Citation: Pacific Legal Policy Twinning Program (2015) www.ag.gov.au (Accessed 20 November 2015).
The Pacific Legal Policy Twinning Program, is an annual program conducted by the Australian Attorney General’s Department[1]. The program involves two months of intensive training in the Attorney General’s Department[2]. It is aimed at building the capacities of Pacific Island law officials to efficiently develop and implement good policy in order to combat crimes and corruption. It is focused on improving community and regional stability and security[3].
The program is focused on training senior officials from different Pacific Island Countries to develop legal policies and conduct legal policy development training[4]; conduct efficient legal researching and writing skills and conduct efficient project planning[5]. This program is competitive amongst law officials from different Pacific Island Countries, whom apply for the program with a proposed policy project to work on.
In addition, the program caters for two successful candidates to participate in the program, whom are commonly referred to as the “twins” to reflect the close collaborations between the Attorney General’s Department and their respective countries. The program consists of two major components, the first part of the program is focused on training the twins on the Legal Development Policy Course, and training the twins the train the trainer component of the Legal Policy Course. This is to allow the twin to return to their home country and conduct the course to other h officers. The second part of the program is focused on the twin’s proposed policy project. The twin is assigned a supervisor, who will closely assist the twin on the day to day basis of the project. The twin is also assigned a mentor, who is a senior public servant within the Attorney General’s Department with expertise in the area of the twin’s policy project. The mentor can also discussed careers paths and options with the twin. The twins at the end of the program are required to deliver the policy development course back in their home country and also implement to some extent their policy projects.
I had the privilege of participating in the program. Interestingly, this program was not always focused on policy. The twinning program was initially focused on legislative drafting, hence the twin would be based in the ACT drafting office, whereby they will be closely supervised and trained with their drafting skills. The program was revised in 2014 to focus on policy as a result of the outcomes of the 3rd Meeting of the Pacific Legislative Drafters’ Technical Forum.
The 3rd Meeting of the Pacific Legislative Drafters’ Technical Forum recognized that there is a need to improve the quality of policy for legislative proposals.[6] As a result the Attorney General’s Department in Australia developed the policy course to assist Pacific Island Countries with their policy formulation. This course has since been delivered in Australia, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji Tuvalu and Nauru.[7]
The Legal Policy course simplifies the policy process into a memorable jargon “OUTCOME”, each letter provides a step for legal policy development. For instance “O” refers to Obtaining information about the problem[8], “U” refers to uncovering the key stakeholders[9], “T” refers to thinking ahead and planning[10] ,“C” refers to creating available option for your policy[11], “O” refers to Outreach[12], which refers to consultations with the community[13], “M” refers to making it happen or implementing the policy in the form of a legislation[14] and “E” refers to evaluation and monitoring of the policy to identify whether it is effective or not[15].
The Pacific Crime and Policing Section of the Attorney General’s Department facilitates the course, and any Pacific Island country can request the course to be delivered in their country. The course can be delivered as part of law officials continued legal education, or it can be focused solely on policy makers only. AGD works closely with the Pacific Islands Law Officers Network (PILON) in communicating to PILON members about policy issues and whether they would require assistance.
These attachments, like the Legal Policy Twinning Program is a way of enhancing the skills of legal professionals across the South Pacific. It allows legal professional to be exposed to a more professional working environment as compared to their individual countries, to examine and understand how work operates in Australia. Such programs assists with the development of legal professionals writing and legal research capabilities, by exposing them to trainings conducted by professionals. The trainings offered are not only limited to policy, research and writing, but it also offers trainings on how to conduct effective negotiations, understand the basic essentials required of a manager, understand how to effectively conduct presentation to communities. Such skills will help build the capabilities of the legal professionals involved. Hence upon their return to their home countries, these skills can be passed on to other officials, which increases the effectiveness and proficiency of work.
In addition the Legal Policy Twinning Program assists young professionals to create a “network “with other experts that may assist them and their countries with different projects. As part of the program, AGD also connects young professionals with academics in the Australian National University to encourage networking with academics. This gives young professionals an opportunity to be exposed and further develop their interests in certain areas, it also encourages young professionals to conduct research and also consider publication. The Australian National University Pacific Division encourages Pacific Islanders to conduct and publish research on different areas of law. This is a great opportunity for Pacific Islanders to use their projects to publish a research paper. Hence young professionals not only complete work for their countries, but they can also utilize their findings to publish a paper with their management’s consent.
Moreover the Twinning Programme allows young professionals to focus on their projects on issues of concerns for their countries. Due to the limited legal staff in the Pacific, most young professionals cannot focus on only one task. However participating in the twinning program affords them proper time and resources to carefully analyse the main issues on their projects. But at the same time, it allow them to learn and understand how the Australian government works. For instance , as a twin we were taken to observe Court proceedings, meet with the Chief Justice, Director of Public Prosecutions, Chairperson of the Law Reform Commission and other relevant stakeholders. This allowed us to learn how they conduct their work. This gave us an opportunity to identify best practices for our individual countries to follow. In addition, we are encouraged to write articles for the Talanoa Newsletter, which is published by the Pacific Islands Law Officers Network (PILON) to share our experiences with other countries.
However, such long term attachments can be challenging to young professionals at time due to the differences in practice and conflicts in standards. For instance, at the course of the program, the AGD may try and impose standards on Tonga that cannot be met, due to lack of resources or cultural aspects. Hence it is important as a young professional conducting long term attachments to keep in mind that learning new things does not mean that you can easily change the mindset and the way things are conducted in your individual countries.
