INTRODUCTION

(TO 1987 YAP STATE CODE)

     This 1988, initial edition of the Yap State Code, is 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.

     This compilation and codification was authorized by the First Legislature of the State of Yap, pursuant to Yap State Law No. 1-87 (YSL No. 1-87), “AN ACT to provide for the compilation, revision, codification and publication of statutes of the State, and for other purposes.”

      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 Code Commission is composed of the Chairman of the Legislature Committee on Government, Health and Welfare, the Attorney General, the Clerk of Court, a representative of the Yap Office of Public Defender and a representative of the Yap Office of Micronesian Legal Services Corporation.

     Section 2 of the act set forth the provisions for preparation of the code.  That section states:

    Section 2.  Preparation of Code.  In preparing the Yap State Code, the Commission may:

    (1)  Number and renumber titles, chapters, parts, subparts, sections and parts of sections;

    (2)  Rearrange, chapters, parts, subparts, and sections;

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

    (4)  Substitute proper title, chapter, part, subpart, section or part of section numbers for terms of reference;

    (5)  Strike out figures where they merely repeat written words;

    (6)  Change capitalization for the purpose of uniformity;

    (7)  Correct manifest clerical or typographical errors;

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

    (9)  Substitute “State” for “District” ;and

    (10)  Omit obsolete laws, chapters, parts, subparts, sections or parts of sections.

     Section 3 of the law provides that the Commission shall not alter the sense, meaning or effect of any law.  Section 4 provides that the matter set forth in the Yap State Code as published by the Commission shall be prima facie evidence of the law.

     This 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.2-8 of the Second Legislature are included in this Code.

     In preparing this Code, references in the older Yap District Code and Yap District Laws to no-longer existent officers and governmental entities have been changed to the nomenclature of the State of Yap.  General reorganization was also undertaken to make laws easier to locate and reference.

     This Code 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 contents 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.

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

/s/ Robert A. Ruecho’

Robert A. Ruecho’

Chairman

Yap State Code Commission

January, 1988