Benchbooks directly support the goal of the Programme which was to strengthen governance and the rule of law in Pacific Island Countries through enhanced access to justice and professional judicial officers who act independently according to legal principles. It also directly supports the purpose of the Programme which was to support participating countries to enhance the professional competence of judicial and court officers, and the processes and systems that they use.

Benchbooks are produced in many common and civil law jurisdictions and have proved to be an effective tool for assisting judicial officers in performing their everyday work fairly, correctly and efficiently by providing detailed guidance on legislation, jurisprudence and process.

Benchbooks developed under the Pacific Judicial Education Programme, Phase 1 of the Pacific Judicial Development Programme and Phase 2, and a project between the Federal Court of Australia and the Commonwealth Secretariat include:

• Cook Islands
  • The High Court of the Cook Islands 2nd ed. (2012) (pdf-3.2MB) 
• Fiji
  • The Magistrates Court (2004) (pdf-823KB)
• Kiribati
  • The Magistrates Court (2004) (pdf-1.1MB)
• Niue
  • The High Court of Niue (2004) (pdf-581KB)
    The Land Court of Niue (2012) (pdf-758KB)
• Vanuatu
  • The Magistrates Court (2004) (pdf-1.3MB)
• Samoa
  • The Magistrates Court (2004) English (pdf-796KB) (doc-204KB)
  • The Land Titles Court (2003) English (pdf-419KB)
  • The Land Titles Court (2003) Samoan (pdf-400KB)
• Solomon Islands
  • The Magistrates Court (2004) (pdf-1.1MB)
• Tonga
  • The Magistrates Court (2004) (pdf-737KB)
• Tuvalu
  • The Magistrates Court (2004) (English) (pdf-751KB) | Tuvaluan (pdf-1.3MB)