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Vanuatu Judicial Services & Courts Annual Reports |
2012 Annual Report
JUDICIARY OF THE
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
[Court
House: Morua, Tongoa Island]
MARCH
2013
Download full 2012 annual report [PDF]
Content
- Background:
B.
Statement from the Chief Justice
C.
Implementation of the Court’s Strategic Plan
or any new initiatives.
D.
Summary of significant issues and
developments.
- Organisational review: Overview
of the Courts and their jurisdiction/ role and functions
1. Court of Appeal
2. Supreme Court
3. Magistrates’ Court
4. Island Courts
5. Vision Statement
6. Mission Statement
- Court results
1.
Court workload
2.
Clearance rate.
3.
Some breakdown of offences completed
4.
Average duration of a case from filing to
finalisation.
5.
The percentage of appeals.
6.
Overturn rate on appeal.
7.
Percentage of cases that are granted a court fee
waiver.
8.
Percentage of complaints received concerning a
judicial officer.
9.
Percentage of complaints received concerning a court
staff member.
10.
Average number of cases per judicial officer.
11.
Average number of cases per member of court staff.
12.
Court produces an Annual Report.
13.
Court publishes judgments on the on PacLII
G.
Factors, events or trends influencing court
results.
H.
Interaction with other agencies
I.
International interactions
- Management accountability
i.
Annual Accounts for Reporting Period
ii.
Senior management committees and their roles
iii.
Training and development opportunities for
court staff
iv.
Management of court infrastructure
- Appendices
i.
Organisational Chart
ii.
List of all court personnel
iii.
Financial Report
 |
CHIEF JUSTICE’S CHAMBERS SUPREME COURT OF VANUATU PMB 9041 PORT VILA EFATE
|
March
2013.
The
Honourable Thomas Laken
Minister
of Justice & Community Services
Ministry
of Justice & Community Services
Government
of Vanuatu
Port
Vila
Efate
Dear
Minister,
I
have the pleasure in submitting, in accordance with section 51 of the Judicial
Services & Courts Act No. 54 of 2000, a report of the management and
administrative affairs of the Judiciary during the year 2012 and the financial
statements in respect of that financial year.
The report includes information about the Court, its activities and
workload.
Yours
sincerely,
Vincent
LUNABEK
CHIEF
JUSTICE
- Background
|
Vanuatu is a 900
kilometre-long, volcanic archipelago that consists of more than 80 islands.
Most of these islands are inhabited, and around half are
mountainous and densely forested with narrow strips of
farming land on the coasts. Five volcanoes are still
active and volcanic eruptions are not uncommon. in the South Pacific, with
two to three cyclones entering its territory every year. The
country also experiences earthquakes and resulting tsunamis. rainfall. Temperatures average
between 26°C and 34°C. The majority of locally as ni-Vanuatu. There are
small communities of French and British people, due to its
colonial history, as well as some Australians, New
Zealanders, Vietnamese, Chinese and people from other There are over 100
indigenous languages with English, French and Bislama (the
local form of Pidgin English) recognised as the official languages.
All of have both French and English
names. Almost 80 percent of the population live on the
twelve largest islands and the two main cities are Port Vila
(30,000 people) and Luganville (11,000
people).
|
 |
In 1774 Captain Cook named the islands “New Hebrides” and this name remained until independence. French and
British missionaries, sandalwood traders and ‘black birders’, who took large numbers of people to work as virtual slaves on plantations in Australia and Fiji, changed life for Vanuatu’s indigenous population. These ‘visitors’ brought new diseases such as measles, influenza and the common cold which killed large numbers of indigenous people due to their lack of immunity.
In 1906 Britain and France agreed to jointly administer the New Hebrides. The move for independence began after
occupation by the United States during World War II. When independence was eventually achieved in 1980, Vanuatu was born. However, through the 1990s the nation suffered a great deal of political instability.
Vanuatu is a Republic with a democratically elected government. The
Non-Executive State President is elected for a 5-year term by an Electoral
College comprised of all the MPs (52) plus the Presidents of the six Provincial
Councils. Vanuatu has a unicameral parliament of 52 MPs elected for 4-year
terms by universal suffrage with an element of proportional representation. The
government elects a Speaker from among its own ranks. Twenty-seven MPs are
therefore required to form a government.
The judiciary of the
“The
administration of justice is vested in the judiciary, who are subject only to
the Constitution and the law…”
In the same Chapter, the Constitution
goes on to provide for the Supreme Court in Article 49, the Court of Appeal in
Article 50 and the Island Courts in Article 51.
