Gathering increases understanding of legal issues

The Otago delegation at this year’s Pacific Law and Culture Conference. Picture: Otago Pacific Islands Law Society Association/radionz.co.nz

By SALOTE QALUBAU

Increasing the understanding of Pacific legal issues was the aim of the recent Pacific Law and Culture Conference at the Canterbury University in New Zealand.

Participants included legal practitioners and law students who were eager to share lessons learned in their respective Pacific Island countries.

Otago University’s Pacific Islands Law Students Association president Nera Tautau said there was a significant increase in the number of Pacific people interested in the legal profession due to events such as the conference.

“I think this might be the biggest gathering of Pacific law students and academics and practitioners in New Zealand. It is a great opportunity for us to all meet and network with each other and talk about our ideas, voices and issues about Pacific,” Ms Tautau.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for us working in the legal sector whether it be academic, students or professionals to come together to talk about issues from our home countries and cultural background.”

The association’s vice-president, Petrina Siania, shared similar sentiments, saying the conference provided participants a broader understanding of legal issues.

Among the guest speakers was Vanuatu’s Supreme Court judge Daniel Fatiaki, Teleiai Lalotoa Mulitalo from Samoa’s Law Reform Commission and Fiji activist and scholar Dr Claire Slatter.

The theme of the conference was “Voices of the Pacific in a Globalised World”.

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* Salote Qalubau is a final-year journalism student at The University of the South Pacific. She is currently in New Zealand serving a two-week internship under the Pacific Cooperation Foundation’s Media Internship Programme.