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Apia, Samoa – June 27, 2024 – Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa has described the allegation that the government is in contempt of Parliament for not implementing the Lands and Titles Act 2020 as irresponsible and undignified.
Faleratai and Samatau MP Tologataua Tile made this allegation against the government yesterday when the attorney general was answering questions from MPs on where were the amendments to the three controversial bills signed into law a month before the 2021 general election.
Opposition MPs said the government’s failure to implement the law – which changes the restructured land and title court system – amounted to contempt of parliament.
Fiame told Parliament that the government could not fully implement the Permanent Judges Act, 2020 because the Permanent Judges Act, 2020 had issues with appointments of permanent judges because there was a gap in the Permanent Judges Act, 2020, according to which all appointments under the Permanent Judges Act, 1981 were rescinded and there was no provision in the new Act for appointments of new judges.
When the three bills were passed by Parliament in December 2020 and signed into law in March 2021 (a month before the general election), the land and title court system was completely restructured.
The courts were transformed from a two-tier system to a three-tier system with the establishment of the Land and Titles Appeal and Review Court. Jurisdiction was expanded to include judicial review and final interpretation of constitutional provisions, powers previously handled only by the Supreme Court.
Fiame told parliament that the Land and Title Appellate Review Court could not function because there were no qualified personnel required by law to run the court.
More than 50 appeals are currently on hold because the court is unable to sit.
Later, the opposition MPs raised the issue of the case of the sacked LTC chairman, to whom the Supreme Court recently decided to pay $750,000.
Yes, Fiame said, but the core problem was that Parliament had wrongly drafted and passed a law to remove judges from the court. Removing judges also strikes at the heart of the principle of separation of powers and judicial independence.
The prime minister urged MPs to read the court’s judgment because its underlying message was that Parliament had failed to protect judicial independence through the laws it passed. She said the judgment also hinted at huge fines to be levied if judges were wrongfully dismissed.
Opposition MP Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi argued that the law was not intended to remove judges and that there was nothing in the law that explicitly provided for that.
Fiame then said she would submit a copy of the law in parliament and expressed concern about the charge of “contempt of parliament”, calling it irresponsible and derogatory – “Negligence, Defamation”.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that the court ruling stated that the former president of the Land and Titles Court was not qualified under the Land and Titles Act 1981 (which was repealed by the problematic Land and Titles Act 2020).
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