The Chief Justice of Samoa ( sm, Faamasino Sili o le Faamasinoga Sili o Samoa) is the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Samoa. The qualifications and powers of the office are governed by Part VI of the Constitution of Samoa and the Judicature Ordinance 1961. The position is currently held by Satiu Simativa Perese.

History

Under the American–British–German condominium, the Supreme Court of Justice for Samoa was established by Article III of the

Treaty of Berlin (1889) The Treaty of Berlin (1889) (also known as the Samoan Treaty) was the concluding document of the conference at Berlin in 1889 on Samoa. The conference was proposed by German foreign minister Count Herbert von Bismarck (son of chancellor Otto von ...

, with the single judge of the court being called the Chief Justice per Section 1 of that Article. The first Chief Justice was Swedish jurist Conrad Cedercrantz, who was appointed in 1890. The position of Chief Justice was subsequently held by Americans

Henry Clay Ide Henry Clay Ide (September 18, 1844 – June 13, 1921) was a United States of America, U.S. judge, colonial commissioner, ambassador, and Governor-General of the Philippines. Biography Early life, States Attorney, Senator, and Presidential C ...

from 1893 to 1897 and

William Lea Chambers William Lea Chambers (4 March 1852 – 26 August 1933) was a United States federal judge. Biography He was born on March 4, 1852 in Columbus, Georgia. He was appointed Chief Justice of Samoa c.1897, where the English, Germans and Americans wer ...

from 1897 to 1899. Chambers' ruling in the kingship dispute between

Malietoa Tanumafili I Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili I (1879 – 5 July 1939) was the Malietoa in Samoa from 1898 until his death in 1939. Personal and political life Tanumafili was born in 1880 to Malietoa Laupepa and Sisavai‘i Malupo Niuva‘ai. He attended the Lon ...

and Mata'afa Iosefo in December 1898 angered the Germans and led to the

Second Samoan Civil War The Second Samoan Civil War was a conflict that reached a head in 1898 when Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States were locked in dispute over who should have control over the Samoan island chain, located in the South Pacific Ocea ...

. After the war ended in 1899, Samoa was partitioned into separate

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and American colonies in accordance with the

Tripartite Convention The Tripartite Convention of 1899 concluded the Second Samoan Civil War, resulting in the formal partition of the Samoan archipelago into a German colony and a United States territory. Forerunners to the Tripartite Convention of 1899 were the ...

which superseded the Treaty of Berlin, abolishing the position of Chief Justice. The existing German

consular court Consular courts were law courts established by foreign powers in countries where they had extraterritorial rights. They were presided over by consular officers. Extraterritoriality Western powers when establishing diplomatic relations with coun ...

Apia Apia () is the capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. ...

was then converted into a court of second instance, headed by a chairman. The chief judicial officer was the Imperial Chief Judge (german: Kaiserlicher Oberrichter), who was advised on matters of Samoan customary law by a Samoan Chief Judge ( sm, Faʻamasino Sili). The first colonial governor

Wilhelm Solf Wilhelm Heinrich Solf (5 October 1862 – 6 February 1936) was a German scholar, diplomat, jurist and statesman. Early life Solf was born into a wealthy and liberal family in Berlin. He attended secondary schools in Anklam, western Pomerania, an ...

appointed

Erich Schultz-Ewerth Erich Bernhard Theodor Schultz-Ewerth (8 March 1870 – 25 June 1935) was a German jurist, ethnologist and colonial administrator, who served as the last governor of German Samoa. Life and work Erich Schultz-Ewerth entered the judicial service ...

to the position of Imperial Chief Judge. Schultz succeeded Solf as governor in 1910 but continued to hold the position of Imperial Judge as well. German rule was ended by New Zealand's

occupation of German Samoa The Occupation of Samoa was the takeover – and subsequent administration – of the Pacific colony of German Samoa by New Zealand during World War I. It started in late August 1914 with landings by the Samoa Expeditionary Force from New Zeala ...

in 1914. New Zealand then ruled Samoa as a League of Nations mandate and subsequently a

United Nations Trust Territory United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the United Nati ...

from 1920 to 1962, officially called the

Western Samoa Trust Territory Western Samoa Mandate, then Western Samoa Trust Territory, officially Territory of Western Samoa was the name of Western Samoa during its civil administration by New Zealand between 1920 and Samoan independence in 1962. Six years earlier, Ge ...

