PR - The staff of the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration (M.J.C.A.) are a lot better prepared for their roles today, thanks to a training on legal policy development held last week.

The training, designed by the Australian Attorney General’s Department, was an opportunity to build and strengthen the participants’ capability and capacity to develop effective and robust legal policies and laws to help achieve effective outcomes at work.

The Ministry’s Chief Executive Officer, Papali’i John Taimalelagi, welcomed the training. 

 “The training is greatly beneficial for our staff which will enable them to effectively formulate and develop policies that will guide and further promote and achieve the ministry’s goal and mission,” he said.

The training, he added, will help the Government plans for the Public Administration Sector to move towards a knowledge based economy and to be able to acquire a professional and competent public administration that provides quality, efficient and transparent services for and to its people, the training is timely. 

The training had been delivered to more than 250 policy makers, drafters, police and other government officials across the Pacific. The main goal for Australian A.G.D. in developing the training, is to assist partner countries to build modern and effective legal frameworks which are consistent with international standards and adapted to meet community needs. 

The training was facilitated by Shamila Leavai, A.C.E.O. Policy and Planning M.J.C.A.), Sasae Walters (P.I.L.O.N. coordinator) and Charles Dean (Legal Officer, Ombudsman Office). 

The three facilitators were part of the Australian A.G.D’s Legal Policy Champions Training of Trainers’ Workshop, which took place in Canberra in March 2018. The training for M.J.C.A. was a requirement of their participation to redeliver and share their knowledge and experience with their colleagues to build their capacity and capability in this area. The facilitators were assisted by Bhavana Dhanasar from the Australian A.G.D. who was also here to observe as part of their Office’s follow-up work. 

 “It was encouraging to see the enthusiasm shown by M.J.C.A. staff to learn about ways to further strengthen their legal policy development skills and I am happy to have been part of this and contribute to their professional development,” says Charles Dean.

The main objective of the training was to help participants understand: What is ‘policy development,’ The role of the public service in developing policy, How to develop policy and what tools can assist, Why stakeholders are important, The importance of implementation and evaluation and Why recordkeeping matters.