Charting the Legal Systems of the Western Pacific: Tracking Down Primary Documentation

Abstract

This presentation highlights the process and resources used to document the colorful legal history of the former British Protectorates in the Western Pacific. Through my talk, I intend to demonstrate the problems one encounters when researching the legal history of these islands, and the methods used to find primary documentation. It will conclude with a summary of where these legal systems are now and how they developed following British colonization. My research project was published in December 2017 in the Hein Research Guide Series as volume 70.