Opposition calls for leaders to respect courts

By Samuel Raitano

Constitutional office holders, leaders and respected citizens should set examples for the ordinary Papua New Guineans by respecting the Court processes and allowing for justice to take its course when implicated, says the Opposition Leader Don Pomb Polye.

Mr Polye made this call in light of continuous actions by certain senior politicians, including the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and bureaucrats who tend to frustrate court processes by instituting unnecessary court actions midway through the hearing and completion of substantive matters.

This call comes, following actions by high profile individuals, who seemed to institute court proceedings at the different levels of the Court system, over the same issue, with the intentions to buy time and delay or stop hearings that would allow the court to hear and rule on cases quickly.

The Opposition Leader says these people find means and ways to delay or stop court hearings when knowing that they are at the wrong side of the law.

Lawyers have also been urged not to ill-advice clients who use taxpayers’ money for legal costs, to prolong matters on unnecessary grounds.