EXPLANATORY
NOTE
(This Note is not part of the
Order.)
This Order, which is made at the
request and with the consent of the Associated State of Saint Lucia under
section 5 (4) of the West Indies Act 1967, provides a new constitution for
Saint Lucia upon its attainment of fully responsible government within the
Commonwealth at the termination of the status of association of Saint
Lucia with the United Kingdom under the Act on 22 February 1979.
The Saint Lucia
Constitution Order 1978
STATUTORY
INSTRUMENTS
1978 No. 1901
SAINT LUCIA
The Saint
Lucia Constitution Order 1978
Made: |
20th December 1978 |
Coming into Operation: |
22nd February 1979 |
At
the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 20th day of December 1978
Present,
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Whereas the status
of association of Saint Lucia with the United Kingdom is to terminate on 22nd
February 1979 and it is necessary to establish a new constitution for Saint
Lucia upon its attainment of fully responsible status within the Commonwealth:
And whereas the
Associated State of Saint Lucia has, by a resolution passed in the House of
Assembly thereof on 24th October 1978, requested and consented to the making
of this Order for that purpose:
Now, therefore, Her
Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of the powers vested in Her in that behalf
by section 5(4) of the West Indies Act 1967 (a), is pleased, by and
with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as
follows: --
1.-
(1) This Order may be cited as the Saint Lucia Constitution Order 1978.
(2)This Order
shall come into operation on 22nd February 1979.
2.- The Saint Lucia Constitution Order 1967(b), which made
provision for the constitution of the Associated State of Saint Lucia, is
revoked.
3.- The
Constitution of Saint Lucia set out in Schedule 1 to this Order shall come
into effect in Saint Lucia at the commencement of this Order subject to the
transitional provisions set out in Schedule 2 to this Order.
N.E. Leigh,
Clerk of the Privy Council
SCHEDULE 1
TO THE ORDER
THE CONSTITUTION OF SAINT LUCIA
Arrangement of Sections
CHAPTER I
Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms
Section
-
Fundamental rights and freedoms.
-
Protection of right to life.
-
Protection of right to
personal liberty.
-
Protection from slavery
and forced labour.
-
Protection from inhuman
treatment.
-
Protection from
deprivation of property.
-
Protection from
arbitrary search or entry.
-
Provisions to secure
protection of the law.
-
Protection of freedom of
conscience.
-
Protection of freedom of
expression.
-
Protection of
freedom of assembly and association.
-
Protection of freedom of
movement.
-
Protection
from discrimination on grounds of race, etc.
-
Emergency powers.
-
Protection of
persons detained under emergency laws.
-
Enforcement of protective
provisions.
-
Declaration of emergency.
-
Interpretation and savings.
CHAPTER II
The Governor-General
-
Establishment of office.
-
Acting Governor-General.
-
Oaths.
-
Deputy to Governor-General.
CHAPTER III
Parliament
Composition of Parliament
-
Establishment.
The Senate
-
Composition.
-
Qualifications.
-
Disqualifications.
-
Tenure of office.
-
Inability.
-
President and Deputy President.
The House of Assembly
-
Composition.
-
Qualifications for election.
-
Disqualifications from election.
-
Elections.
-
Tenure of office.
-
Speaker.
-
Deputy Speaker
-
Responsibility for elections.
General provisions
-
Clerks of
Senate and House of Assembly and their staff.
-
Determination of
questions of membership.
Part 2
Legislation and
procedure of Parliament
-
Power to make laws.
-
Alteration of Constitution and Supreme Court Order.
-
Freedom of speech.
-
Oath by members.
-
Presiding.
-
Voting.
-
Penalty for sitting if unqualified.
-
Mode of exercise of legislative power.
-
Restrictions with regard to certain financial measures.
-
Restrictions on powers of Senate as to money bills.
-
Restrictions on powers of Senate as to bills other than money bills.
-
Provisions relating to ss. 48, 49 and 50.
-
Scrutiny of electoral legislation.
-
Regulation of procedure.
Part 3
Summoning, prorogation and dissolution
-
Sessions.
-
Prorogation and dissolution.
-
Holding of elections.
Part 4
Constituency Boundaries and Electoral Commission
-
Constituency Boundaries Commission and Electoral Commission.
Part 5
Delimitation of constituencies
-
Review of constituency boundaries
CHAPTER IV
The Executive
-
Executive authority.
-
Ministers of the Government.
-
Cabinet of Ministers.
-
Allocation of portfolios to Ministers.
-
Performance of functions of Ministers during absence or illness.
-
Exercise of Governor-General's functions.
-
Governor-General to be informed concerning matters of government.
-
Oaths to be taken by Ministers, etc.
-
Leader of the Opposition.
-
Parliamentary Secretaries.
-
Permanent Secretaries.
-
Secretary to the Cabinet.
-
Constitution of offices, etc.
-
Attorney-General.
-
Control of public prosecutions.
-
Prerogative of mercy.
-
Committee on Prerogative of Mercy.
-
Procedure in capital cases.
CHAPTER V
Finance
-
Consolidated Fund.
-
Withdrawals from Consolidated Fund or other public funds.
-
Authorisation of expenditure from Consolidated Fund by appropriation law.
-
Authorisation of expenditure in advance of appropriation.
-
Contingencies Fund.
-
Remuneration of certain officers.
-
Public Debt.
-
Audit of public accounts, etc.
