The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) was born out of a ten-year conflict with the Government of Papua New Guinea and perhaps the bloodiest civil crisis in the South Pacific since the Second World War.
In 1988, the conflict rose from the Panguna landowners’ fight for a fair distribution of wealth from the giant CRA Copper mine into a war for Bougainville’s independence. Bougainville had experienced an extended period of civil war, which officially ended in April 1998, leaving more than 20,000 people dead, around 40,000 internal refugees in a population of 160,000, and a destroyed economic base.
The island’s infrastructure was almost totally shattered, with schools and hospitals destroyed, power supplies and telecommunications devastated, airports blown up, towns and villages wrecked, shops looted, and transportation links in disarray.
From June 1999 to 2001, Bougainville leaders pursued a unique Bougainville Peace Process with the National Government of Papua New Guinea, which resulted in a political settlement and normalcy on the island.
On August 30th, 2001, in Arawa, the region’s former headquarters, the Bougainville Peace Agreement (BPA) was signed jointly by the leaders of Bougainville and the Government of Papua New Guinea, witnessed by international communities.
This provided a basis for a new relationship between Bougainville and Papua New Guinea, and the unification of the once torn and divided people of Bougainville.
The Bougainville Peace Agreement created the pathway for the people to have their own Constitution.

THE BOUGAINVILLE PEACE AGREEMENT
The Bougainville Peace Agreement contains three main pillars:

1. Autonomy
2. Referendum
3. Weapons Disposal

The implementation process of the Bougainville Peace Agreement began in March 2002 with the Papua New Guinea Parliament passing the Constitutional Laws to give effect to the Agreement. The Constitutional Laws dealt with the Referendum issue and provided for Autonomy to be established—the autonomy that was dubbed by the Bougainville leaders as “a nation within a nation,” the pathway for Bougainville’s independence in ten (10) to fifteen (15) years.

THE OBJECTIVES OF AUTONOMY
The first step to establish Autonomy was the establishment of the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) through a free, democratic, and peaceful election. With the final draft of the Bougainville Constitution passed by the Papua New Guinea Parliament, it came into legal effect on the 10th of December 2004.
The elections for the Autonomous Bougainville Government were held in May 2005. The Autonomous Bougainville Government was inaugurated on June 5th, 2005.
The agreed autonomy arrangements are intended:
a) To unify relationships between the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea.
b) To empower Bougainvilleans to solve their own problems and run their own affairs.
c) For Bougainville to establish a democratic, accountable, and internationally recognized government.
d) For the National Government of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government to exercise their constitutional roles effectively and cooperatively.
e) For the National Government of Papua New Guinea to provide sufficient funds and resources to the Autonomous Bougainville Government.
f) To maintain and sustain a cordial and mutually accepted balance of interests between the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Autonomous Bougainville Government.

THE AUTONOMOUS BOUGAINVILLE GOVERNMENT
The Autonomous Bougainville Government is a joint creation by the National Government of Papua New Guinea and the people of Bougainville, which emanates from the Bougainville Peace Agreement, PART XIV of the Papua New Guinea Constitution that implements the Agreement, and the Bougainville Constitution.
The ABG has all the powers of the National Government, except in Defence, Currency, most functions of Foreign Relations, and powers required for direct implementation of the National Constitution.

ELECTION OF THE AUTONOMOUS BOUGAINVILLE GOVERNMENT

• The first election of the 1st House of Representatives was conducted from April–June 2005
• The second election of the 2nd House of Representatives was conducted from March–June 2010
• The third election of the 3rd House of Representatives was conducted from March–June 2015
• The fourth election of the 4th House of Representatives was conducted from June–September 2020
• The upcoming election of the 5th House of Representatives is scheduled from July–September 2025

THE REFERENDUM VOTE
In November 2019, the people of Bougainville voted in the Referendum to decide on the future political status of the region. Bougainvilleans voted overwhelmingly for Bougainville to become an independent state. They voted 98% in favor of independence for Bougainville.

COMPOSITION OF THE AUTONOMOUS BOUGAINVILLE GOVERNMENT
The Autonomous Bougainville Government has three (3) arms of government:

1. Executive
   The executive arm of the Autonomous Bougainville Government is the Bougainville Executive Council (BEC). The executive powers of the ABG are vested in the BEC. The BEC and its members have powers, functions, and responsibilities related to the executive powers of the ABG.

The BEC is responsible to the people of Bougainville in the administration of the region’s affairs.

2. Legislature
   The legislative arm of the Autonomous Bougainville Government is the Bougainville House of Representatives. Legislative powers are vested in the Bougainville House of Representatives, which makes laws applicable in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.

The administration of the Bougainville House of Representatives is managed by the Parliamentary Services, whose primary function is to support the Speaker in effectively administering the affairs of the House.

3. Judiciary
   Currently, the administration of justice in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville is carried out under Bougainville Courts, as stipulated in PART IX of the Bougainville Constitution.

In the absence of a fully established Bougainville judiciary, Papua New Guinea’s statutory laws are still applicable in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville where reference is required.

The national judiciary system of Papua New Guinea still applies in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. The presence of established National Government statutory institutions includes:

• Office of the Public Prosecutor
• Office of the Public Solicitor
• Bougainville Resident Judge

The Department of Law and Justice coordinates Bougainville’s statutory laws and provides legal services to the Autonomous Bougainville Government. The office is headed by the Secretary, who is the Principal Legal Officer and Chief Legal Advisor to the Bougainville Executive Council (Bougainville Constitution, Section 133 (1)(a)).

The role of the Principal Legal Officer is to act as legal advisor to the ABG and to defend the government in the event that prosecution is brought against it.