Telikom PNG Limited v Newsat Limited (2007) N3451

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Court: National Court
• Date: 07 May 2007
• Citation: (2007) N3451
• Docket Number: WS NO 1644 OF 2006
• Year: 2007

Full Title: WS NO 1644 OF 2006; Telikom PNG Limited v Newsat Limited (2007) N3451

National Court: Cannings J

Judgment Delivered: 7 May 2007

RULING

PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – National Court – leave sought to file a draft constitutional reference.

Telikom is suing Newsat, seeking injunctions and declarations on the ground that Newsat is providing telecommunications services in PNG contrary to the Telecommunications Act 1996. This is an application by Newsat to file and serve a draft constitutional reference.

Held:

(1) The application is misconceived and premature as the National Court can only refer constitutional questions to the Supreme Court after making findings of fact necessary to provide a platform on which the Supreme Court can determine the questions.

(2) The trial has not started yet nor have findings of fact been made and there has been no agreement by the parties on the facts.

(3) The application was dismissed with costs.

Cases cited

No cases are cited in the judgment.

APPLICATION

This was an application to file and serve a draft constitutional reference.

1. CANNINGS J: This is a strange application. The defendant, Newsat Ltd, is applying for leave to file and serve a document it calls an “amended reference” under Section 18(2) of the Constitution. It is not clear to me what is meant by that. There is no reference before the court so I don’t know what they want to amend. Newsat is making the application via a notice of motion filed on 24 April 2007.

2. Telikom is suing Newsat, seeking injunctions and declarations on the ground that Newsat is...