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Land And Titles Bill
The Land and Titles Bill is one of three bills passed by the Legislative Assembly of Samoa to reform the legal framework around the Land and Titles Court of Samoa and Samoan customary law. The bills are viewed by some as undermining human rights and the rule of law, and are the subject of significant controversy in Samoa. The bills were passed on 15 December 2020. Background Samoan law stems from two sources: English common law, as ultimately embodied in the Constitution of Samoa, and Samoan customary law, such as ''Faʻamatai''. In 1992 the Supreme Court of Samoa found that "Samoa has two systems of law working side by side. On the one hand, we have statute law, English common law and equity, on the other, custom and usage and the principles of customary law which governs the holding of matai titles and customary land—each legal system has its own court." Customary law is also primary for issues of village governance under the Village Fono Act 1990. 80% of land in Samoa is he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legislative Assembly Of Samoa
The Legislative Assembly ( sm, Fono Aoao Faitulafono a Samoa), also known as the Parliament of Samoa ( sm, Palemene o Samoa), is the national legislature of Samoa, seated at Apia, where the country's central administration is situated. Samoan Parliament is composed of two parts: the O le Ao o le Malo (head of state) and the Legislative Assembly. In the Samoan language, the Legislative Assembly of Samoa is sometimes referred to as the Samoan Fono while the ''government'' of the country is referred to as the Malo. The word ''fono'' is a Samoan and Polynesian term for councils or meetings great and small and applies to national assemblies and legislatures, as well as local village councils. The modern government of Samoa exists on a national level alongside the country's '' fa'amatai'' indigenous chiefly system of governance and social organisation. In his or her own right, the O le Ao o le Malo can summon and call together the Legislative Assembly, and can prorogue or dissolve P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samoa Law Society
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono and Apolima); and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands (Nu'utele, Nu'ulua, Fanuatapu and Namua). Samoa is located west of American Samoa, northeast of Tonga (closest foreign country), northeast of Fiji, east of Wallis and Futuna, southeast of Tuvalu, south of Tokelau, southwest of Hawaii, and northwest of Niue. The capital city is Apia. The Lapita culture, Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan culture, Samoan cultural identity. Samoa is a Unitary state, unitary Parliamentary system, parliamentary democracy with 11 Administrative divisions of Samoa, administrative divisions. It is a sovereign state and a member of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matamua Vasati Pulufana
Matamua Seumanu Vasati Pulufana is a Samoan politician and Cabinet Minister. She is a member of the FAST Party. Matamua is the wife of former MP Tiata Sili Pulufana and is a former educator. She was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa in the 2021 Samoan general election, defeating finance minister Sili Epa Tuioti. On 24 May 2021 she was appointed Minister of Justice and Courts Administration in the elected cabinet of Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataafa (born 29 April 1957) () is a Samoan politician and High Chiefess ('' matai'') who has served as the seventh Prime Minister of Samoa and leader of the Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party since 2021. The .... The appointment was disputed by the caretaker government. On 23 July 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled that the swearing-in ceremony was constitutional and binding, and that FAST had been the government since 24 May. In December 2021 Matamua suspended the appointment process for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patu Tiava'asu'e Falefatu Sapolu
Patu Tiava'asu'e Falefatu Sapolu (22 July 1950 — 28 November 2021) was a Samoan lawyer and judge. He served as Attorney-General of Samoa from 1988 to 1991, and as Chief Justice of Samoa from 1992 to 2019. Early life and education Sapolu is from Vaiala. He was educated at Marist Mulivai and at St. Joseph's College in Samoa. He attended the University of Otago and University of Auckland in New Zealand on a government scholarship, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1972. He subsequently worked at the Attorney-General's office, as a temporary magistrate, and as a Court Registrar. In 1988 he was appointed Attorney-General of Samoa. Chief Justice In 1991 Sapolu was appointed Acting Chief Justice of Samoa. The position was made permanent, and he was sworn in on 20 July 1992. As Chief Justice he oversaw the construction of a new court house, the raising of the judicial retirement age from 62 to 68, and the establishment of specialist courts such as the Family Court and Coroners Cour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa
Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataafa (born 29 April 1957) () is a Samoan politician and High Chiefess ('' matai'') who has served as the seventh Prime Minister of Samoa and leader of the Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party since 2021. The daughter of Samoa's first prime minister Fiamē Mataʻafa Faumuina Mulinuʻu II, Mata'afa is the first woman to serve as Samoa's head of government and the first to not be a member of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) since 1982. A member of the HRPP until 2020, she was the first woman appointed to Cabinet in Samoa's history. Mata'afa was the Minister of Education from 1991 to 2006 in the governments of prime ministers Tofilau Eti Alesana and Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi. In addition, she was the Minister of Women from 2006 to 2011 and Minister of Justice from 2011 to 2016. Mata'afa served as Samoa's first female deputy prime minister and deputy leader of the HRPP from 2016 to 2020, resigning in opposition to the controversial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faumuina Asi Pauli Wayne Fong
