Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea - Hierarchy of Precedent

Hierarchy of Precedent

The hierarchy of case law precedent is that while the Supreme Court has authority to overrule any case authority, its own decisions are binding on the lower courts as are the decisions of the English superior courts prior to PNG's independence, which are deemed to be part of PNG's underlying law. Decisions of the pre-Independence Supreme Court of PNG are deemed to be foreign law, equivalent in authority to decisions by any foreign court with a similar legal system, and of persuasive value only. The principle of the mere persuasiveness of overseas (and pre-Independence PNG) authority vis-à-vis the binding authority of pre-1975 English authority has been applied many times: in, for example, Toglai Apa and Bomai Siune v. The State PNGLR 43) that it is bound to follow the English case of Rookes v Barnard (House of Lords) AC 1129; 1 All ER 367 on the ineligibility of plaintiffs to an award of exemplary damages against ministers of the state or public servants other than in strictly limited circumstances, notwithstanding its having been decisively overruled by both the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Appeals from the Supreme Court to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council were abolished by Ireland in 1933, Canada in 1949, India in 1950, Guyana in 1970, Sri Lanka in 1972, Australia federally in 1968, and from Australian States in 1975. They accordingly did not exist from the High Court of Australia when Papua New Guinea was granted independence, and consideration of appeals to London from Papua New Guinea did not arise. Canadian appeals to the Privy Council were often heard by an Australian judge and vice versa; admirable cases decided in the other country are occasionally followed as are parliamentary statutes adopted even yet though seldom expressly acknowledged. The same naturally occurs in Papua New Guinea’s High Court and Parliament regardless whether the judge who makes such decision is Papua New Guinean or expatriate, there being no abandonment of sovereignty in this.