Guide to the Papers of John F. Ley
MS 8247
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- John F. Ley
- Title
- Papers of John F. Ley
- Date Range
- 1970-1981
- Collection Number
- MS 8247
- Extent
- 2.1 metres (14 boxes)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
Introduction
Scope and Contents
Most of the papers were accumulated by John Ley during the period 1972-75 when he was Legal Counsel to the Speaker and Private Members of the Papua New Guinea House of Assembly and Legal Officer of the Constitutional Planning Committee. After wide consultations throughout the country, the Committee prepared a report making recommendations for the post-independence Constitution of Papua New Guinea. There are also a small number of papers dating from the early years of independence.
There is a range of papers including minutes of meetings, transcripts of debates, agenda papers, discussion papers, correspondence, memoranda, notes, speeches, reports, submissions, briefings, newspaper articles, journal articles and conference papers.
The correspondents include John Momis, C.J. Lynch, I.F. Tarua, Julius Chan, Michael Somare and E. Wolfers.
Conditions Governing Access
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2185665).
Conditions Governing Use
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred Citation
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of John F. Ley, National Library of Australia, MS 8247, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Provenance
The papers were donated to the National Library by John Ley in December 1997.
Arrangement
Some groups of files in the collection formed natural sequences, but in general the arrangement of the papers into six series and the order of files within the series has been imposed by the Library.
Nearly all the papers had been kept by Ley in manila and other kinds of folders, usually with a title. The Library has transferred the contents of the files into envelope folders but it has not broken them up or rearranged the contents. Some of the folders were thick and it was necessary to divide the contents into two or more folders. When this has been done small Roman numerals have been added to the titles on the folders. Thus Citizenship (i) and Citizenship (ii) indicate that the original single folder has been divided into two parts, whereas Newspaper cuttings, 1974 and Newspaper cuttings, 1974 indicate that there were always two folders of cuttings for that year.
Biographical Note
John Francis Ley was born in Melbourne on 19 December 1938, matriculated at Wesley College, Melbourne, in 1955, and obtained an LL.B. at the University of Melbourne in 1960. After admission to the Victorian Bar as a barrister and solicitor in 1961, he worked as a solicitor in several law firms in Melbourne until 1963. He went to the Territory of Papua New Guinea in October 1963 as a legal officer in the Department of Law. He worked in the Public Solicitor's Office at Port Moresby, appearing principally as defence counsel in Supreme Court criminal cases. Between June 1966 and September 1969 he was Deputy Public Solicitor in Rabaul, but at times acted as Public Solicitor in Port Moresby.
During 1969-70 Ley studied at the University of London, graduating with a LL.M. in October 1970. In September-October 1970 he travelled through West and East Africa, meeting with academics and some political leaders to discuss aspects of the decolonisation process in Ghana, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda.
From October 1970 to January 1976 Ley was Legal Counsel to the House of Assembly, with responsibility for advising the Speaker and members of the Assembly on legislation and legal issues generally. Between October 1972 and August 1974 he was Legal Officer to the Constitutional Planning Committee, which prepared recommendations for Papua New Guinea's independence. From August 1974 until shortly after independence he was again Counsel to the House of Assembly. In that capacity, he advised the Nationalist Pressure Group and the Country Party (which formed after the Committee's report was tabled in the Assembly) during the debates on the Committee's report and later on the several drafts of the Constitution prepared by the Government's constitutional draftsmen.
From 1976 to 1995 Ley worked as Principal Legal Officer and then as Senior Assistant Secretary in the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department in Canberra. He dealt with a range of areas of law and legal policy including legal aid, constitutional review, criminal law, administrative law, occupational health and safety law, environmental law, and air and road transport law. In early 1981 he participated in a conference and a workshop in Papua New Guinea organised by the General Constitutional Commission, a body charged with reviewing all aspects of the 1975 Constitution, as amended. Since 1995 Ley has worked from time to time as a legal policy consultant.
