Title 43 — Civil Remedies and Procedure

This chapter may be cited as the “Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act”. History: 1965, PL 9-1l.

In this chapter, “foreign judgment” means any judgment, decree or order of a court of the United States or of any other court which is entitled to full faith and credit in this Territory. History: 1965, PL 9-1l.

A copy of any foreign judgment authenticated in accordance with an act of Congress or the laws of this Territory may be filed in the office of the clerk of the High Court of American Samoa. The clerk shall treat the foreign judgment in the same manner as a judgment of the High Co…

(a) At the time of the filing of the foreign judgment, the judgment creditor or his lawyer or representative shall make and file with the clerk of the High Court an affidavit setting forth the name and last known post office addresses of the judgment debtor and the judgment credi…

No execution or other process for enforcement of a foreign judgment filed under this chapter may issue until 30 days after the date the judgment is filed. History: 1965, PL 9-11.

(a) If the judgment debtor shows the High Court of American Samoa that an appeal from the foreign judgment is pending or will be taken or that a stay of execution has been granted, the court shall stay enforcement of the foreign judgment until the appeal is concluded, the time fo…

A person filing a foreign judgment shall pay to the clerk of the High Court $25. Fees for docketing, transcription, or other enforcement proceedings shall be the same as those provided for judgments of the High Court of American Samoa. History: 1965, PL 9-1l; amd 1975, PL 14-8 § …

The right of a judgment creditor to bring an action to enforce his judgment instead of proceeding under this chapter shall remain unimpaired. History: 1965, PL 9-11.

This chapter shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states and territories of the United States which enact it. History: 1965, PL 9-11.

Property of a defendant in the possession of another, or debts due him, may be reached on writ of garnishment. History: 1962, PL 7-36.

(a) The officer serving a writ of garnishment shall garnish such persons as the plaintiff may direct as supposed to debtors, or as possession property of the principal defendant. (b) Garnishment shall be effected by serving a written notice on the garnishee forbidding his paying …

(a) A marshal or clerk of court may be garnished for money of the defendant in his hands. A judgment debtor of the defendant may be garnished if the judgment has not been assigned on the record or by writing, and filed in the office of the clerk and by him minuted as an assignmen…

If a garnishee dies after he has been summoned by garnishment and pending the litigation, the proceedings may be revived by or against his heirs or legal representatives. History: 1962, PL 7-36.

(a) When the plaintiff, in writing, directs the marshal to take the answer of the garnishee, he shall put to him the following interrogatories: (1) Are you in any manner indebted to the defendant in this suit, or do you owe him money or property which is not yet due? If so, state…

(a) If the garnishee refuses to answer the interrogatories fully and unequivocally, he shall be notified to appear and answer as provided in 43.1802, and he may be so required in any event if the plaintiff so notifies him. (b) The questions propounded to the garnishee in court ma…

When the garnishee has answered the interrogatories propounded to him, the plaintiff may controvert them by pleading thereto, and an issue may be joined, which shall be tried in the usual manner, upon which trial such answer of the garnishee shall be competent testimony. History:…

No judgment may be rendered against a garnishee on a pleading which controverts his answer until notice of the filing of the controverting pleading and of the time and place of trial thereon is served on the garnishee for such time and in such manner as the court or judge shall o…

A garnishee may, at any time after answer, exonerate himself from further responsibility by paying over to the clerk of the court any amount owing by him to the defendant and placing at the clerk of the court’s disposal any property of the defendant or so much of the defendant’s …

The defendant in the main action may, by suitable pleading filed in the garnishment proceedings, set up facts showing that the debt or property garnished is exempt from execution, or for any other reason is not liable for plaintiffs claim, and if issue thereon be joined by the pl…

(a) If it is made to appear that the garnishee was indebted to the defendant or had any of his property in his hands at the time of being served with the notice of garnishment, the garnishee shall be liable to the plaintiff, in case judgment is finally recovered by plaintiff, to …

Judgment against the garnishee may not be entered until the principal defendant has had 7 days’ written notice of the garnishment proceedings, of which notice a return by the marshal shall be required. History: 1962, PL 7-36.

A judgment in the garnishment action condemning the property or debt in the hands of the garnishee to the satisfaction of the plaintiff’s demand shall be conclusive between the garnishee and defendant. History: 1962, PL 7-36.

If the debt of the garnishee to the defendant is not due, execution shall be suspended until its maturity. History: 1962, PL 7-36.

The garnishee may not be made liable on a debt due by negotiable paper unless such paper is delivered, or the garnishee completely exonerated or indemnified from all liability thereon after he may have satisfied the judgment. History: 1962, PL 7-36.

