Around about two years ago an email arrived in my inbox from Samoan solicitor, Komisi Koria, enquiring whether I would be able to act as defence counsel on a local intra-family sexual assault trial in Apia. I sent a short response indicating some interest and wondered if anything would come of it – little did I know that email would lead to one of the most stimulating weeks of my legal career.

After a few more emails and confirmation that I had been engaged, my first conversation with Komisi was on the issue of trial election. He explained that we had the choice of electing a Judge-alone trial or “trial by assessor”, meaning receiving five members of the public taken from a national assessor’s pool of around 250 (a lot of repeat business apparently). I was a little taken aback when Komisi explained that a Judge-alone election had already been made – this is contrary to the New Zealand approach where a large majority of sex cases are run in front of a jury. Komisi explained to me that assessors tend to come from rural parts of the island and they are typically religious and conservative, so he liked our chances better with a Judge.

The next thing to adjust to was disclosure. Despite the alleged offending occurring over many years and involving two complainants, the initial statements were very brief and were drafted by the complainants themselves, with no input from the police whatsoever. Some supplementary statements were eventually obtained (with some Police input), but the level of information to work with was limited.

Briefing meetings then took place on zoom, which made trial prep across the Pacific reasonably seamless. After much debate, at the eleventh hour we decided to move over to an assessor’s trial. The court were only notified of this change in election a few days before the trial, but they didn’t bat an eyelid and duly arranged for assessors to be made available.

I arrived in Samoa in late July, the best time to visit apparently because of the “moderate” temperatures (27 degrees). The assigned prosecutor was Pip Currie from the Crown Solicitor’s office in Christchurch who had been brought over to prosecute four back-to-back trials due to the lack of local senior local prosecutors. This reciprocation with New Zealand was a real feature of my trip with senior counsel having flown over a week earlier to train the Attorney General’s office and then another group of lawyers and Judges headed by the indomitable Elaine Ward running a litigation skills programme for local solicitors.

Day One of the trial on Monday involved admission to the local bar. Sweltering in a suit and gown, Pip and I were each required to take an oath in front of a packed mentions list. The presiding Judge then welcomed us and dryly noted that it was the annual law society golf tournament on Friday and our trial Judge, Justice Roma, was the four-time reigning champ so “please ensure the trial is completed by Thursday.” Pause. Big belly laughs.

We then entered the trial court and were greeted by five stoney-faced assessors. Before we started, it was casually mentioned one of the chosen assessors was the former Samoan Commissioner of Police and after some discussion, Justice Roma agreed he should be replaced!

Most assessors do not speak English fluently, so every word of the trial, including closing addresses, was translated line by line by a handful of hand-picked registrars who sat or wandered around the court as they translated each spoken sentence. I did notice that the Samoan version tended to be significantly longer than the English sentence that preceded it and was later told it was not really a “line by line” translation, but more of a “line by vibe” approach which was designed to capture the general flavor of what was being said. I have to say the translators were absolutely brilliant.

In the breaks I wandered around the court building – a bright yellow monolith built by the Chinese and looking like something out of Saudi Arabia or Soviet Russia. I was told in the battle for local diplomacy the Chinese prefer building infrastructure and there were several examples of somewhat dubious architecture scattered around Apia.

At the end of the first day, Komisi told me I needed to get into the local swing of things, and he kindly purchased me a lavalava to wear with shirt and tie. I asked him what shoes I should wear, and he said jandals were fine. Things were looking up.

The trial itself was intense and difficult and at the end of formal proceedings I was told it was a Samoan tradition for defence counsel to take the Judge, prosecutor and all the court staff out for drinks while we waited for verdicts. Now it did occur to me later that this could have possibly been a “tradition” the Judge and staff thought up about ten minutes earlier when they had a hankering for a nice cold (free) frosty one, but we all dutifully went off to a local bar.

The assessors had been released to consider their verdicts at 5pm and I wondered what would happen if they were hung, only to be told that no one could recall an assessor’s trial that did not result in verdicts.

After 40 minutes in the bar, all the registrars started looking at their watches and said it was very unusual we hadn’t received verdicts yet. After 90 minutes they said it was unprecedented and any delay was usually a better sign for the defence (which is often the reverse in New Zealand). We eventually received verdicts on 22 counts shortly after that, which was one of the longest deliberations anyone could recall. Luckily for my client, the verdicts went his way.

Although the whole process was strikingly different from New Zealand in many ways, I was struck by the level of collegiality and warmth of everyone I encountered in Samoa. Socialising with court staff, the Judge and lawyers after the trial was refreshingly egalitarian, with everyone being given a platform to contribute and shine and all sprinkled with the Samoan sense of humour, which is hilarious.

It was a real privilege to take on this brief and to work with Komisi, who is a great man if you ever need to instruct local counsel in Apia. It was also a career highlight to complete a jury trial in jandals.

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the New Zealand Law Society.