Procedures
Supreme Court with Appellate and Trial Divisions, plus Common Pleas and Land Court
Civil claims are heard in the Supreme Court trial division, the Court of Common Pleas or the Land Court, with appeal to the Supreme Court appellate division as final court.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — A single national hierarchy: Court of Common Pleas and Land Court, Supreme Court trial division, and Supreme Court appellate division as the court of last resort.
Governing law
- Constitution of Palau 1981 (art. X (judiciary))
- Palau National Code, title 4judiciary
- Palau Rules of Civil Procedure
- Land Court procedure, PNC title 35
In practice
Article X establishes a unified judiciary with the Supreme Court divided into appellate and trial divisions, so appeals are heard by justices of the same court who did not sit at trial, and there is no appeal outside Palau. The Court of Common Pleas handles smaller civil claims and lesser criminal matters, and the Land Court is a specialist tribunal determining title, much of its docket arising from claims to return lands taken under earlier administrations. Procedure follows United States federal practice, with familiar pleading, discovery and motion stages, rather than the England-derived procedure used in most Pacific jurisdictions. Customary evidence is regularly received in land and family matters, and clan genealogy is proved by testimony. The bar is small and many judges and practitioners are recruited from abroad, so scheduling and conflicts of interest are practical constraints on pace.