 After working in the media and as a sociology lecturer in New Zealand, Shameen returned to Fiji and was involved in the constitutional case of "Chandrika Prasad v the State" which reinstated the 1997 Constitution following the coup d'état of 2000 led by George Speight.She served in 2004-05 as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Use of Mercenaries and has since 2005 been a member of the UN Working Group on Mercenaries.In 2005 Shameem was invited to assist a UN assessment of the courts in Timor-Leste, but was prevented from visiting the territory.