Former Samoan Judge Appointed Dean of Faculty of Law at Waikato University

By Lagi Keresoma/

Apia, SAMOA- 15 June 2024– Former Supreme Court Judge, Tafaoimalo Leilani Tuala Warren has been appointed Dean of Te Pinnga Faculty of Law at Waikato University.

She is the first New Zealand Pacific woman to be appointed a Professor of Law and her tenure at the university starts on 1^st July 2024.

Professor Warren’s appointment was officially announced last week by the Waikato University.

She is no stranger to Waikato University where she completed her Undergraduate and Masters of Laws degree in the 1990’s.

She returned to Samoa and served at the Office of the Attorney General from 1998 to 2000 before returning to teach at the university for 5 years.

After her tenure as a teacher, she returned to Samoa and served at a private law firm.

In 2009, she was appointed Executive Director of the newly established Samoa Law Reform Commission, a position she left to take up her role as the second woman Judge at the District Court where she was instrumental in the establishment of the Family Court and Family Violence Court.

In 2016, she became a Judge of the Supreme Court.

In 2022, she was recognised with the University of Waikato Distinguished Alumini Award.

Professor Warren still retains a temporary judicial warrant as a Supreme Court Justice in Samoa.