The requirements are short and cumulative. A notice missing any of them is exposed to an objection to competency, and by the time the point is taken the 40 days will have gone.
Everything the notice needs
| Requirement | Source |
|---|---|
| Entitled “In the Supreme Court of Justice” | O 7 r 8 |
| Entitled between the party as appellant and the party as respondent | O 7 r 8 |
| States the appeal lies without leave, or that leave has been granted, annexing the order | O 7 r 9(a) |
| States whether the whole or part only, and what part, is appealed from | O 7 r 9(b) |
| States briefly but specifically the grounds | O 7 r 9(c) |
| States what judgment is sought in lieu | O 7 r 9(d) |
| In accordance with Form 8 | O 7 r 9(e) |
| Signed by the appellant or their lawyer | O 7 r 9(f) |
| Filed in the registry | O 7 r 9(g) |
| Shows an address for service | O 11 r 3 |
| Grounds specified with particularity | O 7 r 10 |
The requirement people forget
An address for service shall be disclosed on any document by which proceedings are instituted in the court, and on an appearance.
It shall contain the name, address and telephone number of the person on whose behalf the document is filed; be a place within 15 kilometres of the Registry at which documents may, during ordinary business hours, be left; and an address to which documents may be posted. Where a person is represented, it shall be the office of the lawyer or of his Papua New Guinea agent.
It shall be in accordance with Form 17.
This is a real constraint for a lawyer practising outside Port Moresby. The answer contemplated by the Rule is a Papua New Guinea agent whose office serves as the address for service.
Rule 4(a)(iv) adds a convenience: where a lawyer has been allocated a compartment in the Document Exchange Box in the Registry, deposit there amounts to ordinary service.
See address for service.
Order 7 Rule 10
It is not sufficient to allege that a judgment is against the evidence or the weight of the evidence or that it is wrong in law. The notice must specify with particularity the grounds relied on to demonstrate that it is against the evidence and the weight of the evidence, and the specific reasons why it is alleged to be wrong in law.
Not: “The learned trial judge erred in law and in fact.”
But: “The learned trial judge erred in law in holding that section 5 of the Claims By and Against the State Act 1996 does not apply to a claim founded on breach of a constitutional right, when section 2(2) applies the Act to applications under Constitution sections 57 and 58.”
The second identifies the finding, the provision, and the reason. See drafting grounds of appeal.
What goes with it
The order granting leave, where leave was required — Rule 9(a) requires it to be annexed. Obtain the sealed order promptly, because the notice must be filed within 21 days of the grant under Rule 6.
The notice of appointment to settle the appeal book, which under Rule 35 may be subscribed to the notice of appeal. Doing so means one document is served rather than two.
Who must be served
A copy shall be served without delay by or on behalf of the appellant on each party —
(a) affected by the relief sought by the notice of appeal; or
(b) interested in maintaining so much of the judgment as is appealed from;
and upon the associate to the primary judge.
It triggers Rule 31, under which the associate shall make out and certify a list of exhibits, and the exhibits and other documents before the primary Judge shall be delivered to the registry.
Failing to serve the associate stalls the assembly of the record. Where the appeal is from a Judge sitting on an appeal, Rule 12 also requires a copy to be left with the court or tribunal from which the appeal came to the National Court.
Rule 14 allows the Court or a Judge to direct service on any other person, dispense with service on a party, or direct that service be effected in a particular manner.
A last read-through
- Does paragraph (a) name the provision under which the appeal lies, and is the leave order annexed if there is one?
- Is every ground particularised enough to survive Rule 10?
- Have you said what judgment you want instead? Rule 9(d).
- Is any ground a question of fact alone? If so, a Form 7 is needed as well — Yakham v Merriam [1997] PGSC 32; [1998] PNGLR 555.
- Is it signed, and does it show an address for service?
Sources
- Supreme Court Rules 2012 — O 7 rr 6–14, 31, 35; O 11 rr 3, 4; Forms 8, 17
- Supreme Court Act (Chapter 37) — ss 14, 17
- Yakham v Merriam [1997] PGSC 32; [1998] PNGLR 555
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Supreme Court Rules 2012 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.