John Jaminan [Jaminen] v The State [1983] PNGLR 122

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Judge: Pratt J
• Judgment Date: 02 May 1983
• Citation: [1983] PNGLR 122
• Court: National Court
• Year: 1983
• Judgement Number: N410(L)

Full Title: John Jaminan [Jaminen] v The State [1983] PNGLR 122

National Court: Pratt J

Judgment Delivered: 2 May 1983

1 Bail—conviction for rape—member of Parliament—appeal lodged—sittings of Parliament during period between conviction and hearing of appeal—does not constitute an "exceptional circumstance" thereby permitting bail

CRIMINAL LAW—Practice and procedure—Bail—Pending appeal—"Exceptional circumstances"—Conviction for rape—Member of Parliament—Sittings of Parliament before appeal to be heard—Not exceptional circumstance—Bail Act 1977, s9, s11.

On an application for bail by an appellant, a member of Parliament, who had been convicted on four charges of rape, one of the grounds relied upon was that the applicant would not be able to attend the sittings of the Parliament to be held before the appeal was heard and his electors would thereby be deprived of their due representation.

Held:

(1) The applicant needed to show "exceptional circumstances" to be granted bail pursuant to s11 of the Bail Act 1977.

Re Ilett [1974] PNGLR 49; Rolf Schubert v The State [1978] PNGLR 394, and Arthur Gilbert Smedley v The State [1978] PNGLR 452, applied.

(2) Whilst "exceptional circumstances" must in some way be related to the particular applicant, they need not be confined to matters entirely personal to the applicant such as health, financial situation or previous good character, but they cannot include that which flows as a natural consequence of the conviction because of the particular status of the convicted person.

(3) In the circumstances there were no exceptional circumstances and bail should be refused.

Cases Cited.

The following cases are cited in the judgment:

Cooper, Re [1961] ALR 584.

Ilett, Re [1974] PNGLR 49.

R v Southgate (1960) 78 WN (NSW) 44.

R v Wise (1924) 17 Cr App R 17; 17 CAR 17.

Rolf Schubert v The State [1978] PNGLR 394

Arthur Gilbert Smedley v The State [1978] PNGLR 452

Bail Application.

This was an application for bail pursuant to the Bail Act 1977 by an appellant who had been convicted and sentenced on four charges of rape.

___________________________

Pratt J: This was an application under s11 of the Bail Act 1977 for bail by a member of Parliament who was convicted last week on four counts of rape and sentenced to four years imprisonment with hard labour concurrent on each count by Woods AJ at the sittings of the National Court in Mt Hagen. The applicant represents the people of Yangoru–Saussia electorate. I dismissed the application and indicated that I would publish my full reasons at a later stage.

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