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Amendment to Term of Land Court and Bureau of Lands & Survey and the Passport Act, RPPL 7-3 2005

SEVENTH OLBIIL ERA KELULAU

First Regular Session, January 2005 RPPL No. 7-3
(Intro. as H B. No. 7-15-1, HD5, SD5, PD1)

AN ACT

To amend RPPL No. 6-31, Chapter 13 of 35 PNC, sections 1302, 1304, 1305, and 1307; to amend Chapter 12 of 13 PNC, the Republic of Palau Passport Act; and for other related purposes.

THE PEOPLE OF PALAU REPRESENTED IN THE OLBIIL ERA KELULAU DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Legislative findings. The Olbiil Era Kelulau finds that the term for the Land Court expires on February 14th, 2005. The Olbiil Era Kelulau finds that amendments to the Land Claims Reorganization Act of 1996 have been proposed under House Bill No. 7-2-1; however, due to lack of adequate time to review said bill, the Olbiil Era Kelulau deems it necessary at this time to extend the time period for the Land Court and the Bureau of Lands and Surveys to complete their work. Therefore, this Act shall extend the time for Land Court and the Bureau of Lands & Surveys to perform their duties until a new legislative measure is adopted to amend the Land Claims Reorganization Act of 1996, as amended.

Section 2. Amendments. Chapter 13 of 35 PNC, as amended by RPPL 6-31, is further amended to read as follows:

A. . . .

Section 1302. Purpose. The primary purpose of this Chapter is to proceed on a systematic basis to accomplish, within a reasonable period of time from the effective date of the Act, the determination of ownership of all land in the Republic. . . . .

. . . .

Section 1304. Land Court responsibilities; Supreme Court.

(a) The Land Court, within a reasonable period of time not to extend beyond three years from the effective date of this Act, as amended, shall proceed on a systematic basis to hold hearings and make determinations with respect to the ownership of all land within the Republic.

(b) The Land Court shall award . . . .

(1) that the land became part of the public land . . . .

(2) . . . . All determinations of ownership pursuant to this section shall be made within three years from the effective date of this Act, as amended . . . .

Section1305. Bureau of Lands and Surveys responsibilities; land registration employees.

(a) The Bureau of Lands and Surveys, within two years from the effective date of this Act, as amended, shall proceed on a systematic basis to ensure the designation of areas and survey of all lands and the monumentation of all land within the Republic. The Bureau's duties include, but are not limited to, the registration o land claims, issuing the required notices under this Chapter, providing monumentation, providing Land Court with the required information for Land Court hearings, and providing temporary and permanent mapping of land parcels and boundaries with respect to the ownership of all land within the Republic.

. . . .

Section 1307. Mandatory monumentation.

(a) The Bureau shall schedule a monumentation to occur not less than 15 days after the 30-day period for filing claims has ended, unless the boundaries of the property at issue have already been resolved and monumented. For the monumentation, all claimants shall meet at a location near or at the site of the property, as determined by the Director of Lands and Surveys or his designee. The Director of Lands and Surveys . . . . . . The Registration Officer shall record the results. Within 10 working days after the monumentation, the Bureau will forward to the Land Court all documentation relating to the monumented parcel and the claims filed.@

Section 3. Amendment. 35 PNC 1308(a), as amended by RPPL No. 6-31, is hereby amended to read as follows:

ASection 1308. Mandatory mediation sessions.

(a) The Land Court shall, for all claims in which there remains a dispute regarding title or boundaries after the monumentation, schedule a mediation session within 25 days of receiving the complete file from the Bureau.

. . . .@

Section 4. Amendment. 35 PNC 1309(a), as amended by RPPL No. 6-31, is further amended to read as follows:

ASection 1309. Notice of hearing and mandatory monumentation and mediation sessions; filing of claims.

(a) The Bureau shall, within 30 days of the effective date of this Act, create a schedule for monumenting all parcels of unmonumented land within the Republic. The Bureau shall inform Land Court of this schedule and Land Court shall set a date for a Land Court hearing for all claims regarding that parcel. All claims shall be filed with the Bureau no later than 30 days after the mailing of the notice. Any claim not timely filed shall be forfeited.

. . . .@

Section 5. Amendment. 35 PNC 1312, as amended by RPPL No. 6-31, is further amended to read as follows:

ASection 1312. Notice of determination of ownership. Within 20 business days following the conclusion of a hearing, the Land Court shall issue a determination of ownership or shall issue a written statement explaining why the determination cannot be made within such time. The Land Court shall promptly serve a copy of the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and determination(s) made on all parties of record at such address within the Republic as each party shall register at the hearing.@

Section 6. Amendments. 13 PNC Chapter 12, the Republic of Palau Passport Act of 1994, as amended by RPPL No. 5-24, is further amended to read as follows:

A. . . .

Section 1202. Definitions.

(a) >Government= means . . . .

(b) >Minister= means . . . .

(c) >Passport= means . . . .

. . . .

Section 1205. Application for passport; verification by oath of initial passport. If the applicant has not previously been issued a Republic of Palau passport, the application and its contents shall be sworn to by the applicant before a person authorized and empowered by the Minister of State to administer oaths. The giving of any false or misleading information in the application may be grounds for denial or revocation of the passport.

. . . .

Section 1207. Fees for execution and issuance of passports. Except as provided in (a) and (b) below, there shall be collected and paid into the National Treasury a fee, prescribed by the Minister of State by regulation, which shall not be less than full cost to the National Government for each passport issued or renewed.

(a) No fee shall be charged for currently valid passports converted to Machine Readable Travel Documents within sixty (60) days of the effective date of this Act, as amended.

(b) No fees shall be charged for Official or Diplomatic passports.

Section1208. Validity of passport; limitation of time; outstanding passport. A regular passport shall be valid for a period of five years from the date of issue for an eligible person below 16 years of age and ten years from the date of issue for an eligible person at least 16 years of age. Official and diplomatic passports hall be valid for a period of up to two years with only one renewal. An official or diplomatic passport shall not be used by the holder after the expiration of his or her term of office and shall be surrendered to the Ministry of State within 20 days of such expiration. The Minister of State may limit the validity of a passport to a lesser period in an individual case.

Section 1209. Manually-read Republic of Palau passports; expiration. There shall be a transition period expiring December 31, 2006, during which time Republic of Palau passports incapable of being machine-read shall remain valid. Prior to December 31, 2006, all persons bearing Republic of Palau passports which cannot be machine-read, shall submit their passports to the Ministry of State in order to obtain machine-readable Republic of Palau passports. Starting on January 1, 2007, only machine-readable Republic of Palau passports shall be valid, and all others shall be invalid for all purposes.

. . . .@

Section 7. Effective date. This Act shall take effect upon its approval by the President of the Republic of Palau or upon its becoming law without such approval.

PASSED: February 10, 2005

Approved this 11th day of February , 2005.

____________________/s/
Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr.
President
Republic of Palau