Niue Amendment Act (No 2) 1968

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3 Classification of land in Niue
4-5 [Repealed]
6 Administration and tenure of land
7 [Repealed]

8 Grants of Crown land
9 Crown land may be declared Niuean land
10 Reserves of Crown land for public purposes
11 Taking of land for public purposes
12 Revocation of warrant taking land
13 Compensation for land taken
14 Resumption of Crown land for public purposes
15 [Repealed]
16 Acquisition of land for public purposes
17 Public purpose for which land held may be altered
18 Control of Crown land by Cabinet
19 [Spent]
20 [Repealed]

21 Ownership in Niuean land
22 Investigation of title to Niuean land
23 Niuean customs to be recognised
24 No alienation of Niuean land
25 For certain purposes Niuean land to be deemed Crown land

26 Vesting of land for Church purposes
27 Land vested for Church purposes may be acquired by the Crown
28 Existing records and instruments

29 Qualifications of Judges
30 Qualifications of Commissioners of the Land Court
31 Salaries and other remunerations
32-37 [Repealed]
38 Registrar and Deputy Registrar of Land Court
39 Administrative officers
40 Records of Land Court
41 Registers
42 Seal of the Land Court
42 Rules of Land Court
44 Applications to Land Court
45 Rehearings
46 Sittings of Land Court

47 Jurisdiction of Land Court
47A Jurisdiction of Commissioners
47B Commissioners may adjourn or decline jurisdiction
47C Decision of majority to be decision of Land Court
47D Appeals from decisions of Commissioners
47E Attendance of Commissioners at Land Court
47F Legality of acts done by person no longer Commissioner
47G Action against a Commissioner
48 Jurisdiction conferred on Land Court
49 Powers of Judges
50 Proceedings in Land Court before different Judges

51 Procedure with respect to the making of orders
52 Orders bind all persons interested
53 Validity of orders
54 Annulment of orders obtained by fraud
55 [Repealed]
56 Enforcement of charges
57 Registration of orders affecting title to land

58 Contempt of Land Court defined
59 Penalty for contempt
60 Jurisdiction in contempt
61 Contempt in face of the Land Court
62 Arrest on warrant
63 Conviction by Land Court
64 Enforcement of fine
65 Discharge of persons in contempt
66 Jurisdiction in contempt may be exercised at any time or place

67-74 [Repealed]
75 Appeals from Land Court
76 Appeals from provisional determinations as to title to Niuean land
77 Successive appeals in respect of same matter
78 Powers of Court of Appeal on appeal
79 Dismissal of appeal for non-prosecution
80 Variation deemed part of original order
81 Orders of Court of Appeal
82 Contempt
83 Court of Appeal may order surveys

84 Definition of "road"
85 Public rights over roads
86 Warrant declaring existing roads
87 Warrants declaring new roads
88 Warrants as to roads to be gazetted
89 Access to land
90 Closing of roads

91 Interpretation
92 Adoption by Niuean custom invalid
93 Adoption by Niuean custom before 1 April
1916 by parent dying before 5 December 1921
94 Validity of adoption registered before 1 April 1916
95 Court may make adoption orders
96 Prohibition of payments in consideration of adoption
97 Restrictions on making adoption orders
98 Consents to adoptions
99 Effect of adoption order
100 Adoption order may be varied or discharged
101 Adoption orders under Cook Islands Amendment Act 1921

This is the Niue Amendment Act (No 2) 1968, and shall be read together with and deemed part of the Niue Act 1966 (the principal Act).

"alienation", in relation to Niuean land, means the making or grant of any transfer, sale, gift, lease, licence, easement, profit, mortgage, charge, encumbrance, trust, or other disposition, whether absolute or limited, and whether legal or equitable; and includes a contract to make any such alienation; and also includes the surrender or variation of a lease, licence, easement, or profit and the variation of the terms of any other alienation as hereinbefore defined;

"Church purposes" means the provision for the benefit of the adherents of some Christian denomination of a site for a place of worship, or for a pastor’s house, or for a school conducted by the denomination, or for houses for pupils or teachers of such a school, or for a plantation for the support of pupils or teachers of such a school, or for any one or more of such purposes;

"Crown land" means land in Niue vested in the Government, being land that is free from Niuean custom;

"Leveki Mangafaoa" means a trustee or guardian of a family having any right, title, estate, or interest in Niuean land;

"Niuean land" means land in Niue held by Niueans according to the customs and usages in Niue;

"public purpose" means all purposes for which money is appropriated by the Assembly and all lawful purposes and functions of the Government and includes naval, military, and air defence, education, public health, fisheries, public buildings, wharves, jetties, harbours, prisons, water supply, sites for villages, housing purposes, public recreation, land development, and the burial of the dead.

(2) The Registrar of the High Court shall proceed to register the title to all land in accordance with this Act and any other relevant enactment.

