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Village Fono Act 1990

CONSOLIDATED ACTS OF SAMOA 2007-2008

VILLAGE FONO ACT 1990

Arrangement of Provisions

TITLE

1. Short title and commencement
2. Interpretation
3. Village Fono continued
4. Written records not required
5. Powers of Village Fono relating to hygiene and economic development
6. Punishments
7. Power of delegation
8. Courts to take account of penalty imposed by Village Fono
9. Limitation of jurisdiction of Village Fono
10. Exemption from Income Tax
11. Right of Appeal

THE VILLAGE FONO ACT 1990
1990 No. 3

AN ACT to validate and empower the exercise of power and authority by Village Fono in accordance with the custom and usage of their villages and to confirm or grant certain powers and to provide for incidental matters.

(30 July 1990)

1. Short title and commencement - (1) This Act may be cited as the Village Fono Act 1990.

(2) This Act shall come into force on such date as shall be specified by the Head of State acting on the advice of Cabinet, by Order.

2. Interpretation - In this Act unless the context otherwise requires:

"Village Fono" in relation to any village means the assembly of the Alii and Faipule of that village meeting in accordance with the custom and usage of such village and includes the plural.
"Registrar" means the Registrar of the Land and Titles Court.
"Village land" does not include government land or freehold or leasehold land.
"Village misconduct" in relation to any village means any act conduct or behaviour which is or has been traditionally punished by the Village Fono of that village in accordance with its custom and usage and has the extended meaning required by section 5.

3. Village Fono continue - (1) The Registrar shall compile and keep up to date a register of Village Fono in which shall be recorded the name of every village in which a Village Fono is functioning.

(2) Every Village Fono in the exercise of any power or authority shall exercise the same in accordance with the custom and usage of that village.

(3) The past and future exercise of power and authority by every Village Fono with respect to the affairs of its village in accordance with the custom and usage of that village is hereby validated and empowered.

(4) In addition to the power and authority preserved or granted under this Act, every Village Fono shall have such other powers, authorities and functions as may be provided in any other Act.

(5) A certificate under the hand of the Registrar to the effect that a Fono is entered on this register under this Act shall be prima facie evidence of the existence of such Fono.

4. Written records not required - No written record of any enquiry by a Village Fono into any allegation of village misconduct, or of any punishment imposed, need be kept and no person found by any Village Fono to have been guilty of village misconduct shall by reason only of that fact be deemed to be guilty of a crime or offence under any other enactment, nor except with the consent of that person shall evidence be given in any Court of the decision of the Village Fono or of any punishment imposed by it.

5. Powers of Village Fono relating to hygiene and economic development - (1) Every Village Fono shall in respect to its village have the powers set out in subsection (2) notwithstanding that such powers may not in a particular village form part of its custom and usage.

(2) The powers referred to in subsection (1) are:

(a) The power to make rules for the maintenance of hygiene in the village;

(b) The power to make rules governing the development and use of village land for the economic betterment of the village.

(c) The power to direct any person or persons to do any work required to be done pursuant to rules made in accordance with the powers granted or preserved by paragraphs (a) and (b).

(3) Every person is guilty of village misconduct and may be punished by his Village Fono who fails to obey and rule or direction made or given in accordance with the powers granted or preserved by this section.

6. Punishments - Without limiting the power of Village Fono preserved by this Act to impose punishments for village misconduct the powers of every Village Fono to impose punishment in accordance with the custom and usage of its village shall be deemed to include the following powers of punishments:

(a) The power to impose a fine in money, fine mats, animals or food; or partly in one or partly in others of those things;

(b) The power to order the offender to undertake any work on village land.

7. Power of Delegation - A Village Fono may delegate to a committee of its members all or any of its powers.

8. Courts to take account of penalty imposed by Village Fono - Where punishment has been imposed by a Village Fono in respect of village misconduct by any person and that person is convicted by a Court of a crime or offence in respect of the same matter the Court shall take into account in mitigation of sentence the punishment imposed by that Village Fono.

9. Limitation of jurisdiction of Village Fono - The jurisdiction of any Village Fono shall not extend to include:

(a) Any person who does not ordinarily reside in its village; or

(b) Any person who not being a Matai of its village ordinarily resides in its village on Government, freehold, or leasehold land and is not liable in accordance with the custom and usage of that village to render tautua to a Matai of that village.

10. Exemption from Income Tax - The income of every Village Fono shall be wholly exempted from income tax.

11. Right of appeal - (1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (6), every person adversely affected by a decision of a Fono (including a decision as to punishment) shall have a right of appeal to the Court against such decision and the Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine the matter.

(2) Every appeal shall be commenced by a petition in accordance with section 44 of the Land and Titles Act 1981.

(3) Every appeal shall be commenced within one month of the date on which the decision was made, or within such further time as the Court may allow on application made either before or after the expiration of that month.

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Land and Titles Act the Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine every appeal under this section.

(5) The Court may determine the appeal in one of the following ways:

(a) It may allow the appeal and the decision appealed from shall thereupon be null and void;

(b) It may dismiss the appeal;

(c) It may refer the decision back to the Fono for reconsideration,-

but it shall not have power to impose any punishment or penalty to substitute one punishment or penalty for another.

(6) There shall be no right of appeal from a decision of a Fono given after reconsideration pursuant to subsection (5)(c).

(7) In all other respects the procedure shall be as prescribed by the Land and Titles Act 1981 or as directed by the Court.

(8) For the purposes of this section "Court" means the Land and Titles Court continued under the Land and Titles Act 1981.

REVISION NOTES 2008

This law has been generally edited as provided for by section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. The following general revisions have been made –

(a) References to Western Samoa have been amended to Samoa in accordance with an amendment to the Constitution of Samoa in 1997.
(b) All references to the male gender have been made gender neutral.
(c) Amendments have been made to conform to modern drafting styles and to use modern language as applied in the laws of Samoa.
(d) Amendments have been made to up-date references to offices, officers and statutes.
(e) Other minor editing has been done in accordance with the lawful powers of the Attorney General.

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Western Samoa Statutes Reprint 1978-1996.

Revised and consolidated by Graham Bruce Powell
Under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo
(Parliamentary Counsel)

The Village Fono Act 1990 is administered in the
Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development.