Section 9. Upon the organization of the Supreme Court there shall be transferred to its exclusive jurisdiction
- 1. All civil suits concerning real property situated in Samoa and all rights affecting the same.
- 2. All civil suits of any kind between natives and foreigners or between foreigners of different nationalities.
- 3. All crimes and offences committed by natives against foreigners or committed by such foreigners as are not subject to any consular jurisdiction; subject however to the provisions of section 4 Article V defining the jurisdiction of the Municipal Magistrate of the District of Apia.
Section 10. The practice and procedure of Common Law, Equity and Admiralty, as administered in the courts of England, may be—so far as applicable—the practice and procedure of this Court; but the Court may modify such practice and procedure from time to time as shall be required by local circumstances. The Court shall have authority to impose, according to the crime, the punishment established therefor by the laws of the United States, of England, or of Germany, as the Chief Justice shall decide most appropriate; or, in the case of Native Samoans and other Natives of the South Sea Islands, according to the laws and customs of Samoa.
Section 11. Nothing in this article shall be so construed as to affect existing consular jurisdiction over all questions arising between masters and seamen of their respective national vessels; nor shall the Court take any ex post facto or retroactive jurisdiction over crimes or offenses committed prior to the organization of the Court.
Article IV
Section 1. In order that the native Samoans may keep their lands for cultivation by themselves and by their children after them, it is declared that all future alienation of lands in the Islands of Samoa to the citizens or subjects of any foreign country, whether by sale, mortgage or otherwise shall be prohibited, subject to the following exceptions:
- (a) Town lots and lands within the limits of the Municipal District as defined in this Act may be sold or leased by the owner for a just consideration when approved in writing by the Chief Justice of Samoa;
- (b) Agricultural lands in the Islands may be leased for a just consideration and with carefully defined boundaries for a term not exceeding forty (40) years when such lease is approved in writing by the Chief Executive Authority of Samoa and by the Chief Justice.
