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SPOTLIGHT
March 2019
• e Land Court division within the Magisterial Services is
headed by the Deputy Chief Magistrate.
• e Land Court existing records management system is fully
decentralised, and is operating entirely in the district and
provincial Land Court offices.
• e records management system is in a dire state: archiving
and storage of case files fail to meet minimum standards; there
are no dedicated storage facilities; and the electronic records
management system is not fully developed.
• e key to improving the Land Court records is to centralise
the case file management system using an electronic system,
while meeting the key file management criteria of compliance,
reliability and integrity.
Key
Points
THE RECORDS MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM OF LAND COURT IS IN A
DIRE STATE: WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?
Thomas Wangi
Volume 12, Issue 4
www.pngnri.org
SPOTLIGHT
March 2019
THE RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF LAND
COURT IS IN A DIRE STATE: WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?
The management of Land Court records in Papua
New Guinea (PNG) is in a dire state. As a result,
the proper operation of the Land Court has
been compromised. Land Court officials are navigating
through the dark, unaware of even the most rudimentary
information such as the scale of case backlogs. Archiving
and storage of Land Court files is failing to meet even the
most minimum standards anywhere in the country and
facilities do not exist to provide safe long-term storage.
e aim of the study into Land Court records was to
investigate the existing records management system of
the Land Court and to find a way forward for records
management. e system was analysed around a theoretical
framework to help bring clarity to the weaknesses and their
causes. It has been found that the problems lie in a system of
decentralisation of records management to the provincial and
district levels. As a result, monitoring and evaluation does not
happen and the system is prone to a high degree of fragility.
It has been found that the records management system
will only improve once the system is redesigned in a way
that makes it possible to implement within the confines of
the budget; and the only way is to centralise the system.
e first step is to embrace the electronic system that is
already functional for the other jurisdictions of Magisterial
Services. With the electronic system, all records and registries
would automatically be centralised. ere would be no
need to maintain any manual records in the districts and
provinces other than information in the case files required
by the magistrates. Moreover, under a centralised system, a
monitoring and evaluation system could be set up at low cost.
The existing records management system
e current records management system of the Land Court
in PNG is fully decentralised, operating entirely at the
provincial or district Magisterial Services offices. is means
that case files and registry books are maintained, stored and
archived at the provincial or district Land Court offices.
In almost all locations, responsibility for the registration,
recording and storage of case files falls upon a Magisterial
Services registrar rather than a dedicated Land Court
registrar, although there are plans to change this under the
establishment of Provincial Land Disputes Committees.
e process of data management begins when a clerk allocates
a Local Land Court registration number for a matter brought
before the Court, enters details of the matter into a registry
book, and opens a Local Land Court case file. All materials
relevant to the case will then be kept in the case file. Upon
completion of the case, the status in the registry book is updated
and the case file is archived. In the event that the matter goes to
the Provincial Land Court on appeal, a new case file is opened
in the Provincial Land Court with a new case file number.
Separate registry books are kept for Provincial Land Court
cases and Local Land Court cases. For both courts, the
registry book is simple with each case designated a row and
basic information is entered, including: the case number;
parties to the dispute; the name and location of the land
under dispute; the category of dispute; and the status of the
case. e case files are arranged in alphabetical order. Beyond
this, no further details appear to be recorded anywhere
apart from any documents placed into the case files.
Based on information available in the 2016 Annual Report of
the Land Court Division, there exist significant shortcomings
in the implementation of records management. e
decentralised nature of court administration means that the
quality of records management varies significantly from one
place to another, and depends on how well the individuals
at each location perform. It has been found that there is
widespread failure to operate in compliance with record
management processes. In some cases, the registry book has
not been maintained. An audit in Lae District Court in 2017
confirmed major endemic problems such as missing files.
e root of the problem is that monitoring and evaluation
of records management at the Port Moresby office is very
difficult. As a result, verification that court officers act in
compliance with registration and record keeping procedures
does not normally happen. e Lae Audit, for example, was
a rare event that has not been replicated and is unlikely to be
By Thomas Wangi
The Papua New Guinea National Research Institute (PNG NRI) is Papua New Guinea’s leading think tank on public policy and development
related issues and trends.
Spotlight articles are succinct, policy oriented papers that summarise an issue or an area of PNG NRI work in progress. This and other Spotlight
articles are available from www.pngnri.org
replicated in most other Land Court offices. At the same time,
decentralisation has created a high degree of fragility in the
system due to the overreliance on individuals at the district and
provincial offices. In turn, this places even more emphasis on
the need for monitoring and evaluation to maintain standards,
yet monitoring and evaluation is almost non-existent. e
failure of records management is therefore clear to understand.
