07/11/2025
Judge Mogish Pioneers Court Forum at his Pakinsela village
Court User Forum (CUF) Chairman Justice Panuel Mogish is boldly leading the way by conducting a pioneering forum at the Ward level in his village of Pakinsela, located in the West Coast of Namatanai District.
This initiative is the first of its kind and aims to encourage community engagement at the ward level in addressing bench warrants, promote important discussions on law and order issues, and find immediate solutions.
More than 300 people attended the forum in Pakinsela village, concluding the bench warrant awareness campaign in New Ireland Province, which began in Kavieng and Namatanai Districts.
Justice Mogish stated that Law and order is not solely the responsibility of the government but of the community. If we want people to be law-abiding, it must begin in our own villages. I must fix law and order in my village before tackling the broader issues faced in Papua New Guinea.
“As a local, I want people to see that I am serious about my commitments. It is important to engage individuals at the ward and village levels. This approach aligns with the CUF process map. Awareness begins at the provincial level, then moves to the district level, and further down to the ward and village levels.
“The result that I want to achieve is for the judges to go back to their provinces and to start doing court user forums in their villages. If the village has confidence in the judge, then Papua New Guinea can have confidence in him. That is really the main aim.
“It is also part of decentralization. The preamble talks about the decentralization of government services. We have not done that. We have come short of provinces and districts. We do not go down to the villages.”
Justice Mogish said that by bringing the forum to the ward level, he is implementing the philosophy of the national goals and directive principles. It is unheard of, it has never been tried, and it will be tried.
“For me, it is exciting because in my area, I can already identify people on the bench warrant list. People are now aware and talking about it. They tell me, ‘This is your relative. This is your uncle. This is your nephew. This is what I am doing as a judge.
Justice Mogish emphasized that the reason why people are on bench warrant is because the system failed them.
“There are no magistrates, inactive police, and so they give up. It costs a lot of money to get down to Kavieng, and if they are acquitted or convicted, who is going to pay? So, we need to give them some form of justice.
“We must be true to ourselves, the establishment of district court must come back - magistrates must have a house, we must have a functioning courthouse and a functioning police, and then we will bring back respect into the community.
Justice Mogish challenged his people with a statement by John F. Kennedy: Ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.
“So, people are coming out of their own way to assist. I will also tell them to start fixing their roads. If the government cannot do it, you do it,” Justice Mogish said.
Other issues that were discussed include:
• Issues faced by Village Court Officials
• Rise of law and order issues in the community
• Border security issues exist between the West Coast of Namatanai and East New Britain Province. Criminal groups from both West and East New Britain are entering New Ireland through the West Coast of Namatanai.
• The urgent need for a Police Patrol Post to be built to monitor the area
• Protect the integrity of ‘haus boi’.
• Guns and drugs smuggling
The CUF in Pakinsela concluded with resolutions and question sessions.
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