Accessing Justice Through Mental Health Law Reform in the Pacific

Helen J Menard holds a PhD in Law, a Graduate Diploma in Insurance Law; and a B.Juris and LL.B. She has been admitted to practice as barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria; the High Court of Australia; the National Court of Justice of Papua New Guinea; and the Supreme Court of Vanuatu. As a lawyer the author has worked across a broad spectrum of the legal profession in Australia including private practice, the corpo-rate sector, public mental health, legal aid and community legal services. She has practised predominantly in the areas of civil litigation, medical law and mental health law. Prior to admission to legal practice, the author held certificates in General Nursing, Midwifery and Operating Theatre Management and worked extensively within the health profession. The author commenced as a fulltime academic at the School of Law, Universi-ty of the South Pacific, Vanuatu in 2004 and since 2014 has continued to teach there on a consultancy basis, along with various other tertiary institutions in Australia. Her primary area of legal research is health law and ethics, specifically the South Pacific region and has co-authored several editions of a text on medical law in the South Pacific. She is currently a legal consultant on mental health law reform with the World Health Organization (WHO) and has been engaged as an international legal consultant with International Development Law Organization (IDLO).

Introduction; Mental Health in the Pacific; International Influences on Mental Health Law; The Legal Landscape in Mental Health; Tonga; Samoa; Fiji; Vanuatu; Access to Justice; Accessing Justice in Mental Health; Impediments to Accessing Justice through Mental Health Law Reform - Socie-ty and Culture.