The legal system of Kiribati
English common law received through the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, continued at independence in 1979, layered over I-Kiribati custom. The system is spread across 33 atolls covering 3.5 million square kilometres of ocean, so magistrates' courts and land courts sit island by island while a single High Court judge and a non-resident Court of Appeal serve the whole republic. Kiribati is one of the few Pacific states that still retains an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.
Legal tradition
Kiribati belongs to the common law with customary law tradition. English common law received through the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, continued at independence in 1979, layered over I-Kiribati custom. The system is spread across 33 atolls covering 3.5 million square kilometres of ocean, so magistrates' courts and land courts sit island by island while a single High Court judge and a non-resident Court of Appeal serve the whole republic. Kiribati is one of the few Pacific states that still retains an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.
How power is divided
Unitary with statutory island councils. The Local Government Act gives each inhabited island a council with bylaw-making powers, and on most islands the traditional maneaba (meeting house assembly) remains the real forum for community decisions. Banaba (Ocean Island) has a distinct status reflecting the displacement of the Banaban community to Rabi in Fiji, with reserved representation in the Maneaba.
Where law comes from
- The Constitution
- Supreme law; Chapter II rights and express protection of land rights.
- Acts of the Maneaba ni Maungatabu
- Unicameral legislature of 45 members.
- Customary law
- Applied under the Laws of Kiribati Act 1989, especially to land, fishing rights and adoption.
- Received English law
- Pre-independence English common law, equity and statutes of general application remain in force so far as they are not inconsistent with the Constitution, local statute or custom.
The legal profession
A small fused profession admitted by the High Court under the Legal Practitioners Ordinance. Many practitioners are in government service, and the People's Lawyer's office carries most private client work. Because the Court of Appeal is non-resident, appellate hearings are grouped into sittings when judges travel to Tarawa.
Law by topic in Kiribati
- Business & CorporateCompanies Ordinance with a small formal sector and fishing revenueCompanies register under the Companies Ordinance with the Registrar, and foreign investment requires approval. The formal economy is dominated by government, cooperatives and fishing access revenue.
- Tax LawIncome Tax Act with VAT at 12.5% and the sovereign RERFIncome tax under the Income Tax Act administered by the Taxation Division, with value added tax at 12.5% since the 2014 reforms. Fishing revenue and the Revenue Equalisation Reserve Fund dominate the budget.
- Civil ProcedureHigh Court and Court of Appeal with magistrates across the atollsMagistrates Courts on the islands sit below the High Court, with the Court of Appeal above it. Magistrates also exercise the lands jurisdiction that decides customary entitlement.
- Employment & LabourEmployment and Industrial Relations Code 2015 with seafarer labourThe Employment and Industrial Relations Code 2015 consolidated employment law, setting minimum terms, grievance procedures and union rights. Seafaring on foreign vessels is a major employment channel.
- Property & LandCustomary native land, inalienable to non-citizens, with a Lands CourtLand is customary native land held under the Native Lands Ordinance and administered through the Lands Court, and it cannot be sold to non-citizens. Scarcity is extreme and worsening with erosion.
- Criminal LawPenal Code with the death penalty abolished at independenceOffences are set out in the Penal Code with procedure under the Criminal Procedure Code, prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office. There is no death penalty.
- Constitutional Law1979 Constitution with custom recognised and climate at the centreA republic under the 1979 independence Constitution with a justiciable fundamental-rights chapter, an executive President chosen from elected members, and express recognition of Kiribati custom in the application of laws.
- Immigration & NationalityImmigration Ordinance, and the Teitiota climate displacement rulingEntry under the Immigration Ordinance with permits from the Immigration Division. Kiribati is best known internationally as the origin of Teitiota, the leading decision on whether climate harm can ground protection.
- Family LawColonial-era marriage statutes with custom and a 2014 violence ActMarriage and divorce run on colonial ordinances with fault-based grounds, alongside recognised customary practice, modernised in one respect by the Te Rau n te Mwenga Act 2014 on family peace.
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