CHAPTER VI
The Public Service
Part 1
The Public Service Commission
-
Public Service Commission.
-
Appointment etc. of public officers.
Part 2
Appointment, etc., to particular offices
-
Appointment, etc., of permanent secretaries and certain other officers.
-
Chief Elections Officer.
-
Director of Public Prosecutions.
-
Director of Audit.
-
Appointment, etc., of magistrates, registrars and legal officers.
Part 3
The Teaching Service Commission
-
Teaching Service Commission
-
Appointment, etc., of teachers.
Part 4
The Police
-
Police Force.
Part 5
The Public Service Board of Appeal
-
Public Service Board of Appeal.
-
Appeals in discipline cases.
Part 6
Pensions
-
Pensions laws and protection of pension rights.
-
Power to withhold pensions, etc.
CHAPTER VII
Citizenship
-
Persons who become citizens on 22nd February 1979.
-
Persons born in Saint Lucia on or after 22nd February 1979.
-
Persons born outside Saint Lucia on or after 22nd February 1979.
-
Registration.
-
Acquisition, deprivation and renunciation.
-
Interpretation.
CHAPTER VIII
Judicial Provisions
-
Original jurisdiction of High Court in constitutional questions.
-
Reference of constitutional questions to High Court.
-
Appeals to Court of Appeal.
-
Appeals to Her Majesty in Council.
-
Interpretation
CHAPTER IX
Parliamentary Commissioner
-
Appointment, etc. of Commissioner.
-
Deputy Parliamentary Commissioner.
-
Functions of Commissioner.
-
Restrictions on matters for investigation.
-
Discretion of Commissioner.
-
Report on investigation.
-
Power to obtain evidence.
-
Prescribed matters concerning Commissioner.
CHAPTER X
Miscellaneous
-
The Integrity Commission.
-
Declaration of assets.
-
Supreme law.
-
Functions of Governor-General.
-
Resignations.
-
Re-appointment and concurrent appointments.
-
Interpretation.
SCHEDULE
Alteration of Constitution and Supreme Court Order
Part I
Provisions of Constitution referred to in section 41(2)
Part II
Provisions of Supreme Court Order referred to in section 41(2)
SCHEDULE
2
Rules concerning constituencies
SCHEDULE
3
Matters not subject to investigation by Parliamentary Commissioner
WHEREAS the People of Saint Lucia-
a) affirm their faith in the supremacy of the
Almighty God;
b) believe that all persons have been endowed
equally by God with inalienable rights and dignity;
c) recognize that the enjoyment of these
rights depends upon certain fundamental freedoms namely, freedom of the
person, of thought, of expression, of communication, of conscience and of
association;
d) maintain that these freedoms can only be
safeguarded by the rule of law;
e) realize that human dignity requires respect
for spiritual values; for private family life and property; and the enjoyment
of an adequate standard of economic and social well-being dependent upon the
resources of the State;
f) respect the principles of social justice
and therefore believe that the operation of the economic system should result
in the material resources of the community being so distributed as to subserve
the common good, that there should be adequate means of livelihood for all,
that labour should not be exploited or forced by economic necessity to operate
in inhumane conditions but that there should be opportunity for advancement on
the basis of recognition of merit, ability and integrity;
g) express their commitment to democracy, in
particular the principle of a government freely elected on the basis of
universal adult suffrage.
h) consider that individually, each person has
duties towards every other and to the community and is under obligation to
observe and promote the rights, freedoms and values recognized in this
constitution;
i) pledge their support for international
peace and security, for friendly relations among nations and the promotion of
universal respect for human rights and freedoms; and their co-operation in
solving by peaceful means international problems of an economic, social or
political character;
j) desire that this Constitution shall reflect
and make provisions for ensuring and protecting these rights, freedoms and
values.
NOW;
THEREFORE, the following provisions shall have effect as the Constitution of
Saint Lucia:
CHAPTER I
PROTECTION OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
1.-
Fundamental rights and
freedoms
Whereas every person in Saint Lucia is
entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms, that is to say, the right,
whatever his race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex,
but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for the
public interest, to each and all of the following, namely-
a) life, liberty, security of the person,
equality before the law and the protection of the law;
b) freedoms of conscience, of expression and
of assembly and association; and
c) protection for his family life, his
personal privacy, the privacy of his home and other property and from
deprivation of property without compensation,
the provisions of this Chapter shall have
effect of the purpose of affording protection to those rights and freedoms
subject to such limitations of that protection as are contained in those
provisions, being limitations designed to ensure that the enjoyment of the
said rights and freedoms by any person does not prejudice the rights and
freedoms of others or the public interest.
2.-
Protection of right to life
(1) A person shall not be deprived of his life
intentionally save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a
criminal offence under any law or which he has been convicted.
(2) A person shall not be regarded as having
been deprived of his life in contravention of this section if he dies as the
result of the use to such extent and on such circumstances as are permitted by
law, of such force as is reasonably justifiable-
a) for the defence of any person from violence
or for the defence of a property;
b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to
prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained;
c) for the purpose or suppressing a riot,
insurrection or mutiny; or
d) in order to prevent the commission by that
person of a criminal offence.
or if he dies as the result of lawful act of
war.
