The Matrimonial Causes Act (Chapter 282) confers the rights. The Matrimonial Causes Rules 2022 say how to exercise them.
The Matrimonial Causes Rules 2022 are rules of the National Court. They are not published on PacLII at the time of writing, and the copy this article was prepared from is a scanned document from which rule numbers could not be reliably read.
This article therefore describes the Rules by reference to what the Act itself requires of them, and to the structure the Rules follow. Do not rely on a rule number taken from a secondary source. Obtain a current copy from the National Court registry or from a lawyer before filing anything.
Every provision quoted below is from the Matrimonial Causes Act (Chapter 282) itself, which is linked throughout.
Why the Act needs rules
An Act of Parliament cannot sensibly prescribe the wording of a form or the number of days for filing a reply. Those matters change, and they belong to the court that runs the process.
So the Act allocates them to rules of court. Section 90 goes further and allows the Rules to create additional means of enforcing a decree beyond those the Act itself lists.
The matters the Act commits to the Rules
| Section | What the Rules govern |
|---|---|
| s 8 | The functions of an officer of a court investigating a matter in accordance with the Rules |
| s 56 | Institution of proceedings; the form and content of the petition |
| s 73(2) | Applications for maintenance pending the disposal of proceedings |
| s 86(1) | Enforcement by attachment or sequestration |
| s 88 | Registration of a maintenance order in a court of summary jurisdiction, and its enforcement there |
| s 90 | Additional means of enforcing decrees |
| s 91(b) | Enforcement of pre-commencement decrees by the new machinery |
| s 92(1) | Which proceedings, or parts of them, are heard in chambers rather than open court |
| s 94(1) | Service of process, in or outside Papua New Guinea |
| s 97 | Costs and security for costs |
| Sch 2 | Applications for, and administration of, attachment of earnings orders |
How the Rules are organised
1. Commencement — the petition, its form and verification, and the documents filed with it.
2. Service — personal service, substituted service, service outside the jurisdiction, and dispensation.
3. Pleadings — the answer (including a supplementary answer), the reply, the rejoinder and further rejoinder, and amendment of a pleading.
4. The discretion statement — the confidential statement of a petitioner’s own adultery, filed in a sealed envelope.
5. Hearing — the distinction between a defended suit and an undefended suit, evidence, and affidavits.
6. Decree — the decree nisi, the section 59 declaration about children, and the certificate that the decree has become absolute.
7. Ancillary and enforcement proceedings — maintenance, custody and property applications, and the enforcement machinery in Part X.
The sealed discretion statement. The Rules provide for a petitioner’s own adultery to be disclosed to the court in a statement enclosed in a sealed envelope, so that the court has the material required by section 29 without the allegation being aired unnecessarily. Failing to disclose risks the decree: under section 69, a decree nisi may be rescinded where material facts have not been brought before the Court.
Infants and next friends. Where a party is under age or under disability, the Rules provide for proceedings to be conducted through a next friend or guardian — relevant where a minor has married.
Finding and using the Rules
- Obtain a current copy from the National Court registry. Rules are amended, and an old copy is worse than none.
- Use the prescribed forms. A petition that does not follow the form will be rejected at the registry counter.
- Check whether your application belongs in chambers or in open court — section 92(1) makes that a matter for the Rules.
- Where a step is not covered, remember Constitution section 155(4) — the National Court may make such orders as are necessary to do justice.
They govern proceedings under the Matrimonial Causes Act. They do not govern:
- proceedings in the Family Court under the Lukautim Pikinini Act 2015 — the route for a customary marriage, which section 4 excludes from the Act;
- adoption applications under the Adoption of Children Act (Chapter 275);
- actions under the Adultery and Enticement Act 1988.
Sources
- Matrimonial Causes Act (Chapter 282) — ss 4, 8, 29, 56, 59, 69, 73, 86–98 and Schedule 2
- Matrimonial Causes Rules 2022 (National Court) — not available on PacLII; obtain from the National Court registry
- Constitution — s 155(4)
- Lukautim Pikinini Act 2015
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Marriage Act (Chapter 280) and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.