American Samoa § 27.0402 - Director

§ 27.0402. Director

(a) The Director shall: (1) coordinate the Consumer Protection activities of the Territory; (2) provide public education and awareness programs on consumer rights and remedies; (3) investigate consumer complaints filed with the Department of Legal Affairs; (4) prosecute criminal acts involving consumers; (5) initiate appropriate civil actions to protect the rights of the consuming public; (6) perform all other acts necessary to enforce this chapter; (7) file an annual report with the Legislature each December 1st outlining the Bureau’s workload, projects, and accomplishments. (b) The Director may: (1) issue subpoenas to an individual, Director, officer, employee, or agent of a business organization within the Territory; (2) appoint and Commission one or more investigators subject to approval by the Attorney General. Persons appointed and commissioned under this paragraph have the powers and authority of a police officer; and (3) advise the Governor and the Legislature on Consumer Protection legislation or administrative rules. (c) The words “appropriate civil actions” in this section includes consumer cases filed in court on behalf of individual consumers as well as groups or classes of consumers. The Directors shall publish regulations on representations of clients to avoid competition with private attorneys. Case Notes: Territorial government whose Consumer Protection agency brought action in a representative capacity on behalf of a named individual, and which was not named as a plaintiff in its own right, could not recover damages in the Consumer Protection action for the loss of its own property. A.S.C.A. § 27.0402. American Samoa Government ex rel. Langford v. Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., 10 A.S.R.2d 1 (1989).