3.-
Protection of right
to personal liberty
(1) A person shall not be deprived of his
personal liberty save as may be authorized by law in any of the following
cases, that is to say:-
a) in consequence of his unfitness to plead to
a criminal charge of in execution of the sentence or order of a court, whether
established for Saint Lucia or some other country, in respect of a criminal
offence of which he has been convicted;
b) in execution of the order of the High Court
or the Court of Appeal punishing him for contempt of the High Court or the
Court of Appeal or of another court or tribunal;
c) in execution of the order of a court made
to secure the fulfilment of any obligation imposed on him by law;
d) for the purpose of bringing him before a
court in execution of the order of a court;
e) upon a reasonable suspicion of his having
committed, or being about to commit, a criminal offence under any law;
f) under the order of a court or with the
consent of his parent or guardian, for his education or welfare during any
period ending not later than the date when he attains the age or eighteen
years;
g) for the purpose of preventing the spread of
an infectious or contagious disease;
h) in the case of a person who is, or is
reasonably suspected to be, of unsound mind, addicted to drugs or alcohol, or
a vagrant, for the purpose of his case or treatment of the protection of the
community;
i) for the purpose of preventing his unlawful
entry into Saint Lucia, or for the purpose of effecting his expulsion,
extradition or other lawful removal from Saint Lucia or for the purpose of
restraining him while he is being conveyed through Saint Lucia in the course
of his extradition or removal as a convicted prisoner from one country to
another; or
j) to such extent as may be necessary in the
execution of a lawful order requiring him to remain within a specified area
within Saint Lucia, or prohibiting him form being within such an area, or to
such extent as may be reasonably justifiable for the taking of proceedings
against him with a view to the making of any such order or relating to such an
order after it has been made or to such extent as may be reasonably
justifiable for restraining him during any visit that he is permitted to make
to any part of Saint Lucia in which, in consequence of any such order, his
presence would otherwise be unlawful.
(2) Any person who is arrested or detained
shall with reasonable promptitude and in any case no later than twenty-four
hours after such arrest or detention be informed in a language that he
understands of the reasons for his arrest or detention and be afforded
reasonable facilities for private communication and consultation with a legal
practitioner of his own choice and, in the case of a minor, with his parents
or guardian.
(3) Any person who is arrested or detained-
a) for the purpose of bringing him before a
court in execution of the order of a court; or
b) upon reasonable suspicion of his having
committed, or being about to commit, a criminal offence under any law
and who is not released, shall be brought
before a court without undue delay and in any case not later than seventy-two
hours after such arrest or detention.
(4) Where any person is brought before a court
in execution of the order of a court in any proceedings or upon suspicion of
his having committed or being about to commit an offence, he shall not be
thereafter further held in custody in connection with those proceedings or
that offence save upon the order of a court.
(5) If any person arrested or detained as
mentioned in subsection (3)(b) of this section is not tried within a
reasonable time, then without prejudice to any further proceedings that may be
brought against him , he shall be released either unconditionally or upon
reasonably necessary to ensure that he appears at a later date for trial or
for proceedings preliminary to trial, and such conditions may include bail so
long as it is not excessive.
(6) Any person who is unlawfully arrested or
detained by any other person shall be entitled to compensation therefor from
any other person or authority on whose behalf that other person was acting;
Provided that a judge, a magistrate or a
justice of the peace or an officer of a court or a police officer shall not be
under any personal liability to pay compensation under this subsection in
consequence of any act performed by him in good faith in the discharge of the
functions of his office and any liability to pay any such compensation in
consequence of any such act shall be a liability of the Crown.
(7) For the purposes of subsection (1) a of
this section a person charged before a court with a criminal offence in
respect of whom a special verdict has been returned that he was guilty of the
act or omission charged but was insane when he did the act or made the
omission shall be regarded as a person who has been convicted of a criminal
offence and the detention of a person in consequence of such a verdict shall
be regarded as detention in execution of the order of a court.
4.-
Protection from
slavery and forced labour
(1) No person shall be held in slavery or
servitude.
(2) No person shall be required to perform
forced labour.
(3) For the purposes of this section, the
expression "forced labour" does not include-
a) any labour required in consequence of the
sentence or order of a court;
b) labour required of any person while he is
lawfully detained that, though not required in consequence of the sentence or
order of a court, is reasonably necessary in the interests of hygiene or for
the maintenance of the place at which he is detained;
c) any labour required of a member of a
disciplined force in pursuance of his duties as such or, in the case of a
person who has conscientious objection to service as a member of a naval,
military or air force, any labour that person is required by law to perform in
place of such service;
d) any labour required during any period of
public emergency or in the event of any accident or natural calamity that
threatens the life and well-being of the community, t tee extent that the
requiring of such labour is reasonably justifiable in the circumstances of any
situation arising or existing during that period or as a result of that
accident or natural calamity, for the purpose of dealing with that situation.
5.-
Protection from inhuman
treatment
No person shall be subjected to torture or to
inhuman or degrading punishment or other treatment.
6.-
Protection from
deprivation of property
(1) No property of any description shall be
compulsorily taken possession of, and no interest in or right over property of
any description shall be compulsorily acquired, except for a public purpose
and except where provision is made by a law applicable to that taking of
possession or acquisition for the prompt payment of full compensation.
