Falemai Lesa is a Samoan national resident in New Zealand who famously appealed her visa overstay conviction to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, then the highest court of appeal in New Zealand.
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One of the results of this ruling was the controversial decision by the Muldoon National government to pass the New Zealand Citizenship and Western Samoa Act 1982 which effectively rescinded and annulled any citizenship claims by Samoans living in Samoa in retrospect.
Falema‘i Lesa, a Samoan born in Samoa prior to independence, wanted to claim New Zealand citizenship under the Citizenship Act 1977.