Marshall Islands · Overview
The legal system of Marshall Islands
A hybrid that reflects the islands' history as a US-administered Trust Territory: a Westminster-style parliamentary executive sits alongside American-style judicial review, US-derived statutory drafting and the US dollar. Custom is not a residual category here — the Traditional Rights Court is a constitutional court whose determinations on land tenure and chiefly title bind the ordinary courts. Two further features are unique: the Compact of Free Association lets Marshallese citizens live and work in the United States without a visa, and the Nuclear Claims Tribunal was created to adjudicate damage from 67 US nuclear tests conducted at Bikini and Enewetak between 1946 and 1958.
Legal tradition
Marshall Islands belongs to the mixed common law with customary law tradition. A hybrid that reflects the islands' history as a US-administered Trust Territory: a Westminster-style parliamentary executive sits alongside American-style judicial review, US-derived statutory drafting and the US dollar. Custom is not a residual category here — the Traditional Rights Court is a constitutional court whose determinations on land tenure and chiefly title bind the ordinary courts. Two further features are unique: the Compact of Free Association lets Marshallese citizens live and work in the United States without a visa, and the Nuclear Claims Tribunal was created to adjudicate damage from 67 US nuclear tests conducted at Bikini and Enewetak between 1946 and 1958.
How power is divided
Unitary with strong local government. Each inhabited atoll has an elected local council with substantial authority over land use and local services, and the Council of Iroij, a body of twelve traditional leaders, reviews legislation affecting custom and land and may express its opinion to the Nitijela.
Where law comes from
- The Constitution
- Supreme law; Article II Bill of Rights and Article VI on customary jurisdiction.
- Acts of the Nitijela
- Unicameral legislature of 33 senators.
- Customary law
- Determined authoritatively by the Traditional Rights Court; governs land tenure, chiefly title and inheritance.
- Compact of Free Association
- Treaty with the United States covering defence, economic assistance and visa-free migration.
The legal profession
Practitioners are admitted by the Supreme Court, and admission rules recognise United States legal qualifications, so much of the bar trained in the US. The Traditional Rights Court works differently: its judges are selected for knowledge of custom and traditional title rather than legal qualification, and proceedings there are conducted in Marshallese.
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