Meeting the Chief Justice of Tokelau

4 April 2017
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Right Honourable Dame Sian Elias, Chief Justice of Tokelau (left) and Lise Suveinakama, Senior Legal Adviser of the Government of Tokelau.
This week the Chief Justices of the Pacific are meeting in Apia to discuss the Pacific Judicial Strengthening Initiative Programme (PJSI), and progress to date on its support to PJSI jurisdictions.

Tokelau Judiciary was represented by the Chief Justice of Tokelau, her Right Honourable Dame Sian Elias, who is also the Chief Justice of New Zealand.

“I am very pleased to participate in the Chief Justices meeting on behalf of the Tokelau Judiciary”, Dame Sian stated to Mrs Lise Suveinakama, the Senior Legal Advisor for the Government of Tokelau and Judicial National Coordinator.

This morning’s meeting with Chief Justice Elias was meant to update her on the progress of judicial developments in Tokelau. The meeting also explored what support is needed for Tokelau’s Judiciary, and for judicial officers to ensure the delivery of justice in Tokelau is fair and accessible to all.

 
The Chief Justice was very pleased with the Judicial Annual Reports of Tokelau. These are consistently being provided each year to all stakeholders of Tokelau and court users. These judicial annual reports are also on the Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute’s website www.paclii.org.

“Judicial Annual Reports are really important for us as they tell the story of our courts. More importantly they provide information on the courts systems and processes so people can be made aware”, commented Lise Suveinakama.

Dame Sian agreed: “Annual Reports are informative. They convey whether judicial officers are responding in a timely manner to the judicial needs of the people; and can show whether court users are satisfied with the delivery of the justice in Tokelau”.

The Chief Justice of Tokelau strongly supports the Tokelau judiciary and will explore training opportunities for Tokelau Judicial Officers and other means to support continued delivery of justice in Tokelau.