Atinae/Poloketi

Last Updated on Thursday, 08 August 2013 03:31

In addition to the day-to-day operations of its agencies, Samoa Law and Justice Sector undertakes projects for the development of law and justice in Samoa.

How are projects established and managed?

Sector agencies and community organisations make project proposals relevant to the goals and strategies detailed in the four-year Sector Plan.
The Secretariat assesses the proposals and provides this Assessment to assist the Projects Sub Committee in their review the project proposals before it recommends projects to the Steering Committee.
The Steering Committee reviews the project proposals recommended by the Projects Sub-Committee.
Some projects after Steering Committee approval has been obtained, require further approval by Cabinet.
Projects approved by the Steering Committee or Cabinet are then implemented, involving monitoring and evaluation and often community consultations.

Current projects

Project	Sector agencies or organisations involved
Olomanu Juvenile Rehabilitation Centre Housing Project	Ministry of Police and Prisons (Prisons Review Taskforce)
Tafaigata Women’s Correctional Facility Housing Project	Ministry of Police and Prisons (Prisons Review Taskforce)
Development of an Implementation Plan for the Separation of Prisons from Police	Ministry of Police and Prisons (Prisons Review Taskforce)
Drafting Regulations for Prisons and Corrections Service Act 2013	Samoa Law Reform Commission and the Office of the Attorney General (Prisons Review Taskforce)
Vehicles for Prison Services	Ministry of Police and Prisons (Prisons Review Taskforce)
Samoa Returnees Charitable Trust Integration Assistance Programme	Office of the Attorney General and Samoa Returnees Charitable Trust
Digitisation of Land and Titles Court Records Project	Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Establishment of a Criminal Law Review Working Group to update criminal-related laws	Office of the Attorney General
Review of the Village Fono Act 1990	All Sector agencies
SamLII (Samoa Legal Information Institute)	Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Neighbourhood Watch Project	Ministry of Police and Prisons
Development of Samoa Law and Justice Sector Statistics Database – Project AUAFA – MAU Database	All Sector agencies (facilitated and overseen by the Sector ICT Committee and Secretariat)
Drafting Legislation to protect the Traditional Knowledge of Samoa	Samoa Law Reform Commission and the Office of the Attorney general
Drafting Legislation for Media Regulation	Samoa Law Reform Commission and the Office of the Attorney General
Personalised Support for Victims at Court	Samoa Victims Support Group (SVSG), a non-government organisation – through SUNGO
Mentoring of Government Lawyers 2012–2013	Office of the Attorney General
Court Recording and Transcription	Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Mediation Centre	Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Establishment of the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) at the Office of the Ombudsman	Office of the Ombudsman
Establishment of a Community Law Centre	Office of the Attorney General; Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
National Crime Prevention Policy	Crime Prevention Taskforce
Soalaupule – Samoan Customary Mediation Course	Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Skills Workshops for Olomanu Rehabilitation Centre Youth	Leadership Samoa Alumni Trust – through Ministry of Police and Prisons
Memorandum of Understanding between the Sector and the New Zealand Department of Corrections for Training of existing Prisons and Corrections Staff	Ministry of Police and Prisons (Prisons Review Taskforce) in association with New Zealand Department of Corrections

Completed projects

Project	Sector agencies or organisations involved
Narcotics Testing Laboratory	Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Police and Prisons in association with the Scientific Research Organisation of Samoa (SROS)
Drafting of Prisons and Corrections Service Act 2013	Ministry of Police and Prisons (Prisons Review Taskforce)
Development and Launch of Sector Website	Samoa Law and Justice Sector Secretariat
Development of Sector Communications Strategy and Policy	Samoa Law and Justice Sector Secretariat
Review of 2008–2012 Sector Plan and Development and Launch of 2012–2016 Sector Plan	Sector Steering Committee and Secretariat
Development of an Implementation Plan for the Separation of the Prisons Function from Samoa Police	Ministry of Police and Prisons (Prisons Review Taskforce)
Participation in 22^nd Annual Human Rights and Peoples’ Diplomacy Training Program (DTP) for Human Rights Defenders from Asia Pacific	Office of the Ombudsman
Institutional Strengthening Project (ISP) – Placement of an Advisor with the Office of the Ombudsman	Office of the Ombudsman
Crimes Act 2013 Training	Office of the Attorney General; Ministry of Police and Prisons; Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Samoa Law Reform Commission capacity-building secondment programme	Samoa Law Reform Commission
Mentoring Program for Government Lawyers 2011–2012	Office of the Attorney General
Judges Retreat 2011	Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Judges Retreat 2012	Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Public Awareness Outreach Programme	Office of the Ombudsman
Drafting of Law Practitioners Bill	Samoa Law Reform Commission
Lauga and Aganuu Course for Samoa Law Reform Commission Staff	Samoa Law Reform Commission
Consultations on a National Heritage Board	Samoa Law Reform Commission
Consultations on District Court Bill, Supreme and District Court Rules	Samoa Law Reform Commission
Neighbourhood Watch Pilot Project Phase II	Ministry of Police and Prisons
Neighbourhood Watch Pilot Project Phase I	Ministry of Police and Prisons
Legislative Drafting qualification for Senior Legal Analyst	Samoa Law Reform Commission
Participation by a District Court Judge in the South Pacific Council for Youth and Children’s Courts Conference in Port Vila, Vanuatu (25 to 28 July 2011)	Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Judicial Workshop on Forensic Science Medicine and Investigation (2012)	Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Judicial Training on Judicial Settlement Conference Case Management (2012)	Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration
Samoa Law Society Seminar (2011)	Samoa Law Society

Project updates are current as at July 2013. Projects are reviewed monthly. The Samoa Law and Justice Sector continues to consider, approve and plan projects to be implemented in the future.

Project proposals

A portion of the Sector’s funding is available to support initiatives of non-government organisations that are relevant to the goals in the current Sector Plan. Community groups can apply for project funding through SUNGO, the Samoa Umbrella for Non-Governmental Organisation Inc., which is represented on the Sector Steering Committee.