The Land Court has blamed the Minister for Lands for part of the failure of a claim in a lands dispute.
The president of the court, M.J.Whitten, said the plaintiff, Sione Langi Sunia, had been unsuccessful due to the failings of the Minister, the failure of a principal in the case to disclose his US and the failure of the defendant to establish a legal right to be on the land.
Whitten said the Minister’s decisions in the case to have affected by the application of wrong principles and errors of law to take into account relevant considerations and failure to observe the rules of natural justice.
The dispute centred on ownership of a tax allotment known as Siatanu, situated at Ha’atafu in Tongatapu. Sione was registered as owner of the land in February 2016.
A house on the land was built by his parents, Kepueli and Latasunia.
For 20 years Viviena and Paula Kava and their children lived on the land. In 2014 Kepueli asked them to leave the land so his married daughter could live there.
Sione sought an eviction order of the defendants and damages for trespass,
Kepueli was born in Tonga but immigrated to Hawai’i when he was 16 and eventually became a US citizen.
In 1998 he applied for a grant for the allotment, declaring he was a Tongan citizen.
In the same year Tevita Mataele Langi the son of Kepueli’s eldest brother claimed the allotment, which was granted.
Following a dispute, the two men agreed that Tevita’s registration would be cancelled.
The land was granted to Kepueli, who at this stage he had not told anybody he had renounced his Tongan citizenship.
In 2014, on visit from Hawai’i, he enquired at the Ministry of Lands about the progress of the registration of the land and was told it was in progress.
However, Paula Kava, later claimed the land belonged to Tevita and said it had been discovered that at all times Kepueli was an American citizen and had no claim to the land.
Kepueli then learned that his son, Sione, could hold the land because his mother had retained her Tongan citizenship.
In his summing up Mr Whitten said the case turned on Kepueli’s citizenship. He said this had not been considered properly by the Minister even though it materially affected the ownership of the land, the question of succession and the right of occupation.
He said the Minister fell into error principally because of Kepueli failing to disclose his US citizenship.
He said the defendants had not established a legal basis to remain on the land.
The main points
- The Land Court has blamed the Minister for Lands for part of the failure of a claim in a lands dispute.
- The president of the court, M.J.Whitten, said the plaintiff, Sione Langi Sunia, had been unsuccessful due to the failings of the Minister, the failure of a principal in the case to disclose his US and the failure of the defendant to establish a legal right to be on the land.
