A female Judge of the PNG National and Supreme Courts has graduated with a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in the Natural Resource Law from the University of New England in Australia.

Justice Hitelai Dorothy Polume-Kiele attained this milestone achievement at the age of 66.

A brief background of this champion Judge on her LinkedIn profile states:

” (I) enrolled in the PhD research program in natural resource law at the University of New England which commenced in June, (Trimester 2), 2012 – Currently on leave of absence.

“Prior to pursuing this program, (I) had practiced as a Government lawyer since joining the Office of the Solicitor General in May 1992. In January 2007, (I) was appointed to Head the Department of Justice and Attorney (on an acting basis) a position I held until the appointment was revoked on 9 December 2009.

“From February 2010, (I) commenced employment with the Independent Public Business Corporation as a legal officer and subsequently got promoted to the position of Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary until her resignation in 2011 to pursue the PhD program,” she wrote on her wall.