ABSTRACT
This is the traditional classification that applied historically in English law. Felonies are the more serious offences (offences such as murder or rape) and, therefore, are tried in a superior court and attract the more serious penalties in the event of conviction. This distinction does not apply in the Penal Code of Vanuatu (Cap 135), the Criminal Offences Act 1988 of Tonga, the Crimes Act 1969 of Cook Islands and the Crimes Act 1961 of Samoa.20 However, these terms are retained in the Penal Codes of Kiribati (Cap 67), Fiji Islands (Cap 17), Tuvalu (Cap 8) and Solomon Islands (Cap 26).21 In each of these statutes, s 4 defines a felony as an offence that has been declared by law to be a felony or, if not declared as such, and in the absence of having been declared a misdemeanour, an offence which is punishable either by death or by imprisonment for a period of three years or more. A misdemeanour is any offence which is neither treason nor a felony.
