The Papua New Guinea Centre for Judicial Excellence (PNGCJE) key objective to deliver structured training programs for Judges, Magistrates, Court officers and lawyers and other officers of the Law and Justice Sector (LJS) agencies that play a part in the Court process, successfully facilitated a two-day customer service training in Kokopo, East New Britain Province.

PNGCJE Program officer responsible for Magisterial Services Mr. Peter Michael and PNGCJE Program officer responsible for the National Judicial Staff Services (NJSS) Ms. Emmah John were the facilitators who conducted the training.

Lead facilitator Mr. Michael said the initiative of the training aimed to equip the court staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to better serve the community and most importantly ensusring that all interactions within the judicial and the court system were conducted with professionalism, empathy, and efficiency.

The training covered a range of topics such as improving communication skills, enhancing problem solving abilities, promoting cultural sensitivity, building trust and confidence, timeliness and dealing with unsatisfied customers. The emphasis of the training was to ensure that those attending the training appreciate and value the importance of fostering good relationships with their stakeholders, mostly court users from the community to government and private sector professionals.

Mr. Michael a Train on Trainer (ToT) Certified facilitator who specialized in customer service excellence said,

“These sessions include interactive workshops, role-playing scenarios, and group discussions to ensure practical application of learned skills!”

The program is an on-going initiative of the PNGCJE and will continue to be delivered at all provincial locations throughout PNG.

“We believe that investing in our court staff professional development is crucial for enhancing public confidence in our court systems. We encourage all stakeholders and members of the community to support this initiative as we strive towards a more responsive and user-friendly court experience,” Mr. Michael mentioned.

Ms. Rose Kelly who is the current Assistant Registrar at the Kokopo National Court while interviewed said her take away gem from the training was that in performing their duties to the court users, they will actually be applying the mission statement of the Judiciary, which states “Provide equal access to an independent, fair, and quality Judicial Services to all people.”

“This training was important as it showed us why we all have a job in the first place and then how best we can serve our customers as well as forging a good relationship with our colleagues and ultimately achieving the mission statement of the Judiciary!”

Most of my staff here attended this training before and they do practice most of the topics covered in the training.   A handful need improvement especially on dressing and personal hygiene,” she mentioned.

Ms. Kelly further emphasized that in future training, the program officers should also stress on the following provisions of the NJSS Administrative Orders.

1. Administrative Order 10.69 – Public Service had normalize coming late to work; and
2. Administrative Orders 12.46 – All officers shall ensure not to wear to work48 – Smoking is strictly forbidden in all NJSS Offices and 12.49 – Chewing of betel nut is strictly forbidden in all NJSS offices.

Ms. Kelly concluded by saying that PNGCJE program officers should also do training and workshops on the practices and procedures of the courts and why we do what we do.

Kokopo National Court staff participants with the program officers