Because there is nowhere to appeal to, a Supreme Court judgment is operative from the moment it is delivered. What remains afterwards is a short window for a narrow class of applications.
There is no further appeal
Section 155(1) and (2) of the Constitution establish the Supreme Court as the final court of appeal. Its decisions dispose of the litigation.
Contrast the position below. Section 19 of the Supreme Court Act provides that unless otherwise ordered by the Supreme Court or a Judge, an appeal, or an application for leave to appeal, to the Supreme Court does not operate as a stay of proceedings — a National Court judgment is operative during an appeal, and a Supreme Court judgment has nothing pending against it at all.
Judgment may be delivered ex tempore at the hearing, or reserved and delivered later. Either way the decision takes effect when it is pronounced.
The sealed order that follows is the document used for enforcement, and it should be taken out promptly — but it records the judgment rather than creating it.
Order 11 Rule 32
(1) An application of any nature made after disposal of a proceeding shall be filed and served in writing within 21 days of the order disposing of the proceeding.
(2) A ‘slip rule’ application shall set out the nature of the slip and the finding that the applicant contends the Court should have made.
(3) A ‘slip rule’ application shall not be listed for hearing before the Court unless a Judge of the Court making the order from which the application arises, or that Court, has granted leave for the application to proceed.
The 21-day limit is not confined to slip rule applications. It applies to any application made after disposal — a question about the form of the order, a costs application not dealt with, a request for a variation.
The period runs from the order disposing of the proceeding. See correcting a judgment.
Giving effect to the judgment
Where the Court affirms the judgment under section 16(b), the National Court judgment stands and is enforced there. Any stay granted pending the appeal falls away.
Where the Court gives such judgment as ought to have been given in the first instance under section 16(c), the Supreme Court’s order is the operative judgment.
Where the Court remits the case in whole or in part under section 16(d), or orders a new trial under section 16(e), the matter returns to the National Court and proceeds there.
Section 8(1)(f) gives the Court power to issue any warrants necessary for enforcing the orders or sentences of the Court.
Costs are not immediately payable
An order that costs be paid, to be taxed if not agreed, does not become an enforceable amount until taxation. Order 12 provides for the taxation process, and for the Court to direct the entry of judgment for costs in the amount stated in the Certificate of taxation.
Order 12 Rule 5(2) also allows the Court to order a gross sum specified in the order, or a sum in respect of costs to be ascertained in such manner as the Court may direct — and Rule 5(3) allows such an order at any time, whether or not an order that costs be paid to a person has previously been made or entered.
See taxation and enforcing a costs order.
What happens to a stay
A stay granted under section 19, or an interim order made under section 5(1)(b) to prevent prejudice to the claims of the parties, is expressed to operate pending the appeal. Once the appeal is disposed of, it has nothing to attach to.
Where an appellant needs protection after judgment — for instance, time to satisfy a judgment now affirmed — that is a matter for the National Court, or for agreement with the other side. It is not achieved by the stay continuing.
Where an appeal is allowed and the matter remitted under section 16(d), any orders needed to hold the position until the remitted hearing should be sought at the time judgment is delivered, while the Court is still seised of the matter.
What happens to the papers
The Registrar shall retain the documents obtained under Rules 30 and 31 until the disposal of the appeal and shall, subject to any direction by the court, return them to the persons from whom they were obtained.
So the exhibits and other documents delivered to the registry go back once the appeal is disposed of. A party who needs an exhibit for the remitted hearing should say so before it is returned.
Where a matter has been dismissed on summary determination and the parties are unrepresented, Order 13 Rule 16(2) requires the Registrar to forward a sealed copy of the Order together with a copy of the judgment, if any, to the National Court which made the decision, and the file is closed and sent to archives.
After the 21 days
Once the window in Order 11 Rule 32 has closed, the judgment is final in every practical sense. There is no appeal, and the Court does not reopen decided matters.
An application to review a decision of the Supreme Court itself is not an ordinary remedy and faces a formidable threshold. See reviewing a Supreme Court decision and what to do after the appeal.
Sources
- Supreme Court Rules 2012 — O 7 rr 30–32; O 11 r 32; O 12 rr 5, 8; O 13 r 16
- Supreme Court Act (Chapter 37) — ss 8, 16, 19
- Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea — s 155
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.