In accordance with section 12[1] of the
Judicial Services & Courts Act No. 54 of 2000, The Magistrates’ Courts
established by section 1 of the Courts Act [CAP 122] continue in existence on
and after commencement of the Judicial Services & Courts Act No. 54 of
2000, as the Magistrates Court of Vanuatu.
The
judicial year 2012 was officially opened on 27th January 2012. At this annual occasion, the Honorable Chief
Justice reiterated the vision and mission of the Judiciary. The Judiciary is set on an ongoing path of
reform and improvements.
- .
REPUBLIC
OF
CHIEF
JUSTICE’S CHAMBERS
________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS FROM CHIEF JUSTICE
This
is 2012 Annual Report for the Courts.
The Report provides information on the Courts, their Human Resources and
Performances in the year under review.
The focus is on Court Administration, in particular on the Management of
the case load by the courts.
The
objectives of Court Administration are Equity, Effectiveness and
Efficiency. The review analyses the ways
in and the extent to which the courts in their endenvour to perform their roles
in the delivery of service of justice to the people of the country despite the
huge difficulties/ challenges encountered by the courts in respect to shortage
of man power, lack of Court spaces, equipment / facilities, systems and
processes including budget constraints.
The
court administration performances are evaluated by quantitative output
indicators based on the registrations (filings), finalizations, pending case
load and time taken between filing and finalization. Prior to 2009, the court’s Annual Reviews has
focused solely on those performances indicators. This year’s review continues
the practice adopted in the past years Annual Report Reviews of Reporting on an
expanded range of quantitative indicators. Those indicators indicate that the
courts have been successful in achieving results despite the challenges
referred to earlier.
There
are also other qualitative indicators that assist in gaining an appreciation of
the court’s performances. This year’s
review again includes qualitative output
indicators of access to Justice, including in relation to the
affordability of litigation in the courts, the accessibility of the court and
the responsiveness of the courts to the needs of users where ever they are in
the country.
Further,
despite the challenges which are really critical to the delivery of justice by
the courts, the material contribution of the courts to the community is still
unevaluated. This material contribution is reflected to the volume of decisions
made. In 2012, the courts delivered a total of 3947 decisions. The Supreme
Court and the Court of Appeal delivered 243 written judgments. These judgments
are published in the Pacific Legal Information Institute website www.paclii.org.
They provide valuable information to land, civil, criminal, commercial,
administrative and constitutional jurisprudence. They also enable transparency
and accountability in the courts’ decision making despite the difficulties
still encountered by the court administration and the Judicial Services.
Throughout
the year, the Judges, registrars of the courts and courts support staff have
administered the courts and the rule of law with a high degree of independence,
impartiality, equity, effectiveness and efficiency.
The
Honourable Justice Vincent Lunabek
Chief Justice
- Implementation of the Court’s
Strategic Plan or any new initiatives.
At
the beginning of 2012, the Judiciary underwent a diagnostic assessment which
culminated in a comprehensive report.
The report provided the impetus for the 2012-2015 strategic plan for the Judiciary which was the subject of an
organization-wide consultation. The
strategic plan has 7 key result areas: Case Management & Enforcement,
Governance, Institutional Services & Development, Asset Management &
Infrastructure, Innovation & Technology, Communication, and Access to
Justice.
Under
Case Management and Enforcement, the court embarked on a regime which focused
on dealing with pending customary land cases in the Island Court
jurisdiction. Out of the 82 pending
customary land disputes, 16 were dealt with. Some efforts were made to deal
with outstanding judgments in the Supreme Court, but there was no improvement
of the situation. In terms of
Enforcement, out of the 28 Enforcement Warrants that were on the books to be
executed in 2012, 12 were executed or expired, leaving 16 carried over to 2013.
Working
to improve the content of the annual reports is ongoing effort under Governance. This is ongoing so are Independence and
Integrity strategic areas.
Under
Institutional Services and Development, there was a start to collect and
collate material for a court staff manual, but was not completed. There was considerable consultation and
effort into effective legislative changes for the improvement of terms and
conditions of the position of judge of the Supreme Court. A Bill was prepared and the Bill listed on
the agenda for Parliament for the last session of the year, but was not tabled
in Parliament. It is likely the Bill
will be amongst Parliament business in the new year. An internal team of two has put together a
court manual for the Island Court justices, and this draft is still to be proof
read and undergo final edition. The
training committee is revamped under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice.
In
terms of Asset Management and Infrastructure, efforts to get the new Hall of
Justice building project lacked momentum.
