A national court judge in Papua New Guinea says there are about 4000 outstanding warrants of arrest, some dating back 20 years.
The Post Courier reports court judge Justice Panuel Mogish saying court issued bench warrants are hardly ever executed, and it's the biggest problem they have in the criminal justice system.
He says bench warrants, or warrants of arrest, are issued when a person on bail fails to appear in court, or when a person on remand escapes from custody.
Justice Mogish says the focus now is to bring the law and order issue back to the community.
He says people no longer trust the police, but they want to empower the community to feel more responsible in making sure people out on warrants of arrest are brought back into the system.
Justice Mogish highlighted the issue in a one-day court user forum held at the Gazelle International Hotel in Kokopo last week.
