Property
About 81% customary land, constitutionally inalienable
Roughly 81% of Samoa is customary land held under fa'a Samoa and constitutionally protected from alienation by article 102. It cannot be sold. The Land and Titles Court, not the Supreme Court, decides customary entitlement.
Key rules
- Deadline — Leases of customary land require ministerial authorisation under the Alienation of Customary Land Act
- Deadline — Registered freehold dealings are recorded under the Land Titles Registration Act
Governing law
- Constitution 1960 (art. 102)
- Land and Titles Act 2020 (s. 34)
- Alienation of Customary Land Act 1965
- Land Titles Registration Act 2008
In practice
Article 102 prohibits the alienation of customary land, with a narrow exception permitting leases and licences authorised under statute — so a development on customary land proceeds by lease granted with ministerial authorisation, never by purchase. Entitlement to customary land and to matai titles is determined by the Land and Titles Court applying custom, and its jurisdiction is exclusive: the Supreme Court cannot substitute its own view of who holds a title. The 2020 reforms restructured that court and gave it its own appellate tier, which was the central controversy of the constitutional debate. Freehold exists as a small colonial remnant and is registered conventionally.