(1) Subject to any enactment, the Cabinet may, by warrant, grant in respect of Crown land any lease, licence, easement, or other limited estate, right, or interest, or may accept a surrender of any estate, right, or interest in such land.

(2) In the case of Crown land reserved or set apart for any public purpose, no such grant shall be made except so far as consistent with that purpose.

(1) The Cabinet may, by warrant, declare that any Crown land which is not subject to any lease or to any other right, title, estate, or interest vested in any person shall be Niuean land, and may in the warrant indicate with what particularity it thinks fit the Leveki Mangafaoa, the person, or the family or group of Niueans by whom or on whose behalf it shall be held.

(2) The Land Court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any dispute between Niueans affecting land which has become Niuean land under subsection (1), and may vary or describe with further particularity the Leveki Mangafaoa, the person, or the family or group of Niueans by whom or on whose behalf the land or any part of it shall be held.

Any Crown land may, by warrant of the Cabinet, be set aside as a reserve for any public purpose, and shall be reserved and used for that purpose accordingly, but any such warrant may be at any time revoked.

(1) The Cabinet may by warrant, take any land in Niue for any public purpose specified in the warrant, and it shall thereupon become absolutely vested in the Crown as from the date of the warrant, or from any later date specified therein in that behalf, free from all estates, rights, and interests of any other person therein, save so far as any such estates, rights, or interests are expressly saved by the warrant.

(2) Nothing in this section shall authorise the taking of any land occupied by any building, yard, cemetery, burial ground, or in bona fide occupation as an ornamental park or pleasure ground, except with the prior consent in writing of the Leveki Mangafaoa or of the owner or of the Assembly.

(3) The procedure for taking land for public purposes under this section shall be prescribed by Act.

(1) If any warrant under section 11 is made in error, or if the land so taken or any part of it is found not to be required for the purpose for which it was taken, Cabinet may, by warrant, at any time before compensation has been paid in respect of it, revoke the warrant either wholly or as to any part of the land so taken.

(2) A warrant so revoked shall, so far as revoked, be deemed never to have been made, and the land shall accordingly be deemed to have remained vested in the persons formerly entitled to it or to their successors in title.

(3) Any person interested in the land and suffering loss or damage by the making and revocation of any such warrant taking it shall be entitled to compensation in the same manner, with all necessary modifications, as in the case of compensation for land taken.

(1) When any land has been so taken for a public purpose, all persons having in respect of that land any right, title, estate, or interest which is extinguished or divested by the taking of the land shall be entitled to compensation for it from the Crown.

(2) Cabinet may within 60 days after the date when the land taken has vested in the Crown, offer to the persons entitled to share in the compensation such sum by way of compensation as it thinks fit, and, if the offer is not accepted by all such persons within 30 days after it has been communicated to them, or if no such offer is made within the 60 days aforesaid, the compensation shall be assessed and awarded by the Land Court, either on the application of Cabinet or on application of any person claiming the compensation or share in it.

(3) The compensation so awarded to any person shall constitute a debt due to him by the Crown, and shall be payable out of the Niue Government Account.

(4) In awarding any such compensation, the Court may direct that the compensation, or any part of it, be paid to the Registrar of the Court for distribution to the persons entitled to it.

(5) The receipt of the Registrar of the Court shall be a sufficient discharge for any money so paid in the same manner as if that money had been then paid to the persons entitled to it.

(1) The Cabinet may, by warrant, resume for any public purpose specified in the warrant any Crown land held under lease or otherwise subject to any right, title, or interest in any other person, and every such lease, right, title or interest shall in accordance with the tenor of the warrant determine accordingly, save so far as expressly preserved by it.

(2) All persons entitled to any lease, right, title, or interest so determined shall be entitled to compensation in the same manner as in the case of land taken for public purposes.

Cabinet may, for public purposes, purchase or otherwise acquire any Niuean land or any undivided interest or acquire by grant, assignment, or otherwise any lease, easement, profit a prendre, or other limited right, title, estate, or interest of or
in any such land.

Where any land has under this Part or the corresponding provisions of any former Act been set aside as a reserve or taken or resumed or purchased or otherwise acquired for any public purpose, the public purpose for which the land is held may be varied or cancelled by Cabinet by warrant.

Cabinet may exercise on behalf of the Crown all rights of suit, entry, re-entry, receipt of rents and profits, use, management, control, and possession vested in the Crown in respect of any Crown land.

All land in Niue which at 1 November 1969 is held by Niueans under Niuean custom is hereby vested in the Crown as the trustee of owners of it, and shall be held by the Crown subject to Niuean custom, and all such land is hereby declared to be Niuean land accordingly, but shall remain subject to any right which may have been lawfully acquired in respect of it before 1 November 1969 otherwise than under Niuean custom.

The Land Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to investigate the title to Niuean land and to determine the relative interests of the owners or occupiers of any such land under this Act or any other enactment.