There seem to be lack of political will to advance the project and despite
it being the subject of approval by the Council of Ministers,
it seems other infrastructure projects have overtaken it on the government’s
priority list. Negotiations were started
with “Stretem Rod blong Jastis” project for funding assistance to fund solar
systems for 5 court office sites in the rural areas. Prospects are hopeful.
Innovation
and Technology and Communications are two key result areas which very little
effort was made in the year under review.
Access
to Justice underpins the annual court calendar which shows the courts program
to travel to each of the six provinces four times during the course of the
judicial year. Approximately 90% of all
planned court circuits were executed and less than 5 court tours were
implemented as dictated by the need to do so.
- Summary of significant issues and
developments.
The Supreme Court dealt with 11
cases of Constitutional nature. One of
note was the Application by the Prime Minister seeking orders for the President
to accent to the Bill for the Protocol of Accession of Vanuatu to the World
Trade Organization. The President was
invited by the Court to assent.
During the course of the year the Supreme
Court was required to consider some cases involving the lucrative Northern
Island Stevedoring company [NISCOL]. The three shareholding Provincial governments
sought orders from the Supreme Court which were refused and which decision were
upheld by the Court of Appeal.
There was ongoing management of
the case involving disputes between factions of the Vanuaaku Pati political
party. The other political party which
experienced polarization of views and leadership struggle, forcing them to seek
the court’s assistance was the Vanuatu Republican Party [VRP] and the Union of
Moderate Party [UMP].
A judge of the Supreme Court was
recruited in September, with the assistance of the Commonwealth Secretariat. This has boosted the number of judges to 6
judges including the Chief Justice. The
term of the New Zealand District Court Judge seconded to the Supreme Court was
extended. The term of another overseas
Judge who is serving on local terms and conditions was also extended.
The Judiciary, as an organization,
has reached a stage where some of its judicial officers are reaching the age of
retirement. One Senior Magistrate in the
Magistrates Court submitted his intention of age retirement and one senior clerk
of the island court has also done so.
- Organizational review:
Overview of the
Courts and their jurisdiction/ role and functions.
- Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal is the highest court of the land. It is composed of at least 2 Judges of the
Supreme Court sitting togetherThe Court of Appeal is the highest court of the
land. It meets 3 times a year for 2
weeks each session. It hears civil and criminal appeals from the Supreme Court
and has the same power, authority and jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. It may
substitute its own judgment or opinion, but may not interfere with the exercise
of a discretion of the Supreme Court unless it is manifestly wrong
The Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court is the president of the Court of Appeal and all the Judges of the Supreme
Court are called upon by the Chief Justice to compose the Court of Appeal
2.
Supreme Court
The
Supreme Court has unlimited jurisdiction to hear and determine civil and
criminal proceedings. It has
jurisdiction to hear questions concerning elections and similar matters; and it
has jurisdiction to hear any grievances from citizens about emergency
regulations made by the Council of Ministers.
The Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear civil and criminal appeals
from a magistrate’s court and to hear appeals from island courts as to
ownership of customary land. Its
decision in such cases is final.
The Supreme Court consists of the
Chief Justice and Justices appointed on local terms and conditions. One Justice is seconded by the New Zealand District
Court to the Supreme Court of Vanuatu for a period of 2 years. Different Judges of the New Zealand District
Court have served on this scheme since 2004
3.
Magistrates’ Court
The
Magistrates' Court has jurisdiction to hear cases where the amount claimed or
the subject matter in dispute does not exceed vt1,000,000;
disputes between landlord and tenant where the amount claimed does not exceed
vt 2,000,000; and cases involving uncontested petitions for divorce or nullity
of marriage.
In
its criminal jurisdiction, the Magistrates' Court hears cases that concern any
criminal proceedings for an offence for which the maximum penalty does not
exceed 2 years imprisonment. It has jurisdiction to hear appeals from civil
decisions from Island Courts, except decisions as to ownership of land, where
appeal is to the Supreme Court.
The Magistrates'
Court is specifically excluded from exercising jurisdiction in wardship,
guardianship, interdiction, appointment of conseil judicare, adoption, civil
status, succession, wills, bankruptcy, insolvency and liquidation.
4.
Island Courts
The
Island Court may only deal with civil matters in which the Defendant is
ordinarily resident within their territorial jurisdiction or in which the cause
of action is within their boundaries, customary land cases when the land is
within their territorial boundaries.
In
criminal matters, cases in which the defendant is ordinarily resident within
their territorial jurisdiction or in which the cause of action is within their
boundaries; claims in contracts or tort where the amount claimed or the subject
does not exceed vt 50,000; claims for compensation under provincial by-laws not
exceeding vt 50,000; and claims for maintenance not limited in amount.
