ABSTRACT
The countries of the USP region have justice systems that are based on the common law system. Several countries (eg, Tonga) have expatriate, senior legal officers and judges, usually from Australia, New Zealand or the UK. All of the countries have a magistrates’ court and a superior court which may be designated a High Court or a Supreme Court. In addition there may also be local village or island courts, in which matters relating to customary law are determined (particularly in relation to land and family matters). In addition there is a third tier of courts that operate at a local level and have limited territorial and procedural jurisdiction. These may exist as island courts, village courts or something similar.
