Chief Justice of Samoa

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Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Samoa
Faamasino Sili o le Faamasinoga Sili o Samoa (Samoan)
File:Coat of arms of Samoa.svg
Coat of arms of Samoa
since 12 June 2020
NominatorPrime Minister of Samoa
AppointerO le Ao o le Malo
(the Head of State)
Term lengthLife tenure until the age of 68 for Samoan citizens
Fixed-term appointment for non-Samoan citizens
Constituting instrumentConstitution of Samoa, Article 65
PrecursorChief Judge of the High Court of Western Samoa
SalaryWS$90,405/year

The chief justice of Samoa (Samoan: 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.[1][2] The position is currently held by Satiu Simativa Perese.

History

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Under the American–British–German condominium, the Supreme Court of Justice for Samoa was established by Article III of the Treaty of Berlin (1889), with the single judge of the court being called the Chief Justice per Section 1 of that Article.[3] The first Chief Justice was Swedish jurist Conrad Cedercrantz, who was appointed in 1890.[4] The position of Chief Justice was subsequently held by Americans Henry Clay Ide from 1893 to 1897 and William Lea Chambers from 1897 to 1899.[5] Chambers' ruling in the kingship dispute between Malietoa Tanumafili I and Mata'afa Iosefo in December 1898 angered the Germans and led to the Second Samoan Civil War.[6]

After the war ended in 1899, Samoa was partitioned into separate German and American colonies in accordance with the Tripartite Convention which superseded the Treaty of Berlin, abolishing the position of Chief Justice.[7][8] The existing German consular court at Apia was then converted into a court of second instance, headed by a chairman.[9][10] 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 (Samoan: Faʻamasino Sili).[11] The first colonial governor Wilhelm Solf appointed Erich Schultz-Ewerth 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.[12]

German rule was ended by New Zealand's occupation of German Samoa in 1914.[13] New Zealand then ruled Samoa as a League of Nations mandate and subsequently a United Nations Trust Territory from 1920 to 1962, officially called the Western Samoa Trust Territory. During this period, Part III of the Samoa Constitution Order 1920 provided for a High Court of Western Samoa, headed by a Chief Judge.[14] John Luxford 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.[15]

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.[16] 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 to remove two members of the Legislative Assembly who had been returned in the 1979 general election.[17] The first Samoan to become Chief Justice was Vaovasamanaia Phillips, appointed in 1983.[18][19]

Appointment and removal

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The O le Ao o le Malo (the head of state) appoints the Chief Justice, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister.[20] 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.[21] A Samoan citizen appointed as Chief Justice has life tenure 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.[22] 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.[23]

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.[24]

Under New Zealand administration, the Chief Judge was appointed by, and held office at the pleasure of, New Zealand's Minister of External Affairs.[25]

Powers and responsibilities

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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 if the Legislative Assembly has not elected the members of that council.[26] 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.[27] Remuneration of the post is governed by statute and was last increased in 2001.[28]

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 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).[29][30] 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.[31][32] 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.[33] However, at times since then, the Chief Justice has also served as Acting President of the Land and Titles Court.[34]

List of chief justices

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Portrait Name Nationality From To Appointed by Sources
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Justice for Samoa
File:Otto Conrad Waldemar Cedercrantz - from Svenskt Porträttgalleri II.png Conrad Cedercrantz (sv) File:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden 1890 ? Oscar II of Sweden [4]
File:Henry Clay Ide 710x1024.jpg Henry Clay Ide File:Flag of the United States (1896-1908).svg United States 1893 1897 [5]
File:Portrait of William Lea Chambers.jpg William Lea Chambers File:Flag of the United States (1896-1908).svg United States 1897 1899 [5]
Chief Judge of Samoa
German: Oberrichter von Samoa
Erich Schultz-Ewerth
(Concurrently Governor of German Samoa from 1910 to 1914) 		File:Flag of the German Empire.svg Germany 1904 1914 Wilhelm Solf [12]
Chief Judge of the High Court of Western Samoa (incomplete list)
JE Wilson File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand ? 1921 [35][36]
CR Orr-Walker File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 1921 1923 [35]
File:John Luxford.jpg John Luxford File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 1929 1936 Joseph Ward [15]
Robert Mackenzie Watson File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand April 1936 September 1936 Michael Joseph Savage [37][38]
Joseph S. Morling File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand April 1937 ? Michael Joseph Savage [39][40][41]
William Carrol Harley File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand September 1938 May 1942 Michael Joseph Savage [42][43]
John R. Herd File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand Late 1942 or
early 1943 		November 1947 ? [44][45][46]
File:Charles Croft Marsack WW1.jpg Charles Croft Marsack File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand January 1948 December 1961 Peter Fraser [46][47]
File:Eric Francis Rothwell.jpg Eric Rothwell File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 1957 1960 Sidney Holland [48]
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Samoa[49]
Paul Loxton Molineaux File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 1962 1966 [50]
Barrie Charles Spring File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 1966 1972 [51]
File:Sir Gaven Donne KBE.jpeg Gaven John Donne File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 1972 1974 [52]
Michael Bernard (Ben) Scully File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 1974 1976 [53]
Bryan Osborne Nicholson File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand ? 1980 [17]
Robert St John File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia 1980 1982 [54]
David Hull ? ? ? ?
John Douglas Dillon ? ? ? ?
Russell Callander File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand 1982 1983 Tanumafili II, on the advice of Tupuola Efi [55][56]
Vaovasamanaia Filipo File:Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa 1983 ? Tanumafili II, on the advice of Tofilau Eti Alesana [57]
Trevor Maxwell File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand ? 1989 [58]
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.
File:Patu Tiavaasue Falefatu Sapolu 2015.jpg Patu Tiava'asu'e Falefatu Sapolu File:Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa 1992 2019 [59]
Satiu Simativa Perese File:Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa 2020 Present

References

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  5. ^ a b c Kennedy 2013, pp. [1], [2]
  6. ^ Kennedy 2013, p. [3]
  7. ^ Kennedy 2013, p. [4]
  8. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  11. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. The term Faʻamasino Sili, often spelled without the koma liliu, is now used officially in Samoan versions of legislation to refer to the Chief Justice; see for example Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  12. ^ a b Meleisea 1987, p. 84
  13. ^ Kennedy 2013, p. [5]
  14. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  20. ^ Judicature Ordinance 1961, s 22 and Constitution 1960, article 65(2)
  21. ^ Judicature Ordinance 1961, s 23 and Constitution 1960, article 65(3). The initial list of approved countries was gazetted as Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. Canada was later added as an approved country in Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  22. ^ Judicature Ordinance 1961, s 24
  23. ^ Constitution 1960, article 68
  24. ^ Treaty of Berlin 1889, ss 2, 3
  25. ^ Samoa Constitution Order 1920, s 65
  26. ^ Judicature Ordinance 1961, s 41(3) and Constitution 1960, articles 25, 72, 75(3)
  27. ^ Constitution 1960, article 23
  28. ^ Judicature Ordinance 1961, s 29, as amended by Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  29. ^ Meleisea 1987, pp. 183–186
  30. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  49. ^ Masinalupe 1999, p. 6
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