Every title to and estate or interest in Niuean land shall be determined under Niuean custom and any Act of the Assembly or other enactment affecting Niuean custom.

No person shall be capable of making any alienation of Niuean land or of any interest in it, except as provided by Part 2 or under any other enactment.

(1) For the purpose of preventing trespass or injury to Niuean land the title to which has not been registered, or of recovering damages for any such trespass or injury, or for the purpose of recovering possession of any such land from any person in wrongful occupation of it, an action or other proceeding may be brought by or on behalf of the Crown as if the land were Crown land.

(2) Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to take away or affect any jurisdiction conferred upon the Land Court by this Act.

(1) The Land Court, if it is satisfied that any Niuean land has been at any time given or set aside by the Leveki Mangafaoa, or, where there is no Leveki Mangafaoa, the owners exclusively for Church purposes for the benefit of the adherents of some Christian denomination, and that the Leveki Mangafaoa or the owners, as the case may be, are willing that the land shall be exclusively so used in perpetuity, and that no sufficient alienation or disposition of the land by way of lease or otherwise has been made in pursuance and furtherance of the said gift or setting aside, may make an order under this section vesting that land in any body corporate to hold and administer it for such Church purposes as are specified in the order.

(2) On application being made under this section, the Court may make one or more orders, subject to such terms and conditions as the Court thinks fit to impose, vesting the land in such body corporate as may be nominated by the applicant.

(3) Every order made under this section shall take effect according to its tenor, and the land affected by it shall vest in the body corporate without any transfer or other instrument of assurance.

Where any land vested in any body corporate or persons under section 26 is no longer required for the Church purposes specified in the vesting order, the land may be acquired by the Crown under Part 2 and no compensation shall be payable to any person in respect of it.

All records, instruments, reservations, and generally all acts of authority relating to the giving or setting aside of land for Church purposes subsisting and in force at 1 November 1969 may be accepted by the Land Court as evidence in support of any application under section 26.

(1) Subject to articles 41(1) and 43 of the Constitution no person other than a barrister or solicitor of not less than 7 years practice in Niue or in a country with substantially identical land tenure system to that of Niue, or as a Judge of the Land Court of such other country and can demonstrate an appreciation of the customary land rules and practices of the Niuean people, may be appointed as a Judge of the Land Court.

(2) With the exception of the Chief Justice who shall be the superior Judge of the Land Court, other Judges of the Court shall have seniority among themselves according to the dates of their appointments as judges. If 2 or more of them are appointed on the same day, they shall have the seniority according to the precedence as such judges or, failing any such assignment, according to the order they take the official oath under article 55C of the Constitution.

(1) Subject to articles 46(2) and 47 of the Constitution and to this section any barrister or solicitor with less than 7 years practice in Niue or any other persons or officers of the Government of Niue (except the Registrar) possessing the desired qualities and a good appreciation of Niuean customs in relation to land and other land related matters and of good standing in the community, may be appointed a Commissioner of the Land Court.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), none of the following persons shall be qualified to be appointed as a Commissioner of the Land Court, namely –

(3) The rules of seniority of judges laid down in section 29 shall apply to Commissioners as if the reference to judges in that section were a reference to Commissioner.

Subject to articles 44 and 49 of the Constitution there shall be paid to the Chief Justice, Judges and Commissioners out of the Niue Government Account, without further appropriation than this section the salaries and allowances set out in the Schedule.

(2) The Registrar shall keep or cause to be kept such records of and in relation to proceedings in the Land Court as may be prescribed.

(3) There may also be appointed a Deputy Registrar who shall, subject to the control of the Registrar, possess, exercise, and perform the same powers, functions, and duties as the Registrar, and every reference in any enactment to the Registrar shall, so far as applicable, extend and apply to the Deputy Registrar accordingly.

There shall be appointed in respect of the Land Court such clerks, interpreters, and other administrative officers as may be necessary.

The records, plans, and documents relating to the business of the Land Court shall be kept, and the administrative work of the Land Court shall be carried on, at such places as the Chief Justice directs.

Registers shall be kept by the Registrar, in which shall be recorded minutes of all applications made to the Court and of all orders and proceedings made or had thereon.

(1) The Land Court shall have in the custody of each Judge and the Registrar a seal which shall be the seal of the Court, and shall be used for sealing documents which require to be sealed.

(1) The practice and procedure of the Land Court in all matters within its jurisdiction shall be as prescribed by enactment.

(2) So far as the Rules of the Land Court do not extend, but subject to this Act, the Court shall in all matters proceed in such manner as seems just and convenient in that particular case.

(1) The jurisdiction of the Land Court in any matter may be exercised on the application of any person claiming to be interested in it, or on the application of Cabinet of any person authorised by Cabinet in that behalf.

