Rights
1968 Constitution; appeals to Australia's High Court ended in 2018
A republic under the 1968 independence Constitution with an enforceable fundamental-rights chapter and a President chosen by Parliament. Nauru terminated its appellate link to the High Court of Australia in 2018.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — A unitary republic of a single 21 square kilometre island with a Parliament of 19 members — among the smallest sovereign legislatures in the world.
Governing law
- Constitution of Nauru 1968, pt. II
- Nauru Court of Appeal Act 2018
- Constitution of Nauru (Parliamentary Amendments) Act 2009
- Custom and Adopted Laws Act 1971
In practice
The 1968 Constitution is deliberately entrenched and has resisted amendment; a comprehensive reform package was rejected by referendum in 2010. The most consequential recent constitutional act was the termination in 2018 of the agreement allowing appeals from the Supreme Court of Nauru to the High Court of Australia, replaced by a domestic Court of Appeal. The change was contested because it removed an external appellate check at a time of disputes involving opposition politicians and the judiciary, and it means Nauru's final court is now wholly domestic. The Custom and Adopted Laws Act preserves Nauruan custom and institutions such as the Nauru Lands Committee.