The

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

is defined under the

Constitution of American Samoa The Constitution of American Samoa is the constitution that defines the government of American Samoa. Unlike constitutions of a state, it is subject to unilateral change by the federal government. Constitutional documents of the territory include th ...

and the

American Samoa Code The government of American Samoa is defined under the Constitution of American Samoa. The United States Congress, in the Ratification Act of 1929, provided that until the Congress shall provide for the Government of the islands of American Samoa a ...

. It consists of the

High Court of American Samoa The High Court of American Samoa is a Samoan court and the highest court below the United States Supreme Court in American Samoa. The Court is located in the capital of Fagatogo. It consists of one chief justice and one associate justice, appo ...

, a District Court, and village courts, all under the administration and supervision of the Chief Justice. The High Court and District Court are both located in

Fagatogo Fagatogo is the downtown area of Pago Pago (the territorial capital of American Samoa).Grabowski, John F. (1992). ''U.S. Territories and Possessions (State Report Series)''. Chelsea House Pub. Page 51. . Located in the low grounds at the foot of M ...

.3.0303 Sessions-Petit jury
Annotated Code of American Samoa, American Samoa Bar Association. The Chief Justice and the Associate Justice of the High Court are appointed by the

United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...

.3.1001 Chief and Associate Justices-Appointment
Annotated Code of American Samoa, American Samoa Bar Association. Associate judges of the High Court, who may also serve in the village courts, and judges of the District Court are appointed by the Governor of American Samoa upon the recommendation of the Chief Justice and confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

.3.1004 Associate judges-Appointment-Term
Annotated Code of American Samoa, American Samoa Bar Association.3.1010 District court judges-Term
Annotated Code of American Samoa, American Samoa Bar Association. American Samoa does not have a federal court like the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, or the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

. In general, under federal law, cases involving a federal crime committed outside of a judicial district are heard in the district in which the defendant is arrested or first brought to; or otherwise in the judicial district of the defendant’s last known residence; or if no such residence is known, in the

District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in the District of Columbia. It also occasionally handles (jointly with the United States District Court for the District ...

. Prior to a 2001 case, most such cases were brought to the District Court for the District of Columbia, but afterwards many cases were instead heard in the District Court for the District of Hawaii on the basis that this is where the defendant was "first brought".

Courts

High Court

The High Court consists of three divisions: trial, land and titles, and appellate. The trial division is empowered to hear, among other things, felony cases and civil cases in which the amount in controversy exceeds $15,000 and are not related to land or matai titles.3.0208 Jurisdiction of divisions
Annotated Code of American Samoa, American Samoa Bar Association. Its sessions are held before one justice and one or two associate judges. The land and titles division hears matters related to land and matai titles. Sessions regarding land are held before one justice and one or two associate judges, while sessions regarding matai titles are held before one justice and three or four associate judges. The appellate division hears appeals from the other divisions, from the District Court or of administrative decisions. Its sessions are held before two or three justices (including Acting Associate Justices appointed by the Secretary of the Interior) and one or two associate judges.3.0220 Appellate division—Composition
Annotated Code of American Samoa, American Samoa Bar Association.

District Court

The District Court hears matters such as

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

offenses, civil cases in which the matter in controversy does not exceed $15,000 and are not related to land or matai titles, traffic cases not involving a felony, and adoptions. Its sessions are conducted by only one judge.

Village courts

Each

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

has a court consisting of an associate judge of the High Court, who may serve in multiple villages.3.0401 Composition
Annotated Code of American Samoa, American Samoa Bar Association. Each village court can only hear matters regarding its village regulations.

Officers

Judges

The Chief Justice and the Associate Justice of the High Court are appointed by the

and are required to be trained in the law. There are at least five associate judges of the High Court, who are appointed by the governor upon the recommendation of the Chief Justice and confirmed by the Senate. They are not required to have formal legal training. They may also be assigned to serve in village courts. Since the 1970s the Secretary of the Interior has appointed federal judges, usually from the

Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

, to serve temporarily as Acting Associate Justices in the appellate division of the High Court of American Samoa. There is at least one judge of the District Court, who is appointed by the governor upon the recommendation of the Chief Justice and confirmed by the Senate, and must also have formal legal training. The Chief and Associate Justices, associate judges and District Court judges hold office for life with good behavior. However, the associate judges have a mandatory retirement age of 65, which may be waived by the governor.

Other

The American Samoa judiciary has other officers such as clerks, interpreters, marshals and probation officers.46.2201 Probation officers–Appointment, compensation, removal, and fees
Annotated Code of American Samoa, American Samoa Bar Association.

References

{{Judiciaries of Oceania Politics of American Samoa