Item Descriptions
Series. 1972-1974
Following the elections of February-March 1972, the Papua New Guinea House of Assembly appointed the Constitutional Planning Committee on 23 June 1972. Its task was to make recommendations for a constitution for the self-governing territory, with a view to eventual independence. The Chief Minister, Michael Somare, was the ex-officio Chairman, but it was controlled by the Deputy Chairman, Father John Momis, the Member for Bougainville. All members of the Committee were Papua New Guinea Members of the House of Assembly. John Ley was the Legal Officer of the Committee.
In November 1972 the Committee consulted with the newly formed took over the Government Liaison Branch of the Chief Minister's Office (the GLB). By agreement the GLB set up district study groups to discuss constitutional questions, including such matters as citizenship and the relations between central, regional and local government. The first interim report of the Committee was tabled in September 1973 and the second in November 1973, with strong emphasis on national citizenship, district level government and the need for effective mechanisms for ensuring the personal financial accountability of leaders.
In June 1974 the full report was tabled in draft form, together with a minority report by Somare and Deputy Chief Minister John Guise. For several months there was a deep division between Somare and his Government, on the one hand, and Momis and the other members of the Constitutional Planning Committee, on the other. The principal areas of difference were on citizenship, the head of state, the powers of the legislature, provincial government and investment principles.
The series contains minutes and records of meetings of the Constitutional Planning Committee, reports, submissions, notes, drafts, discussion papers and newspaper cuttings.
Series 2. Subject files, 1972-1975
The largest series in the collection consists of subject files maintained by Ley, mostly when he was working for the Constitutional Planning Committee. He continued to use some of the files (which contained copies of some papers on CPC files) up to the time of independence in September 1975. The files contain conference papers, correspondence, memoranda, submissions, speeches, minutes of meetings, reports, drafts, newspaper cuttings and articles.
Most of the letters are copies rather than originals. The correspondents include Ley, Anthony Clunies-Ross, C.J. Lynch, I.F. Tarua, John Momis, T.E. Barnett, Julius Chan, W.J. Kearney and Michael Somare.
Series 3. Follow-up Committee on Provincial Government, 1975
The Committee, chaired by E. Olewale, held its first meeting on 3 April 1975. Ley was a member of the Committee.
The series comprises agenda papers, minutes of meetings, discussion papers, correspondence and drafts.
Series 4. National Constituent Assembly, 1975
On 23 May 1975, on the motion of Michael Somare, the House of Assembly resolved that it should be a National Constituent Assembly to consider and adopt a Constitution for Papua New Guinea and other laws necessary to ensure the peaceful and effective transition to independence. The Constitution was adopted on 15 August 1975 (to come into effect at midnight on 15 September 1975) and the final meeting of the Assembly was held on 26 August 1975. Papua New Guinea became an independent nation on 16 September 1975.
The series contains transcripts of debates of the Assembly, minutes, rules of procedure, correspondence, timetables, drafts, speeches and newspaper cuttings. The correspondents include Ley, TeiAbal, John Momis, C.J. Lynch and I.F. Tarua.
Series 5. Papua New Guinea Constitution, 1974-1975
In early 1975 a draft of the proposed Constitution was circulated to the leaders of the various political parties and groups. There were major concerns expressed by non-government group leaders about what were seen as major departures from the drafting instructions. There followed a series of meetings of representatives of the Government and the non-Government parties and groups who comprised the Constitutional Drafting Committee to try to resolve the differences between the parties about the wording of the draft constitution.
Third and Fourth drafts of the constitution were prepared after agreement was reached to amend many of the provisions of the Second Draft. The Fourth Draft was the document that was debated in the Constituent Assembly, which was established by members of the House of Assembly with the intention of creating an ‘autochthonous’ or home-grown constitution.
In addition to various drafts of the Papua New Guinea Constitution, the series includes drafting instructions, notes, correspondents, timetables, minutes and newspaper cuttings. Among the correspondents are E. Wolfers, John Momis, I.F. Tarua and C.J. Lynch.