CONSOLIDATED ACTS OF SAMOA 2009

PENALTY INTEREST RATES ACT 1998

Arrangement of Provisions

1.	Short title and 	commencement
2.	Act to bind the State
3.	Application
4.	Common Law to Apply
5.	Limitation on Penalty 	Interest Rates

______________

THE PENALTY INTEREST RATES ACT 1998
1998	 No. 15

AN ACT to make provision in relation to the application of penalty interest rates in contracts. 

(19 June 1998)
(Commencement date: 19 June 1998)

BE IT ENACTED by the Legislative Assembly of Samoa in Parliament assembled as follows:-

1. Short title and commencement-(1) This Act may be cited as the Penalty Interest Rates Act 1998.

(2) This Act shall come into force on the date it is assented to by the Head of State, and in accordance with section 3 shall have retrospective effect.

2. Act to bind the State - This Act shall bind the State and shall have application in relation to contracts in which the State, or any of its agencies, is a contracting party.

3. Application-(1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act shall apply to all contracts entered into in Samoa before or after this Act comes into force.

(2) This Act shall have no application in relation to a contract in respect of which a Court has made a final determination as to the rights of the contracting parties.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), no final determination shall be considered to have been made until all rights of appeal have been exhausted, or precluded by the effluxion of time in accordance with law.

(4) This Act does not apply to a contract the sole purpose of which is the lending of money.

4. Common Law to apply - The principles of the common law rendering unenforceable any penalty provision in any contract shall have application where a contract stipulates that penalty interest is payable on unpaid monies due under the contract.

5. Limitation on Penalty Interest Rates-(1) Where a contract stipulates that penalty interest is payable on unpaid monies due under the contract, such provision is unenforceable to the extent that the rate of penalty interest under the contract exceeds 14% per annum or such other figure as may be prescribed by Regulation.

(2) Regulations made under subsection (1) may prescribe different penalty interest rates for different types of contract or transaction under a contract.

REVISION NOTES 2008

This law has been reviewed in accordance with the powers provided for in section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. 

No amendments have been made to this law since its enactment.

Revised and consolidated under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

REVISION NOTES 2008 No. 2

This law has been generally edited as provided for by section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. The following general revision has been made – 	the commencement date has been noted and added after the date of assent.

Revised under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel).

REVISION NOTES 2009

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2009. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Papalii Malietau Malietoa (Parliamentary Counsel).

The Penalty Interest Rates Act 1998 is administered by the Office of the Attorney General.