Judge blasts lawyer for making mockery of court

By ADRIAN MATHIAS
JUSTICE Bernard Sakora lost his patience in the Waigani National Court yesterday and blasted a female lawyer for making a mockery of court proceedings.
The senior judge was presiding over a contempt case against PNG Defence commander Brig-Gen Francis Agwi and his chief of personnel, Col Paul Mai.
They were charged with contempt for failing to comply with the court orders in proceedings instituted by Col Joseph Mark Kewa over his termination and removal from the PNG Defence Force.
The pair’s lawyer asked Sakora for an adjournment, saying she needed further instructions from her clients, which led to Sakora lecturing her on the failures by lawyers to properly assist the courts instead of causing unnecessary delays.
The judge had set the case for a two-day trial that was supposed to start yesterday and end today but that did not happen because the defendants had again failed to adhere to court directions.
“Can I trust lawyers from now? No. I can’t trust lawyers,” Sakora told the female lawyer in the absence of her clients.
“We feel proud of our embarrassing actions or events in PNG. It only happens here and not anywhere in the world. I don’t want this court to be in inconvenience because of the convenience of lawyers.
 “Papua New Guineans must be the laughing stock to the rest of the world. We just do anything in PNG. Why have we been called or known as the “land of the unexpected”?
“It is not good. Lawyers, as law officers, should be conducting themselves according to their professional conduct act. I am wasting my time in this court when I should be hearing other cases. Stop start. Stop start, will not help us expedite cases.”