Aust legal eagles give lawyers helping hand

By LUKE KAMA
A TEAM of highly experienced legal professionals from the Victorian Bar in Australia, who includes National and Supreme Court judges, are in the country to conduct a weeklong civil and criminal advocacy workshop at the PNG Legal Training Institute in Port Moresby this week.
Institute director Pauline Mogish, during the opening ceremony in Port Moresby yesterday, said it was the 18th civil and criminal advocacy workshop in PNG conducted by the Victorian Bar since 1988.
Mogish said the workshop was aimed at ensuring young Papua New Guinean men and women in the legal profession were trained in the best possible way so that they could individually and collectively contribute to a better justice system.
“We as Papua New Guineans must acknowledge their commitments which in my view is typified by their unfailing attendance and high standard contribution at this workshop since 1988,” Mogish said.
“In all these years from 1988, they have come and provided such training because of our invitations.”
Mogish said the most important reason was that PNG and Australian friends, lawyers and judges were united in one aim, which was to see young intellectual PNG women and men undergoing legal training in the best possible way so that they could individually and collectively contribute to a better justice system in PNG.
Mogish on behalf of the training institute commended the team from Victorian Bar comprising seven highly experienced legal professionals with a combined experience of 123 years behind them.