Law of the Oan Isles

Sources of law

The Constitution of the Oan Isles is the highest law in the land. All other laws are required to abide by the Constitution. The Constitution gives the National Assembly and the Emperor of Polynesia the power to pass statutory or primary legislation. The National Assembly and Emperor can delegate the power to male laws to other government bodies such as by-laws in the case of local government and regulations in the case of executive bodies. The Crown itself wields royal prerogatives which is exercises in the form of royal decrees. Because the Crown is required to abide by the advice of the Council of Ministers, the executive branch also has the power to issue royal decrees with respect to powers enumerated as royal prerogatives. Judges in turn interpret and apply the law. The decisions that arise from these cases become part of Oan jurisprudence via case law. Traditional customs of the Oan people which have been observed for century wield the force of law insofar as they do not conflict with other laws and are enforceable by the state. Nevertheless, disputes over what constitutes custom are resolved by case law (unless written into law via royal Decree or statute).

Judiciary

The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal of the country. All courts must abide by the interpretation of the Supreme Court and only a future bench of the Supreme Court may overturn a previous decision. It has the power to strike down laws which violate the Constitution.

The High Courts are courts of appeal and general jurisdiction on each major island or island group of the Oan Isles. Cases involving murder, rape, bankruptcy, mental capacity and so on, may only be heard by the High Court. In addition, all cases tried in lower courts can be presented to the High Court for appeal. The interpretation of the High Court is binding on all similar cases within the province of its jurisdiction insofar as that interpretation conforms to the Supreme Court. Thus, any interpretation by a High Court can be overturned by the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, most cases must be heard by a High Court before being heard by the High Court.

The Magistrate Courts handle the bulk of the workload in that they hear and adjudicated all trials not reserved for the high courts. These courts are ranked from most to least powerful as follows: regional, district and local. Each court can impose different punishments and listen to cases of a certain magnitude.

The Traditional Courts adjudicate matters which arise from traditional custom. Cases can be retried in the Magistrate Courts. Whereas, other courts consists of professional judges and magistrates, Traditional Courts consist of tribal Chiefs and local elders. Their jurisdiction includes rural land and fishing rights, bridal price, culturally significant sites and so on. Because most of the population live in the cities, the power of the Traditional Courts has waned significantly and their relevance in modern law has declined.

Military Courts enforce military discipline. This means that most cases involving a service member of the Military of the Oan Isles is subject to the military discipline system. The adjudicators are military officials such as commanding officers.

Judges are appointed by the Emperor of Polynesia on the advice of the Prime Minister from recommendations by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. The Commission consists of teachers of law, lawyers, serving and retired judges and magistrates. It opens and advertises judicial vacancies, receives applications, conducts interviews, develops training materials, appointment criteria and educational guidelines. Magistrates are appointed by the Department of Justice on professional merit in line with the guidelines set by the CJA. Chiefs are hereditary nobles and elders are people in good standing with a tribe who have some legal experience or training.

Procedure

Trials in the Oan Isles are conducted according to the adversarial system. This means one person accused another of violating their rights. That person has the responsibility of providing evidence and arguments that their rights were violated. The judge will look at the evidence and arguments presented to determine both whether the violation occurred and what the correct remedy is.

The one bringing the case in a civil trial is a complaint while the one against whom the case is brought is the respondent. In criminal matters, this is the plaintiff and the defendant respectively. In criminal cases, the Crown is charged with upholding the rights of its people, thus Crown prosecutors will represent the plaintiff.

s the Crown represents