(2) Every person having an interest in or
right over property that is compulsorily taken possession of or whose interest
in or right over any property is compulsorily acquired shall have a right of
direct access to the High Court for-
a) determining the nature and extent of that
interest or right;
b) determining whether that taking of
possession or acquisition was duly carried out in accordance with a law
authorizing the taking of possession or acquisition;
c) determining what compensation he is
entitled to under the law applicable to that taking of possession or
acquisition;
d) obtaining that compensation:
Provided that if Parliament so provides in
relation to any matter referred to in paragraph (a) or (c) of this subsection
the right of access shall be by way of appeal (exercisable as of right at the
instance of the person having the interest in or right over the property) form
a tribunal or authority, other than the High Court having jurisdiction under
any law to determine that matter.
(3) The Chief Justice may make rules with
respect to the practice and procedure of the High Court or, subject to such
provision as may have been made in that behalf by Parliament, with respect to
the practice and procedure of any other tribunal or authority in relation to
the jurisdiction conferred on the High Court by subsection (2) of this section
or exercisable by the other tribunal or authority for the purposes of that
subsection (including rules with respect to the time within which applications
or appeals to the High Court or applications to the other tribunal or
authority may be brought).
(4) No person who is entitled to compensation
under this section shall be prevented from remitting, within a reasonable time
after he has received any amount of that compensation in the form of a sum of
money or, as the case may be, has received any such amount in some other form
and has converted any of that amount into a sum of money, the whole of that
sum of money (free from any deduction, charge or tax made or levied in respect
of its remission) to any country of his choice outside Saint Lucia.
(5) Nothing contained in or done under that
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of subsection (4) of this section to the extent that the law in question
authorizes-
a) The attachment, by order of any amount of
compensation to which a person is entitled in satisfaction of the judgment of
a court or pending the determination of civil proceedings to which he is a
party;
b) The imposition of reasonable restrictions
on the manner in which any sum of money is to be remitted; or
c) the imposition of reasonable restrictions
upon the remission of any sum of money in order to prevent or regulate the
transfer to a country outside Saint Lucia of capital raised in Saint Lucia or
in some other country or derived from the natural resources of Saint Lucia.
(6) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of subsection (1) of this section-
a) to the extent that the law in question
makes provision for the taking of possession or acquisition of any property,
interest or right-
i) in satisfaction of any tax, rate or due;
ii) by way of penalty for breach of any law or
forfeiture in consequence of breach of any law;
iii) as an incident of a lease, tenancy,
mortgage, hypothec, charge, bill of sale, pledge or contract;
iv) in the execution of judgements or orders
of a court in proceedings for the determination of civil rights or
obligations;
v) in circumstances where it is reasonably
necessary so to do because the property is in a dangerous state, or likely to
be injurious to the health of human beings, animals or plants;
vi) in consequence of any law with respect to
the limitation of actions; or
vii) for so long only as may be necessary for
the purposes of any examination, investigation, trial or inquiry or, in the
case of land, for the purposes of the carrying out thereon of work of soil
conservation or the conservation of other natural resources or work relating
to agricultural development o improvement (being work relating to such
development o r improvement that the owner or occupier of the land has been
required, and has without reasonable excuse refused or failed,to carry out).
and except so far as that provision or, as the
case may be, the thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be
reasonably justifiable in a democratic society; or
b) to the extent that the law in question
makes provision for the taking of possession or acquisition of any of the
following property (including an interest in or right over property), that is
to say-
i) enemy property;
ii) property of a deceased person, a person of
unsound mind or a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years, for
the purpose of its administration for the benefit of the persons entitled to
the beneficial interest therein;
iii) property of a person adjudged bankrupt or
a body corporate in liquidation, for the purpose of its administration for the
benefit of the creditors of the bankrupt or body corporate and, subject
thereto, for the benefit of other persons entitled to the beneficial interest
in the property; or
iv) property subject to a trust, for the
purpose of vesting the property in persons appointed as trustees under the
instrument creating the trust or by a court or, by order of a court, for the
purpose of giving effect to the trust.
(7) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law enacted by Parliament shall be held to be inconsistent
with or in contravention of this section to the extent that the law in
question makes provision for the compulsory taking of possession of any
property, or the compulsory acquisition of any interest in or right over
property, where that property, interest or right is held by a body corporate
established by law for public purposes in which no monies have been invested
other than monies provided by Parliament.
(8) In this section-
"property" means any land or other thing
capable of being owned or held in possession and includes any right relating
thereto. Whether under a contract, trust or law or otherwise and whether
present or future, absolute or conditional;
"acquisition", in relation to an interest in
or right over property, means transferring that interest or right to another
person or extinguishing or curtailing that interest or right.
7.-
Protection from
arbitrary search or entry
(1) Except with his own consent, a person
shall not be subjected to the search of his person or his property or the
entry by others on his premises.
(2) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision-
a) that is reasonably required in the
interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality, public
health, town and country planning, the development an d utilization of mineral
resources or the development or utilization of any property for a purpose
beneficial to the community;
b) that is reasonably required for the purpose
of protecting the rights or freedoms of other persons;
c) that authorizes an officer or agent of the
Government, a local government authority or a body corporate established by
law for public purposes to enter on the premises of any person in order to
inspect those premises or anything thereon for the purpose of any tax, rate or
due or in order to carry out work connected with any property that is lawfully
on those premises and that belongs to the Government or to that authority or
body corporate, as the case may be; or
d) that authorizes, for the purpose of
enforcing the judgment or order of a court in any civil proceedings, the
search of any person or property by order of a court or entry upon any
premises by such order,
and except so far as that provision or, as the
case may be, anything done under the authority thereof is shown not to be
reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.
