Dear PILON members and friends,

We are pleased to invite you to the second webinar in the PILON Sexual and Gender Based Violence Working Group Special Measures Series titled “Webinar 2: Practical Realities”, taking place next week on Friday 20^th  May 2022 at 3.00pm Apia time (Friday) / 12noon Canberra time (Friday) / 4.00pm Cook Islands time (Thursday).

In our previous webinar we heard from two senior prosecutors from Fiji and Samoa. It is now time to hear experiences from smaller jurisdictions, to better understand the broader Pacific story.

We will continue to discuss the many barriers to access to justice for victims of sexual and gender-based violence, including the adversarial legal system and in particular cross-examination. As a practical tool, the PILON Sexual and Gender Based Violence Working Group has published Model Provisions and Explanatory Text (Supporting Vulnerable Witnesses in cases involving sexual and gender based violence) to assist Pacific countries with law reform to overcome some of these barriers.

 SPEAKERS

The second webinar in this series will showcase the experiences of two smaller jurisdictions, who will share the practical realities encountered when using special measures:

Cutty Wase is currently the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. His career has spanned drafting and prosecuting in both the private and public sectors. Beginning as an Assistant Legislative Counsel he became RMI’s Assistant Attorney General, later taking on a Staff Attorney Position through the Micronesian Legal Services Corporation. Chief Prosecutor Wase will share the Marshallese experience of using special measures.

Annabel Maxwell-Scott is currently the Deputy Solicitor-General of the Cook Islands.  She oversees all criminal prosecution work ranging from serious sexual violence to drug and fraud prosecutions and advisory work.  Annabel was trained in the UK and admitted to the Bar there in 1996.  She moved to NZ in 2009 and worked with the Public Defence Service before moving into independent practice in 2013 where she predominantly defended serious crime.

HOW TO REGISTER

We invite you to register for this free webinar via the following link:

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

We encourage you to share this invite with any colleagues who may benefit from this webinar, including police officers, prosecutors, court staff, victim support services, women support services and other service providers.

Please do not hesitate to contact the PILON Secretariat (pilon@pilonsec.org) should you have any questions.