“Samoa is not a nation, it is just one big family, therefore if we have peace and stability in our families, then we will have a stable and strong Samoa” – Chief Justice Patu Tiava’asu’e Falefatu Sapolu
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The Court House at Mulinu’u was home to more than its usual share of lawyers, judges, health practitioners and service providers when it hosted Samoa’s first Family Law Forum.
Held on Monday and Tuesday last week, the event was jointly organised by the Samoa Judiciary, UN Women and the Samoa Law
Commission to discuss the best ways for the newly established Family Court and Family Violence Court to play their part in dealing with family violence and its effects on Samoa’s communities.
The presentations and panel discussions covered a range of topics including the importance and role of fa’asamoa in the justice process, giving all parties a voice, the rights of children and the importance of restorative justice and rehabilitation.
Samoa Family Court judge, Her Honour Tafaoimalo Leilani Tuala-Warren says while the concepts of family law are not new, the establishment of the Family Court and Family Violence Court as a separate division of the District Court in Samoa is, so the timing of the forum was quite deliberate.
“I think these conversations have already been happening in little pockets, but this forum was an opportunity to bring all of them into the same place,” she says. “It’s the perfect time to look at what we want to achieve and what is happening now.”
To help in this process, a number of guests from New Zealand participated in the forum, sharing lessons learned in the 30 years since its family court was established.
Considering Samoa’s system is closely modelled on the New Zealand one, this experience is particularly relevant in exploring which directions will be most effective for Samoa. Chief Justice, His Honour Patu Tiava’asu’e Falefatu Sapolu, was the driving force behind many of the recent changes to the court system, so it was only fitting that he opened the forum. He continually set the tone of the discussions throughout the two days, including his explanation of the importance of family law to Samoa.
“Samoa is not a nation, it is just one big family, therefore if we have peace and stability in our families, then we will have a stable and strong Samoa.”
New Zealand’s chief district court judge, Her Honour Jan-Marie Doogue, emphasised that focusing on lengthy jail sentences has not worked in her home country.
“The old sentencing paradigm has had little or no effect on domestic violence,” she says. “The solution needs to be in the context of the family and this system excludes the family. Victims tell us they want apologies and more focus on the rehabilitation of behaviour; the courthouse is the fulcrum, not the full stop.”
The similarities between this approach and the principles of fa’asamoa were not lost on the audience and many of the discussions throughout the forum focused on how best to amalgamate fa’asamoa with the principles of human rights and judicial law.
Restorative justice is one such aspect and Judge Tafaoimalo says it must play a huge part in the Family Court system.
“We are at the bottom of the cliff and as a Family Court, our role is to help families to climb back up,” she says.
“Restorative justice is about restoring people to the positions they were in before the incident.
I’m not saying they need to be restored to exactly where they were before - for instance back in that relationship - but it’s about restoring that person to the same level of dignity and security.
A huge part of that is the apology, reconciliation and remorse.
UN Women not only co-hosted the forum but also provides technical support to the Family Court, as well as monitoring and evaluation, specifically for the recently established Family Violence Court.
The organisation’s regional human rights and programme adviser Doreen Buettner spoke about international better practices and challenges when it comes to specialised courts and was impressed with the frank nature of the discussions at the forum.
“Samoa is leading the way in the Pacific with its Family Court and Family Violence Court, so we are hoping that other Pacific Island countries and territories will have a close eye on Samoa and will learn from their approach,” she says.
“It was also fantastic to see that the Chief Justice is so passionate about and supportive of having a specialised court to address family violence.”
Judge Tafaoimalo is also very happy with how the forum went and, along with many of the participants, is already talking about the possibility of another one next year.
“By then the Family Court will have evolved and processes will be set in place.”
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