights have been infringed may claim compensation.
The list above is the practical selection. The complete run — section 32 through section 58, each right in turn — sits in the Constitution series, under Part III, Division 3.