Family
Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Ordinance 1961 with village authority
Divorce under the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Ordinance 1961, marriage under the Marriage Ordinance, and a family violence regime in the Family Safety Act 2013 heard in a dedicated Family Court.
Key rules
- Deadline — Protection orders under the Family Safety Act may be granted urgently and ex parte
- Deadline — Separation-based divorce requires the statutory separation period
Governing law
- Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Ordinance 1961 (s. 7)
- Marriage Ordinance 1961
- Family Safety Act 2013
- Infants Ordinance 1961
In practice
The matrimonial statutes date from 1961 and retain fault-based elements alongside separation grounds, so Samoa has not followed Fiji into a purely no-fault system. The Family Safety Act 2013 introduced protection orders and was accompanied by the establishment of a Family Court division, which also handles youth matters. A distinctive interaction: village councils exercise real disciplinary authority under the Village Fono Act, and their decisions — including banishment, which the courts have reviewed and sometimes set aside as inconsistent with constitutional rights — can bear directly on family and residence disputes.