The Law and Justice Sector
The Law and Justice Sector comprises of the formal principal Law and Justice agencies including those informal or civil organization groups who are committed to assisting the formal agencies to address the law and order issues. The formal sector agencies include: the Department of Justice and Attorney General, the National Judicial Staff Services, the Ombudsman Commission, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary, Correctional Services, Magisterial Services, Office of the Public Prosecutor and Public Solicitor and the Department of National Planning and Rural Development who plays a major role in this coordinating process.
Law and order is one of the government expenditure priorities. The Medium Term Development Strategy (MTDS) sets the government's broader development goal. The MTDS retains the philosophy of the former development strategy, namely that government will help out, not hand out, and that broad-based development must principally arise from the collective efforts of ordinary Papua New Guineans. Handouts are neither affordable nor appropriate, and they are an insult to our rich heritage of self-reliance. The role of government is to help out by empowering Papua New Guineans and by removing the obstacles to investment, growth and wealth creation.
For 2003-2007, our development strategy will embrace a supporting policy environment that emphasises macroeconomic and policy stability, the rule of law, an outward looking and market-friendly trade and investment regime, international competitiveness, land reform, gender equality, and protection of our natural environment. The supporting policy environment will be particularly geared towards increased investment in manufacturing, especially downstream processing; agro-businesses; mining, petroleum, and gas development; and tourism.
Therefore, The Law and Justice Sector is being guided by the White Paper on Law and Justice in Papua New Guineaand National Law and Justice Policy andPlan of Action. These documents set the strategic direction for the sector. The Policy contains three major pillars, these includes Improving the Efficiency of the Deterrence System, Improving Coordination within the Sector and the Prevention and Restorative Justice within the Sector. ThePolicy recognizes the limitations of the state institutions and promotes the expansion of crime prevention and restorative justice approaches based upon the culture and traditions of PNG communities. It promotes initiatives such as mediation, alternative dispute resolution, village courts and crime prevention strategies.
In early 2003 the government of PNG established the National Coordinating Mechanism (NCM) made up of the Law and Justice sector agencies heads and chaired by the Secretary, Department of National Planning and Rural Development to oversee the implementation of the Policy. The major ongoing task for the Sector and the Program is currently to develop and evaluate appropriate management strategies and structures.
The Law and Justice Sector Program has a role of providing the Government of Papua New Guinea a flexible delivery mechanism.
Government Priority
The government has identified Law and Order as one of its expenditure priorities apart from transport maintenance, Primary health, basic education and the promotion of rural income earning opportunities.
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