Tonga

Legal tradition

Tonga belongs to the common law with customary law tradition. The only Pacific island state never colonised, and the only one whose constitution predates the twentieth century: the 1875 Constitution granted by King George Tupou I is still in force. English common law was received by statute rather than by annexation. The system was substantially democratised in 2010, when most executive power moved from the monarch to a Prime Minister responsible to the Legislative Assembly. Two features are unique in the region: land cannot be sold at all, only held in hereditary estates and statutory allotments, and a domestic Privy Council of Tonga still hears appeals about hereditary estates and titles.

How power is divided

Unitary. The Legislative Assembly legislates for the whole kingdom, and the island divisions of Tongatapu, Vava'u, Ha'apai, 'Eua and the Niuas are administrative districts headed by governors. Below that, town and district officers are elected under the Fakafekau'aki and District and Town Officers Act.

Where law comes from

The Act of Constitution 1875

Supreme law; entrenches the land system and the monarchy.

Acts of the Legislative Assembly

Unicameral, with reserved seats for the nobility.

English common law

Received by statute; applied where Tongan law is silent.

Tongan custom

Underpins the anga fakatonga order and is central to the law of titles and estates.

The legal profession

Law practitioners are admitted by the Chief Justice and licensed under the Law Practitioners Act, with the Tonga Law Society as the professional body. Most qualify overseas or at the University of the South Pacific. A practitioner working on land must know the Land Act's allotment system rather than general property law, because the constitutional bar on selling land means conveyancing in the ordinary sense does not exist.