The Supreme Court in Samoa has upheld a strike out motion by the Attorney General, Aumua Ming Leung Wai, over a land claim by the village council of Satapuala.
The strike out benefits the Government which had been the second defendant in the case.
However the chief justice, Patu Tiava'asu'e Falefatu Sapolu, has accepted an application by the village's lawyer to amend a statement of claim against the first defendant, the Samoa Trust Estates Corporation.
The village has alleged fraud and negligence, and claimed millions of dollars of compensation for the loss of village land during the colonial rule of, first Germany, and then New Zealand.
But in striking out the claim against the Government, the court ruled the second defendant did not exist at the time.
Meanwhile, Satapuala has brought a separate land claim against the Government over lands taken for defence purposes during the New Zealand administration.
