Chief justice Sir Gibbs urges 126 trainees to take pride as lawyer

NEARLY 130 trainee lawyers were admitted to the Supreme and National Courts in Waigani, Port Moresby, on Friday.
The 126 were admitted as lawyers by Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika and Justices Ellenas Batari, Panuel Mogish and Derek Hartshorn.
Out of the 127, 67 of them were women.
Sir Gibbs congratulated all the new lawyers, telling them that they should be proud of what they had accomplished.
“The moment you walk out, you are a lawyer. You must take pride in the fact that after all the blood, sweat and tears, you have now joined the ranks of the country’s legal fraternity,” he said.
Sir Gibbs said even though he had never seen the exact length of the roll, they would be adding their names to, the list probably went back to 1973.
He reminded them to thank their family members and sponsors for the support they had received from them.
“You would not have made it here without the people who supported you,” he said.
He likened the journey that lawyers had endured to get to this point in their lives, to running races.
Sir Gibbs said the new lawyers must prepare themselves mentally and physically before taking on their new careers.
He said he wished them all successful careers.
“I don’t know whether this is the hardest race (you will run), or if there have been harder races (in your life),” Sir Gibbs said.
“There are no medals in (this) career.
“You may not gain international recognition, but you may be recognised among your peers as one of the best lawyers.”
He said the personal satisfaction in knowing you are a good lawyer was also a reward in itself.
He encouraged them to carry that same attitude they had in their studies into their careers as lawyers.
Sir Gibbs said lawyers should be fit and proper persons in order to retain their practising certificates.
He said the judiciary was under constant scrutiny and the onus was now on the new lawyers as well to be professional, honest and disciplined in carrying out their duties.
“As officers of the court, you are all urged to uphold the rule of law,” he said.
Sir Gibbs encouraged them also to open up and build relations with fellow lawyers.
Legal Training Institute (LTI)director Angelyn Paranda said the 127 were part of the largest batch to ever come through LTI.
Paranda said they were a part of 167 students who enrolled at LTI last April. “We are very proud of them,” she said.