The Cook Islands are situated in the Southwest Pacific Ocean between French Polynesia and the Samoa's.  The Cook Islands has a Westminster type of democracy and has been an independent nation since 1965 with full internal self government. The Cook Islands have evolved into a democracy along the Westminster style of Government with a legal system based on English common law. This has allowed the Cook Islands to evolve into a stable democratic society with a strong rule of law. The Cook Islands is an independent state with full parliamentary and judicial sovereignty with a British and New Zealand heritage which has provided a political and legal infrastructure that has enabled the Cook Islands to avoid the kind of turmoil which can often disturb or destabilise an offshore jurisdiction.