Martin Yinug

Martin Yinug was a Yapese jurist, who served as Chief Justice of the FSM Supreme Court.

Biography

Chief Justice Yinug was born on October 18, 1949 in Guror Village, Gilman Municipality on the Island of Yap. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science at the San Francisco State University in 1972 and his Juris Doctor in 1980 from the Catholic University of America Law School.

His four decades of public service included working as an Administrative Assistant for the Yap Delegation to the Congress of Micronesia, as an interpreter to the State’s delegation to the Micronesian Constitutional Convention, leading the Micronesian Legal Services Corporation in Yap, as legal counsel for the Yap State Legislature, and serving as an Associate Justice on the Yap State Supreme Court.

In 1992 Martin Yinug was appointed and confirmed to lead the FSM Supreme Court as it’s Chief Justice, a role which he held until his death on August 31, 2014. In September of 2013, Chief Justice Yinug had been elected by the members of the Pacific Judicial Council (PJC) to serve as the President of this regional judicial organization.

Acknowledgments

Justice Yinug was widely praised for his selfless commitment to the public good. FSM Vice President Alik L. Alik described him as “a humble man of high principles, of few but eloquent words, and of impeccable integrity and high morality.”

Vice Speaker of the Micronesian Congress, Paliknoa K. Welly, pointed to Yinug as “an excellent role model—a high achiever with a colorful career history and education who showed many that ‘it can be done.'” Beauleen Carl-Worswick, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia, observed that Martin Yinug was “a dedicated public servant and leader who championed the Rule of Law.”

Memorial Scholarship

In 2022, Habele, a US nonprofit established by former US Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Micronesia, established a K12 tuition scholarship honoring the late FSM Supreme Court Justice Martin G. Yinug of Yap. Several of the Habele scholarships are named to honor the legacy of specific individuals who either embodied the US-FSM partnership, and or played a significant and positive role in the development of the Federated States.