. During this period, Part III of the Samoa Constitution Order 1920 provided for a High Court of Western Samoa, headed by a Chief Judge.

John Luxford John Hector Luxford (28 May 1890 – 8 April 1971) was a New Zealand lawyer and Mayor of Auckland City from 1953 to 1956. Biography Born in Palmerston North, Luxford qualified as a solicitor in 1913 and then during the First World War joined t ...

served as Chief Judge from 1929 to 1935, during which time he was involved in controversies including the inquest into Black Saturday and the deportation of Olaf Frederick Nelson. After independence in 1962, New Zealand expatriates continued to hold the post of Chief Justice for some years, as in other Pacific Islands Commonwealth countries. Public demand for a Samoan to be appointed to the position became stronger in the wake of CJ Bryan Nicholson's controversial decision to uphold an

election petition An election petition refers to the procedure for challenging the result of a Parliamentary election. Outcomes When a petition is lodged against an election return, there are 4 possible outcomes: # The election is declared void. The result is q ...

to remove two members of the Legislative Assembly who had been returned in the 1979 general election. The first Samoan to become Chief Justice was Vaovasamanaia Phillips, appointed in 1983.

Appointment and removal

The

O le Ao o le Malo The ''O le Ao o le Malo'' ( Samoan for "Head of State") is the head of state of Samoa. The position is described in Part III of the 1960 Samoan constitution. At the time the constitution was adopted, it was anticipated that future heads of st ...

(the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

) appoints the Chief Justice, acting on the advice of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. Judges of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice, must have eight years' total experience as barristers in Samoa or other approved countries, and must meet other qualifications prescribed by the Head of State, acting on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. A Samoan citizen appointed as Chief Justice has

life tenure A life tenure or service during good behaviour is a term of office that lasts for the office holder's lifetime, unless the office holder is removed from office for cause under misbehaving in office, extraordinary circumstances or decides personal ...

until reaching the age of 68, which may be extended by the Head of State acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, while a non-Samoan citizen is appointed for a term of years. Judges of the Supreme Court may only be removed by the Head of State with the approval of a two-thirds supermajority of the Legislative Assembly, though the Head of State acting on the advice of the Prime Minister may suspend the Chief Justice when the Legislative Assembly is not in session. Historically, under the Treaty of Berlin the Chief Justice was appointed by agreement among the three state parties, or failing that by the King of Sweden and Norway, and could be removed either by the appointing authority, or at the request of at least two of the three state parties. Under New Zealand administration, the Chief Judge was appointed by, and held office at the pleasure of, New Zealand's Minister of External Affairs.

Powers and responsibilities

The Chief Justice is ''ex officio'' the president of the Judicial Service Commission and the Court of Appeal of Samoa, and assumes the functions of the

Council of Deputies The Council of Deputies ( sm, Sui O Le Fono a Sui Tofia) is a constitutional body in Samoa. Its members serve as Deputy O le Ao o le Malo and act as head of state when the O le Ao o le Malo is unable to fulfill their duties due to absence or in ...

if the Legislative Assembly has not elected the members of that council. The Chief Justice determines when the absence or incapacity of the Head of State requires that the Council of Deputies exercise the functions of the office of the Head of State. Remuneration of the post is governed by statute and was last increased in 2001. The Chief Justice was previously also ''ex officio'' the president of the Land and Titles Court, the court which has jurisdiction on disputes over

land tenure In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land owned by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individual ...

