Remengesau Appoints Oldiais Ngiraikelau to be Supreme Court Justice
Oldiais Ngiraikelau, one of Palau’s preeminent criminal defense attorney has been appointed by President Tommy E, Remengesau, Jr., to be a justice of the Palau Supreme Court - Trial Division. The appointment was made on Friday, 15 July 2016.
Judiciary Building in Ngerulmud. (Photo by Ongerung Kambes Kesolei)
Ngiraikelau, 60, was the top choice among the seven applicants recommended by the Judicial Nominating Commission as required by the constitution, to President Remengesau for selection to fill the seat left vacant by R. Ashby Pate, who abruptly resigned last April to return to USA.
In his recommendation letter to the president, the chairman of the commission, Chief Justice Arthur Ngiraklsong states, “The depth and breadth of his experience in the law is unmatched and his personal integrity is unassailable.
Ngiraikelau will join Kathleen Salii and Lourdes Materne as associate justices of the trial division of the Supreme Court.
Ngiraikelau formerly practiced law as a public defender in the state of Hawaii and the Northern Marianas Islands. He returned to Palau where he has been in private practice for more than 20 years.
Ngiraikelau is a 1983 graduate of the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law.
