Jim Wala Tamate

Mamu’s appointment comes following incumbent Public Solicitor, Jim Wala Tamate’s swearing in on Tuesday to the National and Supreme Court bench. Justice Tamate will be based at Waigani.

Minister for Justice and Attorney General and Chairman of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, Davis Steven, said Mr Mamu will act as Public Solicitor while the position is being advertised.

He said the commission, in its meeting, considered potential candidates within the office of the Public Solicitor and the majority resolved to appoint Mamu.

Funding and capacity has been an ongoing issue for years. In September the office was closed due to the non-payment of its rental, an issue that has since been rectified.

There has also been a lot of demand on the office with legal aid services ranging from criminal to civil to family law issues.

An office that has been in operation for almost 60 years, Public Solicitor Jim Wala Tamate says the creation of the Family Law and Special projects division was done due to the demand of legal aid services on the office.  

These services have been previously provided under general civil cases but with the creation of the new division, a specialised team will deal directly with family law issues.