Terms Used In 12 Guam Code Ann. § 74121

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
e Authority shall hire or retain an attorney or law firm specifically to prosecute legal action on behalf of the people of Guam as specified in § 74119 of this Chapter. The attorney or law firm retained by the Authority may hire, within the level of appropriation made available for the Office of Special Litigator, an additional attorney, attorneys, or a law firm, to assist in the furtherance of the legal action authorized by §§ 74118 and 74119 of this Chapter. The Special Litigator shall be hired or retained by the Board of Directors of the Authority within thirty (30) days of the enactment of this section. Funds held within the Landowners Recovery Fund, as well as appropriations made to the Authority pursuant to §§ 74113 and 74114 of this Chapter, are to be used for the purposes of
§§ 74118 and 74119 of this Chapter. The Authority shall enter, on behalf
of the people of Guam, the ongoing litigation initiated by private landowners to challenge the designation of land in Guam as critical habitat or a wildlife refuge and is authorized to make grants for this purpose. In the event such private landowners receive monetary damages or any recovery of legal costs in the course of such litigation, they shall

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12 Guam Code Ann. AUTONOMOUS AGENCIES
CH. 74 LANDOWNER’S RECOVERY FUND

reimburse the Landowners Recovery Fund their pro rata share of such damages and costs that the Court determines in such action represents the value of the services to such landowners rendered by the Special Litigator.

SOURCE: Added by P.L. 22-111:4 (4/11/94).

§ 74122. Guam Ancestral Lands Commission Authorized to
Facilitate Land Claims.

The Guam Ancestral Lands Commission is hereby authorized to use funds from the Landowner=s Recovery Fund to facilitate land claims and to further the purposes of the provisions of 21 Guam Code Ann., Chapter 80, and 12
GCA Chapters 72 and 74, as follows:

1. to assist in determining the validity of prospective land claims and perform such research, survey or other studies deemed necessary to perfect such claims;

2. to assist in examining all petitions from claimants for assistance under the provisions of Chapter 80 of Title 21 of the Guam Code Annotated, and Chapter 72 of Title 12 of the Guam Code Annotated;

3. to procure litigation work product of attorneys and non- attorney professionals at cost where a finding has been made that litigation work product is documentary evidence which is required in support of a claim;
4. to commission special appraisals to be performed where claims involve water or mineral rights; and
5. to investigate all government of Guam property for the purposes of determining the existence of original landowners.
SOURCE: Added by P.L. 25-45:4(d) as 12 Guam Code Ann. § 2947.

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