Re Assistant Registrar, Philip Kaumba (2004)

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Judge: Batari J
• Judgment Date: 13 December 2004
• Citation: (2004) N2763
• Docket Number: Re Contempt of Court
• Court: National Court
• Year: 2004
• Judgement Number: N2763

Full Title: Re Contempt of Court; Re Assistant Registrar, Philip Kaumba (2004)

National Court: Batari J

Judgment Delivered: 13 December 2004

N2763

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

[IN THE NATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE]

MP 492 OF 2004

RE: CONTEMPT OF COURT

RE: ASSISTANT REGISTRAR, PHILIP KAUMBA

Goroka: Batari J

2004: November, 22, 25

December, 13

CONTEMPT - Contempt in the face of Court - Court Registrar acting indignantly to court directions and failing to appear upon return of Court directions – Deliberate intent to cause embarrassment, disrespect, disrepute to the Court - Conduct intended to inconvenience and interference with administration of justice .

PRACTICE & PROCEDURE - Contempt proceedings – Contemnor orally charged and served charges in writing – Summary Proceedings – Right to be heard - National Court Rules O.14, rr.38 – 40.

CONTEMPT - Sentence - Court Registrar in contempt of court - Fine and default penalty.

Cases Cited:

David Gwaya Poka v The State [1988] PNGLR 218

The State v Mark Taua: Re Awaita [ 1985] PNGLR 178

Raymond Tupundu (Unreported National Court Judgment) No. N1536

The State v. Lucas Sasoruo [1997] PNGLR 676.

Andrew Kwimberi v. The State (Unreported Supreme Court Judgment 1998) SC 545.

Re: Passingan [1982] PNGLR, 292

Metta v The State [1992] PNGLR 176

The State -v- Foxy Kia Kala; Corney Wiyam N1192 (1994).

Counsel:

Contemnor In-person

C. Sambua as, amicus curiae

13 December, 2004

BATARI J: On 22 November, at 3.00pm the Court charged you orally in open Court following your arrest, on two counts of Contempt of Court. The charges were subsequently served on you in writing and are reproduced in full for completeness as follows:

22nd November, 2004

BATARI, J: You are hereby charged with Contempt in the face of the Court on the background and alleged facts as set out below:

You are the Assistant Registrar responsible for staff matters, hence you are responsible to ensure that NJSS resources are utilized in the most effective way so that the Court is not inconvenienced by non attendance of attendant while the Court is in session.

On 9th November, 2004 Silas Gordon who regularly acts as Court attendant gave notice of his intending absence from Court to concentrate on his other alleged duty as Sheriff Officer for Goroka. You are aware of his intentions because your office was copied his letter. Following that letter, Mr Gordon’s attendance became irregular and that seriously affected the Court sittings. Consequently, his attendance had to be requested through your office on a couple of occasions when an attendant was needed to call out cases or usher parties and witness in and out of the Court Room. On some occasions he was not around, the last time being on Motions day on Friday, 19th November, 2004.

In the meantime, he had written to the Registrar, copied to you on 16th November, 2004 protesting his engagement as Court attendant and asserting his position as Sheriff Officer.

It became obvious to you or should have been from 9th November, 2004 and from his letter of 16th November, 2004 that the Court would be inconvenienced by Mr Gordon’s absence due to his expressed intentions. You did nothing about it because this morning the Court yet again sat without an attendant and that was serious because it caused delay in the number of matters listed to be dealt with.

The Court again had to request for an attendant whereupon Mr Gordon appeared and I directed that you also personally attend to explain why the Court is being inconvenienced by this administrative setback. You failed to appear so after some five minutes I sent State Prosecutor, Mr Sambua for the second time to inform you to attend.

You eventually came into Court, shabbily dressed in light white trousers with an apparent air of contempt on your face. You were quite clearly perturbed and angry at being summoned by the Court and whilst in that mood, I gave you the following direction copied from the transcript:

HIS HONOUR: I have for the last couple of weeks been hampered particularly during the Court sittings with the unavailability of Court Attendants and I think there has been some correspondence about who should be the Court Attendant and there have been some questions.

