Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika says the judiciary aims for a balanced but diverse bench.
He made this statement after the swearing-in of six newly appointed judges at the Government House on February 4th.
Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika said the judges come from a number of provinces and it is essential that they maintain balance.
“We are trying to have that balance in the Judiciary, we’re trying to identify talents from all over the country, so that we have a properly, truly representative bench made up of Papua New Guineans and not just one-sided.
“We do not want to have that; we would like to have it balanced.”
Justice Jeffery Shepherd from Port Moresby, Justices Sinclair Peniel Gora, John Numapo, Dr Vergil Narokobi, Paulus Dowa, and Elizabeth Nalaii Suelip recited and signed before acting Governor General and Speaker of Parliament, Job Pomat, the declaration of Office, declaration of Loyalty and Judicial declaration.
Justice Shepherd is reappointed for another three years, Justices Gora, Narokobi and Numapo for 10 years, and Justices Dowa and Suelip for 12 months.
“Those ones we appointed that were sworn-in today, they were appointed on merit, on their performances as lawyers and the other two as magistrates, and that’s Numapo and Sinclair Gora were Magistrates before they came on the bench.”
Meantime, after Monday’s opening of the legal year at the Don Bosco Technical Institute, Chief Justice Sir Gibbs highlighted that the judiciary intends to find strategies to decrease cases in the country.
He aims to put the judiciary house in order, and the increase in judges was part of the plan to decrease cases in the country.
He said the festive season was over and it was time to dig deep to provide improved judicial services.
(Article by Jasmine Iru – third year UPNG Journalism student)