The nation’s newest justice helped shape the ADR rules adapted by the PNG National Court
New Zealand-born Jeffrey Leonard Sheppard has become the newest judge in Papua New Guinea after being appointed to the country’s National and Supreme Courts.
Sheppard, an alternative disputes resolution expert who helped draft the ADR rules eventually adapted by the PNG’s National Court, joins the nation’s highest mediation court and will help Justice Ambeng Kandakasi, according to a Loop PNG report.
Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia said that Sheppard’s appointment, along with Justice Terrence Foulds’ appointment last month and a soon-to-be announced appointment, completes the filling of three seats left vacant in the country’s judiciary.
Sheppard has more than three decades’ experience as a litigation lawyer in PNG. He spent nearly 15 years as a senior partner at Ashurst PNG after qualifying as lawyer of the National and Supreme Courts of PNG and practicing with the Office of the Public Solicitor. He has also been a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales since 1980, and a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand since 1976.
Born in Warkworth, New Zealand, in 1953, Sheppard obtained his law degree from the University of Auckland in 1975. Since becoming a lawyer, he has had considerable experience in commercial, family, workers compensation and environment laws. His appointment brings the total number of judges in PNG to 39.
Related stories:
NRF picks local principal for new PNG office
PNG Supreme Court judge arrested over corruption allegations
