The three-day Pasefika Lawyers Collective Conference is underway in the Country with more than 200 attendees.
Service is the Pathway to Leadership -O le ala ile pule ole tautua- is the theme for the three-day conference that kicked off yesterday with an ava ceremony held at the Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi convention centre.
President of the Samoa Law Society, Alex Su’a confirmed to the media the calibre of guest speakers who will share their knowledge and experiences at the conference, including jurists, legal experts, lawyers and senior judges.
They are the President of the Samoa Land & Titles Court, Lesatele Rapi Vaai; Chief Justice, his honour Satiu Simativa Perese; Justice Niava Mata Tuatagaloa and Attorney General Su’a Hellene Wallwork-Lamb, to name a few.
There are also overseas experts, including Justice Philip of the Queensland Appeal Court. Talamua reported Su’a said the conference brings together members of the legal fraternity to share their knowledge and experience with other countries and upcoming young lawyers.
“The conference is also looking at how other countries’ methods of dealing successfully in dealing with legal matters and areas in which they failed, and this conference will explore methods and tactics taken by countries in dealing with their matters,” said Su’a.
One of the areas in which participants have commended Samoa is the mediation process in dealing with legal challenges.
“Seventy per cent of matters filed in Court have been successfully dealt with in mediation, and 30% ended up in Court, and such process has drawn interest from several participants,” said Su’a.
He said although mediation is a long-standing process in the Samoan culture, it was never instilled in the legal system until a few years back.
“The emphasis now is on mediation,” he said.