Australian barrister Ross Ray QC, chairman of the South Pacific Lawyers Association, told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat yesterday that in many cases lawyers receive strong undergraduate education, but there is no facility for further professional training.

Lawyer thinking

‘We have to remember that whether it's in Australia or New Zealand or any of the Pacific countries...it is really important to understand that most graduates come out of university with a learning about how to think as a lawyer,’ he said. ‘That's quite different to the pressures and understanding that you need to conduct a legal practice.’
Just last week, Solomon Islands Chief Justice Sir Albert Palmer also raised concerns over the quality of legal representation in his country's courts, suggesting many of those going in to private practice lacked the relevant skills, knowledge and experience.

Ratio variances

Mr Ray added that the demands on lawyers in the Pacific region vary greatly.  ‘If you look at the ratio of lawyers in private practice to population, we're dealing in Australia with a ratio of approximately 350 -- one lawyer for 350 members of the community,’ he said.  ‘When we go to Fiji for example, it's one to just under 4,000; for Kiribati one-to-12,000; PNG one-to-10,500 and the Solomons...it's 13,500. So it's a difficult access to justice task for the community.’