The Samoa Law Society has recommended more scholarships for law students as the solution to the ongoing shortage of lawyers at the Office of the Attorney General.

According to the most recent Public Service Commission circular, the Attorney General's office is dealing with a startling 26 vacant positions as of February last month.

This worrisome scarcity of legal professionals puts doubt on the effectiveness of one of the nation's most important legal institutions.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer, the president of the Samoa Law Society, Alex Sua said this affects the judiciary's ability to reschedule cases and choose which ones should be given priority at this time since, as they say, justice delayed is justice denied.

"I think to improve the legal profession and attract more students is for our Government to seriously consider expanding its scholarship programme for individuals pursuing legal studies," he said.

"This impacts the judiciary in trying to reschedule the cases and right now come across issues where which ones have to be prioritised and as you know justice delayed is justice denied.

"The apparent shortage of lawyers where there’s 26 vacant positions is the reality now and this issue is something that the Public Service Commission on the other side has to address.

Mr. Sua pointed out that the lack of lawyers is particularly evident in criminal prosecution, where there has been a shortage of prosecutors to take up cases as a result of many of the cases being rescheduled or pushed back due to a limited number of lawyers available.

However, Sua believes that there is a triangle-shaped dilemma.

"This is because there’s actually a need for experienced lawyers and the more experienced are usually at the smaller part of the triangle but a lot of the juniors are really at the bottom part with many but less experienced," he added.

In addition to endangerment, the office's ability to run smoothly, the frequent departure of talented lawyers begs the question of what the underlying reasons are for this alarming trend.

Last year, the shortage of lawyers had the Office of the AG hand over all prosecution of domestic violence cases to the Samoa Police. A move that the Samoa Police had said was overloading them.

When asked if remuneration is one of the major reasons why many lawyers are moving to private practice and government ministries, Sua said 'no', stating that money is no longer an issue and that the issue is mental health-related concerns and work satisfaction, as lawyers are overburdened with the work they have in Government.

“Remuneration is not the issue anymore but is just that the workload is a bit demanding and overwhelming.

“Also freedom, the freedom that lawyers have over themselves and what they're entitled to do where you are and be your boss and in control of your schedule.

“I think the new remuneration at the Attorney General's office is really attractive compared to the time when I started and we didn’t have those benefits.

However, the Law Society, in collaboration with the Attorney General's office, is working to enlist the support of other stakeholders and partners of the law society through networks and the provision of exchange programmes, as well as other services such as consultancy and legal support from the New Zealand and Australian Governments.

“This is something we are tapping into to assist not just our members but to also fill in the gap for our junior lawyers to be upgraded in training," he said,

Furthermore, Sua acknowledged the fact that lawyers were scarce and grateful to the current AG for trying to reduce the issue by allocating part of the criminal prosecution work to private lawyers to take up some of that burden.