(2) In the course of the proceedings on any application, the Land Court may, subject to this Act, Rules of Court, and any other enactment, without further application and upon such terms as notice to parties and otherwise as the Court thinks fit, proceed to exercise any other part of its jurisdiction the exercise of which in those proceedings the Court thinks necessary or advisable.

(1) On the application of any person interested, the Land Court may grant a rehearing of any matter either wholly or as to any part of it.

(2) On any such rehearing the Court may either affirm, vary, or annul its former determination, and may exercise any jurisdiction which it might have exercised on the original hearing.

(3) When a rehearing has been so granted, the period allowed for an appeal shall not commence to run until the rehearing has been disposed of by a final order of the Court.

(4) Any such rehearing may be granted on such terms as to costs and otherwise as the Court thinks fit, and the granting or refusal of it shall be in the absolute discretion of the Court.

(5) No order shall be so varied or annulled at any time after the signing and sealing of it.

(1) The times and places of the sittings of the Land Court shall be determined by Rules of Court.

(2) The dates of the commencement of the ordinary sittings of the Court for the period of 12 months commencing on 1 April in each year shall be published in the Gazette before the commencement of that period or as soon as practicable after the commencement of it.

(3) Special sittings may be held at such times and places as may be appointed by the Chief Justice.

(1) In addition to any jurisdiction specifically conferred upon the Land Court by any enactment other than this section, the Land Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction –

(a) To hear and determine any application to the Land Court relating to the ownership, possession, occupation, or utilisation of Niuean land, or to any right, title, estate or interest in Niuean land or in the proceeds of any alienation of it;

(b) To determine the relative interests of the owners or the occupiers in any Niuean land;

(d) To hear and determine any claim to recover damages for trespass or any other injury to Niuean land;

(e) To grant an injunction against any person in respect of actual or threatened trespass or any other injury to Niuean land;

(f) To grant an injunction prohibiting any person from dealing with or doing any injury to any property which is the subject-matter of any application to the Land Court;

(h) To make any order recording the determination of any matter relating to land or any interest in it, whether provided for in this Act or other enactment;

(2) The grant of an easement under subsection (1)(g) may, if the Court thinks fit, be made subject to the payment of compensation in respect of it, or to any other conditions that the Court may impose.

(1) Subject to this section, Commissioners shall be empowered to exercise any or all of the jurisdiction conferred upon the Land Court under section 47 in addition to any other jurisdiction (whether judicial or administrative) conferred upon the Judges or Commissioners by any enactment, but excluding those vested exclusively in the Chief Justice.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) and for the purposes of exercising the jurisdiction conferred on the Land Court under section 47(1) the following provisions shall apply –

(a) For the purposes of exercising the jurisdiction under section 47 (1) (a), (b) and (i) not less than 5 Commissioners sitting together may exercise such powers;

(b) In every other case (whether arising out of the remaining provisions of the said section 47(1) or of any other enactment) not less than 2 Commissioners sitting together may exercise such other powers, except where an enactment expressly empowers a Commissioner sitting alone to exercise any of the powers.

(3) All references in this Act or any enactment (including any rules of the Land Court, regulations, orders or by-laws) to a Judge of the Land Court shall be construed as applying to the Commissioners of the Land Court within the limits of the jurisdiction conferred upon them under this section.

(1) Where proceedings has been commenced before Commissioners, the Commissioners may, at any time before a final decision has been made –

(a) Decline to deal further with the matter and require that it shall be dealt with by a Judge; or

(b) Where a question of law has arisen and it is necessary for such question to be referred to a Judge, the Commissioners may adjourn the proceedings until such question of law has been dealt with by a Judge.

(2) Where the Commissioners decline to deal further with the matter, a Judge shall deal with such matter by way of a rehearing.

(1) In any proceedings before Commissioners, the decision of the Land Court shall be in accordance with the opinion of the majority of the Commissioners present.

(2) If the Commissioners present are equally divided in opinion then the Court shall decline from making a final decision and the opinions of all the Commissioners present shall be referred to the Chief Justice and whichever opinion the Chief Justice endorses that opinion shall form the decision of the Court.

(1) Any party to any proceedings before Commissioners of the Land Court may appeal from the judgment of the Commissioners to a Judge of the Land Court.

(2) Every such appeal shall be by way of rehearing and section 45 of this Act and rule 39 of the Land Court Rules 1969 shall apply accordingly.

(2) Where the attendance of Commissioners is required at any sitting of the Court, the Registrar shall summon as many Commissioners as he thinks necessary to attend.

The legality of anything done by a person while he is a Commissioner shall not be affected by his ceasing to be a Commissioner, but anything done by any person after he has ceased to be a Commissioner in purported exercise of any of the powers or duties of such office shall be void.

No action shall be brought against any Commissioner for any act done by him in the course of exercising his duties.