In addition, it is important for young professionals to inform their mentors that their countries conduct things in a different way. It is important that they learn about different structures and ways to conduct work. But it is also important to keep in mind that there is a difference in culture, society and availability of resources. Young professionals should only look at ways of improving their current systems, but not reforming it entirely. Hence it is important that you own the work that you do whilst on attachment.
Moreover, as a former participant of the legal policy train the trainer, I feel that I do not own the work . For instance, with regards to the train the trainer legal policy development program, we have to conduct the training using standard PowerPoints and notes developed by AGD. It is always difficult to deliver work that is not your own. Trainings in Tonga need to be conducted in Tongan and English, hence it is important to include Tongan words on the PowerPoints for clarifications.
The twinning programme provides invaluable skills and resources that one cannot find in their own under-developed jurisdiction. However the onus is on the participant to use the resources at hand wisely and with proper discretion. It is also important that young professionals return to their home countries and share their experiences with AGD. This will create a domino effect and hopefully create a culture where people work harder and conduct effective legal policy work.
However, the twinning program offered by the AGD is a very effective program, as it allows the AGD to assist developing and under-developed countries with their policies. It also provides the AGD with a good position to indirectly influence other Pacific Island Countries with their policies and also to keep in check what these developing islands are doing. For instance the OUTCOME steps for effective policy has been adopted in many countries like Tonga as a policy tool, hence it will provide uniformity in policy development in Pacific Islands.
In addition, the train the trainer programs allows the AGD to outsource itself. It is trying to encourage the Pacific Islands to own and conduct the program. Most Pacific Islands do not have policy training, hence the course will provide an efficient means to combat this. The assistance provided by the AGD is very strategic, as it does not involve them conducting training continuously to many people. But they invest in a certain number of persons, and rely on them to conduct the delivery of the course. In a way, this allows participants in the Pacific Islands to feel that their own is conducting the training and its not foreign influence.
The Pacific Legal Twinning Program is an amazing opportunity for young professional to enhance their skills and knowledge through professional mentoring and assistance. It also gives them an opportunity to create networks and make positive changes upon their return to their home countries. These changes can increase the professionalism and create excellent deliverable outcomes for their home countries. Hence improving the ways Pacific Island societies can write policies and draft laws. A properly designed policy, will enact positive laws which will be beneficial to the society, decreasing crime and improve the productivity of society, which is what the Pacific Crimes and Policing Division is working towards[16]. This program will become an invaluable experience for a young professional and it should encourage professionals to invest more and work harder for the benefits of their societies.
[1] Pacific Legal Policy Twinning Program (2015) www.ag.gov.au (Accessed 20 November 2015)[1].
[2] Pacific Legal Policy Twinning Program (2015) www.ag.gov.au (Accessed 20 November 2015)[2].
[3] Pacific Legal Policy Twinning Program (2015) www.ag.gov.au (Accessed 20 November 2015)[3].
[4] Pacific Legal Policy Twinning Program (2015) www.ag.gov.au (Accessed 20 November 2015)[4].
[5] Pacific Legal Policy Twinning Program (2015) www.ag.gov.au (Accessed 20 November 2015)[5].
[6]‘Draft Regional Action Plan for sustainable legislative drafting capacity building in Forum Island Countries’(2012) http://www.pilonsec.org/images/stories/Documents/bregional_action_plan.pdf (Accessed 20 November 2015) 3.
[7] Dr. Marie Wynter, ‘Building institutional effectiveness- The Pacific Legal Policy Twinning Program’ Talanoa Newsletter (Apia, Samoa) 3 March 2015, 6.
[8] Georgia Hinds and Dr. Marie Wynter, ‘Strengthening policy capabilities to produce effective outcomes’ Talanoa Newsletter (Apia, Samoa) 3 March 2015,5.
[9] Georgia Hinds and Dr. Marie Wynter, ‘Strengthening policy capabilities to produce effective outcomes’ Talanoa Newsletter (Apia, Samoa) 3 March 2015,5.
[10] Georgia Hinds and Dr. Marie Wynter, ‘Strengthening policy capabilities to produce effective outcomes’ Talanoa Newsletter (Apia, Samoa) 3 March 2015,5.
[11] Georgia Hinds and Dr. Marie Wynter, ‘Strengthening policy capabilities to produce effective outcomes’ Talanoa Newsletter (Apia, Samoa) 3 March 2015,5.
[12] Georgia Hinds and Dr. Marie Wynter, ‘Strengthening policy capabilities to produce effective outcomes’ Talanoa Newsletter (Apia, Samoa) 3 March 2015,5.
[13] Georgia Hinds and Dr. Marie Wynter, ‘Strengthening policy capabilities to produce effective outcomes’ Talanoa Newsletter (Apia, Samoa) 3 March 2015,5.
[14] Georgia Hinds and Dr. Marie Wynter, ‘Strengthening policy capabilities to produce effective outcomes’ Talanoa Newsletter (Apia, Samoa) 3 March 2015,5.
[15] Georgia Hinds and Dr. Marie Wynter, ‘Strengthening policy capabilities to produce effective outcomes’ Talanoa Newsletter (Apia, Samoa) 3 March 2015,5.
[16] ‘Pacific crime and policing assistance’(2015) http://www.ag.gov.au/Internationalrelations/InternationalLegalAssistance/Pages/PacificCrimeAndPolicingAssistance.aspx (Accessed 20 November 2015).
Disclaimer: This blog is for information purposes and it shares the authors own personal views. It is not to be used for research purposes. I also do not own any of the images on this blog.