Chief Sir Gibuma Gibbs Salika, GCL KBE CSM OBE- Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea, urged members of the legal fraternity to work together to put their house in order. The appeal was made especially to the judiciary and lawyers. He urged all judges and lawyers to put their [court] house in order first before calling on other members of the law and justice sector to assist.
The Chief Justice delivered this message at the 2020 Legal Year Opening Ceremony on 3 February 2020 at the Don Bosco Institute Catholic Church on Taurama Road.
Jema Lawyers were in full attendance as the program began with a procession led by a combined Police, Correctional Services and joint band. The procession filtered into the Institute yard where the Chief Justice inspected a combined Guard of Honor and delivered his message.
The Chief Justice delivered a brief report on the statistics of court cases around the country. Of the 25, 149 pending cases; among others, 8340 are in Waigani, 2608 in Lae, 2349 in Mt Hagen and 952 in Kokopo. He urged lawyers not to seek unnecessary adjournments and acknowledged that there are other factors that cause delay but to work together to move cases along. “We need to start from ground zero at every legal year opening”, he said.
Those in attendance then moved into the grand Catholic Church for a cool and comfortable dedication service, followed by an official photo shoot and refreshments.
Alexander (Sandy) is a consultant with the firm. He started working with the Firm in January 2017 on a consultancy basis after leaving PosmanKuaAisi Lawyers. He has over 30 years’ experience in Commercial and Civil Litigation Law.
Solomon is a lawyer with the Firm. In 2019, he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme and National Court of Papua New Guinea. Since then he has, under the immediate supervision of McRonald Nale and Miran Ai, been involved in researching, drafting and advising clients in the areas of law of torts, law of contract, constitutional law and general advising.
Beryl is a litigation lawyer with the Firm. In 2013, she was admitted to the bar of the Supreme and National Court of Papua New Guinea. Since then she has been practising as a litigation lawyer in the Supreme and National Courts as well as the other lower Courts such as the District Court, Provincial Land Court and Local Land Court.
McRonald Nale