Major issues aecting the records management
system
e management of court records underpins the operation
of the Land Court. Unfortunately, the state of records
management has been poor, and as a result, the proper
operation of the Land Court has been severely compromised
(Magisterial Services, 2016). e backlog of cases runs into
the thousands and cases can take years to be heard, and the
exact number of cases waiting to be heard is not known
because of the poor state of records management. is is not
something new, but an endemic problem that has run for
decades, and there is no sign that things are getting any better.
• Decentralisation of case le management system: e
core of the problems that the Land Court faces in its
records management is the fragmentation of registrar
responsibilities at the district or provincial level. is
is a design issue where it is not effective to operate
the decentralised system within the confines of the
resources, including financial and human resources.
Decentralisation means that responsibility for operating
the records management system normally falls upon
one or two individuals. If an individual fails to execute
their job properly, whether through absence, excessive
workload, incompetence, lack of training, or bad
intentions, then the system falls over. If an individual
resigns, then the officers take with them the on-ground
knowledge and capability of the job. e burden of
monitoring and evaluation of the decentralised system
is very extensive. As a result, the decentralised record
keeping system is highly fragile.
• Archiving and storage of case les fail to meet minimum
standards: At present, archiving and storage of Land
Court files is failing to meet even the most minimum
standards anywhere in the country. e decentralisation
of the management of Land Court case files has meant
that archiving and storage occurs in the district or
provincial offices and is normally combined with the
management of case files from other jurisdictions of
Magisterial Services. Facilities do not exist to provide
safe long-term storage, even in Port Moresby. Correct
stationery for long term storage is also a problem. As
a result, there are widespread incidences of missing or
damaged files and even of missing registry books. e
major problems revealed in the recent Lae audit confirm
that this is not just a problem at small district offices.
• Lack of dedicated land court storage facilities: e
dedicated storage facilities for Land Court files do not
exist in all provinces, therefore the Land Court stores
case files in shared facilities with other jurisdictions of
the Magisterial Services. Some facilities are containers
while others are storage rooms, with limited capacity to
hold files of all jurisdictions together. e integrity of
the files was not only impacted by tampering, but also
by damage from termites and other insects.. e storage
containers have very poor ventilation, affecting the
quality of the files, and some files have faded, making
them impossible to read. Human resource constraints
have also affected the management of the filing system.
e monitoring and evaluation is operated manually and
as a result becomes very ineffective and expensive in all
provinces.
• The electronic records management system is not
fully developed: Magisterial Services have moved onto
a software based system for maintaining case registry
records. In addition to the basic information found
in registry books, the electronic system allows further
details found in case files to be uploaded and recorded,
although it is not yet at a stage where supporting
documents can be scanned and linked to case files.
Although the electronic recording and registration
system at Magisterial Services appears competent and in
good order, there are challenges associated with funding
for ongoing internet access, maintenance and upgrades.
e technology team have extended the Magisterial
Services software system to registering and recording
case information for the Land Court.
• Lack of coordination with Department of Lands
and Physical Planning: e Department of Lands
and Physical Planning (DLPP) has administrative
responsibility over customary land, including the
registration of Incorporated Land Groups (ILGs). is
being the case, it would make sense for there to be in
place a formal link between the Land Court and the
DLPP. If there is an impact of a Land Court decision
on any aspect of customary land registration, including
ILG registration, then the records at DLPP would need
to be adjusted accordingly. e Land Court Project of
2011-2015 included a strategy to develop the records
management system so that it interfaces with the
customary land records held at DLPP (Land Court
SPOTLIGHT
3
Project Office, 2016). However, this strategy was never
implemented and there appears to be no plans to follow
this up in the Land Court Project of 2016-2020 (Land
Court Project Office, 2016).
The path forward for eective le management
Unfortunately, to date very little progress has been made.
e records management system is in a poor state, compiling
even the most basic information for management does not
happen, the electronic system is yet to be fully operational,
and storage and archiving is totally inadequate. Blame can
largely be laid on the lack of resources allocated to the tasks.
But much of the failure to make progress may be understood
by the insurmountable challenges faced in bringing order to a
heavily decentralised system in a country where connectivity
has always been difficult. Under the current conditions of
fiscal constraint, there seems no chance that this will change
into the near future. It is clear from the analysis that the
records management system must be centralised if it is to
function with compliance, reliability and integrity whilst
working within resource constraints.