(1) In addition to the jurisdiction elsewhere in this Act conferred upon the Land Court, Cabinet may confer upon that Court, as effectually as if it were conferred by this Act, jurisdiction in any matter or question affecting exclusively the rights of Niueans in any property, and thereupon the Land Court shall have full jurisdiction to determine that matter or question.

(2) Any order of the Land Court in any such matter or question shall be valid and binding in law, and may be dealt with as nearly as may be in the same manner as an order or determination of a similar nature made by the Court in the exercise of the jurisdiction conferred upon it by this Act.

A Judge sitting alone or any 2 or more Judges sitting together may exercise all the powers of the Land Court.

Proceedings in the Land Court may be continued before a Judge or Judges other than the Judge or Judges before whom the proceedings were commenced.

(a) The substance of every final order of the Land Court shall be pronounced orally in open court.

(b) Subject to subsection (5), every such order shall take effect according to its tenor as from the commencement of the day on which it is so pronounced.

(2) As soon as practicable after the entry in the records of a minute, the order shall be drawn up in writing under the seal of the Land Court and shall be signed as hereinafter provided.

(3) Any such order may be signed by the Judge by whom it was made or by any other Judge of the Land Court.

(a) The order drawn up, sealed, and signed as hereinbefore provided shall be dated as of the date of the minute and shall relate back to that date.

(b) The validity and operation of all intermediate orders, instruments, proceedings, and transactions shall be determined accordingly.

(5) No order shall be questioned or invalidated on the ground of any variance between the order as so drawn up, sealed and signed and the minute thereof; and in the case of any variance the order shall prevail over and supersede the minute.

(6) Any order may be made subject to the performance of conditions within such time as may be limited in that behalf in the order and, in any such case, the Land Court, without further application but subject to the giving of such notices (if any) as the Land Court may direct, may amend or cancel the order on the failure to comply with the conditions within the time limited as aforesaid.

(7) No order made under Part 4 shall be sealed and signed until and unless there has been drawn or endorsed on it a plan of the land affected by it sufficient to identify the land and the boundaries.

(8) Except with the leave of the Land Court, no order from which there is a right of appeal shall issue from the office of the Land Court before the time allowed for appeal has expired or, in the event of an appeal, before the appeal has been duly disposed of.

(a) The Land Court may at any time cause duplicates of any order to be sealed and signed.

(b) Every such duplicate shall have the word "Duplicate" written or stamped on it, and shall have the same evidentiary value as the order of which it is a duplicate.

(10) Where by any enactment provision is made for production of an order of the Land Court for purposes of registration or otherwise, it shall be sufficient compliance with that provision if a duplicate of the order, or a copy of it issued under the seal of the Court and certified by a Judge or the Registrar as a correct copy, is so produced.

Every order of the Land Court determining or affecting the title to Niuean land or to any estate or interest in it shall bind all persons having any interest in that land, whether or not they are parties to or have notice of the proceedings in which the order is made, and whether or not they are subject to any disability.

(1) No order of the Land Court shall be invalid because of any error, irregularity, or defect in the form thereof or in the practice or procedure of the Court even though by reason of that error, irregularity, or defect the order was made without or in excess of jurisdiction.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall apply to any order which in its nature or substance and independently of its form or of the practice or procedure of the court was made without or in excess of jurisdiction.

(3) Every order made by the Land Court shall be presumed in all courts and in all proceedings to have been made within the jurisdiction of the court, unless the contrary is proved or appears on the face of the order.

(1) When any charge is imposed either by this Act or by the Land Court upon any Niuean land or upon any interest in it, that Court may at any time for the purpose of enforcing that charge appoint a receiver in respect of the property so charged.

(2) A receiver so appointed shall be entitled, unless the Land Court otherwise orders, to the possession of the property and to the receipt of the rents and profits.

(3) Any person who obstructs any such receiver in the execution of his office shall be guilty of contempt of the Land Court.

(1) Any order of the Land Court affecting or relating to the title to land may be registered against the title to that land.

(2) For the purposes of registration the order shall be filed in the Land Registry Office, and the Registrar shall thereupon, subject to the provisions of any enactment, register the order accordingly.

(3) Nothing in this section shall affect or modify any special provisions made in any other enactment for the registration of any such order.

(a) Knowingly disobeys any order of that Court or of a Judge of it, otherwise than by making default in the payment of any sum of money payable under such an order; or

(b) Uses any abusive, insulting, offensive, or threatening words or behaviour in the presence or hearing of the court; or

(c) Assaults, resists, or obstructs, or incites any other person to assault, resist, or obstruct, any constable or officer of the court in serving any process of the court or in executing any warrant or order of the court or of a Judge of it; or

(d) By any words or behaviour in the presence or hearing of the court, obstructs in any manner the proper and orderly administration of justice in the court; or

(e) Does any other thing which elsewhere in this Act or in any other enactment is declared to be a contempt of the Land Court; or

(f) Aids, abets, counsels, procures, or incites any other person to commit contempt of the Land Court.

