Faimalomatumua Resigns as Land & Titles Court Deputy President

By Lagi Keresoma

APIA, SAMOA – 23 APRIL 2022: Four months into his controversial appointment, Faimalomatumua Mathew Lemisio has resigned as Deputy President of the Land and Titles Court and was farewelled in a brief service yesterday.

Faimalomatumua abruptly left his post as the Electoral Commissioner following the by elections last November, and was sworn in as a Deputy President in December.

The swearing in was conducted by the President of the Land and Titles Court but was questioned by the Minister of Justice who argued that there was no jurisdiction to make such appointments under the Land and Titles Act 2020 (LTA 2020).

This view was supported by the Supreme Court judgement last Thursday that concluded, the President and Judges appointed under LTA 1981 do not have the authority to exercise jurisdiction “under any of the provisions of the LTA 2020”.

This effectively means the appointment of the Deputy President and other judges made by the President are illegal.

The Supreme Court ruling said “It is a matter for Parliament to now consider how to take these matters forward.”

Also resigned was the former CEO of the Fire & Emergency Services Authority, Taueva Lelevaga Mupo who was sworn in as a Judge together with Faimalomatumua last December.

Meanwhile, it is not clear if the work of the Land and Titles Court has resumed following the court decision for the Executive to provide support services for the court to operate following the suspension of all matters last month.

According to the Supreme Court ruling, the LTC President and Judges can only hear matters filed before the LTA 1981 was repealed by LTA 2020.

It is also not known when Parliament will meet in order to address the legal issues pointed out in the Court decision.

The scheduled Parliament session was postponed indefinitely when the country went into lockdown Alert Level 3 last month and then down to the current Alert Level 2.