Constitution of American Samoa

The Constitution of American Samoa is the constitution that defines the government of American Samoa.

The original Constitution was adopted by a constitutional convention and was signed by the 68 members of the convention and United States Secretary of the Interior Fred Andrew Seaton on 27 April 1960 and became effective 17 October 1960.[1][2] A Constitutional Convention of American Samoa in Fagatogo begun on 26 September 1966 and approved several amendments,[3] which were approved in a referendum in the general elections in 1966, promulgated by Interior Secretary Stewart Udall on 2 June 1967, and became effective 1 July 1967.

To prevent the Secretary of the Interior from appointing an Attorney General independent of the elected Governor,[4] the United States Congress passed a law in 1983 mandating that amendments to the Constitution be made by Congress alone.[5]

The Ratification Act of 1929 was joint resolution of the United States Congress that ratified the Treaty of Cession of Tutuila of 1900 and the Treaty of Cession of Manuʻa of 1904, which ceded the islands of Tutuila and Manuʻa, respectively, to the United States and now form part of American Samoa.[6] As such it is one of the basic Constitutional documents of American Samoa.

The Constitution was created during the first term of former Governor Peter Tali Coleman. Governor Coleman chaired the convention which drafted the original constitution. It included a bill of rights and provided protection for American Sāmoans against alienation of their lands and loss of culture.[7][8][9] Savali Talavou Ale led the committee assignment of reviewing the constitution in the American Samoa House of Representatives.[10]