(a) Having been served with a summons requiring him to appear before the Land Court at a time and place mentioned in the summons, neglects or fails without sufficient cause shown by him to appear or to produce any document which he is so required to produce; or

(b) Whether summoned to attend or not, is present in court and, being required to give evidence or to produce any document then in his possession, refuses, without sufficient cause shown by him, to be sworn or to give evidence or to produce that document; or

(c) Having been sworn to give evidence in any proceedings, neglects or fails without sufficient cause shown by him to appear at such time as the Court directs for the purpose of giving further evidence in the proceedings.

Every person who commits contempt of the Land Court is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding 1 penalty unit.

(1) If the contempt is committed in the presence or hearing of the Land Court, any Judge there and then sitting in that Court may without order or warrant direct any constable, officer of the court, or other person to arrest the person so guilty of contempt, and to bring him before the court.

(2) The Court may thereupon, after giving the person so arrested a reasonable opportunity of being heard in his defence, by warrant under the seal of the Court, either commit him to prison for a term not exceeding 6 months or order him to pay a fine not exceeding 1 penalty unit.

If contempt of the Land Court is committed otherwise than in the sight or hearing of the Court, any Judge of that Court may issue his warrant for the arrest of the offender or may summon him to appear before the Court.

On the appearance of the offender before the Land Court, the Court may, after giving him a reasonable opportunity to be heard in his defence, by warrant under the seal of the Court, either commit him to prison for a term not exceeding 6 months or order him to pay a fine not exceeding 1 penalty unit.

If a fine imposed by the Court for contempt under the foregoing provisions is not paid, the Court may, by warrant under its seal, commit the offender to prison for a term not exceeding 6 months.

Any person so committed to prison for contempt or for default in payment of a fine may be at any time discharged, and any fine so imposed may be at any time remitted in whole or in part, either by order of the Land Court or by warrant under the hand of Cabinet.

Notwithstanding this Act, the jurisdiction hereby conferred upon the Land Court in respect of contempt of court may be exercised by any Judge of that court sitting at any time and place which he thinks fit.

(1) Except as expressly provided to the contrary in this Act, the Court of Appeal shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from any final order of the Land Court, whether made under the principal Act or this Act or under any other authority in that behalf.

(2) Any such appeal may be brought as of right at the suit of any party to the proceedings in which the order is made, or at the suit of any person bound by the order or interested in it.

(3) Every such appeal shall be commenced by notice of appeal given in the prescribed manner within 2 months after the date of the minute of the order appealed from.

(1) By leave of the Land Court, an appeal shall lie to the Court of Appeal from any provisional or preliminary determination of the Land Court made in the course of any proceedings for the ascertainment of any right, title, or interest in Niuean land.

(2) Any such appeal may be brought at the suit of any person who is interested in the determination appealed from, or who would be bound by a partition order made under it.

(3) When leave to appeal is so given, the Land Court may either stay further proceedings in the matter or continue the proceedings, but no final order shall be made until the appeal has been finally disposed of or dismissed.

(4) When any such appeal has been determined by the Court of Appeal, no further appeal shall lie as of right at the suit of any person from any final order thereafter made in those proceedings by the Land Court so far as that order conforms to the determination of the Court of Appeal.

Successive appeals to the Court of Appeal may be brought in respect of the same order at the suit of different persons, but no matter determined on appeal shall be again brought in question in any other appeal.

On any appeal, the Court of Appeal may do any one or more of the following things –

(b) Annul that order, with or without the substitution of any other order therefore;

(d) Direct the Land Court to make such other or additional order as the Court of Appeal thinks fit;

If the appellant in any case does not prosecute his appeal with due diligence, the respondent or any other person bound by or interested in the order appealed from may apply either to the Land Court or to the Court of Appeal for an order dismissing the appeal for non-prosecution; and, if such an order is made by either court, the costs of the appeal and the security entered into (if any) by the appellant shall be dealt with in such manner as that court may direct.

(1) When an order of the Land Court is varied by the Court of Appeal, it shall, as so varied, be deemed to remain and be an order of the Land Court and the variation shall take and be deemed to have taken effect from the same date as if the order had been originally made by the Land Court in that form.

(2) When an order of the Land Court is varied by the Court of Appeal, the order as so varied shall be drawn up as an order of the Land Court and shall be sealed with the seal of that Court and signed by the presiding Judge or by the Chief Justice, and shall bear the same date as if no such appeal and variation had taken place; and the order as so drawn up shall supersede and take the place of the order as originally made, whether or not that order has been already drawn up, sealed, and signed.

(1) If on appeal the Court of Appeal makes (otherwise than by way of variations as aforesaid) any order which the Land Court might have made in the proceedings, a minute of the order shall be entered in the records of the Court of Appeal and the order shall take effect as an order of the Court of Appeal as from the commencement of the day of the making of it.