8.-
Provision to
secure protection of the law
(1) If any person is charged with a criminal
offence, then, unless the charge is withdrawn, the case shall be afforded a
fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial court
established by law.
(2) Every person who is charged with a
criminal offence-
a) shall be presumed to be innocent until he
is proved or has pleaded guilty;
b) shall be informed as soon as reasonably
practicable, in a language that he understands and detail, of the nature of
the offence charged;
c) shall be given adequate time and facilities
for the preparation of his defence;
d) shall be permitted to defend himself before
the court in person or, at his own expense, by a legal practitioner of his own
choice;
e) shall be afforded facilities to examine in
person or by his legal representative the witnesses called by the prosecution
before the court, and to obtain the attendance and carry out the examination
of witnesses to testify on his behalf before the court on the same conditions
as those applying to witnesses called by the prosecution; and
f) shall be permitted to have without payment
the assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand the language used at
the trial,
and except with his own consent the trial
shall not take place in his absence unless he so conducts himself as to render
the continuance of the proceedings in his presence impracticable and the court
has ordered him to be removed and the trial to proceed in his absence:
Provided that the trial may take place in his
absence in any case in which it is so provided by a law under which he is
entitled to adequate notice of the charge and the date, time and place of the
trail and to a reasonable opportunity of appearing before the court.
(3) When a person is tried for any criminal
offence, the accused person or any person authorized by him in that behalf
shall, if he so requires and subject to payment of such reasonable fee as may
be prescribed by law, be given within a reasonable time after judgment a copy
for the use of the accused person of any record of the proceedings made by or
on behalf of the court.
(4) A person shall not be held to be guilty of
a criminal offence on account of any act or omission that did not, at the time
it took place, constitute such an offence, and no penalty shall be imposed for
any criminal offence that is severer in degree or description than the maximum
penalty that might have been imposed for that offence at the time when it was
committed.
(5) A person who shows that he has been tried
by a competent court for a criminal offence and either convicted or acquitted
shall not again be tried for that offence or for any other criminal offence of
which he could have been convicted at the trial for that offence, save upon
the order of a superior court in the course of appeal or review proceeding
relating to the conviction or acquittal.
(6) A person shall not be tried for a criminal
offence if he shows that he has been pardoned for that offence.
(7) A person who is tried for a criminal
offence shall not be compelled to give evidence at the trial.
(8) Any court or other authority prescribed by
law for the determination of the existence or extent of any civil right or
obligation shall be established by law and shall be independent and impartial;
and where proceedings for such a determination are instituted by any person
before such a court or other authority, the case shall be given a fair hearing
within a reasonable time.
(9) Where the existence or extent of any civil
right or obligation has been determined in proceedings in any court or before
any other authority any party to those proceedings shall, if he so requires
and subject to payment of such reasonable fee as may be prescribed by law, be
entitled to obtain within a reasonable time after the judgment or other
determination a copy of any record of the proceedings made by or on behalf of
the court or other authority.
(10) Except with the agreement of all the
parties thereto, all proceedings of every court and proceedings for the
determination of the existence or extent of any civil right or obligation
before any other authority, including the announcement of the decision of the
court or other authority, shall be held in public.
(11) Nothing in subsection (10) of this
section shall prevent the court or other adjudicating authority from excluding
from the proceedings persons other than the parties thereto and the legal
practitioners representing them to such extent as the court or other
authority-
a) may by law be empowered to do and may
consider necessary or expedient in circumstances where publicity would
prejudice the interests of justice or in interlocutory proceedings or in the
interests of public morality, the welfare of persons under the age of eighteen
years or the protection of the private lives of persons concerned in the
proceedings; or
b) may by law be empowered or required to do
in the interests of defence, public safety or public order.
(12) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of-
a) subsection (2) (a) of this section to the
extent that the law in question imposes upon any person charged with a
criminal offence the burden of proving particular facts;
b) subsection (2) (e) of this section to the
extent that the law in question imposes reasonable conditions that must be
satisfied if witnesses called to testify on behalf of an accused person are to
be paid their expenses out of public funds; or
c) subsection (5) of this section to the
extent that the law in question authorizes a court to try a member of a
disciplined force for a criminal offence notwithstanding any trial and
conviction or acquittal of that member under the disciplinary law of that
force, so, however, that any court so trying such a member and convicting him
shall in sentencing him to any punishment, take into account any punishment
awarded him under that disciplinary law.
(13) In the case of any person who is held in
lawful detention the provisions of subsection (1), paragraphs (d) and (e) of
subsection (2) and subsection (3) of this section shall not apply in relation
to his trial for a criminal offence under the law regulating the discipline of
persons held in such detention.
(14) In this section "criminal offence" means
a criminal offence under a law.
9.-
Protection of freedom
of conscience
(1) Except with his own consent, a person
shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of conscience, including
freedom of thought and of religion, freedom to change his religion or belief
and freedom, either alone or in community with others, and both in public and
in private, to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship,
teaching, practice and observance.
(2) Except with his own consent (or, if he is
a person under the age of eighteen years, the consent of his guardian) a
person attending any place of education, detained in any prison or corrective
institution or serving in a naval, military or air force shall not be required
to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious
ceremony or observance if that instruction ceremony or observance relates to a
religion which is not his own.
(3) Every religious community shall be
entitled, at its own expense, to establish and maintain places of education
and to manage any place of education which it maintains; and no such community
shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for persons of that
community in the course of any education provided by that community whether or
not it is in receipt of a government subsidy or other form of financial
assistance designed to meet in whole or in part the cost of such course of
education.