The Island Courts are
specifically empowered to administer the customary law prevailing within their
territorial jurisdiction so far as it is not in conflict with any written law
and is not contrary to justice, morality and good order
There are currently 10 operational Island Courts in the
Republic. The Island Courts have full
time clerks, appointed by the Chief Justice to administer the affairs of the Island
Courts. There are about 240 lay justices
appointed to decide small claims and minor criminal cases that are lodged in
the Island Courts. The lay justices are
members of the community.
5.
Vision Statement
“A
JUDICIARY THAT IS INDEPENDENT, EFFECTIVE, EFFICIENT AND
WORTHY
OF PUBLIC TRUST AND CONFIDENCE, AND A LEGAL PROFESSION THAT PROVIDES QUALITY,
ETHICAL, ACCESSIBLE AND COST-EFFECTIVE LEGAL SERVICE TO OUR PEOPLE AND IS
WILLING AND ABLE TO ANSWER TO PUBLIC SERVICE.”
- Mission
Statement
“To dispense justice speedily, fairly, independently and with
improved quality of
external inputs. To improve access to justice
by effective, efficient and continuous improvement of
judicial
institutions. To be a Judiciary that
conducts its business with
dignity, integrity, accountability and transparency”
- Court results
1. Court workload
|
|
Type of cases |
Registered in 2012 |
Pending from previous years |
Total workload |
Completed cases from 2012 |
Completed cases from previous years |
Total completed cases |
|
Court of Appeal |
Civil |
54 |
0 |
54 |
42 |
0 |
42 |
|
Criminal |
9 |
0 |
9 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
|
|
Total for the Court of Appeal |
63 |
0 |
63 |
48 |
0 |
48 |
|
|
Supreme Court |
Civil |
594 |
421 |
1015 |
151 |
0 |
151 |
|
Criminal |
222 |
58 |
280 |
175 |
0 |
175 |
|
|
Total for the Supreme Court |
816 |
479 |
1295 |
326 |
127 |
453 |
|
|
Magistrate Court |
Civil |
302 |
506 |
808 |
107 |
0 |
107 |
|
Criminal |
1289 |
1001 |
2290 |
756 |
0 |
756 |
|
|
DV |
679 |
170 |
849 |
571 |
0 |
571 |
|
|
Total for the Magistrates Court |
2270 |
1677 |
3947 |
1434 |
1876 |
3310 |
|
Notes:
i.
DV – Applications for Domestic Violence Protection Orders
ii.
Island Court retains the jurisdiction to deal with
customary land disputes that were pending in the Island Courts on the date of
coming into force of the Customary Lands Tribunal Act.
iii.
The high clearance rate for the Island Courts below is
driven by low number of cases registered in 2012 in the Island Courts.
- The clearance rate is calculated by dividing the number of cases
completed by the number of cases filed during the year in review.
- The Court of Appeal – 76%
- The Supreme Court – 55%
- The Magistrates Court – 146%
- The Island Courts – 82%
3. Some Breakdown of offences that were completed by the Supreme Court in 2012
a.
Offences of sexual nature make up 33.9 % of
all completed cases in the Supreme Court
b.
Offences involving drugs make up 23.9 % of
all completed cases in the Supreme
Court
c.
Offences of dishonestly (Misappropriation,
Obtaining money by deception
etc..) make up 12.4 % of all completed cases in
the Supreme Court
d.
Application for Domestic Violence Orders
registered at Magistrate court in
2012 were 679 Making 30 % of all cases registered in Magistrate Court in 2012
4. The average duration of a case from filing to finalisation is obtained
by totalling the work days calculated for each case [work days from filing to
judgment] and dividing this by the number of cased completed. A sampling approach is used in this report, the average duration of a case [in terms of work
days] is recorded for the Supreme Court for Port Vila and Luganville for civil
cases and criminal cases only. These two registries deal with the bulk of
Supreme Court civil and criminal cases.
a.
Total number of work days – 12075
b.
Total number of cases completed – 187
c.
The average duration of a case in this sample used is
65 workdays.
5. The percentage of appeals is obtained
by dividing the number of cases appealed by the number of cases
registered.
a.
Appeals from
the Island Courts to the Magistrates Court – 0.3%
b.
Appeals from
the Magistrates Court to the Supreme Court – 3.2%
c.
