Not without the court’s permission — and the standard bail certificate takes your passport before the question even arises. But the Bail Act does provide a route, and it is used successfully. The mistake most people make is asking too late.
Start with the bail certificate
Under the Bail Rules 2021, the standard Bail Certificate (Form 5) carries a built-in travel condition. Condition 6 reads:
“The applicant shall surrender all their passports to the Court and shall not leave …………. province and shall not leave the country and shall not go within …. metres/kilometres of …………….. without prior written permission of the Court.”
So passport surrender, a no-leave-the-province condition, a no-leave-the-country condition and a geographic exclusion zone are all packaged into one condition. Form 5 is a template with blanks — these are conditions the judge selects and fills in, not terms imposed automatically on every grant. But if that condition is on your certificate, travelling without permission breaches your bail obligations under section 17, with all the consequences that follow.
Section 23: the door that exists
Section 23 of the Bail Act is headed “Permission to leave the country in certain cases”. Its five subsections are the whole of the law on this:
- 23(1) — where for urgent personal reasons or by reason of his occupation a person granted bail wishes to leave the country for a temporary period before the proceeding concludes, he may, after reasonable notice to the other party, apply to the National Court or the Supreme Court for permission.
- 23(2) — permission shall not be granted unless the court is satisfied that the person will return to Papua New Guinea for the proceeding.
- 23(3) — permission may be subject to conditions.
- 23(4) — a person may apply for permission at the same time that he applies for bail.
- 23(5) — where permission is granted, a note to that effect is endorsed on the copy of the bail certificate held by the person.
Two things stand out. The gateway is narrow — urgent personal reasons or occupation, not convenience or a holiday. And subsection (2) is expressed as a prohibition: the court cannot grant permission unless positively satisfied you will come back.
How it is done in practice
The Bail Rules 2021 give travel applications their own machinery, filed under your existing bail file (BA) number:
| What you want | Application form | Order form |
|---|---|---|
| Change your registered address | Form 8 | Form 16 |
| Travel within PNG, outside a restricted area | Form 9 | Form 17 |
| Leave the country (section 23) | Form 10 | Form 18 |
The application is served on the Public Prosecutor, who states the State’s position on the form itself, and a judge may determine it in chambers without a hearing.
Form 10 tells you exactly what the court wants, and it is a useful checklist even before you see a lawyer:
- your full name;
- proposed departure date from PNG;
- proposed return date to PNG;
- destination country;
- the purpose — expressed as urgent personal reasons or by reason of your occupation;
- method of transport and travel route;
- funds available for return travel;
- bank statements and proof of sufficient funds to return;
- what further amount of cash bail you propose;
- travel documents and visas, if available;
- a promise of the return date;
- signature and date.
The form invites you to put up additional cash bail as part of the case for letting you go — so think about that figure before you file, rather than being asked for it across the bar table.
What the courts look for
The leading accessible decision is The State v Mohamad Abdul Alim (2013) N5061. The applicant, a Bangladeshi national on bail for bribery, applied to travel to Bangladesh to visit his sick father — squarely an “urgent personal reason”. Permission was refused.
The reasoning is what makes the case useful. Davani J treated section 23(2) as the controlling test and found a substantial risk he would not return, noting that there were no executive arrangements or legislation in place to compel his return and that the absence of extradition arrangements between PNG and Bangladesh weighed heavily against permission. A genuine reason for travelling is not the issue; the issue is what brings you back.
That points to what a strong application actually contains: ties that are hard to walk away from. Property and family in PNG, employment that continues on return, a substantial additional cash bail sum and a substantial guarantor exposure, a fixed itinerary with a booked return leg, and — where relevant — the fact that the destination country has extradition arrangements with PNG.
Ask at the same time you ask for bail
Section 23(4) exists for a reason. If you already know that your work or a family situation will require travel, apply for permission together with your bail application. This is not merely tidy: a high-profile 2025 Supreme Court application to travel overseas for urgent medical treatment was reported as having failed in part because permission had not been sought alongside the bail application as the Bail Act contemplates.
Short answers
Can I leave PNG on bail? Only with permission of the National Court or Supreme Court under section 23.
What counts as a good enough reason? Urgent personal reasons or your occupation. That is the whole gateway.
Will they take my passport? Almost certainly — it is a standard condition on Form 5.
What if I go anyway? You breach section 17. Bail can be revoked under section 21, your security forfeited under section 22, and on a charge carrying more than 12 months’ imprisonment the breach is itself an offence under section 28.
Never travel on the assumption that permission will follow. Speak to a lawyer or the Office of the Public Solicitor before booking anything.