(4) A person shall not be compelled to take
any oath which is contrary to his religion or belief or to take any oath in a
manner which is contrary to his religion or belief.
(5) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision which
is reasonably required-
a) in the interests of defence, public safety,
public order, public morality or public health;
b) for the purpose of protecting the rights
and freedoms of other persons, including the right to observe and practice any
religion without the unsolicited intervention of members of any other
religion; or
c) for the purpose of regulating educational
institutions in the interests of the persons who receive or may receive
instruction in them,
and except so far as that provision or, as the
case may be, the thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be
reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.
(6) References in this section to a religion
shall be construed as including references to a religious denomination, and
cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.
10.-
Protection of freedom
of expression
(1) Except with his own consent, a person
shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, including
freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and
information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and information
without interference (whether the communication be tot he public generally or
to any person or class of persons) and freedom from interference with his
correspondence.
(2) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provisions-
a) that is reasonably required in the interest
of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health;
b) that is reasonably required for the purpose
of protecting the reputation, rights and freedoms of to the persons or the
private lives of persons concerned in legal proceedings, preventing the
disclosure of information received in confidence, maintaining the authority
and independence of the courts or regulating the technical administration or
the technical operation of telephony, telegraphy, posts wireless broadcasting
or television; or
c) that imposes restrictions upon public
officers that are reasonably required for the proper performance of their
functions,
and except so far as that provisions or, as
the case may be, the thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be
reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.
11.-
Protection of freedom of assembly and association
(1) Except with his own consent, a person
shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of assembly and
association, that is to say, his right to assemble freely and associate with
other persons and in particular to form or belong to trade unions or other
associations for the protection of his interests or to form or belong to
political parties or other political associations.
(2) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision-
a) that is reasonable required in the
interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public
health;
b) that is reasonable required for the purpose
of protecting the rights of freedoms of other persons; or
c) that imposes restrictions upon public
officers that are reasonably required for the proper performance of their
functions,
and except so far as that provision or, as the
case maybe, the thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be
reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.
12.-
Protection of freedom of
movement
(1) A person shall not be deprived of his
freedom of movement that is to say, the right to move freely throughout Saint
Lucia, the right to reside in any part of Saint Lucia the right to enter Saint
Lucia, the right to leave Saint Lucia and immunity form expulsion form Saint
Lucia.
(2) Any restriction on a person's freedom of
movement that is involved in this lawful detention shall not be held to be
inconsistent with or in contravention of this section.
(3) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section to the extent that the law in question makes provision_
a) for the imposition of restrictions on the
movement or residence within Saint Lucia of any person or non any person's
right to leave Saint Lucia that are reasonably required in the interest of
defence, public safety or public order;
b) for the imposition of restrictions, by
order of a court, on the movement or residence within Saint Lucia or on the
right to leave Saint Lucia of persons generally or any class of persons in the
interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public
health or, in respect of the right to leave Saint Lucia, of securing
compliance with any international obligation of the Government particulars of
which have been laid before the Senate and the House and except so far as tat
provision or , as the case may be, the thing done under the authority thereof
is shown not to be reasonably justifiable in a democratic society;
c) for the imposition of restrictions, by
order of a court, on the movement or residence within Saint Lucia of any
person or on any person's right to leave Saint Lucia either in consequence of
his having been found guilty of a criminal offence under a law or for the
purpose of ensuring that he appears before a court at a later date for trial
of such a criminal offence or of proceeding preliminary to trial or for
proceedings relating to his extradition or lawful removal from Saint Lucia;
d) for the imposition of restriction on the
freedom of movement of any person who is not a citizen;
e) for the imposition of restriction on the
acquisition on the acquisition or use by any person of land or other property
in Saint Lucia;
f) for the imposition of restrictions upon the
movement of resident within Saint Lucia or on the right to leave Saint Lucia
of any public officer that are reasonably required for the proper performance
of his functions;
g) for the removal of a person from Saint
Lucia to be tried or punished in some other country for a criminal offence
under the law of that other country of to undergo imprisonment in some other
country in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal
offence under a law of which he has been convicted; or
h) for the imposition of restrictions on the
right of any person to leave Saint Lucia that are reasonably required in order
to secure the fulfilment of any obligations imposed on that person by law.
and except so far as that provision or as case
may be, the thing done under the authority thereof is shown not to be
reasonably justifiable in a democratic society.
(4) if any person whose freedom of movement
has been restricted by virtue of such a provision as is referred to in
subsection (3)(a) of this section so request at any time during the period of
that restriction not earlier than twenty-one days after the order was made or
three months after he last made such a request, as the case may be, his case
shall be review by an independent and impartial tribunal presided over by a
person appointed by the Chief Justice from among persons who are legal
practitioners.
(5) On any review by a tribunal in pursuance
of subsection (49 of this section of the case of any person whose freedom of
movement has been restricted, the tribunal may make recommendations concerning
the necessity or expediency of the continuation of that restriction to the
authority by whom it was ordered and, unless it is otherwise provided by law,
that authority shall be obliged to act in accordance with any such
recommendations.
13.-
Protection from discrimination on grounds of race, etc
(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(4), (59 and 87) of this section, no law shall make any provisions that is
discriminatory either of itself or in its effect.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection
86), (7) and (8) of this section, no person shall be treated in a
discriminatory manner by any person or authority.
