On April 21, 2004, the Ucheliou Clan filed a suit to evict Irachel Adelbai from the house and the property of Ngermanrang and to have the two deeds of transfer for that land, which were executed between Irachel and her former husband and chief of the Ucheliou Clan, Adelbai Remed, be declared null and void.
Irachel then filed a counterclaim, alleging that the Ucheliou Clan was just a construct of Adelbai Remed’s mind “to create a venue for conferring private lands to his children from three different marriages.”
If the land in question belonged to Ucheliou Clan as a traditional Palauan Clan, then senior members of the clan would need to sign on the deeds of transfer for them to become valid.
Several witnesses and senior members of the clan testified that they had never had signed or seen the said two deeds executed between Irachel and Adelbai Remed.
In its decision, the Trial Division concluded that the Ucheliou Clan is indeed a traditional Palauan clan, ordering that the two deeds of transfer dated December 6, 2000 (Cadastral Lot Nos. 028N01 and 028N03) were null and void, and the property instead belonged to Appellees, the Ucheliou Clan. As a result, Irachel was ordered to vacate the property within a reasonable time.
In the Appeal filed by Irachel, the Supreme Court found the issue very limited.
Appellant argued that even though the Trial Division concluded that the Ucheliou Clan is a traditional Palauan Clan, it made a mistake when it ordered Irachel to vacate the property without making a customary finding or legal conclusion whether or not the Clan has the right to do so.
The Supreme Court, however, noted that it has “consistently refused to consider issues raised for the first time on appeal.” The Supreme
Court said in its decision that Irachel made no arguments at trial that the Ucheliou Clan needed to prove that they had a right to eject her under customary law.
The court ruling further said that Irachel did not give any testimony from any of the expert customary witnesses on issues regarding the ejection. Her position was mainly whether or not Ucheliou Clan was a traditional clan.
The Supreme Court said, “Failing to object to a claim for relief before the trial court constitutes a waiver.”
Since the Trial Court was never given with an opportunity to examine customary evidence about the ejection, the Supreme Court ruled that it cannot make conclusions other than to reemphasize that “we lack jurisdiction to consider new arguments on appeal. For the reasons set forth above, the judgment of the Trial Division is affirmed.”
Counsel for Appellant was Clara Kalscheur; and counsel for Appellee was Moses Uludong.