Appeals from
the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeal – 7.7%
6.The overturn rate on appeal at the Court of Appeal is obtained by
dividing the number of appeal cases in which the lower court decision is overturned by the total number of
appeals. Thirteen appeals were allowed
out of the forty appeals
completed by the Court of Appeal making the overturn rate on appeal,
27%.
7.Percentage of cases that are granted a court fee waiver is obtained by dividing the number of cases that are granted
a court fee waiver by the total number
of cases filed.
There
were no cases that were granted fee waiver in the mainstream civil registry,
but less than 5 Applications for Letters of Administration were granted fee
waivers. This represents a 12.5% of all
the Probate and Letters of Administration cases registered in 2012.
8. The percentage of complaints received concerning a judicial officer is
obtained by dividing the number of complaints received concerning a judicial
office by the number of cases registered.
However, in 2012, there was no complaint received concerning a judicial
officer.
9. The percentage of complaints received concerning a court staff member is
obtained by dividing the number of complaints received concerning a court staff
member by the total number of cases registered.
a.
The number of complaints received concerning a court
staff – 11
b.
The total number of cases registered 3687
c.
The percentage of complaints received concerning a
court staff is 0.29%
10.
The average number of cases per judicial officer is
obtained by dividing the total number of cases received
by the number of judicial officers.
In the
Supreme Court:
a.
The total number of cases registered – 817
b.
The total number of judicial officers – 5.5
c.
The average number of cases per judicial
officer is 149
In the Magistrates’ Court
a.
The total number of cases registered – 2270
b.
The total number of judicial officers – 8
c.
The average number of cases per judicial
officer is 284
Overall,
in the courts [Island Courts, Magistrates Court, the Supreme Court and the
Court of Appeal] the average number of cases per judicial officer is 223
11. The average number of cases per member of court staff is obtained by
dividing the total number of cases registered by the number of court staff.
In the Supreme Court:
a.
The total number of 2012 cases registered – 817
b.
The total number of court direct-support staff – 15
c.
Average number of 2012 cases per member of court
direct-support staff is 54.5
d.
The total workload of cases in 2012 – 1296
e.
The average number of cases per member of court
direct-support staff overall
is 86.4
In the Magistrates Court:
d.
The total number of 2012 cases registered –
2270
e.
The total number of court direct-support staff
– 15
f.
Average number of 2012 cases per member of
court direct-support staff is 151.3
g.
The total workload of cases in 2012 – 3947
h.
The average number of cases per member of
court direct-support staff overall is 263.1
Overall,
in the courts [Island Courts, Magistrates Court, the Supreme Court and the
Court of Appeal] the average number of cases per member of court-direct support
staff is 174.4
12. The Court produces an Annual Report each year. Previous Annual Reports have not been too accessible to the public
except the 2009 Annual Report
which was published on www.aclii.org
13. The Court published Supreme judgments on the www.paclii.org as follows:
|
Month of 2012 |
Supreme Court
Judgments Published |
Court of Appeal
Judgments Published |
|
January |
11 |
0 |
|
February |
13 |
0 |
|
March |
17 |
1 |
|
April |
22 |
1 |
|
May |
14 |
13 |
|
June |
9 |
0 |
|
July |
29 |
0 |
|
August |
26 |
4 |
|
September |
27 |
2 |
|
October |
16 |
11 |
|
November |
26 |
1 |
|
December |
0 |
0 |
|
Total |
210 |
33 |
G.
Factors, events or trends
influencing court results.
The
Vanuatu Courts enjoy a good degree of independence from the executive branch of
the Government. There are some national
events or trends which may affect the court results and some systemic factors
inherent to the operations of the courts which may also have some effect.
In
2012, the unilateral decision of the Department of Finance and Treasury to
restrict the release of monthly warrants directly impacted on the court
administration’s financial capacity to support 2 court tours of the Supreme
Court, a few for the Magistrates’ Court and the Island Courts, which were
planned on the court calendar. This, of
course, impacted on the number of cases disposed during circuits.
H.
Interaction with other agencies.
i.
The
Judiciary has enjoyed a healthy working and professional relationship with the
Ministry of Justice & Social Welfare throughout the year. It has supported the Ministry of Justice
Sector Strategy and is in continuous dialogue with the Ministry on carrying the
Strategy forward.
ii.
The courts
welcome the professional relationship it has with the Vanuatu Correctional
Services Department, which comprises of the Probation office. The provision of support in the form of
required reports have improved the quality of sentences in criminal cases.
iii.
The
Vanuatu Police Force has been a major partner in initiatives by the court.
iv.
