Crime in Tuvalu
Crime in Tuvalu is not a significant social problem due to small population, geographic isolation, and low development.
Tuvalu, like other island nations in the West Pacific, is utilised as a staging point in the illicit drug trade between South East Asia and Australasia.
The community council is the Falekaupule (the traditional assembly of elders) or te sina o fenua (literally: "grey-hairs of the land").
[5] The Penal Code (1965) was first enacted during the time that Tuvalu was part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony.
The central role of religious institutions in the Tuvaluan community is acknowledged in the Constitution of Tuvalu.
The Preamble to the Constitution, includes a declaration that Tuvalu is a Christian nation founded on Christian principles,[7] (section 29(1)), along with other values also recognised: Part XV of the Penal Code (1965) creates offences relating to religion: insult to religion of any class (s. 123); disturbing religious assemblies (s. 124); trespassing on burial places (s. 125); hindering burial of dead body, etc.
[12] According to a 2008 source,[13] "there have been instances [in which] the position of the People’s Lawyer has remained unfulfilled for significant periods of time causing excessive delay in hearing clients’ cases."
The United States Department of State provide periodic reports as to aspects of human rights practice in Tuvalu including information on the prison system: Part XVI of the Penal Code (1965), provides for offences against morality, which include: rape (s. 128); abduction of girl under 18 years of age with intent to have sexual intercourse (s. 132); indecent assaults on females (s. 133); defilement of girl under 13 years of age (s. 134); and defilement of a girl between 13 and 15 years of age, or of idiot or imbecile (s.125).
The Report said that “Committee’s experts expressed concern over the sanctioning of local custom in the [Tuvalu] Constitution and legal system, noting, for example, that husbands were permitted to ‘discipline’ their wives [as well as children]”.
[42] The United States Department of State provide periodic reports as to aspects of human rights practice in Tuvalu including information on rape and domestic violence: The Penal Code (1965) does not specifically address domestic violence, which is prosecuted under the common assault provisions of the Code.
[39] In July 2013 the Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community published drafting options for legislative reform to assist Tuvalu to make changes to the laws and policies relating to violence against women in order to ensure the full protection of women from all forms of violence.