As used in this chapter: (a) “Foreign state” means any governmental unit other than the United States, or any state, district, commonwealth, territory, or insular possession thereof, or the Panama Canal Zone, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or the Ryukyu Islands. (b) …

This chapter applies to any foreign judgment that is final and conclusive and enforceable after the appeal is taken. History: 2000, PL 26-29.

Except as provided in 43.1904, a foreign judgment meeting the requirements of 43.1902 is conclusive between the parties to the extent that it grants or denies recovery of a sum of money. The foreign judgment is enforceable in the same manner as the judgment of a sister state or t…

(a) A foreign judgment is not conclusive if: (1) the judgment was rendered under a system which does not provide impartial tribunals or procedures compatible with the requirements of due process of law; (2) the foreign court did not have personal jurisdiction over the defendant: …

(a) The foreign judgment shall not be refused recognition for lack of personal jurisdiction if: (1) the defendant was served personally in the foreign state; (2) the defendant voluntarily appeared in the proceedings, other than for the purpose of protecting property seized or thr…

If the defendant proves to the court that either that an appeal is pending or that he is entitled and intends to appeal from the foreign judgment, the court may stay the proceedings until the appeal has been determined or until the expiration of a period of time sufficient to ena…

This chapter does not prevent the recognition of a foreign judgment in situations not covered by this chapter. History: 2000, PL 26-29.

This chapter shall be so construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact it. History: 2000, PL 26-29.

This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Foreign Money Judgments Recognition Act. History: 2000, PL 26-29.

This chapter shall apply to all foreign judgments in effect on the date this chapter becomes effective as well as all judgments rendered after such date. History: 2000, PL 26-29.

(a) When the death of a person is caused by wrongful act, neglect, or default, such as would have entitled the party injured to maintain an action or recover damages in respect thereof, if death had not ensued, the corporation which, or the person who would have been liable if de…

An action or cause of action, or defense, shall not abate by death, or other disability of a party, or by the transfer of any interest therein, but shall in all cases, where a cause of action or defense arose in favor of such party prior to his death or other disability, or trans…

A person who cuts, kills, destroys, girdles, chops, injures, or otherwise damages or removes timber, young tree growth, or products of tree growth on land of another person, or on the street or highway fronting another person’s house or village, or cultivated grounds; or on commo…

In all actions hereafter brought for personal injuries, or where the injuries have resulted in death, or for injury to property, the fact that the person injured, or the owner of the property, or person having control over the property may have been guilty of contributory neglige…

Defamation is effected by: (1) libel which is a false and unprivileged publication by writing, printing, picture, effigy, or other fixed representation to the eye which exposes any person to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or obloquy or which causes him to be shunned or avoided or wh…

A privileged publication is one made: (1) in the proper discharge of an official duty; (2) in any legislative or judicial proceeding or in any other official proceeding authorized by law; (3) in a communication without malice to a person interested therein by one who is also inte…

(a) No person, firm, or corporation owning or operating a radio broadcasting station or TV facility is liable under the law of defamation on account of having made its broadcasting facilities available to any person, whether a candidate for public office or any other person, for …

(a) Before any civil action may be commenced on account of any defamatory publication in any newspaper, periodical, or radio or television station, the libeled person shall first give those alleged to be responsible or liable for the publication a reasonable opportunity to correc…

To the extent that the true facts are, with reasonable diligence, ascertainable with definiteness and certainty, only a retraction constitutes a correction. Otherwise the publication of the libeled person’s statement of the true facts or so much thereof as would not be libelous o…

If it appears upon trial that the publication was made under honest mistake or misapprehension, then a correction timely published without comment in a position and type as prominent as the alleged libel or in a broadcast made at the same time of day as the broadcast complained o…

As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires otherwise: (1) “Y-2K error” is the failure of a computer-based system to accurately store, display, transmit, receive, process, calculate, compare, or sequence date and time data from , into, or between the twentieth an…

(a) The following claims shall be excluded from the error dispute resolution process and the limitations on liability provisions contained in sections 43.5303 and 43.5304: Claims properly filed by consumers in the small claims division of the District Court. (b) The following cla…

(a) No punitive or exemplary damages, and no statutory minimum or treble damages shall be awarded under any theory of recovery, including contract and tort law, for claims arising out of a Y-2K error unless one of the following is found to have occurred in addition to the other f…

Any other provision of law notwithstanding, all claims arising out of a Y-2K error shall be brought no later than two years after the claimant discovers, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the damage or injury, but in any event not more than four y…

(a) Arbitration of disputes. At the request of any party, any dispute in which a Y-2K error is alleged in good faith as a claim or a defense shall be submitted to nonbinding arbitration. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitrator shall be bound by the substantive and …

(a) Determination of commercially reasonable efforts by claimant and respondent. All arbitration awards and all judgments in a court proceeding which award damages on a claim arising out of a Y-2K error shall state whether the claimant and the respondent engaged in commercially r…