Fijian lawyer Ana Tuiketei Bolabiu has become the first Pacific counsel on a global roster working for the International Criminal Court in the Hague in Netherlands.
Radio New Zealand reports that her admission to a cadre of more than 800 senior legal practitioners from all corners of the globe was confirmed last week, and her profile and biographical details will be added to the ICC online database this month.
The Suva based former prosecutor, accepted an offer to be an addition to the ICC list of duty counsels.
Bolabiu says she was excited because of the news of her admission.
She says this is a boost for the Pacific, a boost for women lawyers, and because she is a product of the University of the South Pacific."
While looking at a list of counsel online Bolabiu says there's lawyers on that list from all over the world, from Australia and New Zealand, but it's quite interesting that almost two decades later, a lawyer from the developing Pacific is now listed.
She says the historic milestone wasn't something she thought about going into the application process.
She gave the application process a try, and found a working history covering lots of diversity, including internships with the SPC's Regional Rights Resource Team, training and networking, as well as becoming Fiji's youngest lawyer working the Supreme Court.
Bolabiu also brought a world of experience on top of management roles in the Office of the Prosecutor and her own legal consulting business.
[Source: RNZ]
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