D.8.2. Laurent Benezeth, SM, 1881 - ?, continued. -- D.8.3. Alfred Berger, SM, 1861-1905. -- D.8.4. Elie Bergeron, SM, 1881-1957. -- D.8.5. Joseph Blanc, SM, 1872-1962. -- D.8.6. Pierre Castagnier, SM, 1830-1910. -- D.8.7. Francois Deguerry, SM, 1883-1953

D. Procurator's Office, incoming letters, continued. -- D.8. From the Tonga region, continued. -- D.8.7. Francois Deguerry, SM, 1883-1953, continued. -- D.8.8. Francois Didelinger, SM, 1869-1900. -- D.8.9. Camille Doizy, SM, 1884 -. -- D.8.10. Francois Fa

D. Procurator's Office, incoming letters, continued. -- D.8. From the Tonga region, continued. -- D.8.18. Jean-Baptiste Mace, SM, 1881-1938. -- D.8.19. Aime Morel, SM, 1877-1952. -- D.8.20. Antoine Moussey, SM, 1862-1923. -- D.8.21. Armand Olier, SM, 1851

The judicial power of the Kingdom of Tonga is vested in the Supreme Court, the Magistrate's Court and the Land Court. The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice and such other judges as the King may appoint. The Chief Justice was a member of Privy Council until 1942. There is a right of appeal to the Privy Council from decisions of the Supreme Court in its civil jurisdication. Under the 1903 Statutes the Minister of Lands, subject to appeal to the Privy Council, was given power to hear all disputes affecting land. In 1917 a Land Commission was set up to deal with disputes and calims affecting land. This Commission was vested with the power and status of the Supreme Court. In 1921 this Commission was abolished and the Land Court was formally constituted with power to hear and determine all disputes and claims and questions of title affecting land or any interest in land. The Land Court consists of the Land Court Judge, at present the Chief Justice, who sits with an assessor. The duty of the Assesssor is to advise the Judge on Tongan custom. He has no voice in the decisions of the court.

Supreme Court of Tonga: civil and divorce registers, 1905-1992; adoption registers, 1987-1992; criminal registers, Tongatapu, 1969-1992; Civil action registers, 1985-1992; miscellaneous judgements, 1975-1992; miscellaneous appeal judgements, 1986-1995; photographs of Mr Justice George Scott CJ, Mr Justice Henry Stead, Roberts CJ and Mr Justice D. B. Hunter. Land Court of Tonga: minute books, 1923-1940; registers, 1923-1991; land case files (selected documents from available files), 1947-1992. Court of Appeal: miscellaneous judgements, 1990-1995; Privy Council Court of Appeal judgements, 1924, 1954-1988.<P><B>See reel list for further details</B>

While carrying out fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands for his doctoral dissertation, the anthropologist Jerry Leach (producer and narrator of the renowned ethnographic film <I>Trobriand Cricket</I>) surveyed and microfilmed important archives kept in the archipelago's main centre, Losuia. These records were drawn upon for Dr Leach's research on the Kabisawali Movement, which had emerged in 1972 in opposition to the last years of Australian colonial rule. Kabisawali promoted Trobriand control of their own economic and political affairs. Between 1972 and 1977 Kabisawali opened and operated trade stores and invested in copra, transportation and tourism. While it enjoyed political support and some economic success through the mid to the late 1970s, the movement as a whole had gone into decline by 1980. However, its legacy was significant, reflected in changes such as the decision to abolish the Kiriwina Local Government Council in 1990 and replace it with a Kiriwina Community Government that includes a chamber of traditional chiefs (see <I>PMB 1165</I> for further details). While most of these papers do not directly concern the Kabisawali movement they do provide an historical context for understanding the formation of Kabisawali. As Leach wrote in 1982 (287-288) <I>'For over eighty years, a set of islands made up of relatively or potentially self-sufficient units without overall organisation or a socio-economic centre have been undergoing uneven centralization'</I>(1) These papers help document these historical processes.

Dr Leach selected documents as they related to his research interests. The photographs are 35mm negatives from a Pentax Spotmatic spliced together into rolls. Lighting conditions were far from ideal so some of the exposures are hard to read. Most of these papers are district and local government administrative records. They include annual reports along with files on taxation, chiefs, health, censuses, statistics, patrol reports, mission relations, World War II, village councils and the Kiriwina LGC, cricket, court cases, education, and village constables and officials. See also <I>PMB 1165.</I>
<P> (1) Source of quote: Leach, Jerry W. 1982. 'Socio-historical conflict and the Kabisawali Movement in the Trobriand Islands'. In Ron J May (ed) <I>Micronationalist movements in Papua New Guinea</I> Department of Political and Social Change, RSPAS, ANU. Canberra. pp.249-289. <BR>
See Finding aids for details.