Contempt of Parliament accusation Irresponsible & Derogatory says PM

By Staff Reporters/

Apia, SAMOA – 27 June 2024 – Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa called the accusation that the government was in contempt of parliament for not implementing the Lands and Titles Act 2020 as irresponsible and derogatory.

The accusation was levelled at the government yesterday by the Falelatai and Samatau MP, Tologataua Tile while the Minister of Justice was responding to Members questions as to where the amendments to the three controversial Bills signed into law a month before the 2021 general elections were at.

The Opposition MP said that the failure of government to implement the law (that changed the restructured Lands and Titles Court system), tantamount to contempt of parliament.

Fiame told Parliament that the LTC 2020 cannot be fully implemented by the government as the appointment of the Judges for the LTC was problematic as the gap in the LTA 2020, by which all appointments under the LTA 1981 had been revoked without provision in the new Act for the appointment of new judges.

When parliament passed the 3 Acts in December 2020 and signed into law in March 2021 a month before the general elections, the Land and Titles Court System was completely restructured.

It changed from being a 2 tier system to one of 3 tiers with the establishment of the Land and Titles Court of Appeal and Review. The jurisdiction extended to include Judicial Reviews and final interpretation of provisions of the Constitution which were previously dealt exclusively by the Supreme Court.

Fiame told Parliament that the Land and Titles Court of Appeal and Review cannot operate as there were no qualified people to man the court as required by the law.

So there are 50 plus appeal matters now on hold as this court cannot sit.

Then the Opposition MPs brought up the issue of the case of the terminated LTC President that the Supreme Court recently decided to be paid $750,000.

Yes, said Fiame, but the core issue is that parliament was wrong in writing and passing a law that removed the judges of the court. The removal of judges also got to the core of the principles of the separation of powers and judicial independence.

The Prime Minister urged Members of Parliament to read the court decision as the underlying message is that Parliament has fallen short of protecting the Judiciary’s independence through the law it passed. She said the decision is also implying that huge amounts of money will be charged if a judge is wrongfully terminated.

Opposition MP Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi argued that the intention of the law was not to remove the judges and that there was nothing in the law that specified this.

Fiame then said she will table a copy of the law in parliament and she expressed concern over the ‘contempt of parliament’ accusation as irresponsible and derogatory – “fa’atamala, taufa’aleaga”.

The Prime Minister also pointed to the court decision that said the former President of the Lands and Titles court was not qualified under the 1981 Act (that was repealed by the problematic LTA 2020 Act).