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Porgera Mt Kare Young Generations Associations Incorporated v Johnny Kolkia (trading as Johnny Kolkia Lawyers) [2026] PGNC 71; N11791 (2 April 2026)

N11791

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

[NATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE]

WS NO. 90 OF 2025 (IECMS)

BETWEEN:

PORGERA MT KARE YOUNG GENERATIONS ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED
Plaintiff

AND:
JOHNNY KOLKIA trading as JOHNNY KOLKIA LAWYERS

Defendant

WAIGANI: CAREY J

4 MARCH, 2 APRIL 2026

COURT ORDERS — Whether motion to be granted or refused —

PROCEDURE – JOINDER OF PARTIES - Application for joinder under Order 5 rule 8 National Court Rules – test is whether applicant has sufficient interest and whether joinder is necessary for effectual and complete determination – joinder granted where applicant asserts direct proprietary interest in compensation fund central to dispute – joinder refused where applicant relies solely on Letters of Administration over deceased person.

ASSOCIATIONS – LEGAL PERSONALITY - Incorporated association – distinct legal entity – authority exercised through constitution and statutory mechanisms – Letters of Administration do not vest control or representative authority over incorporated association – joinder properly refused where application would restrain association’s legal capacity without lawful mandate.

CIVIL PROCEDURE – DISCLOSURE – Interlocutory disclosure – proportionality – trust account disclosure ordered – personal banking disclosure refused as premature and intrusive.

The Court is asked to determine a Notice of Motion seeking the joinder of Mr Yange Koma as a plaintiff and Mr Anthon Pepa Kaluni as a defendant, together with consequential relief including disclosure of trust and personal banking records and referral of the matter to mediation. Ms. Thresia Reville Kipu also sought to be joined as a plaintiff in this matter. The joinder applications raise issues as to whether parties with a direct interest in the K12 million compensation fund must be added to ensure the dispute is effectually and completely determined. The remaining relief concerns the appropriate scope and timing of disclosure and whether the proceedings are sufficiently defined to warrant referral to alternative dispute resolution at this stage.

Held:

1. A person asserting a direct proprietary interest in compensation funds that form the subject matter of proceedings has a sufficient interest to be joined as a party where their joinder is necessary to ensure that all matters in dispute are effectually and completely adjudicated upon under Order 5 rule 8 of the National Court Rules.
2. Letters of Administration relating to a deceased person’s estate do not, without more, confer authority to control, represent, or restrain the legal capacity of an incorporated association, which remains a distinct legal person exercising authority through its constitution and lawful resolutions.
3. In proceedings involving alleged misapplication of compensation funds, disclosure should be confined at the interlocutory stage to documents directly relevant to the subject fund, and the Court will refuse premature or intrusive disclosure amounting to a fishing exercise before pleadings close.
4. The application by Thresia Reville Kipu for joinder is dismissed.
5. The application by Mr. Yange Koma to be joined as a party is granted.
6. Mr. Anthon Pepa Kaluni is joined as a Defendant.
7. Mediation will be revisited at the close of pleadings.
8. Disclosure shall, at this stage, be confined to issues directly relevant to the K12 million compensation payment the subject of these proceedings.
9. The Defendant, Johnny Kolkia trading as Kolkia Lawyers, shall comply with the disclosure made relating to his trust account showing the outgoing payments involving the K12 million.
10. No further disclosure, including disclosure of personal banking records, shall be required without the close of pleadings and a further order of the Court upon a properly supported application.
11. Consequential directions for amendment of pleadings and case management are to be made by Chamber Orders.
12. Costs of the joinder applications are costs in the cause.
13. Time for entry of these Orders be abridged to the time of settlement by the Registrar which shall take place forthwith.

Cases cited

PNG Deep Sea Fishing Ltd v Milne Bay [2010] PGSC53; SC1126

Counsel
Mr. W. Langap, for the plaintiff
Mr. R. Kasito, for the defendant
Mr. A. Donigi, on behalf of Ms. Thresia Reville Kipu
Mr. Y. Koma, on behalf of himself and in his representative capacity

JUDGMENT

1. CAREY J: This is the decision in relation to the joinder applications of two interested parties, namely Ms. Thresia Reville Kipu and Mr. Yange Koma, who seek to be joined to these proceedings.

BACKGROUND
2. The Court heard these applications seeking joinder of additional parties in these proceedings, which concern the handling and payment of compensation funds arising from damage suffered at Yarik Village, Pogera District.

3. The Notice of Motion filed on 10^th December 2025 by Mr. Yange Koma and Notice of Motion filed on 3^rd July 2025 by Ms. Thresia Reville Kipu are what informs.

4. The applications advance different bases for joinder and must be considered on their individual merits.

5. The Affidavit in support of the Motion by Mr Yange Roma was document 20 filed on 10^th December 2025.

6. The Affidavit in support of the Motion by Ms. Thresia Reville Kipu was document 15 filed on 3^rd July 2025.

ISSUES

1. Whether the proposed party has a sufficient interest in the subject matter; and
2. Whether the party’s joinder is necessary to ensure that all matters in dispute may be effectually and completely adjudicated upon.

DETERMINATION
7. Order 5 rule 8 of the National Court Rules addresses the process for a joinder application.

