Office of the Solicitor General
For a long time, the Office of the Solicitor General comprised
mainly of the Solicitor General, a Pleader and a clerk. With its
limited capacity, the Office often needed to engage lawyers working
in the other Sections of the JBC Secretariat on an ad hoc basis to
assist with the work, especially with appearances in Court. With
the recent expansion of the Office, it has seen the following
achievements:
- The appointment of the new Solicitor General who leads the
Section under the revised structure. Initially introduced to Nauru
as the Deputy Solicitor General, Ms. Bhavna Narayan successfully
manages the Office and mentors her young team of legal
practitioners and paralegals in the field of civil litigation on
behalf of the Republic.
- Ms. Surely Grace Kamtaura a local law graduate from Waikato
University in New Zealand completed her online Professional Legal
Scores Program and has been recently admitted to the Nauru Bar. She
is a new member of the civil litigation team which now comprises of
2 legal officers along with Ms. Patricia Grundler.
- The Section is also joined by a paralegal officer, Ms. Ofa Fay
Temaki who is in charge of file management and other clerical work
in the Section.
- Opportunities for legal training has been extended to Ms.
Taesha Aliklik, an intern working with the Justice Department under
the Department of the Chief Secretary's Student Internship Program
(SIP). Ms. Aliklik is also undertaking the Pleaders Course 2021 and
has the advantage of observing and gaining experience in the law
profession field she is studying in the Pleaders Course.
The improved structure has stimulated smoother operations and
anticipates higher expectations in advancing internal processes to
better achieve the Office's objectives.
In the course of the reporting period, there have been 8
significant civil cases against the Republic represented by the
Office of the Solicitor General. These were in relation to claims
against the Republic, the Republic's claim under the Housing Scheme
and appeals against the decisions of the Nauru Lands Committee
(NLC).
Our Team
| Position |
Name |
| Solicitor General |
Bhavna Narayan |
| Personal Assistant |
Taesha Aliklik |
| Principal Legal Officer (Civil Litigation) |
Vacant |
| Senior Legal Officer |
Vacant |
| Legal Officer |
Patricia Grundler |
| Legal Officer |
Surely Kamtaura |
| Pleader (Civil Litigation) |
Jeruska Togoran |
| Paralegal (Civil Litigation) |
Ofa Fay Temaki |
Objectives
- Represent the Government and its entities in civil
litigation
- Provide legal advice to the Government and its entities in
relation to contract and interpretation of the law
Motivation
The Republic is not immune from legal action.
Strategic Plan Priority Area 4: Cost Cutting
Sectors
Cross-Goal 1
Strengthen Parliament, audit, justice, law, order and border
control.
Achievements
An important highlight of these cases was on the issue of the
requirement for the consent of the Cabinet, for example in
the case of Benjamin v Nauru Police Force [2021] NRSC 2; Civil
Suit 2 of 2019 (12 January 2021). This was a matter in which
the Plaintiff had made a claim in tort against the Republic. The
Office applied to strike out this action on the basis that the
plaintiff filed the action without having obtained prior consent of
the Cabinet as required under the Republic Proceedings Act
1972. The Court held in favour of the strike out application
on the basis that it was barred from hearing the matter as the
required Cabinet consent was not obtained.
The Mobit v Nauru Police Force [2021] NRSC 1; Civil Suit 21
of 2019 (12 January 2021) is another matter in which the
Plaintiff filed an action in tort against the Republic without
obtaining the consent of the Cabinet. However, the Plaintiff argued
that the action was in relation to seeking declaratory orders only
and therefore did not seek to enforce a claim against the Republic.
The Office argued that it was an attempt to circumvent the
requirement for Cabinet consent under the Act. The Court held
in favour of this argument and dismissed the action.
Way Forward
- The Office intends to improve its system further. Whilst the
team of legal practitioners strives to maintain their case files in
a satisfactory order and also prepares a monthly report on the case
files, currently all documents are kept as paperwork. Going
forward, there is a need for the Office to start keeping electronic
records as part of its file management system to enhance the
security of the Office's files. This is also to secure the records
of the numerous legal advices provided by the Office to its
stakeholders.
- The Office will set up a data-sharing database whereby the
Office's cases are recorded and all documents in each case file can
be uploaded and safely stored. The advantage of having a
data-sharing database is that every member of the team will have
access to the electronic database. This will allow each legal
practitioner in charge of a matter to upload information on the
status of their cases and all other members of the team will be
able to access the database to get updates on each case. This will
also allow future access of case files and records of legal advices
by incoming incumbents.