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Small Island Developing States

URL: https://libguides.law.ucla.edu/smallislands

General Notes

Unless otherwise noted, materials are in English.  For PacLII nations, unless otherwise noted, the PacLII page contains links to legislative materials, and some other primary materials (e.g., Constitutions, Proclamations, some case law), but NOT regulatory materials.  Legislation databases in PacLII may not be complete. 

Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanatu are Commonwealth member states; legal and government materials are in English.

Azores and Madeira are autonomous regions within Portugal, and Portuguese law is likely to be important as is EU law.  However, Azores and Madeira set their own tax rates in some contexts for for-profit businesses. (See António Lobo Xavier, et al., Tax on corporate transactions in Portugal: overview, Practical Law Global Guide (Oct 1, 2017))

I am not certain whether mainland French law is important in French Polynesia.  French Polynesia is outside certain French corporations law. (See Katrin Schallenberg and Amélie Lavenir, Competition (private company acquisitions) Q&A: France, Practical Law Global Guide (Oct 31, 2017) and Katrin Schallenberg and Amélie Lavenir, Competition (joint ventures) Q&A: France,  Practical Law Global Guide (May 31, 2017).)

For some purposes, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is considered a US state.

There is a paid database, Legis-PALOP, that includes the laws of a number of African Lusophone states, including Cabo Verde, San Tome & Principe and Timor-Leste.  However, it is in Portuguese only.

Topical Resources

Pacific Regional Resources

Commonwealth Resources

Books in UCLA Law Library

American Samoa

Bermuda

Note that there a number of Practical Law Global Guides to Bermuda law

Cape Verde

Dominica

Federated State of Micronesia

Fiji

Guam

Nauru

Sao Tome & Principe

Solomon Islands

Tonga