Legal Research Assistant - Univol Programme
Closing Date: 01 August 2026
Category: UniVol
Our Objective:
Ka hono a Te Tūao Tāwāhi i ngā tūao pūkenga ki ngā whakahaere me ngā hapori i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa me tua atu, hei tautoko i ngā wawata kua tautuhia ā-rohe, ā, kia tutuki ai te panoni toitū.
Volunteer Services Abroad (VSA) connects volunteers with organisations and communities in the Pacific and beyond to support locally identified aspirations and achieve sustainable change.
We are New Zealand's largest and most experienced volunteering agency working in international development, placing over 100 volunteers each year. For the last twenty years the VSA has been operating our Univol programme, a volunteering programme with assignments specifically designed with recent graduates in mind. Each assignment represents an amazing opportunity to develop your skills in enhancing and supporting capability and capacity uplift.
For all of our volunteers deployed in country, the VSA provides standard support package that includes international flights at start and end of assignment, in-country accommodation, living allowance to support basic living costs, comprehensive pre-departure preparation through a through recruitment and onboarding process, health and travel insurance as well as ongoing mentoring and support throughout the assignment.
The team in the Solomon Islands are looking for three volunteers from the Univol programme to deploy as Legal Research Assistants. Volunteers selected for this assignment would be aiming to deploy to in early 2027. All of the assignments for the Solomon Islands will be focussed on working in the High Courts in Honiara to help support Judges and their teams with legal research.
Our Partner and Assignment Summary:
For these three assignments we are partnering with The High Court – National Judiciary of the Solomon Islands. The team in country are looking for volunteers to support Judges with legal research. There is an online database with national and Pacific statutes, case law, verdicts, cases and references that can be used, access to Court files, and the National Judiciary library. The volunteers would be conducting timely and accurate legal research to a high standard to then assist the wider team with the drafting of documents including memoranda and rulings. They would also support the development of the judge’s associates in order to improve the long-term support available to the judges in the future. These assignments will build on work of previous Univol assignments as the VSA has a strong and longstanding connection with the team at the High Court.
About the Solomon Islands:
The Solomon Islands is made up of around 900 different islands with 5,000 rural villages. Between 1999 and 2003 there was a period of conflict which took a heavy toll on the country and left a need for reconciliation and on-going peace and security measures. Since then The Solomon Islands has become a destination travel spot, with Gizo in particular being known for its marine life and diving scene. Now the VSA has volunteers deployed across all of the Islands ranging from Kolombangara, all the way to Gizo and Honiara.
Honiara is the business centre of Solomon Islands and as such is a melting pot for people from all the island groups, it is also one of the main centres that the VSA operates from. The Univol assignments will largely be based in Honiara, but there may be some opportunities to travel within the Solomon Islands over the course of an assignment. The Solomon Islands programme also has a Programme manager and Programme Coordinator based in country to support volunteers over the course of their assignment.
Skills we are seeking:
We believe that for a volunteer to succeed on this assignment they would need a number of key skills. First and foremost outstanding communication skills, both in the ability to connect with their target audience but also someone who can pick up languages quickly. Willingness to learn Pidgin would be key to a volunteer having a positive experience on assignment. Proven experience and strong skills in research, analysis and presenting information would also be required on this assignment.
All VSA assignments are focused on building capability and capacity in country, but they also represent an opportunity for our volunteers to enhance and demonstrate a number of their skills including communication, stakeholder engagement, leadership development, project management, resilience, mentoring and innovation. The Univol programme is also a fairly exclusive one as we only have eleven assignments in this intake. Combining these factors could easily be leveraged to assist a volunteer in exploring a career in a number of fields, including but not limited to Law, Public Policy and international aid or development.
Application Instructions:
If this opportunity is of interest, please apply through the link below. If you have any questions about this assignment or the Univol programme as a whole you are more than welcome to check in with the Recruitment team via email at volunteer@vsa.org.nz.
Please note applications will be closing in early August 2026, so get any applications or queries in prior to that as the team will be assessing applications and queries as they arrive.
