‘Overhaul of village courts now necessary’

JUSTICE Minister Bire Kimisopa says the village courts need to undergo a revolutionary change to fully achieve their purpose.
Opening the 2007 national village courts and land mediation summit in Port Moresby, Mr Kimisopa stressed their significance as a key unit in the law and justice sector must be portrayed.
“We have to move in that direction, otherwise, we will not be able address some of the issues that affect our people,” Mr Kimisopa said.
He said some of the major changes in the village courts were part of the white paper which sets out the roadmap on how the law and justice sector should go about achieving its role.
Mr Kimisopa said that some of the issues facing the village courts were crucial to the country’s development.
“I think we need to realistically address the whole village courts system. That means putting in place systems that can achieve the goals,” Mr Kimisopa said.
He said that among some of the key changes concerned increases in village courts allowances, training and the separation of the village court secretariat from the Department of Justice and Attorney-General.
Currently, there are 14,000 village courts and 1110 land mediators serving in various parts of the country.
He said that the separation move would give them separate entity.
Village court secretariat director Peni Keris said this was an opportune time to make the changes.
He added that the changes were important because of the neglect and subsequent issues that have affected it since the reforms first initiated in 1995.
“I thank the minister for his efforts which is not only long overdue but important for our rural folks,” Mr Keris said.

 

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