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. END