David Gwaya Poka v The Independent State of Papua New Guinea [1988] PNGLR 218

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Court: Supreme Court
• Citation: [1988] PNGLR 218
• Date: 02 December 1988
• Year: 1988

Full Title: David Gwaya Poka v The Independent State of Papua New Guinea [1988] PNGLR 218

Supreme Court: Bredmeyer J, Woods J, Cory J

Judgment Delivered: 2 December 1988

1 Contempt—contempt of court—failure of lawyer to appear at the start of a criminal sitting

2 CONTEMPT—Contempt of court—Interference with course of justice—Lawyer failing to appear on time for circuit sittings—Whether failure "deliberately with intent to hinder court"—Carelessness and inadequate travel arrangements not deliberate obstruction—Contempt not made out.

3 LAWYERS—Contempt of court by—Failure to attend circuit sittings in time Whether failure "deliberately with intent to hinder court"—Carelessness and inadequate travel arrangements—Not contempt.

Held:

(1) A lawyer who deliberately fails to attend court with intent to hinder or delay the court and does so may be guilty of contempt of court.

Weston v Central Criminal Court Court's Administrator [1977] QB 32 at 43, adopted and applied.

(2) In circumstances where a lawyer's failure to appear at the first day of the sittings at Wabag before 3.30 pm on that day was due to carelessness and inadequate travel arrangements rather than any deliberate attempt to obstruct the administration of justice, no contempt had been made out.

Izuora v R [1953] AC 327; [1953] 2 WLR 700; [1953] 1 All ER 827, Johnson, Re (1887) 20 QBD 68, Re Passingan Taru [1982] PNGLR 292, Alan Robinson v The State [1986] PNGLR 307, The State v Mark Taua; Re Awaita [1985] PNGLR 179 and Weston v Central Criminal Court Court's Administrator [1977] QB 32 referred to

Appeal

This was an appeal against a decision of Amet J in which he found the appellant guilty of contempt of court and fined him K50.

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Bredmeyer J:

This is an appeal against a decision of Amet J (Re Paul Luben and David Poka (1987) N612) convicting the appellant of contempt of court and fining him K50 in default five days imprisonment.

The facts were as follows. The judge notified the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Public Solicitor's Office that he would arrive in Mt Hagen on Sunday 9 August 1987, drive to Wabag that day, and commence the sittings of the National Court in Wabag that day, and commence the sittings of the National Court in Wabag on Monday, 10 August at 9 am. The appellant, who is employed in the Public Solicitor's Office at Mt Hagen, was going to be the defence counsel on this circuit. He arranged to travel to Wabag with the Public Prosecutor, Mr Paul Luben, who is also based in Mt Hagen, in Mr Luben's government car.

Mr Luben, however, was hoping that another prosecutor would arrive from Port Moresby to prosecute this circuit. This man was wait–listed on the Saturday and Sunday flights from Port Moresby to Mt Hagen. Mr Luben called at the airport on both days and learnt that the Moresby prosecutor had not arrived. He also saw that the judge arrived on the Sunday. Mr Luben decided not to travel to Wabag on the Sunday as he did not have a government purchase order to pay for his hotel accommodation in Wabag.

When Mr Poka learnt on the Sunday that the judge had arrived and that Mr Luben was not going to Wabag that day, so he could not get a ride with him, he was in a dilemma. It was Sunday. Mr Poka had no private car, and does not drive. His office has a government car but it was locked up in the transport pool and he had not arranged for a driver. Moreover the keys were with his senior work colleague who was not readily available. He decided to travel to Wabag with Mr Luben on the Monday. They arrived at about 3.30 pm and were ready to start work on Tuesday, 11 August.

No judicial work was done on the Monday, the trial judge lost a days work. He cited both lawyers for contempt of court and after listening...