Kiriwom farewelled

A senior private lawyer in Lae has praised Justice Nicholas Kirriwom as an outstanding judge with high integrity and wisdom.
Lawyer Sialis Tedor heaped praise on Justice Kirriwom at a farewell dinner hosted by the Lae chapter of the Papua New Guinea Law Society for him and his family.
Mr Tedor was speaking on behalf of the Lae-based members of the Law Society.
“In every jurisdiction of the world there are judges that stand out amongst their colleagues in the performance of their judicial duties.
“In the case of the judicial landscape in Papua New Guinea, His Honor Judge Kirriwom stands out amongst his brother judges for his outspoken and down to earth approach to issues relevant to his job as a judicial officer as well as issues affecting good governance in general.
“His position as a judge of the National and Supreme Court gives strength, credibility and integrity to our judicial system and qualities which are essential, if our system of justice is to remain vibrant in its role of ensuring fairness and equality of people under the law.”
Mr Tedor said the integrity and wisdom of Justice Kirriwom was there in the person long before his elevation to the bench.
His elevation to the bench, Mr Tedor said, brought these qualities to the bench.
“Anybody that knows Judge Kirriwom, the least, any lawyer who has appeared before him will agree with me that his court has that special aura of authority about it.
“His judicial pronouncements are of very high quality which in turn has contributed immensely to the development of the jurisprudence of this country.
“Indeed, the rapid changes in our socio-political and economic development combined with the failure on the part of lawyers to advise clients correctly, has brought undue pressure upon our judges to make statements from the bench that are advisory and not judge-mental in nature.
“My own observation is that Justice Kirriwom has handled this problem extremely well by maintaining a clear distinction between his role as a judicial officer and his position in the community as a leader,” Mr Tedor said.
Mr Tedor said from a lawyer’s perspective Justice Kirriwom is a lawyers’ judge.
“By that I mean that any young lawyer or any lawyer for that matter, who is aspiring to become a good court room advocate he/she should appear before Judge Kirriwom because he/she will come out of his court a better lawyer than before he/she came in,” Mr Tedor said.