The
court’s interaction with the non government organizations has been very limited
except for the special focus of the Vanuatu Women’s Crises Centre who have increased their capacity and are sending representation
for women in Domestic Violence Protection Orders Applications to court.
v.
The
Pacific Legal Information Institute [PacLII] who are hosted by the University
of the South Pacific Emalus campus in Port Vila, have been a strong partner is
assisting the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal judgments to be published
online. 2012 has seen an improvement so
that court judgments are published as soon as they are delivered.
I.
International interactions.
i.
Vanuatu
gained from its association with the Pacific Judicial Development Program
[PJDP], a regional cooperation in Judicial Developments, funded by NZaid and
managed by the Federal Court of Australia.
ii.
The
Judiciary has been in constant dialogue with the Federal Court of Australia’s
international cooperation unit to finalize a proposed Memorandum of
Understanding between the two courts.
- Management accountability
i.
Annual Accounts for 2012:
1. Annual budget was
VT185,905,746
2. Payroll budget was
VT94,434,796 representing 50.8%
3. Operational budget was VT
91,470,950 representing 49.2%
A detailed financial report is found
at Appendix iii at the end of this report
ii.
Senior
management committees and their roles
1.
The Chief Justice meets with the Judges of
the Supreme Court on an adhoc basis on matters in which he thinks fit for
consultation.
2.
The Chief Magistrate consults with the Chief
Justice on matters relating to the operation of the Magistrates Court
3.
A National Judicial Training and Development
Committee is chaired by the Chief Justice driving the training and development
of the judicial officers and court personnel
4.
The Chief Registrar meets with the
Accountant, the Sheriff, the Human Resource officer, the Training Coordinator,
the Senior Adminstrator of Island Courts, and the Assistant Registrar of the
Magistrates Court in Port Vila, on a regular basis for coordination of
administrative efforts to implement policies announced by the Chief Justice,
and for normal administration purposes.
iii.
Training
and development opportunities for court staff
1.
The court staff were
engaged in training and development, according to the year plan for 2012, three
times during the year.
2.
The first program is called “Professional Day
Out” held in the first quarter of the year.
This program focussed on administrative processes and procedures which
can be improved
3.
The Island Court clerks training and
development also received a specific focus with emphasis on their roles and
duties in administration of the Island Courts.
4.
Several members of the court staff were
identified who underwent basic training and instructions in the Microsoft Excel
application. There was emphasis on the
use of MS Excel to register cases and keep accurate data on case statistics.
iv.
Management
of court infrastructure
1. Port Vila,
Efate Island
2012 did not see any major changes to the plan to build a new Court House since
the burning of the old courthouse in the capital city. The court administration
and judicial Chambers are still housed in the temporary location which used to
be a former government residential house.
The following steps have been taken thus far:
a.
A designer is engaged to develop a concept design;
b.
A concept design has been arrived at and the project management
committee has been briefed;
c.
Two further consultations between the designer and the Chief
Justice took place in 2011;
d.
The project management committee has met numerous times;
e.
The Chief Justice consulted with the Prime Minister, the Minister
for Justice and the Minister of Finance, with the result that assurances were given
that the government unequivocally supports the project.
The current temporary accommodation that the Court is using is
becoming fast inadequate. The extension
added is used by the court administration and to house the office of the
Sheriff of the Supreme Court. It will be
a factor hampering further recruitments if nothing is done quickly to create
more space. Plans for the recruitment of one Master of the Supreme Court has
not yet been materialized. The present
space is plainly inadequate to house judicial Chambers.
The Courtrooms and the retirement room rented at the Dumbea Hall
complex is the bare minimum, and the condition of one Island Court courtroom
there adjoining the judges’ retirement room is deteriorating due to persistent
leakage from the roof in wet weather.
The congested nature of these temporary
locations also mean there is inadequate space of parking and protected
customer or public waiting areas. There are also very limited provision of public toilet facilities
while internal facilities are inadequate at best.
The Magistrates Court is housed in a separate building in Port
Vila. However, it faces the same
difficulties of congestion, inadequacy of space for offices and public waiting
areas, parking space and public toilet facilities.
2. Luganville,
Santo Island
The court office in Luganville, Santo was also destroyed by fire,
on 25 September 2011. The court offices
which were housed in this building and which were affected include:
- Supreme Court
registry;
- Magistrates' Courts
registry;
- Judge’s office
- Magistrate’s office
- 2 courtrooms;
- Toilet facilities; and
- Storage rooms
All these were relocated temporarily to a building located at the
Sanma Provincial Head Quarters.
