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Pacific Judicial Development Program |
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You are here: PacLII >> Pacific Judicial Development Program >> Benchbooks >> Samoa |
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Part 1: The Constitutional and Court Framework
1 The Constitutional Framework of Samoa
1.1 The Constitution of the Independent State of Samoa Act 1960
1.2 The Branches of Government in Samoa
2 The Court System of Samoa
2.1 General Characteristics of the Samoan Court System
2.2 Jurisdiction
2.3 The Structure of the Samoan Courts
2.4 A Brief Description of the Courts and Village Fono
1 Sources of Law for Samoa
1.1 The Laws of Samoa
1.2 The Constitution
1.3 Legislation
1.4 Common Law
1.5 Customary Law
1.6 Relationship Between Different Sources of Law
2 Customary Law and Fundamental Human Rights
2.1 Custom in the Constitution
2.2 Fundamental Rights in the Constitution
2.3 Incompatibility between Custom and Fundamental Rights
Part 3: The Land and Titles Court
1 Introduction
2 The Relevant Law
2.1 Governing Legislation
2.2 Other Operational Legislation
2.3 Custom and Usage
3 Composition of the Court
3.1 Samoan Judges
3.2 Assessors
3.3 Deputy Presidents
3.4 President
3.5 Removal from Office
3.6 Resignation
4 Judicial Oath and Ethical Principles
4.1 “Well and Truly Serve”
4.2 “In accordance with the Constitution and the Law”
4.3 “Do Right”
4.4 “All Manner of People”
4.5 “Without Fear or Favour”
4.6 “Without ... Affection or Ill Will”
5 Powers
6 Inquisitorial Nature
Part 4: Jurisdiction of the Land and Titles Court
1 Jurisdiction
1.1 General
1.2 Exclusive Jurisdiction
2 Exercise of Jurisdiction
2.1 Exercise of Jurisdiction – A Summary
2.2 Proceedings Over Matters in Dispute
2.3 Proceedings Over Matters Not in Dispute
2.4 Declaration that Land is Customary Land by Consent
3 Adjournments
4 Surveys
5 Land Inspections
6 Interim Orders
7 Unpublished Petitions
8 Appeals
1 Introduction
2 Pre-Hearing Processes
2.1 Pre-Hearing Process for Matters in Dispute
2.2 Pre-Hearing Process Where There is No Dispute
3 Reference Guide to Various Proceedings
3.1 Claim of Pulefaamau or Intention to Appoint – Objection Filed
3.2 Claim of Pulefaamau or Intention to Appoint – No Objection
3.3 Appeal from Decision of Village Fono
3.4 Appointments to Names or Titles
3.5 Any Other Issue re: Names or Titles and Customary Land
3.6 Deleting Name or Title from Register of Matais
3.7 Declaration that Land is Customary Land
1 Introduction
2 Preparing for a Case
2.1 Role of Registrar and Staff
2.2 Judge’s Preparations Before Proceedings Begin
3 Forms of Hearings
4 Rules
4.1 Rules of the Court
4.2 Supreme Court Rules
5 Court Protocol
6 The Hearing Process
7 Conducting the Hearing
7.1 Principle that Affected Parties Have the Right to be Heard
7.2 Role of President or Deputy President: The Chair
7.3 Role of Judges and Assessors
7.4 Role of Registrar and Staff
7.5 Role of the Parties
8 Courtroom Conduct for Judges
9 Examining Parties and Witnesses
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Conducting a Skilful Examination
9.3 Communication
9.4 Statement in Reply and Rebuttal
1 Introduction
2 Principles Governing Decision Making
3 Consequences of a Breach of the Principles
4 An Approach to Decision Making
4.1 Deliberations
4.2 A Structured Approach
4.3 Decision Making Checklist
5 Writing a Decision
1 Right of Appeal
2 Jurisdiction
2.1 Leave to Appeal
2.2 The Appeal
3 Effect of Appeal Decisions
3.1 Leave to Appeal
3.2 The Appeal
4 Leave to Appeal
4.1 Application Process
4.2 The Hearing Process
5 The Appeal
6 Grounds of Appeal
1 Useful Materials
2 Figure 4 - Exercise of Jurisdiction
3 Figure 5 - Prehearing Matters
4 Figure 6. - Prehearing No Objection