NO RIGHT HAS BEEN REMOVED; – TO CORRECT SSIG CLAIM
The SSIG’s claim that the 3 Acts will take away individual rights to take their grievances to the Supreme
Court, is misconceived.
To clarify, under our current laws, there is very limited legal avenue to take grievances relating to Land
and Titles Court matters to the Supreme Court.
There is no right of appeal from the Land and Titles Court to the Supreme Court. An appeal looks at the
substance of a decision.
An appeal from the Land and Titles Court to the Supreme Court has never existed due to the exclusive
jurisdiction of the Land and Titles Court over resolving customary land and matai titles disputes as
provided in the Constitution.
The only legal avenue available for a Land and Titles Court matters to be considered by the Supreme
Court is for the judicial review of a decision of the Land and Titles Court.
A judicial review looks at the process by which a decision has been reached.
That legal avenue is not provided for by an Act of Parliament such as the Land and Titles Act 1981, but
rather by case law decisions of the Supreme Court since 1998 with the Alomaina case [refer: Lia
Aloimaina & Ors v LTC (Tuasivi), Toomata Ropati & Ors, Aloimaina Elekana WSSC 4 November 1998].
However, even with the availability of judicial review the only permitted ground for judicial review in
the Supreme Court is where a decision of the Land and Titles Court has breached a fundamental right
under Part II of the Constitution of Samoa.
No other common law grounds of judicial review have been accepted by the Supreme Court.
With the introduction of the revamped Land and Titles Court structures under the new article 104
through the Constitution Amendment Act 2020 and the Land and Titles Act 2020, the Land and Titles
Appeal and Review Court (LTCAR) will hear all of the judicial review matters relating to decisions of the
Land and Titles First Court and the Land and Titles High Court.
So that means, any person wishing to judicial review a decision of the Land and Titles Court is still able to
file a judicial review with the LTCAR, a Court presided by legally qualified judges with revisional and
appellate jurisdictions.

The new changes will also introduce the use of common law grounds of judicial review for LTCAR
matters – such as procedural impropriety, illegality, rationality- a wider scope compared to what has
been available.
Of note, the breach of the right of fair trial is encompassed in the ground of procedural impropriety. The
grounds that are now available are wider than the ground of a breach of a fundamental right under Part
II of the Constitution that has been available.
Therefore, the new changes introduced by the Constitution Amendment Act 2020 and the Land and
Titles Act 2020 will continue to provide the right to judicially review decisions of the Lands and Titles
Court on wider common law grounds for judicial review.
No right has been removed.
As such, the SSIG claim is misleading and deliberate endeavors to misinform the public