The establishment of a Policy and Planning unit of any government department, or organization is fundamentally important because government departments ought to play a key role in advising, formulating, implementing and coordinating such policies. These policies help in the management of the department or an organization.

Thus, a policy unit is needed in any department to link policy and planning in ensuring that quality, accurate and timely advice is provided, and departmental plans and policies are successfully implemented and coordinated according to the overall goals of the department.

The Policy, Planning and monitoring Branch therefore;

1. Co-ordinates, monitors and reviews the strategic planning processes of the department and aligns these with the budget processes to produce the Department’s corporate and Annual plans.
2. Coordinates all internal policies consistent with the strategic priorities of the department;
3. Assists the Secretary and Attorney General in non legal policy issues that falls outside the scope of State Solicitor’s office and the Legal Policy and Governance Branch;
4. Reports to and assists the Secretary’s office and the Minister as necessary in matters concerning all aspects of the Department’s functions, and keeps the administrative organization and operation of the Department under review;
5. Co-ordinates all the policies, plans and projects of all Branches and offices of the Department to ensure that it is consistent with the Department’s Corporate Plan and strategic goals of the Department;
6. Coordinates the Development Budget of the department
7. Co-ordinates government and international donor funded projects of the department eg; Community Justice Center, PNG Australia Law and Justice Partnership, Convention on the rights of the Child (CRC) etc.
8. Initiate and carry out research and survey projects aimed at improving service delivery

Structure and Administration

The Executive Manager is the head of the Branch and reports directly to the Deputy Secretary for Justice Administration and Corporate Services.

The Branch’s current staff establishment is fifteen of which eight are funded positions, whilst the rest of the vacant positions are to be filled in over a period of 4 years, consistent with the overall department’s recruitment strategy in stabilizing the implementation of the current structure.

The current staff ceiling comprises of the Executive Manager, three sectional managers of which, one is responsible for Policy and Research, the other is responsible for Reports and the other is in charge of the implementation, the Principal Project officer, the Planning Officer and the graduate Trainee, and the Executive Assistant. In addition, the driver has been concurrently serving this Branch and the Information Management Branch.

With the recruitment of three new additional positions under the current structure the Branch has improved its overall performance in all areas of its core functions. However, it is vitally important to have all the vacant positions filled to effectively fulfill its mandated roles and functions.

Programs and activities

The current activities being implemented are outlined in the department’s Annual Plan 2011, and are consistent with the Key Result Areas of the Corporate Plan 2011-2015. Hence the following;

1. Manage and co-ordinate the development of the DJAG Annual Plan and the Corporate Plan. DJAG is among the few government agencies that adopted Corporate Plan when this strategic planning concept was first introduced into the country in 1998. When the Australian funded Attorney General’s Department Institutional Strengthening Project came in 1999 it assisted the department improve and review it’s Corporate Plan-2002-2005. In 2005 the department reviewed the Corporate Plan (2006- 2009) which took into account the Law and Justice Sector Strategic Framework goals and priorities as well as the Government priorities set out in the MTDS. This Corporate Plan was reviewed in 2008 with the current Corporate Plan 2009-2012. The Corporate Plan has been reviewed for the department to realign its strategic priorities in line with the government’s long term plans-Vision 2050, PNG Development Strategic Plan 2010-2030 (PNGDSP 2010-2030) and the Medium Term Development Plan 2011-2015. However, the department is yet to finalize the Corporate Plan pending the review of the Sector Strategic Framework or Sector Plan.

It is worth noting that the department has well positioned in terms of its strategic plans as shown in it’s corporate plan and the Annual Plan.

The department’s Corporate Plan is consistent with the current Government’s priorities of Service Delivery, and focus has been towards improving service delivery mechanisms at the sub-national levels, especially Provinces, districts and the LLG levels. At the sector level this strategy is complemented by the Provincial Engagement Framework in which the law and justice agencies strive to enhance their minimum service delivery at those levels.

The sector has already engaged in this endeavor in 9 identified target Provinces which are NCD, Morobe, Bougainville, East New Britain, Eastern Highlands, Western Highlands, Sandaun, Central and Manus. It will be extended to the other Provinces in the future. 

 The Corporate Plan KRAs are further translated into the Annual Plan 2011. The 2011 Annual Plan was finalized early this year for implementation.

2. Monitor the implementation of the Annual Plan in ensuring whether the set KRAs are achieved or not. Monitoring of the implementation of the plan is an on going process in the department. The quarterly flash report is among the key monitoring tools introduced by the management to monitor, or assess the progress of implementation of the activities as set out in the annual plan. The department will continue to put more emphasis into providing statistical data, which provides concrete impact and progress of what the department does, and provides justification for the budget expenditure and use it for strategic decision making. This also contributes to the evaluation of the sector as a whole.

3. Coordination of the Community Justice Center Project which is implemented in Bulolo, Morobe Province, Kainantu, Eastern Highlands Province and recently in Lumi, Sandaun Province. This concept enunciated from the Law and Justice Policy and Plan of Action, which embraces Restorative Justice as well as a vehicle for service delivery at the district and Local Government levels. The concept is currently being redesigned to ensure that it is improved and applicable as a mechanism for service delivery at the district and lower levels. The draft MTDP explicitly embraced Community Justice Centers as the vehicle for the delivery of Law and Justice Services.

The Community Justice Center will be placed in one of the Branches mandated with core functions such as the Village Courts or the Community Based Corrections. It will fit in well with the Restorative Justice Framework 2010-2012 as one of its components. The management is currently exploring options to identify a Branch where a unit responsible for coordinating all Restorative Justice programs and activities will be established.

4. The Branch also coordinates all annual Plan Program Activities under AUSAID funded PNG Australia Law and Justice Partnership as well as other donor funded projects sponsored by other donors such as UNICEF and UNDP.

5. In collaboration with other Law and Justice agencies co-ordinate the activities consistent with the Law and Justice Policy. The implementation of this Policy has brought all the Law and Justice agencies together. The Branch represents the department in the Law and Justice Working Group, a think tank for the Law and Justice Sector which advises and recommends strategic policy issues of the sector to National Coordination Mechanism (NCM). As a result of this strategic approach the Sector Strategic Framework was developed in which the sector goals and priorities have been identified, translated into agencies Corporate and Annual Plans and implemented.

6. The Branch through the Executive Director has been playing a major role in representing the management in high level interdepartmental committees such as the Public Private Partnership Task Force chaired by the Department of National Planning and Monitoring, Aid Effectiveness chaired by the Department of National Planning & Monitoring, the UNDP National Building Steering Committee, responsible for coordinating the millennium goals, the Harvard Indicator Project, CIMC Law and Order Committee, CIMC Family and Sexual Violence Electoral Committee etc.