Procedures
Supreme Court rules with a separate Land and Titles hierarchy
District Court, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal form the ordinary hierarchy, running in parallel with the Land and Titles Court, which has exclusive jurisdiction over customary land and matai titles.
Key rules
- Deadline — Most contract and tort claims are barred after six years
- Deadline — Appeals to the Court of Appeal are generally filed within 21 days
Governing law
- Supreme Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 1980, r. 12
- District Court Act 2016
- Land and Titles Act 2020
- Limitation Act 1975
In practice
The critical structural point is the parallel jurisdiction. A claim about customary land or a matai title must go to the Land and Titles Court, and following the 2020 reforms that court has its own appellate tiers rather than feeding into the Supreme Court. Filing such a claim in the Supreme Court will fail for want of jurisdiction. The Supreme Court retains unlimited ordinary civil jurisdiction and judicial review of administrative action, and the Court of Appeal is final since the abolition of Privy Council appeals. Court of Appeal sittings are periodic, which affects appellate timing.