Now, this is inconvenience in my Court and that is why you are here. I am not charging you with anything as yet. But the direction is this and because of what has happened in the last couple of weeks to sit without the Court Attendant, I am directing that the Registrar of the National and Supreme Court in written form inform me today within an hour or so as to who is the Court Attendant here in Goroka. The direction to you is to make sure that, the message is conveyed to the Registrar, Deputy Registrar in Waigani, Deputy Secretary Personnel and for yourself to inform me within the next two hours as to who is the Court Attendant in Goroka. In the meantime, you are to make one available now from your staff. There are two at the back, Ms Namane is there and there is the other officer. All right, next two hours is twelve. I must get that statement in writing from the Court Registrar. Otherwise, warn him, I am going to issue charges of Contempt from here against him and whoever else might be implicated and I think for yourself, if the message does not get through and by 1.30, I do not get that statement; you will also answer for that.

Thank you for your attendance. You may now go and attend to it. That is the direction to the principals in Waigani.

You returned a few moments later with a newspaper untidily tucked at the back of your trousers and unceremoniously interrupted the proceedings in another matter that the Court was dealing with. You handed Mr Sambua a piece of document and walked out without the slightest courtesy to the Court. When I enquired about your intrusion, you took the paper from Mr Sambua and threw it at the Court mumbling something under your breath to this effect, as recorded by the recorder:

HIS HONOUR: Sorry, Registrar, just come in. You will have to do this properly. This is the Court of ---

ASSISTANT REGISTRAR: Those are administrative matters. We can deal with it in Chambers but you have been directing me to come to Court so I have to ….inaudible….

HIS HONOUR: And that is how the Assistant Registrar treats the Court. Let me have a look at it.

I made those remarks after you had stomped out of the Court Room causing an air of surprise, confusion and serious concern to those in the packed Court Room including lawyers, warders, policemen and detainees. I think the lawyers warders were particularly shocked and concerned with your conduct.

The latter episode is tantamount to contempt in the face of the Court by a Court Officer. That is, you deliberately by your conduct intended to bring disrespect and disrepute to the Court. You also by your conduct intended to interfere with the general administration of justice by your failure to provide assistance and cooperation under your duty to the Court.

You are further charge with contempt in the face of the Court on the following facts. You were to appear at 1.30 pm as directed this morning for review of the directions I had issued. You were again reminded personally by my Associate in your office shortly before 1.30 pm of your attendance. The Court sat at 1.30 pm but you were not here and appear to have deliberately absented yourself from attending Court. A Warrant of Arrest was then issued for your arrest and you were detained and brought to Court about 3.00 pm. In deliberately staying away from the Court when you were directed to do so, you further intended by your conduct to bring disrespect, disrepute and ridicule to the Court.

You are given the opportunity to explain why you should not be charged and punished for contempt on those two charges.

I would have proceeded to deal with you summarily now. However, I will give you the opportunity to defend yourself. For that purpose, you will be given in writing, the charges and facts you have now heard in open Court. These proceedings are adjourned to Wednesday 24th November, 2004 at 9.30 am.”

After the adjournment, you send me a memo explaining your position concerning the issue of court attendant. And the next day, 23rd November, I received from you a one line apology memo that read:

“I am sorry for what happened this morning in relation to the above and I hope you forgive me.”

That memo was purportedly written on 22 November 2004. You did not repeat your apology, nor did you mention the memo when I orally charged you for contempt after you were brought into Court following your arrest on the afternoon of 22 November. Two other aspects of the memo cast doubt on its genuineness: first, it had a handwritten “without prejudice” notation on it and second I received the memo the next day at 9.30am which suggested the memo was written after you had been charged.

At the next adjournment on 25th November, you did not immediately respond to the charges, but made unsustainable objections before launching into lengthy and unwieldy response at the end of which you tentatively apologized to the Court. I did not accept your explanation hence you were convicted of two counts of contempt...