(3) In this section, the expression
"discriminatory" means affording different treatment to different person
attributable wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions by sec, race
place of origin, political opinions, colour or creed whereby persons of one
such descriptions are subject to disabilities or restrictions to which persons
of another such description are not made subject or are accorded privileges or
advantages which are nor accorded to persons of another such descriptions.
(4) Subsection 81) of this section shall not
apply to any law so far as that law makes provision-
a) for the appropriation of public revenues or
other public funds;
b) with respect to persons who are not
citizens;
c) for the application, in the case of persons
of any such description as is mentioned in subsection (3) of this section (or
of persons connected with such persons), of the law with respect to adoption,
marriage, divorce, burial, devolution of property on death or other like
matters which is the personal law of persons of that description;
d) whereby persons of any such description as
is mentioned in subsection (3) of this section may be subject to any
disability or restriction or may be accorded any privileges or advantage that,
having regard to its nature and to special circumstance pertaining t those
persons or to person of any other such description, is reasonably justifiable
in a democratic society.
(5) Nothing contained in any law shall be held
to be inconsistent with or in contravention of subsection (1) of this section
the extent that it makes provisions with respect to standards or
qualifications (not being standard or qualification specifically relating to
sex, race, place of origin, political opinions, colour or creed) to be
required of any person who is appointed to or to act in any office or
employment.
(6) Subsection (2) of this section shall not
apply to anything which is expressly or by necessary implication authorized to
be done by any such provision of law as is referred to in subsection (4) or
subsection (5) of this section.
(7) Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of this section the extent that the law in question makes provision whereby
persons of any such description as is mentioned in subsection (3) of this
section may be subject to any restriction as is mentioned in subsection 83) of
this section may be subjected to any restriction on the rights and freedom
guaranteed by sections 7, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of this Constitution, being such a
restriction as is authorized by section 7(2), section 9(5)0, section 10(2),
section 1182) or paragraph (a), (b) or (h) of section 12(3), as the case may
be.
(8) Nothing contained in subsection (2) of
this section shall affect any discretion relating to the institution, conduct
or discontinuance of civil or criminal proceedings in any court that is vested
in any person by or under this Constitution or any other law.
14.-
Emergency powers
(1) Without prejudice to the powers of
Parliament, but subject to the provisions of this section, where any period of
public emergency exists the Governor-general may, due regard being had to the
circumstances of any situation likely to arise or exist during such period,
make regulations for the purpose of dealing with that situation and issue
orders and instruction for the purpose of the exercise of any powers conferred
on him or any other person by any law referred to in subsection(3) of this
section or instrument made under this section or any such law.
(2) Without prejudice to the generally of
subsection (1) of this section regulations made under that subsection may make
provision for the detention of persons.
(3) A law enacted by Parliament that is passed
during a period of public emergency and is expressly declared to have effect
only during that period or any regulation made under subsection (1) of this
section shall have effect eve though inconsistent with section 3 or 13 of this
Constitution except in so far as its provisions may be shown not to be
reasonably justifiable for the purpose of dealing with the situation that
exists during that period.
15.-
Protection of persons detained under emergency laws
(1) When a person is detained by virtue of any
such law as is referred to in section 14 of this Constitution the following
provisions shall apply, that is to say:-
a) he shall, with reasonable promptitude and
in any case not more than seven days after the commencement of his detention,
be informed in a language that he understands and in detail of the grounds
upon which he is detained and furnished with a written statement in English
specifying those grounds in detail;
b) not more than fourteen days after the
commencement of his detention, a notification shall be published in the
Official Gazette sating that he has been detained and giving particulars of
the provisions of law under which his detention is authorized;
c) not more than one month after the
commencement of his detention and thereafter during his detention at intervals
of not more than three months, his case shall be reviewed by an independent
and impartial tribunal established by law and presided over by a person
appointed by the Chief Justice from among persons who are legal practitioners;
d) he shall be afforded reasonable facilities
for private communication and consultation with a legal practitioner of his
own choice who shall be permitted to make representations to the tribunal
appointed for the review of the case of the detained person; and
e) at the hearing of his case by the tribunal
appointed for the review of his case he shall be permitted to appear in person
or to be represented by a legal practitioner of his own choice.
(2) On any review by a tribunal in pursuance
of this section of the case of a detained person, the tribunal may make
recommendations concerning the necessity or expediency of continuing his
section to the authority by which it was ordered by, unless it is otherwise
provided by law, that authority shall not be obliged to act in accordance with
any such recommendations.
(3) Nothing contained in subsection (1)(d) or
subsection (1)(e) of this section shall be construed as entitling a person to
legal representation at public expense.
16.-
Enforcement of
protective provisions
(1) If any person alleges that any of the
provision of sections 2 to 15 inclusive of this Constitution has been, is
being or is likely to be contravened in relation to him (or, in the case of a
person who is detained, if any other person alleges such a contravention in
relation to the detained person), then, without prejudice to any other action
with respect to the same matter which is lawfully available, that person (or
that other person) may apply to the High Court for redress.
(2) The High Court shall have original
jurisdiction-
a) to hear and determine any application made
by any person in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section; and
b) to determine any question arising in the
case of any person which is referred to it in pursuance of subsection (3) of
this section.
and may make such declarations and orders,
issue such writs and give such directions as it may consider appropriate for
the purpose of enforcing or securing the enforcement of any of the provisions
of sections 2 to 15 (inclusive) of this Constitution:
Provided that the High Court may decline to
exercise its powers under this subsection if it is satisfied that adequate
means of redress for the contravention alleged are or have been available to
the person concerned under any other law.
