Vanuatu Legal Sector

The Challenges

The major issues that were facing the Vanuatu legal sector can be summarised as follows:

· Insufficient financial resources;
· Lack of physical resources including IT;
· Inadequate and unsecured accommodation that restricted workflow and the ability to provide services to the government and community;
· Inability to meet basic staff entitlements such as pay and adequate working conditions that led to high turnover;
· Structural weaknesses including uncertainty of leadership and the inability to attract and retain Heads of Office;
· Lack of staff supervision and managerial support;
· Inability to attract and retain senior lawyers;
· Junior lawyers undertaking complex legal work;
· No regulation of the legal profession;
· Confusion regarding the interaction between custom law and the formal legal system;
· Insufficient access to legal resources;
· Insufficient attention to relationship building, with no liaison or regular meetings between agencies in the sector;
· Inability to identify and progress legal policy and legislative priorities;
· Legislation was incomplete and difficult to access;
· Lack of in-house expertise in budget preparation and financial monitoring;
· Lack of appreciation for sound administrative practices and procedures;
· Insufficient and inconsistent staffing levels; and
· Inability to handle advising and litigation workloads.


Vanuatu Legal Sector Strenthening Program (VLSSP)

Progress to date

The original objective of the VLSSP was to support the SLO, PPO and PSO in the efficient and effective exercise of their respective functions. Since 2000 considerable progress has been made towards the restoration of the functions of each office and in the establishment of relationships conducive to the professional development of Ni-Vanuatu staff.

NSWAGD have agreements with NSW Legal Aid Commission, NSW Office of the Director Public Prosecutions and the NSW Parliamentary Counsel’s Office to provide assistance for the VLSSP. Ni-Vanuatu legal officers are sent to Australia for placements at related organisations for mentoring, training and support. Ni-Vanuatu lawyers from the PPO are also regularly sent for training in the Victorian Bar Reader’s Course.

The VLSSP also engages consultants and contractors to provide training in country on various aspects of public legal practice and public administration.

In 2008 the VLSSP extended its support to the police prosecutors in the State Prosecutor’s Department (SPD) in Vanuatu. The Australian Federal Police have an aid project to assist the Vanuatu Police. However, the SPD seemed to fall between the gap and was not receiving assistance from any project until the VLSSP offered aid. The VLSSP provided an Adviser for 6 months in 2008 to assist and has recently finished recruitment action for another adviser in that office until the end of the current phase in December 2010.

Also in 2008, the VLSSP adviser in the SLO drafted Civil Procedure Rules for Vanuatu that are now used by the legal profession.

Also in 2008 GoV established the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The MoJ incorporates the PSO, PPO and support of the SPD along with new agencies such as the Office for People with Disabilities and the Office for Women. The SLO continued to be under the authority of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The VLSSP provided support to the MoJ in undertaking to strengthen service delivery for legal services.

In late 2008 AusAid undertook a mid term review. One of the recommendations of this review was an increase in scope for the project to also include the Ministry of Justice and whole of sector legal reform. The VLSSP assisted in May 2009 by facilitating a strategic planning conference to develop a whole of ministry and whole of sector strategic framework.

In June 2009, the VLSSP organised for a review of the case management requirements of the SPD, PSO, PPO and SLO. A draft specification has been prepared and the design and implementation is underway.

The VLSSP has organised for a new building to accommodate the SLO. This construction is ready to go pending action to clear the land by GoV.

The VLSSP provides funding to the University of the South Pacific (USP) to manage Community Legal Centres in Vanuatu and also for Paclii.