In December 2012, the court relocated back into the old property,
after the completion of some repair after the fire of 2011. The property housing the court in Luganville
is a privately-held leasehold property. A
repeat call is raised here
about the particular difficulty of court accommodation in
Luganville, Santo, for the Ministry of Justice to progress its intention to
secure land and build a purpose-built court house in Luganville.
3. Isangel, Tanna
Island
The court house accommodating the registry, Magistrate’s office, a
clerk’s office and a courtroom has not been renovated in any meaningful way
since it was built more than 20 years ago.
The court house needs renovation to its structure as well as the
furnishing of the courtroom. Some
chain-link fencing material are off-loaded at the
court house compound, but actual work is still to commence on building a fence
around the court house compound.
4. Morua, Tongoa
Island
The court house at Morua on Tongoa island,
accommodates the court registry, an
A proposal is discussed with the “Stretem Rod blong Jastis”
project to fund solar power units to be installed in the courts’ outer island
offices including at Morua, Tongoa.
5. Ambore, Ambae
Island
The
6. Sola, Bank
Group of Islands
While the court office at Sola, Banks islands enjoys a reliable
and constant source of power from the Solar power unit that was installed there
early 2012, the need for structural repair and renovation to the building is
the same as the other court centers.
Internal and public toilet facilities need to be provided in the court
office building.
There is need for repair and maintenance of building and furniture
of the court in this location as well.
Major repairs and maintenance of the residential house occupied by
the Island Court clerk is also needed.
7. Loltong,
Pentecost Island
The Pentecost Island Court is accommodated in a building owned
originally by the Penama Provincial government at Loltong. The Court administration maintains the lawn
and the physical upkeep of the place but does not spend its budget on the
building.
The Court administration keeps a fiberglass boat at Loltong for
transportation so the court can access other coastal parts of the
8. Lakatoro,
Malekula Island
The court office at Lakatoro, Malekula is in a better condition
than many other court offices around the country. There is a constant centrally provided power. However, facilities
available for the public court users is non-existent. There is need to build public toilet
facilities and upgrade the staff facilities.
Telecommunication to and from this court office was a difficulty
throughout 2012. However there was a
small improvement when it acquired internet connection, through the help of the
E-government project.
9. Graig-cove,
Ambrym Island
The court office on Ambrym was built concurrently with the one on
Epi island. It is a simple design of two office
spaces, one for the judicial officer and the other for the clerk or support
staff. Then the rest of the building is
an open-style courtroom not dissimilar to the ones at Morua, Isangel, and Sola.
10. Technology
Most of the court offices around the country have computers and
some source of power supply to enable officers to operate the machines. The most basic technology in the outer
islands consists of a computer with Windows XP and 2003 or 2007 version of the
Microsoft package, a printer, a photocopier and a phone/fax machine. But the phone/fax machines are not really
useful now since competition in the telecommunication industry intensified and
most providers are targeting the mobile phone market. The court offices are left with
under-maintained land lines which they depend on for the phone/fax machines.
2012 did not see any major change in the area of access to the
internet and email. This is still
confined to court offices in Port Vila town, Luganville town and Lakatoro,
Malekula Island.
The desktop computers of the Judiciary across
the country needs to be replaced since many of them are more than 5
years old.
11. Vehicles
The court has a fleet of 10 vehicles. The only acquisition in this area this year was
one sedan type car purchased for the use of a Judge of the Supreme Court in
Port Vila. Five vehicles in the current
fleet need replacement. Despite budget
submissions to this effort, the Ministerial Budget Committee has not been
supportive. The need for replacement
only compounds the need for new court vehicles for the Lakatoro court office
and the Isangel court office. In the
future this need will apply to other court offices around the country but for
the moment, other court offices need motorbikes or quad-bikes to assist with
the service of court documents.
Out-sourcing transport for servicing of court documents is becoming
extremely expensive and simply unsustainable.
12. Boats and
accessories
There is one operating boat at Loltong, Pentecost island. This was
donated by the French Government. There
is currently a 15hp outboard engine on the boat which is inadequate considering
that the boat is about 7 meters long.
An aluminium boat which is located at Sola in the Banks group of
islands is planned to be relocated to the court office on Epi island. A new engine
and safety equipment and accessories will need to be purchased to make the boat
sea worthy.
The plan to move the boat from the Banks islands to Epi island is underlined
by the need for a bigger and heavier boat for the Banks islands where the
islands are scattered far and wide, and the high swells and rough seas is not
uncommon in this part of the country.
K.
Appendices
i.
Organisational Chart
ii.
