Law and justice officials gathered in the Samoan capital Apia last week to finalise a set of regional guidelines for prosecutors and witness support officers.

The regional guidelines would be used to support vulnerable witnesses throughout the prosecution of sexual offenses, according to a media statement that was issued on Saturday by the Pacific Islands Law Officers Network Advisory Panel.

This has been a long-running project of the Pacific Islands Law Officers’ Network’s (PILON) Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Working Group (WG), which is chaired by the Attorney General of Samoa, Su’a Hellene Wallwork.

The two-day workshop from 16–17 March provided an opportunity to consider feedback received from regional partners and stakeholders in PILON member countries. The workshop also featured a presentation of the finalised Regional Guidelines to the SGBV Working Group and PILON Chair.

Su’a opened the workshop, and also chaired the SGBV WG meeting as part of the last session of the workshop. The workshop is the culmination of drafting efforts through a group convened by the SGBV Working Group in May last year, which is referred to as the ‘Advisory Panel’. 

The Advisory Panel comprises representatives from Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu as well as Samoa (where the PILON Secretariat is seated), and has been meeting monthly since May last year.

Sexual offending can have a severe impact on complainants and other witnesses – who are all at risk of being further traumatised by the court process. These guidelines outline best practice approaches that prosecutors and witness support officers should take to reduce trauma to witnesses throughout the prosecution process and ensure the court hears the best evidence. In doing so the guidelines aim to reduce delays in these cases and improve public confidence in the justice system.  

PILON is made up of senior law officials from 19 Pacific countries and territories, including Australia and New Zealand.