Yap Code 2000Intro

This 2000 edition of the Yap State Code is the second printing of the entire Yap State Code. The first printing was done some 12 years ago in 1988, in the initial edition of the Yap State Code, which was the first compilation and codification of the laws having application in the State of Yap since the effective date of its constitution on December 24, 1982.

After over a decade of use, and the addition and incorporation of two lengthy supplements (Supplements 1 and 2), the printing of a whole new edition was deemed timely and justified. This new 2000 edition of the Yap State Code codifies Yap State Laws (YSL) from YSL Nos. 4-1 to 4-98 and YSL Nos. 5-1 to 5-23.

This new printing also does some housekeeping work on the Code by addressing certain inconsistencies and non-substantive errors which had become a part of the Code over the years. This would include renumbering page numbers ending with alphabet designations (e.g. T2-2-A, T2-2-B, etc.), revising inconsistent subsection numbering or lettering, correcting capitalization, striking out figures where they repeat what is already provided in written words, as well as revising other inconsistencies and/or errors which had simply accumulated in the Code over the years.

In doing the codification work included in this Code, the Yap State Code Commission was authorized to do the following as set forth in Section 2 of YSL No. 1-87. Section 2 states as follows:

(3) Change reference numbers to agree with numbered or renumbered titles, chapters, parts, subparts, sections or parts of sections;

(8) Substitute the proper name for an official of agency that has changed by virtue of the District becoming a State or the organization of the State Government;

This new printing also changes fonts from “Courier New” to “Times New Roman”. It also revises formatting slightly by doing such things as increasing the size of title, chapter, and subchapter headings and changing margins and tab sets to allow for greater clarity and readability.

The 2000 Yap State Code, therefore, is an updated and significantly improved version over the 1988 Yap State Code and its incorporated supplements one and two.

Like the 1988 Code, this 2000 Code contains applicable provisions of the 1974 Yap District Code (YDC), and the applicable Yap District Laws (YDL) and Yap State Laws (YSL) enacted following the compilation of the 1974 Yap District Code. Yap State Laws up until YSL No. 5-23 are included in this Code.

This 2000 Code like the earlier 1988 version includes cross-reference tables for the easy location of the provisions of the Yap District Code, Yap District Laws, and Yap State Laws in this Code. This Code also includes a table of titles, chapters, and subchapters and a comprehensive subject matter index. Also included in this volume is the Constitution of the State of Yap which took effect on December 24,1982. Selected case annotations have also been added to the Constitution.

It should also be mentioned here that YSL No. 1-87 took effect on May 5, 1981, and pursuant to its Section 1, created a Yap State Code Commission to compile, revise, codify and publish statutes and other general and permanent laws of the State. The composition of the Code Commission has subsequently been changed by YSL No. 4-78, Section 1.

Section 1. Code Commission. There is hereby created a Yap State Code Commission to compile, revise, codify and publish statutes and other general and permanent laws of the State. The Commission shall be composed of the Legislative Counsel, the Attorney General, the Law Clerk of the Yap State Court, a representative of the Yap Office of the FSM Supreme Court, a representative of the Yap Office of the Public Defender and a representative of the Yap Office of Micronesian Legal Services Corporation.

The completion of this 2000 Yap State Code is another significant step in the development of the State’s legal and political system. It is again an emblem of the desire of the people of the State of Yap to provide a stable base of the laws in the exercise of self-government. As in the earlier Code, this Code is the sole comprehensive expression of the laws of Yap as an independent State and so it shall remain.