Mogish sworn in as judge of National Court for third term

By LULU MAGINDE
JUSTICE Panuel Mogish was sworn in yesterday for his third term in office before Governor-General Grand Chief Sir Bob Dadae along with several members of the judiciary system.
Justice Mogish claims 20 years of service to the Crown, having served two 10-year terms, with the third one on the way.
He recited the declaration of office, the declaration of loyalty sworn on the Bible and the judicial declaration on the Constitution before Sir Bob.
According to Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika, Justice Mogish is the fourth most senior judge.
Although there were certain issues delaying his appointment earlier this year, his reappointment came with a welcome affirmation of the direction he would like to see in the judicial system.
Sir Gibbs saw Justice Mogish as a necessary figure to reshape the criminal judiciary system.
“He’s been a criminal lawyer, he’s specialty is in criminal law,” Sir Gibbs said.
“He’s a good criminal law judge and so that’s one of the reasons he was reappointed.”
While acknowledging that there are problems dealing with ongoing custody cases that have been backlogged and on hold for years, he talks of wanting to shift the justice system to prioritise criminal cases.
Sir Gibbs believes that a change in priorities will bring about a swifter criminal justice system.
Following the ceremony, drinks were passed around to raise a toast to the Queen. At one point, there was a comment raised about vaccinations, urging those who had not been vaccinated yet to do so.