Interview with Pauline Beiatau, DPP Kiribati
Pauline Beiatau
Director Public Prosecution, Kiribati
Q1: What does your role entail and how has your attendance and experience at this Cybercrime Workshop had an impact on you and your staff?
A: Cybercrime is something all officers including myself and my team are not so familiar with. The workshop is very helpful in terms of allowing us to understand what we can do in relation to these crimes, in particular, by knowing who to contact for assistance.
Q2: Can you tell us about some of the work your office has been doing in this space?
A: We have a few cases which I believe are cybercrimes. Unfortunately, such cases usually are closed due to insufficient evidence and in particular there are is no knowledge at all about how to collect evidence or advise the Investigating officers on what they should be doing.
Q3: What are some of key outcomes you think we have achieved at the Cybercrime Workshop this year? How has Kiribati benefited from attending these PILON Cybercrime workshops?
A: The workshop has really demonstrated for us the need for cooperation by all countries, regionally or globally, to fight this international crime. Kiribati officials who have attended these workshops return home with some understanding of these complicated crimes, and some of the methods that are used to fight cybercrime. The respective Ministry is currently working on one policy which tries to address the weaknesses in the current law and prepare advice for Cabinet on enacting cybercrime legislation.
Q4: What are some of the other law and justice priorities for your office is working on? How do these contribute to Kiribati’s wellbeing?
A: Laws which relate to Finance and Commercial matters to ensure that the government is not abusing public money.
Q5: What are the best 3 issues/matters discussed in the Cybercrime Workshop?
A: The best three issue/matters are cooperation, use of electronic evidence and admissibility of evidence.
Q6: You have an extremely busy workload. What do you do to relax?
A: I enjoying staying at home playing with my kids or flying to an outer-island with my kids just to relax during the weekends.
