Samoa
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- parliamentary republic
- CONSTITUTION
- January 1, 1962
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on English common law and local traditions; judicial review of legislative acts regarding civil rights
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- unicameral, Legislative Assembly (Fono)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court, Court of Appeals
RELIGIONS
34.8% Congregationalists, 20% Catholics, 15% Methodists, other
From the country
- OCTOBER 14, 2002SamoaDEATH PENALTY
A 21-year-old Samoan man has been sentenced to death...
A 21-year-old Samoan man has been sentenced to death by the Supreme Court in Samoa for shooting dead a plantation worker earlier this year
- JANUARY 29, 2002SamoaDEATH PENALTY
The Samoa Supreme Court sentenced (?Peter Ah Siu) to...
The Samoa Supreme Court sentenced (?Peter Ah Siu) to death after he was convicted of murder
- JANUARY 1, 2002SamoaDEATH PENALTY
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has...
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has not been carried out since independence in 1962
- JANUARY 1, 2002SamoaDEATH PENALTY
On august 7, 2000 the American Samoa House of Representatives...
On august 7, 2000 the American Samoa House of Representatives passed legislation to abolish the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 2001SamoaDEATH PENALTY
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has...
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has not been carried out since independence in 1962
- AUGUST 7, 2000SamoaDEATH PENALTY
The American Samoa House of Representatives passed...
The American Samoa House of Representatives passed legislation to abolish the death penalty
- AUGUST 7, 2000SamoaDEATH PENALTY
The American Samoa House of Representatives passed...
The American Samoa House of Representatives passed legislation to abolish the death penalty
- APRIL 13, 2000SamoaDEATH PENALTY
Leafa Vitale, 57, the former women's affairs minister,...
Leafa Vitale, 57, the former women's affairs minister, and Toi Aukuso, 68, former communications minister, were sentenced to death by hanging for plotting the murder of a cabinet colleague who had spearheaded a drive against corruption
- JANUARY 1, 2000SamoaDEATH PENALTY
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has...
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has not been carried out since independence in 1962
- AUGUST 13, 1999SamoaDEATH PENALTY
On August 13, Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi, Minister...
On August 13, Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, had a meeting with Don McKinnon, Foreign Affairs Minister of New Zealand, and the latter sent a clear message about New Zealand's disapproval over the death penalty for mu
- AUGUST 6, 1999SamoaDEATH PENALTY
On August 6, Eletise Leafa Vitale, the 34-year-old...
On August 6, Eletise Leafa Vitale, the 34-year-old son of a Samoan cabinet minister, was given a mandatory death sentence for admitting to killing Works Minister Luagalau Levaulu Kamu, in Apia's Supreme Court
- JANUARY 1, 1999SamoaDEATH PENALTY
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has...
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has not been carried out since independence in 1962