Chief Justice of the Federated States of Micronesia

The Chief Justice of the Federated States of Micronesia is the seniormost judge of the Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia. The position is established in article XI, section 2 of the federal Constitution.

As per article XI, section 3 of the Constitution, the Chief Justice is "appointed by the President with the approval of 2/3 of Congress".

He must be at least 30 years of age, and must have graduated from an accredited law school, or have practiced law at least five years and demonstrate "extraordinary legal ability".^[1]

There have been four Chief Justices since independence. Edward C. King served until his resignation in 1993, whereupon Andon Amaraich was appointed to the position. Chief Justice Amaraich continued to serve until his death in January 2010.^[2][3]

Honorable Acting Chief Justice Martin G. Yinug took his Oath of Office as the Chief Justice of the Federated States of Micronesia by H.E. President Manny Mori at the FSM Supreme Court in Palikir, Pohnpei on May 5, 2011,^[4] serving until his death on August 31, 2014.^[5]

On October 2, 2015, the Honorable Dennis K. Yamase was sworn-in as Chief Justice as the Chief Justice of the Federated States of Micronesia by Associate Justice Beauleen Carl-Worswick.^[6]

Chief Justices

Dennis Yamase

Name	Took office	Left office	Notes
Edward C. King	March 1981[7]	1 June 1992[8]
Andon Amaraich	17 December 1994[8]	January 2010
Martin Yinug	5 May 2011	31 August 2014	[4]
Dennis Yamase	2 October 2015	2021	[6]

References

1. Federated States of Micronesia Code, clause 107
2. "The Federated States of Micronesia Mourns the loss of one of its Founding Fathers: Chief Justice Andon Amaraich" Archived 2010-10-01 at the Wayback Machine, Government of the F.S. Micronesia, January 28, 2010
3. Indiana Law Update Archived December 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, September 2009
4. "Press Release: Investiture Proceeding for Hon. Chief Justice Martin G. Yinug" Archived September 30, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
5. Proclamation from Office of the President of Federated States of Micronesia, dated September 3, 2014
6. "The Honorable Dennis K. Yamase Takes Oath to Allow Work to Begin as New Chief Justice" (PDF). fsmsupremecourt.org. October 8, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-15. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
7. Bowman, Addison M. "LEGITIMACY AND SCOPE OF TRUST TERRITORY HIGH COURT POWER TO REVIEW DECISIONS OF FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA SUPREME COURT:".
8. Yamase, Dennis. "THE SUPREME COURT OF THE FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA: THE FIRST TWENTY FIVE YEARS" (PDF).