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Limine v Lainej [1954] TTLawRp 5; 1 TTR 107 (7 June 1954)

TRIAL DIVISION OF THE HIGH COURT

MARSHALL ISLANDS DISTRICT

Civil Action No. 18

LIMINE
Plaintiff

v

LAINEJ, LITOWELAN and JINET
Defendants

June 7, 1954

See, also, 1 T.T.R. 231, 595

Action to determine alab and dri jerbal rights in certain wato on Jabo Island, Arno Atoll. The Trial Division of the High Court, Chief Justice E. P. Furber, held that power of iroij lablab over lands under them is subject to laws of present administration; in order for their decisions to have legal effect, they must act within the limits of the law, as reasonable and responsible officials, and with due regard for those having rights in land under Marshallese custom.

1. Marshalls Land Law-"Iroij Lablab"-Limitation of Powers

Power of an iroij lablab to transfer alab rights in land under him is more limited than it once was.

2. Marshalls Land Law-"Iroij Lablab"-Limitation of Powers

All indigenous leaders, including iroij lablab, are expected to obey laws laid down for them by foreign administration, and to restrict exercise of their powers within limits of those laws.

3. Marshalls Land Law-"Iroij Lablab"-Powers

Although rights of those under iroij lablab are firmer and clearer than in former times, main outline of Marshallese system of land ownership remains in force, including general power and obligation by iroij lablab over lands under him.

4. Marshalls Land Law-"Iroij Lablab"-Obligations

Iroij lablab, in making determinations as to rights in land under them, must act with honest regard for welfare of their people, and with reasonable consideration for rights of those having interests in land under Marshallese custom.

5. Marshalls Land Law-"Iroij Lablab"-Obligations

There must be good reason or reasons for decisions of iroij lablab, especially when these would upset clearly established rights.

6. Marshalls Land Law-"Iroij Lablab"-Limitation of Powers

In order for their decisions to have legal effect in land matters, iroij lablab must act within limits of the law, including Marshallese custom, so far as it has not been changed by higher authority.

7. Marshalls Land Law-"Iroij Lablab"-Obligations

Where law leaves matters to their judgment, iroij lablab must act reasonably as responsible officials and not simply to satisfy personal wishes;

8. Marshalls Land Law-Generally

Marshallese system of land law, including both power and obligation of iroij lablab and limitations on it, has been carried over under American Administration, under general principles of international law and Trust Territory law. (T.T.C., Sec. 24)

9. Marshalls Land Law-"Iroij Lablab"-Powers

Determinations made by iroij lablab with regard to his lands are entitled to great weight, and it is to be supposed they are reasonable unless it is clear they are not.

10. Marshalls Land Law-"Iroij Lablab"-Obligations

Action of iroij lablab, in attempting to establish claimant as alab, in complete disregard of rights established and clearly recognized by him years before, is unreasonable, contrary to Marshallese custom, and of no legal effect.

FURBER, Chief Justice

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The alab (person in immediate charge of a wato or piece of land) and dri jerbal (worker) rights in all of the land in question were held by the children of Lojanin and Neiema as ninnin (land given by a father to his child or children). They permitted the land to pass down the female line as property of the bwij (that is strictly, the extended matrilineal family), or branch of the bwij, consisting of their descendants.

2. The bwij, or branch of the bwij, consisting of the descendants of the children of Lojanin and Neiema, ran out in the female line with the death of Litakere about 1944.

3. After Litakere's death, Iroij Lablab (Paramount Chief) Tobo confirmed the right of the children of the last generation of male members of this bwij, or branch of the bwij, to inherit by establishing Lainej as alab. His action in doing this was reasonable and proper under Marshallese custom.

4. It is therefore unnecessary, so far as this action is concerned, to decide whether any of the wato in question were included in the general arrangement made by Laniema while alab, with the approval of the iroij lablab, with regard to those lands under him as alab which were not worked by him personally or the immediate members of his family. This arrangement was that the senior dri jerbal on each wato of these lands would become the alab of that particular wato on the death of Litakere. The action of the iroij lablab in approving this was also reasonable and proper under Marshallese custom. If this arrangement applied to any of the wato in question in this action, one or another of the defendants would be alab of each such wato on that basis.

5. Several years after establishing Lainej as alab, Iroij Lablab Tobo changed his mind and announced that he recognized the plaintiff Limine as alab of the land in question. There was no good reason for this change. The only reason assigned for it was that at the time he established Lainej, Limine was living with a woman Iroij Lablab Tobo did not like and did not come to him, and that she had now left that woman. Lainej had not done anything wrong or failed in his obligations to the iroij lablab in any way since the time of his establishment as alab, and it is not even alleged that he had.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

[1] 1. The basic question of law involved in this action is as to the power of an iroij lablab to transfer alab rights in land under him. That power has become more limited than it once was.

[2] 2. In the days before control by any foreign administration over the Marshall Islands, the principal limitation on the powers of an iroij lablab appears to have been the practical necessity of retaining the loyalty of enough of his subordinates so that they would effectively support him in power by force of arms-particularly in wars. So long as he could maintain control by force or threat of force, his personal decision was final. Even under these conditions certain interests in land and principles as to their inheritance became established by custom, which the iroij lablab