Former Samoan judge appointed dean of Waikato University’s law school

Author: Raj Keresoma

Apia, Samoa – June 15, 2024– Former Supreme Court judge Tafaoimalo Leilani Tuala Warren has been appointed dean of the University of Waikato’s Te Pinnga School of Law.

She is the first Pacific woman to be appointed Professor of Law in New Zealand and her term begins on 1^{English Stone} July 2024.

The University of Waikato formally announced Professor Warren’s appointment last week.

She is no stranger to the University of Waikato, having completed her undergraduate and Master of Laws degrees there in the 1990s.

She returned to Samoa and worked in the Attorney General’s Office from 1998 to 2000 before returning to teach at the university for five years.

After her tenure as a teacher she returned to Samoa and took a position in a private law firm.

In 2009 she was appointed Executive Director of the newly formed Samoa Law Reform Commission, a position she later resigned to become the second female judge of the District Court and played a major role in the establishment of the Family Court and the Domestic Violence Court.

In 2016, she became a Supreme Court justice.

In 2022, she received the University of Waikato’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Professor Warren still retains temporary judicial authority as a judge of the Supreme Court of Samoa.