Queensland Law Society leaders were keen to listen and learn at the Fiji Law Society Convention last month.
QLS President Peter Jolly and CEO Matt Dunn attended the annual conference in Denarau from 30-31 October, under a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two law societies in 2002.
The MOU facilitates co-operation and activities for the societies’ mutual benefit, including attendance at such events.
In his opening address, FLS President Graeme Leung said the theme, Reforming for resilience, advancing legal reforms and professional excellence, spoke directly to the realities confronting his country’s legal system and practitioners.
Mr Leung said access to justice remained out of reach for an overwhelming majority of Fijians.
“Institutions still operate with fragmented mandates and limited coordination. The profession itself faces pressure on standards of competence, ethics and courtroom conduct in an era of rapid technological change,” he said.
“Legal technology offers practical tools. It can modernise case management, extend our reach into rural and maritime communities, and lower the barriers that leave so many without formal redress.
“Dramatic changes in society including AI means that lawyers today face new questions and old questions in new contexts. But we should never forget the basic guiding principles of ethics and the public good that are the hallmark of our profession.”
Mr Leung said the lead-up to Fiji’s general election on 9 December would test the commitment to the rule of law and the quality of legal work, and the convention program reflected that challenge.
“The resilience of Fiji’s legal system will be measured not only by the reforms we advocate, but by the daily quality of the profession that delivers them,” he said.
The convention program included a keynote speech by the Australian High Commissioner Peter Roberts, who announced the reinstatement of the Law and Justice Cooperation Program in Fiji.
The program will support legal reforms, strengthen institutional capacity, and build a better partnership between legal professionals and institutions in the two countries.
Among the other speakers were judicial officers from Fiji and Tonga, Law Council of Australia President Tania Wolff, and Brisbane pro bono lawyer Coby Foster, who won the QLS Access to Justice Award in 2024.
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