New Attorneys General Join PILON Network
The PILON Executive Committee welcome the Attorney General of Samoa, Ms Savalenoa Mareva Betham-Annandale as the new Chair of PILON and its Executive Committee. Ms Betham-Annandale is also the new Chair of the SGBV working group. PILON also welcomes new Attorney General of American Samoa, Ms Mitzie Jessop Taase to the PILON community and we look forward to working closely with you over the coming years.
Attorney General, Samoa
Savalenoa Mareva Betham-Annandale
Ms Betham-Annandale was appointed the Attorney General of Samoa in July 2020. She is a Samoan lawyer and jurist.
Attorney General Savalenoa Mareva Betham-Annandale was educated at the University of Central Queensland, graduating with a B.A. in History in 1991. She then studied law at the University of the South Pacific, graduating with a law degree in 1997. She worked as a public servant in New Zealand for the Department of Corrections, Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade before returning to Samoa to work for the Office of the Attorney General and the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration. Ms Betham-Annandale then entered private practice with her husband Lauaki Jason Annandale and served as the first female President of the Samoa Law Society until 2017. In 2016 she called for judges of the Samoan Lands and Titles court to receive legal training.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic she was appointed by Samoa’s Cabinet to sit on an advisory committee on the state of emergency. Betham-Annandale replaces Mr Lemalu Herman Retzlaff, who resigned in March 2020 after four years in the position.
Attorney General, American Samoa
Mitzie Jessop Taase
In July 2020, Ms Mitzie Jessop Taase became the first woman to be appointed Attorney General in the Territory of American Samoa, after a 20+ year career as an Attorney.
Prior to becoming Attorney General, she worked as Senate counsel for the Fono. Prior to that, Ms Jessop Taase worked as the Deputy Attorney General at the Office of the Attorney General for eight years. During her legal career, Attorney General Mitzie Jessop Taase has continued to advocate for victims, including drafting the Territory’s first Anti-Human Trafficking laws, Child Abuse laws, and Sex Offender Registration laws. Ms Jessop Taase received her Juris Doctorate degree from Brigham Young University in Utah after receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Utah.
