DPA Publications - Q1 2025

In Briefs
 
Legal Services in Fiji Part 1: Money from Nothing — Funding Legal Aid in the Pacific
Author(s): David Naylor

This is the first of a two-part In Brief series on legal services in Fiji, which draws on fieldwork and other data collected for my PhD thesis. It tells the little-publicised story of how Fiji’s Legal Aid Commission (LAC) has been able to grow from just three offices in 2005, staffed by a handful of employees and heavily reliant on donor funding, into a domestically funded world-class institution with more than 24 branches nationwide employing over 100 lawyers and providing legal advice to over 11,000 people each year across a range of family, criminal, and civil matters.

Legal Services in Fiji Part 2: Pathways to Reform of Legal Profession Regulation
Author(s): David Naylor

In June 2024, the Supreme Court of Fiji issued an opinion on the eligibility of former Acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) John Rabuku and Judge Qetaki to hold office, clarifying the interpretation of eligibility requirements for appointments to the judiciary and other public offices under Fiji’s 2013 constitution. In effect, the opinion means any lawyer found guilty of professional misconduct in a disciplinary proceeding may not be appointed as a magistrate or judge in Fiji nor hold various senior government roles. By finding that Rabuku was not validly appointed, the status of approximately 300 prosecutions commenced between his appointment in October 2023 and his resignation in August 2024 has been called into question. The Supreme Court noted that Fiji’s Legal Practitioners Act 2009 (LPA 2009) only has a single complaint mechanism, unlike in Australia and New Zealand. A ‘two-tier’ system could ensure that lawyers penalised for less serious regulatory breaches could remain eligible to be appointed to the judiciary and other public offices under the 2013 constitution. The LPA 2009 is currently being reviewed. Public consultations took place in 2023, and a public draft bill is anticipated to come soon. In this second instalment of a two-part In Brief series on legal services in Fiji, I draw from data collected during my PhD fieldwork in 2019 to understand possible pathways to reform of lawyer regulation in Fiji.

Make the Past Serve the Present. Part 1: History of Imperial Russian and Soviet Involvement in Oceania
Author(s): Henryk Szadziewski

Is Russia committing to the long list of external powers lining up to engage with Oceania? If so, alphabetically, it fills the vacant ‘R’ slot between Qatar and Saudi Arabia (Szadziewski 2024). Pacific Island countries (PICs) are currently managing a host of outside interests, old and new, towards their own priorities; however, partners such as Russia will not make Australia and perhaps the United States under Trump 2.0 too comfortable, even if its role is understood as nothing more than a disruptor to these traditional partners’ interests in Pacific affairs.

Make the Past Serve the Present. Part 2: Contemporary Russian involvement in Oceania
Author(s): Henryk Szadziewski

This second part of a two-part In Brief series moves on from the history of Imperial and Soviet involvement in the Pacific to discuss Russia’s contemporary involvement in the region.

US Policy in the Pacific Islands from Biden to Trump
Author(s): Stewart Firth

Within weeks of Donald Trump’s return to the presidency of the United States (US), his foreign policy diverged sharply from that of his predecessor, Joe Biden. Having thrown the US aid agency USAID into worldwide chaos by freezing foreign aid, the Trump administration reversed the decision — or at least limited its impact — when Marco Rubio, the new secretary of state, issued a waiver for lifesaving humanitarian assistance. The US remains a comparatively minor player in the Pacific Islands south of the equator, its aid to the region worth 7 per cent of all development finance in the last decade compared with Australia’s 38 per cent. Nevertheless, USAID-funded projects seem to be immediately affected, such as World War II bomb clearance on Guadalcanal and the barefoot lawyer teams working with Papua New Guinean villagers to alert them to their rights.
 

Working Papers

Reflections on Relationality and Positionality from Pacific Scholarship
Author(s): Judy Putt, Gemma Malungahu, Philippa Louey, Akka Rimon, Romitesh Kant

This paper had its genesis in a panel convened by the Department of Pacific Affairs, The Australian National University (ANU), in 2023. The panel emerged from debates and musings among our colleagues, as we sought to increasingly acknowledge the significance and implications of Pacific research methodologies. Reflecting upon positionality and relationality is not a new process, but it takes on specific characteristics depending on the context in which research is being undertaken. For doctoral students, this issue can be particularly acute. The aim of this collection is to share with a wider audience the multiple standpoints and critical gazes that reverberate within and about Pacific scholarship.


*Since its inception, DPA has been regularly publishing research and critical commentary on topics of interest to a wide audience of academics, policy-makers and others interested in contemporary Pacific issues. We welcome submissions to our various publication series.