Rights
1979 federal Constitution over four states, with custom constitutionally shielded
A federation of Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap under the 1979 Constitution. National powers are enumerated, residual power lies with the states, and tradition is protected against inconsistent legislation.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — A genuine federation. Each of the four states has its own constitution, legislature, courts and land law, and state law governs most everyday private matters.
Governing law
- Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia 1979 (art. IV (declaration of rights))
- Constitution of the FSM 1979 (art. V (traditional rights))
- Constitution of the FSM 1979 (art. IX (legislative powers))
- Compact of Free Association Act 1986
In practice
The Constitution enumerates national powers, chiefly foreign affairs, defence, immigration, citizenship, banking and interstate commerce, and leaves everything else to the states, so land, most crime and most civil matters are state questions and differ materially between Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap. Article IV contains a justiciable declaration of rights drafted on United States lines, and article V protects traditional rights, expressly allowing a statute to be held invalid if it fails to protect tradition and permitting states to give formal roles to traditional leaders, which Yap and Pohnpei have done. The Compact of Free Association, effective 1986, amended in 2003 and renewed in 2023 through 2043, provides US funding and defence responsibility while preserving sovereignty. Anyone researching FSM law must identify the relevant state at the outset, because a national answer is often not the operative one.