Top guns provide workshop for 78 trainees

Last Friday marked the closing of the sixth weeklong Queensland Bar Workshop at the Legal Training Institute (LTI) in Port Moresby.
LTI director Pauline Mogish said this year’s students were joined by more than 500 other students who had completed the workshop since 2013.
Mogish said the workshop was delivered by a volunteer training team from Queensland Bar Associates. This was their sixth year to provide the course, with 78 LTI trainees completing training.
“The programme is designed to meet a need, identified by the Chief Justice Sir Salamao Injia for persons entering the legal profession to be better equipped to serve the needs of the people in a developing economy,” she said.
She said the training content was developed by the training team in consultation with her and her staff, and was approved by the chief justice to ensure legal relevance to PNG.
Mogish said one thing that could be expected was the wealth of knowledge and the experience the training team brought with it each year.
“Among this year’s training were three Queens Counsels, Andrew Crow, who was their team leader and Mal Varitimos, who had extensive PNG practice and who developed practical commercial problems, Peter Callaghan from the Supreme Court and Justice John Logan, an Australian Federal Court Judge.”
Mogish thanked the Queensland team to PNG made possible through Australian AID, saying it was provided to LTI as part of the support for PNG’s Law and Justice Sector.