The National Court in Waigani has begun hearing bail applications monthly and also looking into cases of accused persons on bench warrants since 1984.
The court registry has released lists of accused on bail and those on bench warrants.
Justice Panuel Mogish who heads the criminal courts at Waigani said earlier last month his court would hear bail and bench warrant cases every month.
There are about 6000 outstanding bench warrant cases through out the country since 1980s.
Justice Mogish has appealed to leaders and communities not to harbour accused who are on bench warrants.
They can be of danger to communities.
Justice Mogish said they should be handed over to courts to prosecute them.
He said it's not the role of police alone to apprehend them and hand over to the courts.
The criminal court in Waigani has received lists of accused of bench warrants.
Meantime Justice Mogish has challenged a public prosecutor to obtain statements from witnesses to prosecute an accused.
The accused Martin Saweya has been in custody since 2022 but his case has never been trialed yet.
Justice Mogish said this is one of the oldest cases and it can't drag this long.
If the public prosecutor does not file witness statements when the case is called again in April, Saweya's lawyer can file an application to discharge his case.
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