(2) As soon as practicable after the making of the order, it shall be drawn up in writing under the seal of the Court of Appeal and the hand of the presiding Judge or of the Chief Justice, and shall be dated as of the date of the minute.

(3) Subject to this section, section 51 with respect to orders drawn up, sealed, and signed in the Land Court shall extend and apply to orders so drawn up, sealed, and signed in the Court of Appeal.

(4) Sections 52 and 53 shall extend and apply to orders of the Court of Appeal in the same manner as to orders of the Land Court.

Sections 58 to 66 shall extend and apply to the Court of Appeal in the same manner as to the Land Court.

The Court of Appeal shall have the same powers with respect to the authorisation of surveys as are conferred upon the Court and by section 47(1)(i).

(1) In this Part "road" means any land which under this Part or the corresponding provisions of any former Act has been declared as a road.

(2) Upon the declaration of any land as a road, it shall, subject to the public right of way on it, vest in the Crown, together with all materials and things of which the road is composed, or which are capable of being used for the purpose of the road and are placed or laid upon the road.

(1) Subject to the provisions of any enactment, the public shall have full rights to pass and repass over any road.

(2) All roads shall be under the control of and may be formed, maintained, and repaired by the Crown.

As soon as practicable after the commencement of this Act, the Registrar shall prepare and deposit in the Land Registry Office a plan showing all land which in his opinion has been used as of right by the public and ought to be constituted as a road, and Cabinet shall by warrant, declare to be roads all land shown on that plan as roads.

(2) For the purpose of this Part, it shall not be necessary to define the boundary of any unsurveyed Crown land or Niuean land affected by any such road.

Every warrant of Cabinet under this Part shall be under its hand and the seal of Niue, and shall be published in the Gazette, and shall take effect according to its tenor upon that publication or upon any later date specified in that behalf in the warrant.

(1) The Land Court may, by order, at any time declare any land to be subject to a right of the public or of any person or class of persons to traverse that land for the purpose of gaining access or improved access to any other land, subject to any conditions which may be prescribed by the Court.

(2) The rights of any person under such an order shall be subject to an obligation not to cause any damage to the land affected by the order or any crops or improvements on it.

(3) The Court may, at the time of making the order, or at any time thereafter, define by reference to a plan or map the route to be followed over the land; and, in any case where the route is defined subsequent to the making of the order, the Court may impose additional conditions or vary any conditions already made.

(4) No order shall be made declaring a right of access over Crown land except with the consent in writing of the Cabinet.

(5) The declaration of any right of access over any land shall not affect the ownership of the land.

(6) Any order made under this section may at any time be amended or cancelled, if the Court thinks fit.

(i) The area comprising the closed road or part will be left without access to a road, either directly or by being added to adjoining land which has direct access to some other road; or

(ii) Any land having direct access to that road or part will be left having no direct access to any road.

(2) Where any road or part of any road has been closed under this section, the Land Court may, on application by Cabinet, make an order vesting the whole or any portion of the land comprised in the road or part that has been closed in the Leveki Mangafaoa or, where there is no Leveki Mangafaoa, the owners of any adjoining land which, when the road was constituted, was Niuean land.

(3) Any land vested under this section shall become subject to any reservation, trust, right, title, interest or encumbrance to which the land with which it is incorporated is then subject.

(4) By the same or a subsequent order, the Court may amend any existing title to include in it the land comprised in the road or part of it that has been closed as aforesaid; and the Registrar is hereby authorised to make all necessary entries or amendments in the Land Register.

"adopted child" means any person in respect of whom an adoption order is in force;

No adoption by Niuean custom, whether made before or after 1 November 1969 shall be of any force or effect, whether in respect of intestate succession or otherwise.

93 Adoption by Niuean custom before 1 April 1916 by parent dying before 5 December 1921

Notwithstanding anything in section 92, in any case where before 1 April 1916 any child was adopted by Niuean custom and since that date and before 5 December 1921 the adopting parent has died, the adoption shall for all purposes have the same operation and effect as that which is attributed by Niuean custom to adoption by Niuean custom.

Any adoption lawfully made and registered in the Cook Islands Land Titles Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction in Niue before and subsisting on 1 April 1916 and continuing to subsist at 1 November 1969, shall continue to have the same force and effect as if lawfully made by an order of adoption under this Part.

(1) Subject to this Part, the Land Court may, upon an application made by any person, whether domiciled in Niue or not, make an adoption order in respect of any child, whether Niuean or European, and whether domiciled in Niue or not.

(2) An adoption order may be made on the application of spouses jointly in respect of a child.

(3) An adoption order may be made in respect of the adoption of a child by the mother or father or the child, either alone or jointly with his or her spouse.