• Centralise le management system: e centralised
records management system would be considerably
more efficient. ere would be less work for staff in
the district and provincial offices as they would not
need to maintain a register and they would not need to
operate archive functions. e information technology
team would monitor data entry in the provincial and
district offices, meaning the critical mass at the central
office could connect back to the individual staff on the
ground. All hard copies of case files should be kept in
one central location, in Port Moresby. e monitoring
and evaluation task would therefore be effectively
functional, while meeting the key file management
criteria of compliance, reliability and integrity.
• Improve archiving and storage practices to meet
minimum standard: Because the nature of land tenure
is such that it continues into the indefinite future,
it is an administrative requirement that Land Court
matters, unlike matters in most other jurisdictions, be
kept on record indefinitely. As such, upon completion
of a matter, Land Court case files and registry books
are required to be archived and stored safely under
conditions consistent with the requirement that they
are to be maintained in perpetuity. is means that the
archiving system must be reliable and stand the test of
time, and the storage facilities need to comply with
minimum standards for long term storage, including
protection from the elements, fire and pests. Reliable
long-term storage also means that facilities and systems
need to be in place that provide security against theft,
tampering or misplacement.
• Improve capacity of the electronic system to include
Land Court: A core benefit of the centralised electronic
records system used by Magisterial Services is the
capability to compile data and report to management.
Compiling data such as cases pending, cases completed,
cases by district, cases by type of dispute, and so on, is
relatively straightforward with the electronic system.
is information is fundamental for managers to make
informed decisions on such things as the need to allocate
resources and formulate circuit schedules, and is key
to good monitoring and evaluation processes. e
centralised electronic system should fully integrate with
Land Court to effectively manage case files.
• Build dedicated Land Court storage facilities: ere
need to be dedicated storage facilities for land court files
in all provinces capable of storing files in perpetuity. Such
facilities do not exist in all provinces, so the facilities
will need to be built if the Land Court requirements of
maintaining records in perpetuity are to be met. Once
the facilities are built, a small team of staff will need to be
allocated to manage the facilities. e team would need
to adopt a proper process of inventory management with
procedures for such things as file retrieval and storage.
Monitoring and evaluation would mean regular auditing
of archived files, a straightforward and inexpensive
process since all files are archived in one place under one
archiving system managed by one team.
• Engage with Department of Lands and Physical
Planning: e Magisterial Services, in collaboration
with DLPP, should implement the strategy in the
Land Court Project of 2016-2020 to develop the
records management system so that it interfaces with
the customary land records held at DLPP. It is the
responsibility of the DLPP to develop any interface as
it is their function to maintain customary land and ILG
registries (Land Court Project Office, 2016).
Conclusion
e records management system of the Land Court is in a
dire state, due entirely to its poor design. As a result, the
ability of the Land Court to function effectively has been
severely compromised. e case audit of land court files in
Lae District Court exposed the dire state; minimum records
management system is not met, files are manually managed,
SPOTLIGHT
4
there is poor storage facility, and a single officer managed all
files.
e key action to improve the records management system
of Land Court is to centralise case file management system,
especially in the Port Moresby office. is would make the
task of monitoring and evaluation functional, while meeting
the key file management criteria of compliance, reliability
and integrity. is comes with a building of dedicated storage
facility and fully functional electronic system. Another policy
option is to meet minimum file storage standards.
References
Land Court Project Office. (2016). Land Court project
report: Land Court reform as dministered by Magisterial
Services under the NLDP: 2010–2015. Port Moresby:
Magisterial Services.
Land Court Project Office. (2016). Land Court project
phase 2: 2016–2020; Project Design Documentation.
Port Moresby: Magisterial Services.
Levantis, T. and Wangi, T. (2018). Understanding the
records management system of Land Court (PNG
NRI Discussion Paper 161). Port Moresby: Papua New
Guinea National Research Institute.
Magisterial Services. (2016). Land Court processes and
procedures standard. Port Moresby: Author.
Acknowledgements
e author would like to thank the Australian Department
of Foreign Affairs and Trade for financial support. e
author also acknowledges valuable contributions made by
Dr eodore Levantis and comments provided by Associate
Professor Eugene Ezebilo, Program Leader, Property
Development Research Program, Papua New Guinea
National Research Institute.
About the Author
omas Wangi is a Research Fellow of the Property
Development Research Program at the PNG National
Research Institute.
SPOTLIGHT
5
The Papua New Guinea National Research Institute (PNG NRI), PO Box 5854, Boroko, NCD 111, Papua New Guinea. Telephone +675 326 0061;
Facsimile +675 326 0213. Website: www.pngnri.org; email: nri@pngnri.org
PNG NRI is an independent statutory authority established by an Act of Parliament in 1988 and conrmed by the IASER (Amendment) Act 1993.
