In keeping with the commitment by Pacific Leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum in 2009 and the Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration in 2012, PILON member countries have recognised that contributing to the eradication of SGBV through effective law and justice responses continues to be one of its key strategic priorities.

Pacific leaders, including Tuilaepa, have acknowledged the high rates of SGBV in Samoa and across the Pacific region and have committed to eradicating SGBV and ensuring all individuals have equal protection of the law and equal access to justice.

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Implementation of the principles is intended to minimise distress experienced by vulnerable witnesses and maximise the ability of these witnesses to give reliable and truthful evidence in SGBV court proceedings. In doing so, the Principles seek to ensure that the criminal process does no further harm to the person and that their safety is prioritised while ensuring a fair trial for the accused. Maximising the ability of vulnerable witnesses to provide their best evidence and preventing their re-traumatization may also improve trust in the criminal court process, thereby increasing the likelihood of reporting of SGBV offences.

Delegates to the PILON SGBV workshop were able to identify a number of new practices that they could begin implementing on their return home and were enthusiastic about improving court processes to better support vulnerable witnesses in their jurisdiction.

The PILON SGBV working group will continue to support PILON members on implementation of the General Principles and are currently working on model provisions to encourage the enshrining of some of these practices in legislation.

The PILON Secretariat would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions made to the Conference by all distinguished speakers, delegates and others that made this event possible, in particular the staff from the Pacific Community’s RRRT whose support for this workshop was greatly appreciated.

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Pacific Human Rights Law Digest Vol 6

28 March Apia, Samoa

One of the highlights of the SGBV Workshop was the launching of RRRT’s Pacific Human Rights Law Digest, Volume 6. To officially open the ceremony was Justice Vui Nelson and members of the Samoa diplomatic core, government officials, and all SGBV delegates were invited.

This is the sixth volume of the Pacific Human Rights Law Digest (PHRLD) produced by the Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team (RRRT) of the Pacific Community (SPC). The previous volume (Volume 5) was released in September 2015.

Over the past 20 years RRRT has been working with, and has engaged in training of, members of parliament, non-governmental organisations, law students, lawyers, magistrates and judges in the Pacific region. This training has focused on encouraging the use of conventions, international standards and constitutional bills of rights in the courts and contributed to increased reliance on, and use of, these instruments by magistrates, judges and lawyers across the region.

The overall purpose of this Pacific Human Rights Law Digest is to disseminate, for use by Pacific law students, lawyers, magistrates, judges and human rights advocates, a collection of analysed, recent human rights case law that can be used as precedents in the courts, and as tools for policy initiatives.

The PHRLD is not just for lawyers, but also for human rights activists and other stakeholders. It is therefore not just a compilation or compendium of cases with headnotes, as commonly found in law reports, but rather it is an analysed summary of judgments, highlighting significant human rights issues.

SPC’s RRRT has a vast network of local-level human rights defenders who are increasingly using the law as a tool for change in the areas of governance and human rights. The experience of this network of human rights actors has now been reflected in the Diploma in Leadership, Governance and Human Rights, which is jointly sponsored by SPC’s RRRT and the University of the South Pacific (USP), and is offered through 12 USP campuses in the Pacific region.

RRRT’s ultimate objective is to help to build a human rights culture that enhances the rule of law and democracy in the Pacific region. Promoting the use of human rights standards in law, practice and policy is part of RRRT’s broad, long-term strategy for achieving that goal.

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PILON Executive Committee Meeting

29-30 April Nadi, Fiji

The PILON Executive Committee met at the Nalagi Hotel in Nadi, Fiji on the 29-30 April 2019. 

In attendance were Committee members, Chair, Mr Stuart Baker, Solicitor General, Cook Islands, Incoming Chair, Mr Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, Attorney General, Samoa, Ms Karen Moore, Assistant Secretary, Australia, Mr Joses Gallen, Secretary for Justice, FSM, Mr Graham Leung, Secretary for Justice and Border Control, Nauru, Ms Jo Mildenhall, Senior Crown Counsel, New Zealand, and Mr Johnathan Kawakami, A/g Attorney General, RMI.

The Executive Committee welcomed presentations from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat including the Pacific Legislative Drafters Technical Forum, the United Nations Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Programme (UN-PRAC), the Pacific Community’s Regional Rights Resource Team (RRRT) and Oceania Customs Organisation. The Committee embraced the opportunity to engage with these regional organisations and investigated options for further strengthening PILON’s working relationship with fellow Pacific agencies and coordination of activities across the region.

Following the successful and well received workshop on special measures for victims of Sexual and Gender Based Violence, funded jointly by RRRT and PILON, the Committee encouraged further collaboration as the forward work plans of the two organisations continue to complement one another.  The workshop, held in Samoa in March 2019, demonstrated the value of partnership and regional teamwork on these important issues facing the Pacific law and justice community.

The Committee took advantage of the opportunity to explore continued and increased collaboration with UN-PRAC on Corruption issues into the forward years of PILON’s Strategic Plan and discussions will be ongoing with this key regional stakeholder to ensure that efforts are joined up and coordinated.

The Executive Committee reviewed PILON’s progress in the key areas of Cybercrime, Sexual and Gender Based Violence and Corruption, as well as broader governance matters and preparations for the 2019 Annual Meeting. Updates on progress towards PILON’s key strategic priorities will be provided at the 38^th PILON Annual Meeting to be hosted by the Samoan Office of the Attorney General, at the Taumeasina Island Resort, in Apia from the 4th – 7th November 2019.

Notice board

Tribute to Lorrie Johnson-Asher from PILON Litigation Skills Faculty

It is with much sadness that the faculty of the PILON litigation skills programme acknowledge the passing of fellow faculty member, Lorrie Johnson-Asher

Lorrie obtained her law degree from the University of the South Pacific School of Law in 2002.  For eleven years she was a prosecutor for the various Attorney-General’s offices throughout the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).  She first served as an Assistant Attorney-General for the Pohnpei State Government in 2004, then moved on to the Federal Government’s Department of Justice in 2008. 

In 2013, Lorrie was appointed as the Attorney-General for Kosrae State Government. In 2010, Lorrie obtained her LLM Degree from the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law. With a keen interest in the protection of human rights, Lorrie joined the FSM criminal defense team at the FSM Office of the Public Defender in March 2015.  In September 2015, she was appointed the Chief Public Defender for the FSM and became a cabinet member to FSM President, H.E. Peter Christian.

We came to meet, and get to know, Lorrie when she was a participant in the Litigation Skills programme; first in the 2010 Basic course in Vanuatu and then in the 2016 Advanced course in New Zealand.  With her admirable skills together with her personable nature, Lorrie became an obvious target for recruitment as faculty for future courses.

Participating as faculty for a senior government lawyer is a big commitment in time and energy but offers the chance not only to share skills but also to increase continuing education opportunities in their home offices. Lorrie was a hard-working teacher which, in combination with her gentle manner and natural flair for teaching, made her an immediate friend and colleague to all other faculty. She inspired both the participants and her fellow faculty to achieve their best.

The news of her death, with so much achieved and obviously so much still ahead of her, was met with shock and grief by all those who had the PILON faculty connection.

In addition to her many professional accomplishments, Lorrie was a lovely woman. She was clever, courageous, warm and fun. Lorrie was a leader of the Pasifika region, committed to access to justice and upholding the rule of law. She will be greatly missed by all those that knew her. We pay special tribute to her husband, their children, families and community.