Paul Dopsie v Jerry Tetaga, Chairman, Public Services Commission and Douglas Apeng and The Independent State of Papua New Guinea (2009) N3722

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Court: National Court
• Date: 20 August 2009
• Citation: (2009) N3722
• Docket Number: OS (JR) NO 66 OF 2007
• Year: 2009

Full Title: OS (JR) NO 66 OF 2007; Paul Dopsie v Jerry Tetaga, Chairman, Public Services Commission and Douglas Apeng and The Independent State of Papua New Guinea (2009) N3722

National Court: Cannings J

Judgment Delivered: 20 August 2009

JUDICIAL REVIEW—unreasonableness—whether the decision of the Public Services Commission on a review of a personnel matter was so unreasonable or absurd no reasonable decision-maker could have made it—remedies—whether appropriate to quash a decision of the Public Services Commission found to be unreasonable.

An officer of a public hospital took unapproved leave without pay for a period of 19 months. He returned to the hospital at the end of that period but the chief executive officer refused to reinstate him. The officer complained to the Public Services Commission, which reviewed the chief executive officer’s decision and found in favour of the officer and decided that he should be reinstated. Its reasons were that the chief executive officer had terminated the officer without following the disciplinary procedures in the Public Service General Orders. The chief executive officer sought judicial review of the PSC’s decision on the ground of unreasonableness.

Held:

(1) The test to apply for the purposes of determining whether an administrative decision has been made unreasonably is to ask whether the decision is so unreasonable or absurd, having regard to all the circumstances, that no reasonable decision-maker would have made the decision.

(2) The test was satisfied in this case as: the officer had been absent without leave for a considerable period and could have had no reasonable expectation that he would be reinstated upon returning from leave; an officer who is absent without leave for an extended period can properly be regarded as having resigned, making it unnecessary to lay disciplinary charges against him; the chief executive officer acted reasonably by recruiting a replacement officer; and, generally, the PSC’s decision was irrational as it had the effect of...