Dear PILON members and friends

I am pleased to invite you to the PILON Corruption Working Group webinar: “Gift giving vs Corruption – where is the line?”, taking place on Thursday 22 June 2023 at 1:00pm Nauru time / 12 noon Honiara time / 11am Port Moresby time.

It can be difficult to distinguish between corrupt conduct and gift giving, particularly where gift giving is a long standing and well-accepted part of our culture. Finding the line between the two presents a challenge for policy makers, legislators, investigators and prosecutors. The Corruption Working Group’s webinar will explore this issue through the perspectives of a range of law and justice officials. We invite you to register via this link:

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Webinar speakers include Mr Johnson Toribiong (former President of the Republic of Palau), Ms Josephine Pitmur (Deputy Secretary, Department of Justice and Attorney General, PNG), Ms Mele Lemaki Tagivakatini (Office of the Solicitor General, Nauru) and Mr Rashmi Aslam (Commissioner, FICAC).

Mr Johnson Toribiong was the President of the Republic of Palau (2009-2013). He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1968 with a BA in political science and minor in economics, and graduated from the University of Washington Law School in 1972, before being admitted to the Washington State Bar. He has practiced law in a number of countries including the US, Guam, and Palau. He has been involved in drafting the Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Constitution of the Republic of Palau, and was the first Ambassador from Palau to the Republic of China Taiwan. He was appointed in 1999 traditional chief Ngiraked of Airai State, Republic of Palau and in 2011 was appointed traditional chief Luhk en Nahnmewas of Madolehnimw of Phonpei State, Federated States of Micronesia.

Ms Mele Lemaki Tagivakatini is an expatriate legal officer in the Office of the Solicitor General, Department of Justice (Nauru) with 13 years of legal experience. Mele has been working in Nauru’s Department of Justice since 2017. Mele’s work includes assisting Nauru’s Secretary for Justice and Border Control in providing support for OECD, UNCAC and related work. Mele was a member of the Nauru team that provided support and reviewed Nauru’s legal and institutional framework for Nauru’s state of implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption Review cycle: 2 (Chapter II and V). Before joining Nauru’s Department of Justice, Mele worked previously at the Legal Aid Commission (Fiji), the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority and Eigigu Holdings Corporation (Nauru).

The Commissioner of Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption, Mr. Rashmi Aslam, is a lawyer with 20 years of experience specializing in Serious and complex fraud, corruption and white-collar crimes prosecutions. He attained his Master of Laws (LL.M) in Advance Criminal Law Studies.  He Joined the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) in 2012 as a Senior Prosecutor and worked his way up through the Commission to become its first Commissioner in 2022.
Mr Aslam has prosecuted many high-profile cases in Fiji setting various important legal principles and guidelines in fraud and corruption cases that contributed to the development of the anti-corruption jurisprudence in Fiji.

We encourage you to share this invite with any colleagues who may benefit from this webinar including police officers, prosecutors, and policy officers.

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