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Brenda Heather-Latu

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Brenda Heather-Latu
MBE
Attorney-General of Samoa
In office
3 May 1997 – 4 December 2006
Prime MinisterTofilau Eti Alesana
Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi
Succeeded byMing Leung Wai
Personal details
SpouseGeorge Latu
EducationVictoria University of Wellington

Taulapapa Brenda Heather-Latu MBE (born 23 December 1961)[citation needed] is a New Zealand-born Samoan lawyer and a former Attorney-General of Samoa. She was the first woman to serve as attorney general,[1] and the first New Zealand-born Samoan to head a Government department in Apia.[2] She is married to former dual international rugby player and lawyer George Latu.[3]

Heather-Latu was born in Wellington, New Zealand. She attended Clyde Quay School in Mount Victoria, Wellington (1967–1974) and Wellington Girls' College in Thorndon (1975–1979)[citation needed] before completing degrees in arts and law at Victoria University of Wellington in 1985 and 1986.[4] She was admitted to the bar as a barrister and solicitor in February 1987.[5] She first worked in the Legal Division of the Dept of Education Head Office in Wellington as a law clerk (1985–1987).[citation needed] She subsequently worked in the Crown Law Office from 1988 until 1996 and where she was appointed a Crown Counsel from 1991 to 1996. In 1996 she resigned and moved to Apia, Samoa under the NZ Staffing Assistance aid programme to assist the Samoa Attorney General.[2] She was subsequently appointed Attorney General of Samoa in May 1997. In June 1998 Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana called on her to resign for allegedly leaking advice that three government contracts had not been properly tendered, including the lack of any bidding process for the construction of a $500,000 government prayer house.[6] As attorney general she prosecuted the Luagalau Levaula Kamu assassination case, resulting in the conviction of the shooter and two former Ministers for murder.[7] In 2004 she assisted the Public Service Commission in charging Ministry of Health Chief Executive Lolofie Taulealeausumai Enosa under the Public Service Act[8][9] after he was suspended for fraud.[10] When his contract ended before the charges had been fully investigated, she advised that the charges must be dropped given the allegations were unproven.[11] She later advocated for changes to adoption law[12] and for a specialist fraud unit[13] and transnational crime unit.[14] She resigned in August 2006 after criticism from the PM and Cabinet over her handling of an election petition against the then-Health Minister Mulitalo Siafausa Vui where her submissions that the Minister had clearly breached electoral provisions saw him lose his seat for bribery.[15] After multiple failed attempts to find a replacement,[16][17] she was eventually replaced by Ming Leung Wai.[18]

Following her resignation she served as the inaugural chair of the newly established Samoa National Health Services Board from 2007 to 2009 and was a director and alternate chair of the board of Virgin Samoa from 2005 to 2012.[19] She is currently a director of Habitat for Humanity (New Zealand) and the International Centre for Democratic Partnerships,[19] and chair of the Pacific Leadership Foundation.[citation needed] She is also a serving Judicial Officer for World Rugby, the current chair of the Oceania Rugby Judicial Committee,[3] and Honorary Consul for Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Samoa.[20][21] She was bestowed the chiefly title of ‘Taulapapa’ from the village of Fogapoa in 2015.[19]

In October 2019 Taulapapa was appointed by the Judicial Service Commission to investigate complaints made against three suspended Lands and Titles Court judges,[22] resulting in two being dismissed and one being forced to retire.[23]

She chaired the Samoa Law Society subcommittee which opposed the HRPP's controversial constitutional amendments, and in 2021 said that the law was a "direct and egregious attack on our Constitutional freedoms".[24]

Heather-Latu represented the FAST Party in court cases following the 2021 Samoan general election,[25] and acted as the acting clerk of the Legislative Assembly when the clerk refused to undertake his functions for the party's makeshift swearing-in ceremony during the 2021 Samoan constitutional crisis.[26]

Heather-Latu was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to British Nationals in Samoa.[27]

References

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  1. ^ "NEWS BREAK : New Attorney General Appointed". Newsline Samoa. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2021. Mareva would only be the second woman appointed to head the legal office. Taulapapa Brenda Heather-Latu is the first
  2. ^ a b Angela Gregory (4 August 2004). "Samoans look for easier entry to New Zealand". New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  3. ^ a b Tina Mata'afa-Tufele (2 October 2020). "Taulapapa new Chair of Oceania Rugby Judicial Committee". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Three generations of Samoan scholarship at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington". Victoria University of Wellington. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Brenda Heather-Latu". SAMOAN BIOS. 4 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  6. ^ "SAMOA PM CALLS ON ATTORNEY GENERAL TO RESIGN". Pacific Islands Report. 30 June 1998. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  7. ^ ""I WANT YOU TO KILL LUAGALAU": SAMOA MURDER TRIAL UNDER WAY". Pacific Islands Report. 20 January 2000. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  8. ^ "CEO of Samoa's Health Ministry given 21 days to respond to 45 charges laid against him". RNZ. 25 October 2004. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Samoa's Attorney General says charges against senior bureaucrat have had a huge impact". RNZ. 26 October 2004. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Senior Samoa health boss suspended in fraud probe". RNZ. 22 September 2004. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  11. ^ "CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST SAMOA HEALTH DIRECTOR". Pacific Islands Report. 21 December 2004. Retrieved 2 June 2021. The Commission has received legal advice from the Attorney General that the Public Service charges against Lolofie cannot now be heard because the Commission's authority to hear the charges lapsed when Lolofie's contract expired
  12. ^ "Samoa plans to review adoption law". RNZ. 20 June 2005. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Samoa opposition leader says country needs fraud unit". RNZ. 14 August 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Samoa sets up crossborder crimes unit". RNZ. 2 May 2003. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Samoa's attorney general and assistant attorney general both resign". RNZ. 26 August 2006. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Samoa government cancels appointment of new Attorney General". RNZ. 25 September 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Samoa government appoints new attorney general". RNZ. 4 November 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Samoa government finally gets a new Attorney General". RNZ. 11 November 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  19. ^ a b c "Profiling Women on Boards in the Pacific: Taulapapa Brenda Heather-Latu". Pacific Legal Network. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Emerging Pacific Leaders Dialogue 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Overseas Honorary Consuls in Samoa - Samoa Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade". Samoa Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  22. ^ "Taulapapa to lead investigation of suspended Samoa judges". RNZ. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  23. ^ "Two Samoa Lands and Titles court judges sacked". RNZ. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  24. ^ Sapeer Mayron (3 April 2021). "Laws dismantle justice, attack freedoms: former A.G." Samoa Observer. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  25. ^ "Samoa Supreme Court hears FAST party challenge". RNZ. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  26. ^ Sapeer Mayron (24 May 2021). "Samoa election turmoil: Samoa's caretaker PM Tuilaepa gives blistering speech as FAST Party's Fiame Naomi Mata'afa sworn in as new PM". Stuff. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  27. ^ "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N28.
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