After working in the media and as a sociology lecturer in New Zealand, Shameem 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.
This led to her return to Fiji after working in the media and as a sociology teacher in New Zealand, and she became involved in the constitutional case of Chandrika Prasad v the State, which restored the 1997 Constitution following the coup d'état of 2000 led by George Speight. She served from 2004-05 as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Use of Mercenaries and has since been a member of the UN Working Group on Mercenaries. In 2005 Shameem was invited to assist in a UN evaluation of the courts in Timor-Leste, but she was unable to travel to the country.