Luamanuvao Katalaina Sapolu | |
---|---|
4th Ombudsman of Samoa | |
Assumed office 1 April 2021 | |
Nominated by | Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi |
Appointed by | Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II |
Preceded by | Maiava Iulai Toma |
Personal details | |
Born | Vaiala,Western Samoa Trust Territory | 6 August 1958
Alma mater | Queen Mary University of London, University of Auckland, University of Newcastle |
Luamanuvao Katalaina Sapolu (born 6 August 1958) [1] is Samoa's Ombudsman. She is the first woman ever appointed to that role. [2] She is the sister of former Chief Justice of Samoa Patu Tiava'asu'e Falefatu Sapolu, [2] and is married to Judge Richard Lussick. [1]
Sapolu is from the village of Vaiala,Samoa. [1] She was educated at the University of Newcastle in Australia,graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy,and at the University of Auckland in New Zealand,where she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1986. [3] She was admitted as a barrister in New Zealand in December 1986. [1] She returned to Samoa in 1988 where she worked as a lawyer. [4] In 2002 she moved to London to work for the Commonwealth Secretariat,where she worked in various positions. [1] During this time she completed a Master of Laws at Queen Mary University of London. [3] After serving as Chief Legal Counsel for the Organisation of African,Caribbean and Pacific States in Brussels,she served as Director of the Commonwealth secretariat's Rule of Law Division from 2013 - 2017,then as Senior Director of the Governance and Peace Directorate until 2019. [4] In 2020 she returned to Samoa and founded a consultancy firm. [1]
In February 2021 she was appointed Ombudsman,the first woman to hold the role. [3] She was sworn in on 1 April 2021. [4] [5]
Penelope Ying-Yen Wong is an Australian politician who is currently serving as the minister for Foreign Affairs and leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese Government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP),she has been a Senator for South Australia since 2002. Wong previously served as Minister for Climate Change and Minister for Finance and Deregulation during the governments of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 until 2013.
Luamanuvao Dame Winifred Alexandra Laban is a former New Zealand politician. She served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Mana electorate,representing the Labour Party,and was the Labour Party's spokesperson for Pacific Island Affairs and for interfaith dialogue. Laban is the Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Pasifika) at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington and is a respected leader in the local Pasifika community.
FiamēMataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II was a Western Samoan paramount chief and politician. The holder of the Mataʻafa title,one of the four main Samoan chieftainships,he became the first prime minister of Western Samoa in 1959,serving until 1970. He held the position again from 1973 until his death in 1975.
Sir Anand Satyanand,is a former lawyer,judge and ombudsman who served as the 19th Governor-General of New Zealand from 2006 to 2011.
Tuiloma Neroni Slade held the post of secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat from 2008 to 4 December 2014. He was elected to the position for three years on 20 August 2008. Slade was reappointed to a second term by the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum on 8 September 2011.
Betty Nah-Akuyea Mould-Iddrisu is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician. A member of the National Democratic Congress,she was Minister for Education in Ghana from 2011 to 2012,after serving as Attorney General and Minister for Justice of Ghana from 2009 to 2011. She was the first woman to lead the Attorney General's Office in Ghana. Prior to politics,she had been the Head of Legal and Constitutional Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.
Mabel Maame Agyemang is the current Chief Justice of the Turks and Caicos Islands. An expert superior court judge with a judicial career spanning decades,Justice Agyemang served in the judiciaries of the governments of Ghana,The Gambia and Eswatini prior to her current role in the Turks and Caicos Islands. She was also the first female Chief Justice of The Gambia.
Sir Gordon Ellis Bisson was a New Zealand Court of Appeal judge and a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.
Patu Tiava'asu'e Falefatu Sapolu was a Samoan lawyer and judge. He served as Attorney-General of Samoa from 1988 to 1991,and as Chief Justice of Samoa from 1992 to 2019.
Dame Alcyion Cynthia Kiro is a New Zealand public-health academic,administrator,and advocate,who has served as the 22nd governor-general of New Zealand since 21 October 2021. Kiro is the first Māori woman,the third person of Māori descent,and the fourth woman to hold the office.
Dame Sandra Prunella Mason is a Barbadian politician,lawyer,and diplomat who is serving as the first president of Barbados since 2021. She was previously the eighth and final governor-general of Barbados from 2018 to 2021,the second woman to hold the office. On 20 October 2021,Mason was elected by the Parliament of Barbados to become the country's first president,and took office on 30 November 2021,when Barbados ceased to be a constitutional monarchy and became a republic.
ʻAlisi Afeaki Taumoepeau is a Tongan politician. She became the first woman to hold a Cabinet post in Tonga when she was named Attorney general and Minister of Justice in 2006.
Tafaoimalo Leilani Sina Naireen Tuala-Warren is a Samoan judge,who served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Samoa from 2016 to 2023. She is the second woman Supreme Court judge in Samoa.
Mata Keli Tuatagaloa is a Samoan judge. She was the first woman judge in Samoa,having been appointed to the District Court of Samoa in 2011,and has been a judge of the Supreme Court of Samoa since August 2015. New Zealand judge Ida Malosi had been the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court,however her appointment was on a temporary basis and Tuatagaloa was the first woman to be permanently appointed.
Taulapapa Brenda Heather-Latu is a New Zealand-born Samoan lawyer and a former Attorney-General of Samoa. She was the first woman to serve as attorney general,and the first New Zealand-born Samoan to head a Government department in Apia. She is married to former dual international rugby player and lawyer George Latu.
Dame Helen Diana Winkelmann is the 13th and current chief justice of New Zealand –head of the New Zealand judiciary –having been sworn in on 14 March 2019. She is the second woman to hold the position,following her immediate predecessor,Sian Elias.
Satiu Simativa Perese is a Samoan judge. He has served as the Chief Justice of Samoa since 12 June 2020.
Vui Clarence Joseph Nelson is a Samoan judge. He sits on the Supreme Court of Samoa,and was the first Pacific Islands judge appointed to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Fepuleai Ameperosa Roma is a Samoan judge. He has been a judge of the Supreme Court of Samoa since 15 January 2020.
Maiava Iulai Toma is a Samoan diplomat and civil servant. He served as Samoa's Ombudsman from 1994 —2020.