Members question lack of consultation over Samoa Law Society’s position

By Staff Reporters/

Apia, Samoa – 02 October 2025 – Several lawyers and members of the Samoa Law Society have come out strongly and publicly question the lack of consultation between the Council and its members over a press statement issued late yesterday titled “Ministerial Roles and Rule of Law.”

One lawyer posted: “This maybe the position of a very few people on our SLS council only. To be honest, it does not reflect a collective view of our Law Society. We were not consulted about our views like how it was done on other serious legal issues in the past.”

The statement under the Samoa Law Society (SLS) letterhead expresses concern over the Prime Minister holding the portfolios of the Ministry of Police and Prisons as well as the Attorney General. The SLS statement went on to say that “These processes create a significant potential conflict of interest with the Prime Minister’s ministerial responsibilities.”

In response, one senior lawyer of the Samoa Law Society said: “The statement you made can be used to infer that the SLS has suspicions that the PM will interfere with Court proceedings.” The same comment went further: “Given the political tension in Samoa which have yet to dissipate (then refer to an MP who used the words “overthrow the government” a week ago) it will only take a few careless remarks to set fire to these tensions.

“I personally think that the statement you made was a careless remark because of the weight people will give and the inferences they will draw, and this is despite the lack of any action of statement by the PM to indicate he will interfere.”

The same member warned, the Law Society should be careful not to abuse its privileged position not only in Samoa but internationally.

“Had you allowed us an opportunity to express our views, I would’ve said this and more.”

Another senior member accused the Council of taking a political stance without consulting its wider membership.

“The public statement alleged to be by the Samoa Law Society was made without a full mandate from all its members. The contents of the statement implies negatively on political appointments which with respect is none of the SLS’s business. Let the mandated people’s representatives get on with governance and the SLS to offer legal advise if and when asked. Please refrain from speaking on our behalf when all of us did not know about the statement before it was made and publicised.”

The same were made by another senior lawyer: “But why is the Law Society medalling (sic) with Politics? Let me be honest…what happen to the professional legal impartiality the Law Society is supposed to uphold?  Let’s leave the Politics to the Politicians.  The Lawyers to the Lawyers to fight out any issues in Court if and when it arises.”

Another member said: “As a member of the Law Society we would have thought that the perspectives of the majority would be thoughtfully considered on such sensitive issues as had been practiced in the past. However, the decision to release a public statement on the Society’s letterhead, without adequate consultation with membership, raises some concerns.”

Meanwhile, the CEO of the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration, and a member of the Society, Papalii John Taimalelagi Afele, is writing to the President to distant himself from the society’s position “which I consider to be wholly inappropriate, unauthorised, and an abuse of the position held within the society.”

We asked the President of the Samoa Law Society, Fiona Ey for a comment on the concerns raised but has yet to respond.