The court system of Niue is a three-tiered judicial system established by the

Niue Constitution Act The ''Schedules'' of the Niue Constitution Act 1974 form the Niue constitution. It stipulates the make-up of the executive branch of the government, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The Niue Constitution Act 1974 is the supreme l ...

in the island nation of

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

. It consists of the High Court, which has

original jurisdiction In common law legal systems original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a higher court has the power to review a lower court's decision. India In India, the Sup ...

to hear all

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...

matters, the Court of Appeal, which has

appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

civil and criminal jurisdiction, and the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

in England. Justices interpret the law subject to the Constitution of Niue, and if they determine a law violates the Constitution then the Constitution takes precedence. A system of

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

is used in the court system, and the Doctrine of

Precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...

ensures that lower courts follow the precedent of upper courts. The civil and criminal courts operate under an adversarial legal system, while the land courts operate under an inquisitive legal system.

High Court

The High Court of Niue has

in criminal, civil, and land matters. The court is divided into three divisions; criminal division, civil division, and land division. Furthermore, it has three types of officials; Judges, Commissioners, and Justices of the Peace. The main difference between the three is

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

. One other notable difference is the ability to become Chief Justice, which is only a judge's power, and that judges have rehearing powers. Currently, the Chief Justice is

Craig Coxhead Craig Coxhead is a New Zealand judge who is currently serving as Chief Justice of Niue. Coxhead graduated from the University of Waikato in 1994 with a Bachelor of Laws. He worked in private practice before becoming a lecturer at the Universit ...

. The Chief Justice is chosen by the

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and li ...

on advice from the

cabinet of Niue The Cabinet of Niue is the chief executive (government), executive body of Niue. Robert Rex (19 October 1974 – 12 December 1992) * Hon. Dr. Enetama Lipitoa * Hon. Frank Lui, Frank Fakaotimanava Lui * Hon. Young Vivian * Hon. Robert Rex Y ...

. As of 2014, the judges are Judge Wilson Isaac, Judge Craig Coxhead and Judge Sarah Reeves. The Civil and Criminal Commissioners are Mr. Desmond Hipa, Mrs. Sifaole Ioane and Mrs. Taumalua Jackson. The Land Commissioners are Mrs. Rheumatic Alapaki, Mrs. Maihetoe Hekau, Mr. Robin Hekau, Mr. Hale Ikitule, Mrs. Leliviika Liumaihetau and Mr. Saukia Tukuitonga. The Justices of the Peace are Ms. Paese McMoore and Mrs. Francis Lui-Valiana. Two Justices of the Peace must be present to exercise the same functions as one Commissioner. All three can not stay on past 68 years of age. Jurisdiction based on each specific case is outlined in the extensive table below.

Criminal Court

In criminal trials, the idea of

innocent until proven guilty The presumption of innocence is a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. Under the presumption of innocence, the legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution, which must present com ...

applies, and the burden of proof is on the prosecution. In 2014, 109 criminal cases were filed and the average duration of a case was 54 days.
Niuecourtproceed

Criminal proceedings

As the diagram on the right shows, there is a complex set of procedures in the

criminal court system.

Criminal jurisdiction and sentencing

Transport jurisdiction

These tables describe traffic jurisdiction under the ''Niue Transport Act 1965'' and its amendments. ''The shaded parts refer to a problem created by amendments to the Transport Act.''

Civil Court and Jurisdiction

One commissioner or 2 Justices of the Peace have the jurisdiction to hear a

civil action - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

for which the recovery of

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

does not exceed NZ $1500. However, in practice, judges are the ones that generally hear

civil cases Civil law is a major branch of the law. Glanville Williams. ''Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1982. p. 2. In common law legal systems such as England and Wales and the United States, the term refers to non- criminal law. The law r ...

. In 2013–14, 22 civil cases were filed and the average duration of a case was 52 days. Niue-Land-court-structure

Land Court and Jurisdiction

Commissioners and Judges have jurisdiction in the Land Court. In 2013, 260 cases were filed, 150 were resolved, and the average duration of a case was 72 days. On the right is a diagram of the structure and proceedings of a case in the Land Court.

Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal is an

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

that may hear appeals based on the High Court granting leave for cases of extraordinary importance, if the High Court certifies it relates to the interpretation of the constitution, or when the Court of Appeal grants special leave to appeal. In

jurisdiction, a person convicted of a

criminal offence In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

may appeal if they are sentenced to

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

imprisonment for life Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

, or to a fine or imprisonment that is not fixed by law. The Court of Appeal meets approximately every three years. Very few cases are appealed to the Court of Appeal, often less than 3 a year, and of those on average a very small amount are overturned.

The Sovereign in Council

The Sovereign in Council is officially the highest court in Niue. It is the

King of the United Kingdom The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

, acting by and with the advice of the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

. Appeals may be made by the aggrieved party from the Court of Appeal, and it is up to His Majesty's discretion whether to accept the case. This function is in reality one of the

, which is the highest court in the Niue court system. The Judicial Committee has not yet heard a case from Niue, although they have heard many cases from the nearby

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

References

{{Niue topics Politics of Niue Judiciaries by country