8. In PNG Deep Sea Fishing Ltd v Milne Bay [PGSC 53]; SC1126 it states that:

“7. Having considered these authorities, we are of the view that the most important test for joinder of parties are:

(a) whether the applicant has sufficient interest in the proceedings; and
(b) whether the applicant''s joinder as a party is necessary to ensure that all matters in dispute in the proceedings can be effectively and completely adjudicated upon.”

9. The test is not one of merits, proof, or leadership correctness but it is necessity for adjudication.

Ms. Thresia Reville Kipu, Administrator, Pogera Mt Kare Young Generation Association

10. This application is premised on Letters of Administration said to confer representative authority over the Plaintiff Association.

11. An incorporated association is a legal person distinct from its members or founders. Its authority is exercised in accordance with its constitution and applicable statutory requirements.

12. Letters of Administration relate to the administration of a deceased person’s estate and do not, without more, confer authority over an incorporated body.

13. No evidence of any executive resolution, membership mandate, or regulatory registration authorising the Applicant to act on behalf of the Association has been placed before the Court.

14. The relief sought would, in substance, restrain the Association from exercising its legal capacity pending trial, notwithstanding that it is properly before the Court.

15. I am is not satisfied that this joinder is necessary for the effectual determination of the issues raised by the pleadings.

16. The joinder application on this basis is refused.

Mr. Yange Koma, Principal Land Owner of the Tiyeni Kaimalo Clan, Polena Family, Yarik Village, Pogera District, Enga Province

17. Mr Yange Koma sought to be joined in the proceedings as a Plaintiff.

18. Mr Koma asserts that he is a direct victim of the sinkhole damage at Yarik Village and a beneficiary of the compensation funds said to total approximately K12 million. That fund is the very subject matter of these proceedings.

19. The Defendant maintains that the funds have been paid to rightful victims.

20. Mr Koma asserts that he received nothing.

21. In those circumstances, I am satisfied that Mr Koma has a direct and substantial interest in the subject matter of this proceeding, and that his joinder is necessary to ensure that the matters in dispute are effectually and completely adjudicated upon, within the meaning of Order 5 Rule 8 of the National Court Rules.

22. I therefore grant his joinder. However, at this stage, he is joined to act for himself only.

23. Any claim to represent others must be proven by proper authority.

Mr Anthon Pepa Kaluni

24. The application also seeks to join Mr Anthon Pepa Kaluni as a Defendant.

25. The material before the Court discloses that Mr Kaluni was involved in instructing the Defendant solicitor and is alleged to have had involvement in the handling or direction of the compensation funds. These matters are closely connected to the pleaded dispute.

26. I am satisfied that his joinder is necessary for the complete determination of the dispute, particularly in relation to the flow and control of the compensation funds.

27. The application seeks extensive disclosure.

28. Given that the K12 million compensation payment is admitted to have passed through the Defendant solicitor’s trust account, it is appropriate, proportionate, and necessary that limited disclosure be ordered.

29. Accordingly, I order disclosure by the Defendant of trust account transactions confined strictly to those relating to the compensation funds.

30. However, the application seeking full personal bank statements from Mr Kaluni is refused at this stage. That relief is highly intrusive and premature.

31. I will not permit what may amount to a fishing exercise before pleadings are closed and issues are properly defined.

CONCLUSION

32. The interests of justice require that persons with a direct and proprietary interest in the compensation funds be joined so that the dispute may be resolved.

33. However, the Court must guard against premature, intrusive, or disproportionate procedural orders before liability is properly pleaded and determined.

34. In exercising the discretion conferred by Order 5 rule 8 of the National Court Rules, the I have been careful to confine joinder to those persons whose presence is necessary to enable the real issues raised by the pleadings to be effectually and completely determined, and to refuse joinder where the asserted interest is indirect, unproven, or collateral to that task.

35. I have not undertaken any assessment of the merits of competing claims to entitlement, authority, or liability, nor has it determined any issue that properly falls for trial.

36. The orders made are procedural in character, proportionate to the stage of the proceedings, and directed solely to ensuring that the dispute concerning the compensation funds may be finally and conclusively resolved in the presence of all necessary parties, without undue expansion of issues or premature intrusion into matters not yet properly pleaded.

ORDERS

1. The application by Thresia Reville Kipu for joinder is dismissed.
2. The application by Mr. Yange Koma to be joined as a party is granted.
3. Mr. Anthon Pepa Kaluni is joined as a Defendant.
4. Mediation will be revisited at the close of pleadings.
5. Disclosure shall, at this stage, be confined to issues directly relevant to the K12 million compensation payment the subject of these proceedings.
6. The Defendant, Johnny Kolkia trading as Kolkia Lawyers, shall comply with the disclosure made relating to his trust account showing the outgoing payments involving the K12 million.
7. No further disclosure, including disclosure of personal banking records, shall be required without the close of pleadings and a further order of the Court upon a properly supported application.
8. Consequential directions for amendment of pleadings and case management are to be made by Chamber Orders.
9. Costs of the joinder applications are costs in the cause.
10. Time for entry of these Orders be abridged to the time of settlement by the Registrar which shall take place forthwith.

Ordered accordingly.
Lawyers for the plaintiff: Zzahaqoo Legal
Lawyers for the defendant: Kasito Lawyers
Lawyers for party seeking Joinder, Thresia Reville Kipu: Ama Wali Lawyers