Ka hono a Te Tūao Tāwāhi i ngā tūao pūkenga ki ngā whakahaere me ngā hapori i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa me tua atu, hei tautoko i ngā wawata kua tautuhia ā-rohe, ā, kia tutuki ai te panoni toitū.
Volunteer Services Abroad (VSA) connects volunteers with organisations and communities in the Pacific and beyond to support locally identified aspirations and achieve sustainable change.
We are New Zealand's largest and most experienced volunteering agency working in international development, placing over 100 volunteers each year. For the last twenty years the VSA has been operating our Univol programme, a volunteering programme with assignments specifically designed with recent graduates in mind. Each assignment represents an amazing opportunity to develop your skills in enhancing and supporting capability and capacity uplift.
For all of our volunteers deployed in country, the VSA provides standard support package that includes international flights at start and end of assignment, in-country accommodation, living allowance to support basic living costs, comprehensive pre-departure preparation through a through recruitment and onboarding process, health and travel insurance as well as ongoing mentoring and support throughout the assignment.
The team in the Solomon Islands are looking for three volunteers from the Univol programme to deploy as Legal Research Assistants. Volunteers selected for this assignment would be aiming to deploy to in early 2027. All of the assignments for the Solomon Islands will be focussed on working in the High Courts in Honiara to help support Judges and their teams with legal research.
Our Partner and Assignment Summary:
For these three assignments we are partnering with The High Court – National Judiciary of the Solomon Islands. The team in country are looking for volunteers to support Judges with legal research. There is an online database with national and Pacific statutes, case law, verdicts, cases and references that can be used, access to Court files, and the National Judiciary library. The volunteers would be conducting timely and accurate legal research to a high standard to then assist the wider team with the drafting of documents including memoranda and rulings. They would also support the development of the judge’s associates in order to improve the long-term support available to the judges in the future. These assignments will build on work of previous Univol assignments as the VSA has a strong and longstanding connection with the team at the High Court.
About the Solomon Islands:
The Solomon Islands is made up of around 900 different islands with 5,000 rural villages. Between 1999 and 2003 there was a period of conflict which took a heavy toll on the country and left a need for reconciliation and on-going peace and security measures. Since then The Solomon Islands has become a destination travel spot, with Gizo in particular being known for its marine life and diving scene. Now the VSA has volunteers deployed across all of the Islands ranging from Kolombangara, all the way to Gizo and Honiara.
Honiara is the business centre of Solomon Islands and as such is a melting pot for people from all the island groups, it is also one of the main centres that the VSA operates from. The Univol assignments will largely be based in Honiara, but there may be some opportunities to travel within the Solomon Islands over the course of an assignment. The Solomon Islands programme also has a Programme manager and Programme Coordinator based in country to support volunteers over the course of their assignment.
Skills we are seeking:
We believe that for a volunteer to succeed on this assignment they would need a number of key skills. First and foremost outstanding communication skills, both in the ability to connect with their target audience but also someone who can pick up languages quickly. Willingness to learn Pidgin would be key to a volunteer having a positive experience on assignment. Proven experience and strong skills in research, analysis and presenting information would also be required on this assignment.
All VSA assignments are focused on building capability and capacity in country, but they also represent an opportunity for our volunteers to enhance and demonstrate a number of their skills including communication, stakeholder engagement, leadership development, project management, resilience, mentoring and innovation. The Univol programme is also a fairly exclusive one as we only have eleven assignments in this intake. Combining these factors could easily be leveraged to assist a volunteer in exploring a career in a number of fields, including but not limited to Law, Public Policy and international aid or development.
Application Instructions:
If this opportunity is of interest, please apply through the link below. If you have any questions about this assignment or the Univol programme as a whole you are more than welcome to check in with the Recruitment team via email at volunteer@vsa.org.nz.
Please note applications will be closing in early August 2026, so get any applications or queries in prior to that as the team will be assessing applications and queries as they arrive.
We are looking for a volunteer with:
- Dive into a new cultural experience volunteering in the Solomon Islands
- Become part of an international development programme built for graduates
- VSA covers costs associated with travel, accommodation and basic living costs
VSA covers flights, accommodation, insurance and some expenses. A living allowance is also provided.
Does volunteering with one of the largest and most experienced agency in international development interest you?