Vanuatu Archive Site for State Department information prior to January 20, 2001. This site is not updated. The latter's powers are largely ceremonial, except when acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
Political legitimacy is based on majority rule.
The courts normally are independent of executive interference. Subsistence and small-scale agricultural production and fishing support more than 80 percent of the population. Nonsubsistance agricultural products include copra, cocoa, and beef cattle. Poor prison conditions, an extremely slow judicial process, and violence and discrimination against women were the major human rights problems. There were no reports of political or other extrajudicial killings.