Eselealofa Apinelu
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Eselealofa Apinelu | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Apinelu in 2019 | |
| High Commissioner to Fiji | |
| Assumed office 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Temate Melitiana |
| Attorney General of Tuvalu | |
| In office 2008–2022 | |
| Preceded by | Iakoba Italeli |
| Succeeded by | Laingane Italeli Talia |
| Personal details | |
| Alma mater | University of Tasmania University of South Pacific Swinburne University |
Dr. Eselealofa 'Ese' Apinelu is a Tuvaluan lawyer and sports official. Apinelu attended The Cathedral School, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.[1] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Tasmania in 1998.[2] She is Tuvalu's first female lawyer.[3] Eselealofa holds a Professional Diploma in Legislative Drafting from the University of South Pacific. In 2022 she was awarded a PhD from Swinburne University’s Centre for Urban Transition. Her research focused on customary and human rights in post-colonial Tuvalu with a particular focus on the disconnection between individual and collective rights in Tuvalu's development agendas.[4]
Apinelu was the senior crown counsel in Tuvalu from 2003 to 2006. She was appointed as the Acting Attorney General of Tuvalu in 2006. In 2008, Apinelu became the first female appointed as the Attorney General of Tuvalu.[3][5][6][7][8] In 2012, she became the first female Executive Member of the South Pacific Lawyers' Association (SPLA) and the Chair of the SPLA Women in the Law Committee.[9][10]
On 14 September 2022 she became Tuvalu's High Commissioner to Fiji.[11]
