A court user forum is currently underway at the St Paul's Lutheran Church in Lae, Morobe Province. The theme of the event is "Empowering the community in addressing outstanding warrants of arrest issued by the national court".
The focus of the event is to bridge the gap between the community and criminal justice system.
In his opening remarks, Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika stressed on the need to build trust with the community and get involved in community engagement, which would help in their efforts to reduce the 6,721 outstanding bench warrants in the country.
A bench warrant or warrant of arrest, is an order, issued by either a magistrate or judge, for police to apprehend a defendant or accused.
"It is my view that your involvement in this discussion will go along way in resolving the issue of bench warrants right throughout the country," said Chief Justice Sir Gibbs.
He hoped the forum would encourage stakeholders to reduce the number of outstanding bench warrants to a comfortable level.
Chairman of the bench warrant committee, Justice Panuel Mogish, said Morobe Province has the highest number of outstanding bench warrants; 1,485 people are currently at large.
"Total number of outstanding bench warrants is 6,721," he said.
"This bench warrant issue, if we put our minds together, we can reduce this issue. It's simple as that. Many cases are from 1984. Many of those on bench warrant have already passed away.
"Later you take the time and look at the list of bench warrants and see if you can pick some from your community," he told attendees from the law enforcement agencies, law and justice sector and community representatives.
The bench warrant committee was commissioned last year by the Chief Justice to tackle the issue.