List of Judicial Officers and Court Personnel
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Post N0 |
Names |
Post Title |
Payroll N0 |
Emp.Status |
|
14001 |
Vincent Lunabek |
Chief Justice |
430397 |
Permanent |
|
14002 |
Nevin Dawson replaced by Robert Spear |
Judge |
999995 |
Term of 2 yrs |
|
14003 |
Daniel Fatiaki |
Judge |
153643 |
Term extended |
|
14004 |
Oliver Saksak |
Judge |
153601 |
Permanent |
|
14005 |
John Obed Alilee |
Chief Registrar |
468330 |
Permanent |
|
14006 |
Rita Bill Naviti |
Senior Magistrate |
153742 |
Permanent |
|
14007 |
Jimmy Garae |
Senior Magistrate |
153817 |
Permanent |
|
14008 |
Edwin Macreveth Ambuse |
Senior Magistrate |
802660 |
Resigned |
|
14011 |
Nesbeth Wilson |
Senior Magistrate |
215038 |
Permanent |
|
14012 |
Steve Bani |
Senior Magistrate |
491282 |
Resigned |
|
14013 |
Stephen Felix |
Chief Magistrate |
119818 |
Permanent |
|
14014 |
Patrick george |
Island Court Clerk |
1069727 |
Permanent |
|
14015 |
Wilson Andrew Nasawa |
Island Court Clerk |
808261 |
Permanent |
|
14016 |
Wendy Raptigh W. |
Island Court Clerk |
741843 |
Permanent |
|
14017 |
Nicholas Kollan |
Island Court Clerk |
153882 |
Permanent |
|
14018 |
Evelyn Hopkins |
Island Court Clerk |
153767 |
Permanent |
|
14019 |
Blandine Tepi Konmawi |
Island Court Clerk |
149054 |
Permanent |
|
14020 |
Jonah Mesau |
Island Court Clerk |
122051 |
Permanent |
|
14021 |
Denise Kuse |
Receptionist |
434779 |
Deceased |
|
14022 |
Veronique Teitoka |
Secretary, Registry Office |
639393 |
Permanent |
|
14023 |
Cynthia Thomas Csiba |
Secretary, Registry Office |
442848 |
Permanent |
|
14025 |
Marilyne Sese |
Secretary, Chief Justice |
162990 |
Permanent |
|
14026 |
Evelyne Sawia |
Secetary, Supreme Court |
552810 |
Permanent |
|
14027 |
Anita Vunabit Buletare |
Secretary, Supreme Court |
411710 |
Permanent |
|
14028 |
Naomi Hinge |
Secretary, Supreme Court |
782755 |
Permanent |
|
14029 |
Evelyn Kaltapau |
Secretary, |
806927 |
Permanent |
|
14030 |
Malia Nupupo |
Secretary, |
741868 |
Permanent |
|
14032 |
Anita Simon Isabelle |
Secretary, |
129882 |
Permanent |
|
14033 |
Florina Toran Singanbo |
Secretary, |
726596 |
Permanent |
|
14034 |
Rodrice Mulonturala |
Secretary, |
1070115 |
Permanent |
|
14035 |
John Daniel |
Assistant Sheriff Luganville |
167668 |
Permanent |
|
14036 |
Malachai George |
Sheriff of the Supreme Court |
176180 |
Permanent |
|
14037 |
Jean Noel Kutty |
Driver/Messenger |
425777 |
Permanent |
|
14038 |
Tarsong Tarosa |
Driver, Chief Justice |
585372 |
Permanent |
|
14039 |
Cleris Kalo |
Cleaner, Port |
565523 |
Permanent |
|
14040 |
Pauline Kalo |
Librarian |
741413 |
Permanent |
|
14041 |
Wilma Manmelin |
Secretary to sheriff office |
118141 |
Permanent |
|
14042 |
|
Accountant |
644286 |
Permanent |
|
14043 |
Joel Shem |
Senior Administrator of |
706028 |
Permanent |
|
14044 |
Madeng John M. |
Assistant Registrar Supreme Court |
219709 |
Permanent |
|
14045 |
Shirley George |
Assistant |
118059 |
Permanent |
|
14046 |
Dudley Aru |
Judge |
|
Permanent |
|
14047 |
Vacant |
Secretary, Supreme Court |
|
|
|
14048 |
Vacant |
Secretary, |
|
|
|
14050 |
Katherine Abel |
Finance Officer |
1066364 |
Permanent |
|
14051 |
Belinda Garae |
Human Resource Officer |
0764225 |
Permanent |
iii. Financial Report for 2012 [PDF]