“Pending” Includes the Rule 59(e) Post‑Judgment Window: CNMI Courts Must Apply PL 23‑17 Survivorship Retroactively to Nonfinal Cases 1. Introduction Deleon Guerrero v. St. Jude Renal Care Facility,...
Mandamus Denied Absent Clear Statutory Command: JJA Transfer Provisions Are Not Self-Executing and Need Not Precede Juvenile Adjudication I. Introduction In re Commonwealth, 2026 MP 8 (NMI Sup. Ct....
Statutory Adoption by the Putative Adoptive Parent Bars Later Poksai Heirship; CNMI Supreme Court Adopts a Non‑Exhaustive Seven‑Factor Poksai Test 1. Introduction In re Estate of Magofna, 2026 MP 7...
“Majority Vote” in CNMI Attorney-Discipline Elections Means Majority of Votes Cast (Not Majority of All Active Members) I. Introduction In re Myers, 2026 MP 6 (NMI Sup. Ct. July 15, 2026), resolves a...
Sablan v. CUC (2026 MP 5): Inverse Condemnation Is Time-Barred Only After Survey-Ascertainable Accrual; Public Corporations Without Eminent-Domain Authority May Owe Just Compensation; Partial Takings...
UCFA § 2904(b) Supersedes CAJTA § 4302(d): Contribution After Arbitration/Settlement and Interest Only After Apportionment Judgment I. Introduction Telesource CNMI, Inc. v. SSFM International, Inc.,...
In re Estate of Kapileo (2026 MP 02): Limits on Full Faith and Credit for CNMI Land Transfers and a Consent-Based Framework for Court-Ordered DNA Testing (with Statutory Certification for Lab...
Drug Court Oversight of a Key Witness Requires Recusal in Bench Trials Under 1 CMC § 3308(a) Introduction In Commonwealth v. Rangamar, 2026 MP 3 (NMI Mar. 16, 2026), the Supreme Court of the Northern...
Conditional Use Permits Under the SZL Are Public Licensing Hearings (Not APA Contested Cases), with Publication Notice Sufficing and Staff-Qualification Defects Non-Jurisdictional I. Introduction...
No Laches in Criminal Mandamus and Exhausted Arrest Warrants in the CNMI: Commentary on In re Commonwealth, 2025 MP 14 I. Introduction The Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana...
The Attachment of the Right to Counsel in Criminal Contempt Proceedings in the CNMI: A Commentary on Macaranas v. Macaranas, 2025 MP 13 1. Introduction This commentary examines the Supreme Court of...
Presumption of Timeliness and the “Extraordinary Circumstances” Limit on Laches in CNMI Land Cases: Commentary on Shon v. Choo, 2025 MP 12 I. Introduction The Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the...
Tang v. Guo (2025 MP 11): Reasonable Certainty in Unjust Enrichment and Liberal Construction of Fraud Pleadings in Parol Evidence Disputes I. Introduction The Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the...
Post‑Enactment COLAs Are Not “Accrued Benefits” Under Article III, § 20(a): Camacho v. Settlement Fund (2025 MP 10) Introduction In Camacho v. Settlement Fund, 2025 MP 10 (Nov. 3, 2025), the Supreme...
Mandating Separate Judgments and Strict Rule 41(b) Enforcement: DS Corporation v. Long Feng Corporation (2025 MP 8) Introduction In DS Corporation v. Long Feng Corporation, 2025 MP 8 (NMI Oct. 14,...
Rule 35(b) in the CNMI: Motions to Reduce Sentence Are Pleas for Leniency, Not Legal Corrections Introduction In Commonwealth v. Rios, 2025 MP 7 (Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern...
Conflicts, Collateral Orders, and Screening: The Supreme Court Clarifies When Prosecutorial Conflicts Disqualify the Office of the Attorney General Introduction Case: Commonwealth v. Torres (2025 MP...
“From Leniency to Liability” – Zajradhara v. Northern Marianas College (2025 MP 4) and the Supreme Court’s New Standard for Declaring Pro-Se Parties Vexatious Litigants 1. Introduction In Zajradhara...
Rule 55(c) Prevails: CNMI Supreme Court Affirms Trial-Court Discretion to Set Aside Defaults and Clarifies “Finality” for Issue-Preclusion Introduction Pangelinan v. Pangelinan (2025 MP 3) emanates...
Denial of Settlement-Agreement Enforcement Not Immediately Appealable Under the Collateral Order Doctrine Introduction This commentary examines the Supreme Court of the Northern Mariana Islands’...