Leatinuu Faumuina Asi Pauli Wayne Fong (also known as Leatinuu Wayne So'oialo) (born June 1959) is a Samoan politician and Cabinet Minister who has served as the minister of Commerce, Labour and Industry since 2021. Faumuina worked as a cargo manager for Polynesian Airlines in the United States, before moving to Hawaii. After returning to Samoa he ran a shipping company. He was first elected to the Samoan Parliament in the Urban West seat at the 2016 Samoan general election. In March 2017 Fong called for a law change to allow Samoans to gamble in casinos. In October he criticised "dirty politics" within the Human Rights Protection Party, alleging that factions were moving against Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi while he was in hospital in New Zealand. In December he called for a relaxation of border controls with American Samoa. In 2018 he opposed the government's Customary Land Alienation Bill. In June 2019 Fong criticised the government's budget, claiming it wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laauli Leuatea Polataivao
Susuga La'aulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt is a Samoan politician, businessman, Cabinet of Samoa, Cabinet Minister, and former speaker and deputy speaker of the Fono, Samoan Parliament. He is the Member of Parliament for the Gagaʻifomauga, Gagaifomauga No. 3 constituency and is the founder and chairman of the Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party. Early life and political career Schmidt is the son of former Government Minister and founding member of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) Polataivao Fosi Schmidt. He was first elected to the Fono as a candidate for the HRPP in the 2006 Samoan general election, March 2006 elections. From 2006 to 2011 he served as Deputy Speaker. He was re-elected at the 2011 Samoan general election, 2011 election and served as List of Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa, Speaker from 2011 to 2016. He was again re-elected at the 2016 Samoan general election, 2016 election and appointed to Cabinet as Minister ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Rights Protection Party
The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP, sm, Vaega Faaupufai e Puipuia Aia Tatau a Tagata) is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1982 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defeat in 2021. Va'ai Kolone and Tofilau Eti Alesana co-founded the party in May 1979 in opposition to the government of Tupuola Efi. It has governed the country since first winning power in 1982, except for a brief period in 1986 and 1987 when internal differences forced it into coalition. The two founders of the early party, Kolone and Alesana, both became Prime Ministers of Samoa. Former prime minister Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi has led the party since 1998. The U.S. State Department's 2010 human-rights report (published on 8 April 2011) stated that the Human Rights Protection Party remained the only officially recognized party in the Legislative Assembly of Samoa (the Fono) as of that date. After the April 2021 Samoan general ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Law Society
The New Zealand Law Society ( mi, Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa) is the parent body for barristers and solicitors in New Zealand. It was established in 1869, and regulates all lawyers practising in New Zealand. Membership of the society is voluntary, although any person wishing to practice law in New Zealand must obtain a practising certificate from the society. The society has 13 branch offices throughout the country. Each branch has a president and a council, which represent their members’ interests on a regional and national level. Structure The New Zealand Law Society was established by statute in 1869. The current legislation is thLawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 (LCA) which came into force on 1 August 2008. The Act continues the Law Society and sets out its regulatory and representative functions and powers. Previous legislation provided for 14 district law societies with their own statutory powers, operating in a federal structure with the Law Society. The statutory role of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and supporters around the world. The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments." The organization has played a notable role on human rights issues due to its frequent citation in media and by world leaders. AI was founded in London in 1961 by the lawyer Peter Benenson. Its original focus was prisoners of conscience, with its remit widening in the 1970s, under the leadership of Seán MacBride and Martin Ennals to include miscarriages of justice and torture. In 1977, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In the 1980s, its secretary general was Thomas Hammarberg, succeeded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Covenant On Civil And Political Rights
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial. It was adopted by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2200A (XXI) on 16 December 1966 and entered into force 23 March 1976 after its thirty-fifth ratification or accession. , the Covenant has 173 parties and six more signatories without ratification, most notably the People's Republic of China and Cuba; North Korea is the only state that has tried to withdraw. The ICCPR is considered a seminal document in the history of international law and human rights, forming part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Complia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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