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The Nauru Legal System

A complete plain-language guide to Republic of Nauru

4.6(1052 reviews)From $29
Edition
2026 Edition
Extent
1844 pages
Language
English
ISBN
978-1-0000-192-1

About this book

A structured tour of how law actually works in Nauru — where it comes from, who makes it, which court hears what, and how an ordinary person or business interacts with the system. Written for readers with no legal training, with every institution named and every primary source cited so you can verify the position yourself. A common law system on a single 21 square kilometre island, built on law received through Australian administration under the League of Nations mandate and UN trusteeship, layered over Nauruan custom in land and family matters. The defining change of the last decade is appellate: Nauru terminated its agreement allowing appeals to the High Court of Australia with effect from March 2018 and established its own Nauru Court of Appeal, so the republic now has no foreign final court. Nauru also hosts Australia's offshore immigration processing arrangements, which have generated a body of litigation out of all proportion to the island's size.

What is inside

  • Full Nauru court hierarchy explained tier by tier
  • Named regulators with contact routes and response times
  • Step-by-step procedures for the most common legal tasks
  • Every claim footnoted to an official primary source
  • Glossary of local legal terminology in plain English

Table of contents

5 parts · 18 chapters

Part I — Foundations

  1. 01The legal tradition
  2. 02Constitutional framework
  3. 03Sources of law

Part II — Institutions

  1. 01The court hierarchy
  2. 02Government and regulators
  3. 03Enforcement bodies
  4. 04The legal profession

Part III — Everyday Law

  1. 01Work and employment
  2. 02Housing and property
  3. 03Family and personal status
  4. 04Criminal process

Part IV — Doing Things

  1. 01Starting a business
  2. 02Immigration and residence
  3. 03Tax obligations
  4. 04Making a complaint

Part V — Reference

  1. 01Procedure checklists
  2. 02Glossary
  3. 03Official sources index

Who this is for

  • Residents and newcomers who need to understand their rights
  • Businesses entering or operating in the jurisdiction
  • Lawyers taking a first look at an unfamiliar system
  • Students of comparative law

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