Supreme Court of Hawaii
Kamehemeha III sought to modernize the Hawaiian Kingdom by rapidly transitioning from indigenous traditions to a new legal system based on Anglo-American common law.[2] Hawaii is one of the rare examples of an indigenous polity which voluntarily adopted the common law (albeit as part of the larger objective of avoiding annexation by larger colonial powers), in contrast to the common law's coercive imposition elsewhere by English-speaking colonists.[3] The Supreme Court consists of five justices[4][5] who are initially appointed to ten-year terms by the Governor of Hawaii, who makes their nomination from a list of four to six candidates from the Hawaii Judicial Selection Commission.[6] Candidates must be U.S. citizens, Hawaii residents, and have been licensed to practice law for at least 10 years prior to nomination.[6] The Judicial Selection Commission can opt to retain incumbent justices for additional ten-year terms.