Rights
1975 Constitution making custom part of the underlying law
An autochthonous 1975 Constitution with a justiciable Basic Rights chapter, National Goals and Directive Principles, and — unusually — a formal instruction that custom forms part of the country's underlying law.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — A unitary state with a strong provincial tier under the Organic Law on Provincial Governments and Local-level Governments, plus the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which has its own constitution and a distinct status.
Governing law
- Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea 1975 (s. 32)
- Constitution 1975, sch. 2.1adoption of custom
- Underlying Law Act 2000
- Organic Law on the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates 2001
In practice
Two things make PNG's constitutional law distinctive. First, schedule 2.1 adopts custom as part of the underlying law, and the Underlying Law Act 2000 directs courts to apply custom in preference to English common law — a reversal of the usual colonial hierarchy, though in practice the courts have applied it unevenly. Second, the Constitution is heavily entrenched and detailed, creating institutions such as the Ombudsman Commission and a Leadership Code that has removed serving ministers from office. Bougainville's autonomy arrangements, arising from the peace agreement after the civil conflict, include a referendum on independence whose result requires ratification by the national Parliament.