Taufete'e v. American Samoa Gov’t Type of court National - higher court Date Jan 3, 1995 Source UNEP, InforMEA Court name High Court of American Samoa, Appellate Division Seat of court Pago Pago Judge Kruse, Chief Justice Reference number AP No. 04-94 Language English Subject Land & soil, Legal questions Abstract The appellant in the case, Taufete'e, occupied communal law close to the Pala Lagoon. He had obtained a permit to conduct landfill activities in the area, which he did. Later the same year the applicant discontinued the activity, but resumed them seven years later. The government then issued a Stop Work Order since the permit had expired. When the appellant applied for a new permit, the application was rejected by the director of the Project Notification and Review System. The government moved the court to receive affidavits not considered in the administrative review, as the report was unavailable at the time of the agency decision. The court admitted that it, in certain cases, had the possibility to accept to review evidence supplementing that which was contained in the administrative review. This, however, required that the evidence supplemented or explained matters already in the record and that the supplemental material was necessary for a meaningful review. In the present case, the court found that the affidavits put forward did not purport to clarify or explain evidence from the existing record and was therefore not supplemental to the administrative record. Full text Taufete'e v. American Samoa Gov’t .pdf