Except with the consent of the Court, it shall not be lawful for any person to give or receive or agree to give or receive any payment or reward in consideration of the making of arrangements for an adoption or proposed adoption.

(1) No adoption order shall be made under this Part unless the Land Court is satisfied that –

(a) The child to be adopted is under the age of 21 years at the date of the filing of the application; and

(b) The applicant or, in the case of a joint application, one of the applicants, has attained the age of 25 years and is at least 21 years older than the child, or is the mother or father of the child; and

(d) Where the child is female and the sole applicant is male, the applicant is the father of the child, or there are special circumstances which justify the making of an order; and

(e) The child, if in the opinion of the Court is above the age of 12 years, consents to the adoption; and

(f) The applicant is a fit and proper person to have the care and custody of the child and of sufficient ability to maintain the child, and the adoption will not be contrary to the welfare and interests of the child.

(2) In order to satisfy itself as to the matters mentioned in subsection (1) (f) the Court shall call for a report on it by Cabinet or by an officer of the Niue Public Service nominated for the purpose by Cabinet.

(3) No adopted child shall, in the lifetime of an adoptive parent and while the adoption order remains in force, be adopted by any other person save the husband or wife of that parent.

(1) No adoption order shall be made without the consent of the parents or of the surviving parent (if any) of the child, whether that child is born in lawful wedlock or not, but no such consent shall be required from any parent if the Court is satisfied that the child has been deserted by that parent, or that that parent is for any reason unfit to have the care and custody of the child, or if the Court for any other reason whatsoever considers that the consent of that parent should be dispensed with.

(2) Every consent given under subsection (1) shall be given in writing and witnessed by one of the persons specified in section 78(1) of the principal Act, and every such witness shall certify that the parent signing the consent fully understands the effect of an adoption order.

(3) Where the application for an adoption order is made by either a husband or a wife alone, no order shall be made without the consent of the spouse of the applicant, save that no such consent shall be required if the Court is satisfied that the spouses are living apart and that their separation is likely to be permanent.

Every adoption order shall have both in Niue and in New Zealand the same operation and effect as an adoption order made under the Adoption Act 1955 has by virtue of section 16(1) and (2) of that Act.

(1) The Land Court may vary or discharge any adoption order subject to such terms and conditions as it thinks fit, on the application of any adoptive parent or of the adopted child.

(2) The Land Court may, subject to such terms and conditions as it thinks fit, discharge any adoption made in any place outside Niue either before or after 1 November 1969 if –

(3) No application for discharge of any adoption shall be made without the prior approval of Cabinet and no adoption order or adoption shall be discharged unless the adoption order was made by mistake as to a material fact in consequence of a material misrepresentation to the Court or to any person concerned.

(4) Where the Court discharges an adoption order or adoption as aforesaid, it may confer on the person to whom the order or adoption related such surname with such first or Christian name as the Court thinks fit; but, if it does not do so, the names of the person shall not be affected by the discharge of the order.

(5) The discharge of an adoption order shall have both in Niue and in New Zealand the same effect as the discharge of an adoption order under the Adoption Act 1955 has by virtue of section 20(b) of that Act.

(1) Every adoption order duly made under section 9 of the Cook Islands Amendment Act 1921 and in force at 1 November 1969 shall for all purposes have the same force and effect as an order of adoption lawfully made under this Part, and the person named in it as the adopted child shall be deemed to have been lawfully adopted as from the date of his adoption by Niuean custom, or, where that date has not been proved to the satisfaction of the Court, from such date as may be specified in the order made under the said section 9.

Class	Step	Daily Rate	Hourly Rate	Annual Allowance	Designation
JO 04	15 14	$500 $450	$160 $160	$5,000 $4,700	Chief Justice Appeal Judge
JO 03	13 12 11	$400 $375 $350	$150 $150 $150	$4,100 $4,000 $3,900	High Court Judge
	10	$36	$1,100
	09	$33	$1,000
	08	$30	$900
	07	$27	$800
	06	$24	$700
	05	$21	$600
	04	$19	$500
	03	$17	$400
JO 02	02	$15	$300		Commissioners
JO 01	01	$13	$200		Justice of the Peace

(1) Excepting the Chief Justice and any full time judiciary appointee, all fee payments together with the annual allowance shall be paid quarterly in arrears provided however, the full annual allowance shall only be payable if the judiciary member has earned fee payments of four times the annual allowance. If less than four times the annual allowance has been earned in fees then the judiciary member shall be paid an equivalent proportion of the annual allowance.

Lay person	Steps 1-3
Legally qualified	Steps 3-6
Commissioners –
Lay person	Steps 2-8
Legally qualified	Steps 6-11
Judges
High Court	Steps 11-13

Chief Justice/Appeal Court Judges	Steps 14-15

The gradings are not related to the Niue Public Service grading system nor to the previous judiciary gradings.

Niue Consolidated Legislation

Niue Amendment Act (No 2) 1968