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Analysis of the Fourteen Proposed Amendments 

to the FSM Constitution (as amended) 

by John R. Haglelgam

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[Full Faith and Credit]

[57% of the voters in the August 27, 2002, referendum voted in favor of this amendment.  A 75% affirmative vote was required to pass the amendment, so the amendment failed.]

4. Committee Proposal No. 01-7:

This proposed amendment adds a new Section 8 to Article XIII of the Constitution. It reads: "Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state. The Congress shall prescribe by statute the manner in which such acts, records and judicial proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof."

ANALYSIS:

The implication of this proposed amendment is both legal and political. Legally, for the first time in the history of our country, public laws, records, and judicial proceedings in one state will be accorded the same legal recognition in the other three states. For example, if a person is arrested in Eauripik in Yap State and he subsequently escapes to Kapingamarangi on a paddling canoe, Pohnpei State will be legally obligated to send him back to Eauripik to stand trial. Additionally, a Pohnpei court judgment will be enforceable against a defendant who escapes to Yap without requiring the plaintiff to prove his case again in Yap court. In a dispute between two legal residents of Chuuk in Yap, the court in Yap may apply relevant Chuukese laws.

This proposal is not self-executing. If approved, the FSM Congress needs to pass implementing legislation to set out the manner of proving public acts and records and judicial proceedings.

Politically, this proposal may forge a close cooperation and good working relationship among the FSM states, thus fostering a sense of unity and nationalism.

©  John R. Haglelgam, March 4, 2002

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