“Leader” in Papua New Guinean constitutional law is a defined term, and it reaches well beyond politicians. Section 26 of the Constitution sets out who is caught by the Leadership Code in Division III.2.
The section 26 list
- the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the other Ministers;
- the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition;
- all other members of the Parliament;
- members of Provincial Assemblies and Local-level Governments;
- all constitutional office-holders within the meaning of section 221;
- all heads of Departments of the National Public Service;
- all heads of, or members of the boards or other controlling bodies of, statutory authorities;
- the Commissioner of Police;
- the Commander of the Defence Force;
- all ambassadors and other senior diplomatic and consular officials prescribed by Organic Law or Act;
- the Public Trustee;
- the personal staff of the Governor-General, the Ministers, and the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition;
- executive officers of registered political parties as defined by section 128; and
- persons holding any public office declared under section 26(3) to be an office to which the Division applies.
Section 26(2): the Division applies to a leader not only in the office that brought them within it, but also in any other office or position held under any law by virtue of that office. A Minister who sits ex officio on a board is covered in that role too.
Section 26(3): an Organic Law or an Act may declare any public office — including an office in a provincial government or a local-level government body — to be an office to which the Division applies. The list is a floor, not a ceiling.
Why personal staff are included
The inclusion of the personal staff of the Governor-General, Ministers and the Opposition leadership is deliberate. Those officers see the decisions, hold the papers, and can be used as a conduit. Bringing them inside the Code closes an obvious route around it.
The same reasoning explains the inclusion of executive officers of registered political parties, added when party regulation was constitutionalised through the Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates.
Board members of statutory authorities
This is the category most often overlooked in practice. If you are appointed to the board or controlling body of a statutory authority — not only as its head, but as a member — you are a leader for constitutional purposes. That means annual returns of income and financial affairs, the conflict-of-interest duties in section 27, and exposure to a leadership tribunal.
Ask whether the body is a statutory authority and whether the appointment brings you within section 26. The duties begin with the office, not with the moment you become aware of them.
Who decides if there is doubt?
Section 26(4) answers this in one line: in the event of doubt as to whether a person is a person to whom the Division applies, the decision of the Ombudsman Commission is final.
That is an unusually strong provision. Ordinarily a question of constitutional application would be for the Supreme Court under section 18. Here the Constitution itself commits the coverage question to the Commission.
Does it end when the office ends?
The duties attach while the person holds the office. But conduct during office remains referable afterwards, and the consequences follow the person: section 31 disqualifies anyone dismissed under the Division for misconduct in office from election to any elective public office, from appointment as Head of State or as a nominated member of Parliament, and from appointment to a provincial legislature or executive or a local-level government body, for three years from the date of dismissal.
Sources
Constitutional sections are amended. Before relying on anything here, read the current text: the Constitution on PacLII. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor.