Be prepared before coming to court, judge tells lawyers

NATIONAL Court acting Judge Laura Wawun-Kuvi has urged lawyers to prepare their cases before attending court.
“You lawyers do not need to come to the court to be informed of what to do,” she said.
“The accused person you are dealing with is a real person sitting in custody.”
Acting judge Wawun-Kuvi said this at Waigani yesterday when the State lawyer in carriage of a case against a father who allegedly murdered his two sons in Port Moresby last year informed the court that the pre-trail report was not ready.
She said Dave Benjamin Gau, 29, of Tigawi Niaura village in Wosera-Gawi, East Sepik, made his first appearance in the National Court on June 20 and the court issued direction for the State to file a pre-trail report and a lawyer from the Public Solicitor Office to file a notice of appearance.
“The notice of appearance was filed but the pre-trail report is not ready,” she said.
“We have Correctional Services, Committal Court and National Court registries to get all the information required and we must push to get it,” Wawun-Kuvi said.
She then told the lawyers that the files and papers they saw in the office were real persons and they must attend to them as they should.
“Do not take it personally, when you come to the court and the judge is not happy with you,” she said.
She adjourned the matter to Monday and directed the State lawyer to file the pre-trial report and told Gau that his trial would proceed when the State present the report.
Gau was committed by Committal Court in Waigani on May 31 for allegedly murdering his two sons who were a five-year-old kid and a two years, four months’ toddler in Morata One settlement last April 27.
The Committal Court magistrate, Paul Puri Nii, when committing Gau said there was overwhelming evidence against him on the alleged offence and he had a case to answer.
Meanwhile, Gau was remanded in Bomana prison.