About the Pacific Islands Committee

The Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit established the Pacific Islands Committee to fulfill the oversight responsibilities of the Council and of the Judicial Conference of the United States with respect to the judiciaries of the American territories in the Pacific (American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) and of the former Trust Territories: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. The United States assisted with the formation of the judiciaries in these islands and the Pacific Islands Committee is charged with monitoring their judicial development. Traditionally, the courts of the Pacific administered justice with modest levels of resources. 

The specific responsibilities of the Pacific Islands Committee include assisting in the development and provision of continuing judicial education and court professional training, and overall improvement of the administration of justice in the courts.