A policy paper is being developed gradually, but it is expected that there will be a shared cyberspace playbook among the Pacific Islands for addressing crime in cyberspace through the cooperation of Pacific Island countries. The Pacific Island Law Officers Network has been working on a regional handbook for how to investigate, prosecute, and enforce cybercrime, and the Pacific Islands have held two drafting sessions in Vanuatu and Tonga, respectively, before working on their handbook in Suva this week with the legal counsel from the Pacific Islands. According to Fiji’s Acting Attorney General & Minister for Justice, Mr Siromi Turaga, the rapid growth of the digital economy in the region has necessitated changes to the law to match the pace of the digital economy.
Fiji will play a key role in this regard by having implemented several domestic reforms that demonstrate that the country is not merely responding to cyber threats but is also working to prevent them. Mr Turaga highlighted some of the developments in Fiji, such as its 2025-2030 National Digital Strategy, National E-Commerce Strategy, National Cybersecurity & Resilience Strategy 2026-2031, Cybercrime Act 2021, accession to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, and signing of the UN Convention against Cybercrime in New York in December 2025.
The handbook is being treated as a practical toolkit to help develop a useful regional guide that is rooted in Pacific perspectives. The writing of Chapter Four has been finalised, and the Fijian Conference will concentrate on developing Chapter Five, as well as creating the templates for the handbook. The aim is to complete the final revisions and print the handbook prior to the 2026 PILON Annual Conference. Delegates came from Tonga, Vanuatu, Samoa, Nauru, the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Australia and Fiji for the 3-day session.
The urgency for finalising the handbook will be apparent when we consider that the UNODC has stated cybercrime has become a massively lucrative industry that can victimise people at scale and speed and in multiple jurisdictions, and the Budapest Convention remains the only framework for international cooperation, and the UN Convention Against Cybercrime is the first binding global treaty in relation to the issue. For Pacific states, the impact of a single cyber-attack can cause widespread disruptions in banking, government services, and daily life; therefore, the handbook has the potential to serve as a legal compass for all countries during an era of unprecedented digital vulnerability.
