Patrick Nomos | 18/05/2026
Bougainville’s criminal justice system is undergoing a staged transition from the national Papua New Guinea (PNG) framework towards an autonomous, localised system that emphasises restorative justice and community involvement. While traditionally part of the PNG correctional system, the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) is currently building its own infrastructure, including new courts and rehabilitation facilities, with financial and training support from Australia.
In June 2024, the Bougainville House of Representatives passed the Bougainville Courts Act and the Bougainville Community Courts Act, laying the groundwork for the establishment of a unique and distinct justice system for Bougainville, in line with the Bougainville Peace Agreement and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville’s (AROB) independence-ready mission. On 20/9/2024, the Bougainville Law and Justice Centre was officially opened in Buka town, marking a significant milestone for the law and justice sector on Bougainville. This state-of-the-art facility now serves as the dedicated headquarters for various law and justice agencies, including the ABG Department of Justice and Legal Services, Village Courts, Office of the Public Solicitor, Community-Based Corrections, the Bougainville Police Service, and the Correctional Services.
Prior to these recent initiatives by the ABG, the correctional system in Bougainville was part of the PNG correctional system, the responsibility for the administration of which lies with the PNG Correctional Institution Service (CIS) which was established as a state service and disciplined force under the PNG Constitution. The mission of the CIS is to enhance the safety of the community by providing secure and humane containment and rehabilitating detainees. For many years, the CIS was the most neglected of PNG’s law and justice agencies. Unlike the police and courts, CIS institutions tend to be located away from urban centres and, hence, from public view. The larger institutions have been described as ‘green prisons’, beginning as prison farms with large open spaces and barrack-type accommodation surrounded by high security fences.
Prior to the Bougainville Crisis (1988-1997), the main prison in the, then, North Solomons Province was located at Kuveria, thirty kilometres north of Arawa on Bougainville Island. The former Kuveria Prison once comprised an elaborate establishment on twenty hectares of land, with a holding capacity of three hundred detainees and inmates, guarded by approximately fifty warders. In 1990, at the height of the Bougainville Crisis, it was destroyed by members of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) in a successful attempt to free their incarcerated BRA comrades. There were several casualties on both sides of the conflict during this attack.
Without an established prison in the AROB for the next twenty-two years, convicted prisoners from Bougainville had to be accommodated at the Kerevat CIS facility near Rabaul, East New Britain Province while serious offenders were sent to the Bomana CIS facility in Port Moresby, National Capital District. This temporary arrangement created overcrowding issues at Kerevat and Bomana, leading to the ABG and the CIS needing to identify a site in the AROB to establish a new corrective institution to house the growing number of convicted prisoners and remandees.
In early 2011, it was agreed that a new prison for the AROB would be built at Sohuan, near Bekut Village, Peit Constituency, Buka Island. To enable this development, AusAID provided PGK4.5 million in funding while the ABG negotiated with Bekut villagers to secure the required land at Sohuan. The Bekut villagers, eager to ensure the success of this project, began the preparatory work to manually construct an access road to Sohuan from Pomain, situated on a main feeder road through central Buka.
The agreement between the CIS and the ABG to establish the Bekut CIS facility included a payment scheme to directly benefit individual villagers from Sohuan and an employment scheme to recruit young non-commissioned CIS officers from villagers in Peit Constituency to staff the new facility. The 2012 CIS Annual Report recorded one commissioned CIS officer, the-Officer-In Charge, and thirty-six non-commissioned officers guarding fifty-five convicted detainees and forty-three remandees at the Bekut CIS facility.
For the past decade, the Bekut CIS facility has struggled to cater for the growing number of convicts and remandees in the AROB. To address this shortfall of prison accommodation, on 27/9/2021, an agreement was signed between the PNG Correctional Services, and the ABG and landowners in Central Bougainville, to re-establish the Kuveria Prison in the Eivo-Torau Constituency of Panguna District on the site of the original facility that was destroyed in 1990. With funding provided by the Australian Government, local villagers are currently undertaking the initial groundwork at this site. Speaking on the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s (ABC) “The Pacific” TV programme entitled, “Bougainville – Birth of a Nation”, first broadcast on 7/5/2026, Dennis Kuiai, a former BRA Senior Commander and former Acting Secretary of the Department of Bougainville Peace Agreement Implementation, conceded that he and most of the villagers involved in the current site preparation were originally involved in the destruction of the Kuveria Prison facilities in 1990. Mr Kuiai concluded by saying that he and the other site workers wanted to put the past behind them and the best way to do this was by contributing to the rebuilding of the Kuveria Prison.
To further address the prison accommodation issue, the ABG has funded a series of upgrades to the Bekut CIS facility, the most recent of which began in early 2026. This project will deliver upgraded male and female dormitories, secured fencing, and associated works. Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for this project on 19/3/2026, ABG Secretary for Law and Justice, Ms Leontine Ivano, said that the upgrade will contribute to improved standards of detainee management, staff welfare and overall facility operations. Secretary Ivano acknowledged the PNG Correctional Services and the Australian Government for their continued partnership and support in advancing Bougainville’s Justice Sector.