Legal control of the executive under the Papua New Guinea Constitution

Abstract

The Papua New Guinea Constitution came into force at midnight on 16 September 1975 when the country became an independent, sovereign State. This thesis is a study of a single aspect of this Constitution, namely the legal control of the Executive. The task of controlling the Executive is a major aim of the Constitution in that it reflects what was perhaps the central concern of the Constitutional Planning Committee (CPC) on whose recommendations much of the present Constitution is based. After an account of the factors which gave rise to the concern to control the Executive is given, attention is directed to the main part of the thesis, viz., the constitutional scheme of control the constitution-makers devised for the purpose. The concluding chapter provides some assessment of the operation of this scheme in practice, focuäing, in particular, on the problems that have been experienced since Independence. The chapter goes on to present some suggestions as to the reforms that need to be made to the scheme, if the Executive is to be adequately and effectively controlled in the future. Show more