and chiefly titles. Under German administration, Imperial Chief Judge Schultz-Ewerth was concurrently the head of the Land and Titles Court's predecessor, the Land and Titles Commission. This practice continued under New Zealand rule: the Samoa Native Land and Titles Commission Order 1924 and the Native Land and Titles Protection Ordinance 1934 provided that the Chief Judge of the High Court would ''ex officio'' hold office as the head of the Native Land and Titles Commission (later the Native Land and Titles Court). This situation continued for some years after independence, though as the number of cases at the court increased drastically beginning in the late 1960s, the President rarely presided over hearings of first instance, instead only hearing appeals from decisions of judges of the court. The Land and Titles Act 1981 ended this practice by providing that the head of the Land and Titles Court could be the Chief Justice, any other judge of the Supreme Court, or any person qualified to be a judge of the Supreme Court. However, at times since then, the Chief Justice has also served as Acting President of the Land and Titles Court.

List of Chief Justices

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, , 1904 , 1914 ,

, , - ! colspan=7 , Chief Judge of the High Court of Western Samoa (incomplete list) , - , , JE Wilson , , ? , 1921 , , , - , , CR Orr-Walker , , 1921 , 1923 , , , - ,

, , 1929 , 1936 ,

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

, , - , , Robert Mackenzie Watson , , April 1936 , September 1936 ,

Michael Joseph Savage Michael Joseph Savage (23 March 1872 – 27 March 1940) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of New Zealand, heading the First Labour Government from 1935 until his death in 1940. Savage was born in the Colon ...

, , - , , Joseph S. Morling , , April 1937 , ? ,

, , - , , William Carrol Harley , , September 1938 , May 1942 ,

, , - , , John R. Herd , , Late 1942 or
early 1943 , November 1947 , ? , , - , , Charles Croft Marsack , , January 1948 , December 1961 ,

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand La ...

, , - ,

Eric Rothwell Eric Francis Rothwell (31 December 1901 – 17 January 1991) was a New Zealand lawyer and politician who was Chief Judge of the High Court of Western Samoa from 1957 to 1960. Biography Early life Rothwell was born on 31 December 1901 in Gisbor ...

, , 1957 , 1960 , Sidney Holland , , - ! colspan=7 , Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Samoa , - , , Paul Loxton Molineaux , , 1962 , 1966 , , , - , , Barrie Charles Spring , , 1966 , 1972 , , , - , Sir Gaven Donne KBE

, Gaven John Donne , , 1972 , 1974 , , , - , , Michael Bernard (Ben) Scully , , 1974 , 1976 , , , - , , Bryan Osborne Nicholson , , ? , 1980 , , , - , , Robert St John , , 1980 , 1982 , , , - , , David Hull , ? , ? , ? , ? , , - , , John Douglas Dillon , ? , ? , ? , ? , , - , ,

Russell Callander Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia *Russell, Australian Capital Territory * Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) **Ru ...

, , 1982 , 1983 , Tanumafili II, on the advice of Tupuola Efi , , - , ,

Vaovasamanaia Filipo Vaovasamanaia Reginald Filipo (also known as Reginald Paul Phillips) (died 1993) was a Samoan politician, Cabinet Minister, and Judge. He was the first Samoan appointed Chief Justice of Samoa. Vaovasamanaia Reginald was the husband of Samoan poli ...

, , 1983 , ? , Tanumafili II, on the advice of Tofilau Eti Alesana , , - , ,

Trevor Maxwell Trevor ( Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', meaning "large, big". The Cornish langu ...

, , ? , 1989 , , , - , , Anthony John Ryan , New Zealand , 1990 , 1992 , After spending 6 months as a Judge in Samoa in 1988, Judge Tony Ryan returned as Chief Justice in 1990. , , - , , Patu Tiava'asu'e Falefatu Sapolu , , 1992 , 2019 , , , - , , Satiu Simativa Perese , , 2020 , Present , , , -

References

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Samoa 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 and Apolima); ...