Legal Aid Commission Fiji Leads the Way for the Pacific

For the longest time, Fiji, like many other regions in the Pacific, had sizable parts of its population neglected when it came to legal representation. Fijians who were not able to afford a private lawyer were denied justice, access to legal services due to the cost involved and had very little idea of what to do.

Many Fijians were affected by, or know of, situations where private lawyers would demand that they give up a piece of their land, house or sizeable sums of money if they got into legal problems. Formed in 1998, the Legal Aid Commission Fiji was initially under-resourced and understaffed, until finally, it was officially recognised by the 2013 Constitution and began the march towards ending inequality and providing access to justice to impoverished Fijians. Legal Aid Commission Fiji was given new life and a bold mission equality and access to justice. They have a responsibility to ensure that all Fijians, even those who may not have the resources to hire a private legal practitioner or access legal assistance, do not get left behind. The Legal Aid Commission employs 224 Fijians, and with a legal team of more than 100 lawyers, they are the largest law firm in Fiji. The Commission provides professional, efficient and quality legal aid services. Just last year, the commission provided advisory services to

26,725 people on civil, criminal and family matters.

They provide free legal advice to all Fijians, regardless of socioeconomic status, and free legal aid services to those earning under $15,000 per annum.

The man at the helm of Legal Aid, Shahin Ali, one of the driving forces behind the Commission’s success when it comes to helping Fijians, attributed this growth to his staff.

“Our professional team of experienced staff ensure that every Fijian who seeks our help gets quality legal services, while at the same time provide guidance to newer staff to ensure continuity and knowledge transfer. We regularly take students on internship programmes as part of our responsibility to nurture young Fijians entering the workforce.”

Another successful initiative, the First Hour Procedure, has helped thousands of Fijians by ensuring that Legal Aid lawyers are present during the first hour of their arrest.

The first hour after an arrest is a crucial period so the Commission is committed to working closely with relevant authorities to ensure this service is provided to those being questioned.

Since the inception of the programme in November 2016, the Commission has helped provide information to and protected the rights of 4497 Fijians during the first hour of their arrest. By now we are aware of Fiji’s status as the hub of the South Pacific. We are seen as leaders in the fight against climate change, not only in the region but globally, where our Prime Minister assumed COP Presidency and received numerous accolades.

Fiji also sets the example in the region when it comes to the provision of legal aid.

The Fijian Government has a vision to ensure that no Fijian is left out when it comes to government services. Their commitment to organisations such as Legal Aid Fiji is reaffirmed by the fact that it is one of the most generously funded amongst developing regions in the world.

This week Fiji will host the first ever Pacific Legal Aid Regional Conference through the Legal Aid Commission, a testament to our country being seen as a lucrative destination for meetings. We just held the internationally renowned Asian Development Bank’s 52nd Annual Meeting.

When asked, Shahin Ali said: “We want to set the platform for future collaboration, networking, training and development, and possible exchange programmes between the South Pacific Island nations in the area of access to justice and delivery of legal aid services. Hopefully, we could hold such a conference every 2 years, which we can say is uniquely and truly Pacific focused.”

The commission will be highlighting good practices of the Fijian Legal Aid scheme and also the delivery of legal aid, in particular, how to reach vulnerable populations in rural areas.

By showcasing the Fijian Legal Aid scheme, the commission aims to demonstrate how UN Principles and Guidelines have been applied to other areas of practice such as Family and Civil Law and not necessarily restricted to criminal law matters.

In the Pacific region, delegations from the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu will be present. Legal Aid Commission has already opened offices all around the country to increase accessibility. Reaching out to remote areas, people from different socio-economic backgrounds, and of course groups such as women, children, and the vulnerable is a major focus.

They are also exploring other innovative ways to ensure their services and awareness programmes reach all Fijians by utilising technology, and partnering with other organisations to conduct joint outreach programmes.

Since social media has become the most used communication platform for Fijians, Legal Aid has committed to a dedicated presence on the most popular platforms. Legal Aid is now on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram engaging directly with and disseminating highly relevant information to the hundreds of thousands of Fijians who populate these mediums.

The commission is also currently upgrading their IT and online infrastructure which will link all branches through a quicker and more reliable network. This will increase co-ordination between teams who will now be able to access important information instantly and improve service delivery.

The project can act as a template for other nations in the region on which to base their own systems.

All of these initiatives will increase coordination between the Commission’s country-wide offices and teams will now be able to access important information instantly and improve service delivery.

With all the work and initiatives currently being undertaken by the commission, they are showing what Fiji has done in their mission to provide greater access to justice for Fijians.

Apart from this mission, a major aim of the Commission is to showcase to the world what Fiji has done to make access to justice a reality and how Fiji currently serves as a benchmark in the South Pacific region in ensuring the delivery of professional, quality, and efficient legal aid service.