The Vavaʻu Code was instituted in

Vavaʻu Vavau is an island group, consisting of one large island (ʻUtu Vavaʻu) and 40 smaller ones, in Tonga. It is part of Administrative divisions of Tonga, Vavaʻu District, which includes several other individual islands. According to tradition, ...

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

in 1839, by King

George Tupou I George Tupou I (4 December 1797 – 18 February 1893), originally known as Tāufaʻāhau I, was the first List of monarchs of Tonga, king of modern Tonga. He adopted the name Siaosi (originally Jiaoji), the Tongan language, Tongan equivalent o ...

. It contained the country's first ever written laws, and formed the bases of the first

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

of the Kingdom. It delineated an ordered society where the monarch, chiefs, and subjects live in mutual obligation and also guaranteed the rights of the commoners for the first time. Along with the legal system it set up, the Code established the sovereign's intention creating a government "by law", one that is respected by the Europeans.

Provisions

The Code instituted basic

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and limited the power of chiefs over their subjects: chiefs no longer had the right of life and death over their people, nor could they seize agricultural produce. Furthermore, chiefs could now be put on

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

like any other Tongan. In its first clause, it declared: "The laws of this our land prohibit - murder, theft, adultery, fornication and the retailing of the spirits". A later law would provide three months of hard labor as penalty for each of these offenses. The Vavaʻu Code was strongly influenced by the George Tupou I's religious beliefs and was supported by the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

as the king was a convert. It banned traditional festivals seen by missionaries as encouraging sexual promiscuity.

Circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

tattooing A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the Human skin, skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of ...

and

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drinking were also outlawed. A provision banning the practice of tattooing, for instance, declared that "it is not lawful to ''tatatau'' or ''kaukau'' or to perform any other idolatrous ceremonies" and that "if one does so, he will be judged and punished and fined for so doing". Sundays became a compulsory day off work, to encourage Tongans to worship the Christian God. Religion was also seen as a unifying factor that would help the king cement his position. The Code was able to demonstrate its benefits after the conversion of the heathen chieftains. The Vavaʻu Code was followed and completed by further laws, including a second Code in 1850 forbidding the sale of land to foreigners and proclaiming Tupou as supreme leader of Tonga.

Sources

* Huffer, Elise, '' Grands Hommes et Petites Îles: La Politique Extérieure de Fidji, de

et du

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

'', Paris: Orstom, 1993,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vava'u Code 1839 in law Law of Tonga 1839 in Oceania