Samoa has a democratic political system with regular elections, though only traditional heads of families are eligible to run for office, and until 2021 the same political party had been in power for decades. An opposition party won the 2021 elections and remained in government as of 2024. The judiciary is independent, and civil liberties are generally respected.

• In March, the legislature enacted an electoral amendment law that backtracked on the ruling Fa‘atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party’s pledges to extend voting rights to citizens residing overseas. Under the new law, eligible Samoan citizens living abroad could register online but would still need to return to Samoa to complete the enrollment process and to cast a ballot in elections.
• In June, Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata‘afa launched a new National Anticorruption Policy that included plans to establish an independent anticorruption agency.
• As of December, lawmakers were reviewing a proposed bill that would effectively reverse a 2020 judicial reform backed by the previous government. The reform had separated the court system into two distinct structures, with one, headed by the Supreme Court, handling civil and criminal matters, and the other, the Land and Titles Court, overseeing customary matters including communal land. Among other problems created by the 2020 changes, the Land and Titles Court was meant to have its own appellate body, but no such appeals court had yet been established, leading to a backlog of unresolved cases.

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For additional background information, see last year’s full report.