Resource information
Island courts have been in operation in
Vanuatu since 1984. Official documents have hitherto
provided little information on their practical operations or
utility, and our preliminary research in 2010 found that not
much was known at the state governance level about their
real circumstances. In 2011, we conducted fieldwork research
on five islands, Efate, Santo, Malekula, Epi, and Tanna, to
provide better information on the practical operations of
island courts and their use by ni-Vanuatu. The author found
that although island courts have the potential to provide a
valuable service to rural ni-Vanuatu, a number of problems
must first be addressed. Their resources and support
networks need to be improved and a regularity in these
services guaranteed. Networking with other governance
institutions (including nongovernmental organizations
[NGOs]) at the local level in the provinces could be
facilitated, as cooperation among these institutions would
be beneficial to all of them. It will also be useful to
nencourage the island courts to strengthen the flexibility
and creativity that they are, of necessity, already
developing, particularly in relation to matters of 'kastom.'
