Falemai Lesa is a Samoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

n national resident in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 who famously appealed her visa overstay conviction to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King in Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United...

, then the highest court of appeal in New Zealand.

Lesa v Attorney-General of New Zealand

Her case Lesa v Attorney-General of New Zealand, in which she pressed her claim to be a New Zealand citizen, is a key legal case and had considerable impact on Samoans and New Zealand Law. The Privy Council ruled in July 1982 that all Western Samoans born between 1924 and 1948 were British subjects, and that in 1949 they and their descendants had become New Zealand citizens.

One of the results of this ruling was the controversial decision by the Muldoon National government

Third National Government of New Zealand

The Third National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984. It was an economically and socially conservative government, which aimed to preserve the Keynesian economic system established by the First Labour government while also being socially conservative...

 to pass the New Zealand Citizenship and Western Samoa Act 1982 which effectively rescinded and annulled any citizenship claims by Samoans living in Samoa in retrospect. Lesa herself (who is named in the Act) was granted New Zealand citizenship.

Her barristers were George Rosenberg and Dr. George Paterson Barton, Q.C., from Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

, who both acted in a number of prominent cases affecting Samoans.

The case continues to generate controversy and spur efforts to amend the immigration and nationality laws in New Zealand.