Law students at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) were given a second opportunity to
engage in intellectual conversations with judges of the National and Supreme Courts and senior
lawyers through the second segment of the Sir Buri Kidu Lecture Series.
The lecture series, conducted by the Papua New Guinea Centre for Judicial Excellence (PNGCJE) in
partnership with UPNG on June 16 gave students an opportunity to meet judges and senior lawyers
and learn from their experiences during the lecture and panel discussions.
The main presenter was Justice Michael Jarrett from the Federal Court of Australia. Justice Jarrett is a
Judge of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. He was previously a Judge of the Federal
Circuit Court of Australia until its merger with the Family Court of Australia. Prior to that, he was a
Federal Magistrate of the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia, before it was named the Federal
Circuit Court of Australia. Jarrett has presided over a variety of cases, including family law,
administrative law, bankruptcy, copyright, human rights, industrial law and trade practices.
Justice Jarrett spoke on “Cross-Border Enforcement of Family Law Decrees in Papua New Guinea and
Australia”.
After the lecture, Justice Jarrett and Justice Berna Collier, who is a judge of both the Federal Court of
Australia and the Supreme and National Courts of PNG took part in a panel discussion where they
responded to questions from the audience.
The PNGCJE in partnership with the UPNG Law School host the Sir Buri Kidu Lecture Series annually.
This year’s series was the first since 2019, after the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the 2020 and 2021
series.