(3) If in any proceedings in any court (other
than the Court of Appeal of the High Court or a court-martial) any question
arises as to the contravention of any of the provisions of sections 2 to 15
(inclusive) of this Constitution, the person presiding in that court may, and
shall if any party to the proceedings so requests, refer the question to the
High Court unless, in his opinion, the raising of the questions merely
frivolous or vexatious.
(4) Where any question is referred to the High
Court in pursuance of subsection (3) of this section, the High Court shall
give its decision upon the question and the court in which the question arose
shall dispose of the case in accordance with that decision, or , if that
decision is the subject of an appeal to the Court of Appeal or to Her Majesty
in Council, in accordance with the decision of the Court of Appeal or, as the
case may be, of Her Majesty in Council.
(5) The High Court shall have such powers in
addition to those conferred by this section as may be conferred upon it by
Parliament for t purpose of enabling it more effectively to exercise the
jurisdiction conferred upon it by this section.
(6) The Chief Justice may make rules with
respect to the practice and procedure of the High Court in relation to the
jurisdiction and powers conferred on it by or under this section (including
rules with respect to the time within which applications may be brought and
references shall be made to the High Court).
17.-
Declaration of emergency
(1) The Governor-General may, by proclamation
which shall be published in the Official Gazette, declare that a state of
emergency exists for the purposes of this Chapter.
(2) A proclamation under this section shall
not be effective unless it contains a declaration that the Governor-General is
satisfied-
a) that a public emergency has arisen as a
result of the imminence of a state of war between Saint Lucia and a foreign
state;
b) that a public emergency has arises as a
result of the occurrence of any earthquake, , hurricane, flood, fire, outbreak
of pestilence or of infectious disease, or other calamity whether similar to
the foregoing or not; or
c) that action has been taken, or is
immediately threatened, by any person, of such a nature and on so extensive a
scale, as to be likely to endanger the public safety or to deprive the
community or any substantial portion of the community of supplies or services
essential to life.
(3) Every declaration of emergency shall
lapse-
a) in the case of a declaration made when
Parliament is sitting, at the expiration of a period of seven days beginning
with the date of publication of the declaration; and
b) in any other case, at the expiration of a
period of twenty-one days beginning with the date of publication of the
declaration.
unless it has in the meantime been approved by
resolutions of the Senate and the House.
(4) A declaration of emergency may at any time
be revoked by the Governor-General by proclamation which shall be published in
the Official Gazette.
(5) A declaration of emergency that has been
approved by resolutions of the Senate and the House in pursuance of subsection
(3) of his section shall remain in force so long as both those resolutions
remain in force and no longer.
(6) A resolution of the Senate or the House
passed for the purposes of this section shall remain in force for twelve
months or such shorter period as may be specified therein:
Provided that any such resolution may be
extended from time to time by a further such resolution, each extension not
exceeding twelve months from the date of the resolution effecting the
extension; and any such resolution may be revoked at any time by a further
resolution.
(7) A resolution of the House for the purposes
of subsection (3) of this section and a resolution of the House extending any
such resolution shall not be passed in the House unless it is supported by the
votes of majority of all the members of the House.
(8) Any provision of this section that a
declaration of emergency shall lapse or cease to be in force at any particular
time is without prejudice to the making of a further such declaration whether
before or after that time.
18.-
Interpretation and savings
(1) In this Chapter, unless the context
otherwise requires-
"contravention" in relation to any
requirement, includes a failure to comply with that requirement, and cognate
expressions shall be construed accordingly;
"court" means any court of law having
jurisdiction in Saint Lucia other than a court established by a disciplinary
law, and includes Her Majesty in Council and in section 2 and 4 of this
Constitution a court established by a disciplinary law;
"disciplinary law" means a law regulating the
discipline of any disciplined force;
"disciplined force" means_
a) a naval, military or air force;
b) the Police Force;
c) a prison service; or
d) any such other force or service as may be
prescribed by Parliament.
"legal practitioner" means a person entitled
to be in or to enter Saint Lucia and entitled to practice as a barrister in
Saint Lucia or except in relation to proceedings before a court in which a
solicitor has nor right of audience, entitled to practice as a solicitor in
Saint Lucia;
"member", in relation to a disciplined force,
includes any person who, under the law regulating the discipline of that
force, is subject to that disciplined.
(2) In this Chapter "period of public
emergency" means any period during which-
a) Her Majesty is at war, or
b) there is in force a proclamation by the
Governor-General declaring that a state of public emergency exists; or
c) there is in force a resolution of the House
supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the
House declaring that democratic institutions in Saint Lucia are threatened by
subversion.
(3) In relation to any person who is a member
of a disciplined force of Saint Lucia, nothing contained in or done under the
authority of the disciplinary law of that force shall be held to be
inconsistent with or in contravention of any of the provisions of this Chapter
other than sections 2, 4 and 5 of this Constitution.
(4) In
relation to any person who is a member of a disciplined force of a country
other than Saint Lucia that is lawfully present in Saint Lucia, nothing
contained in or done under the authority of the disciplinary law of that force
shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention of any of the
provisions of this Chapter.
CHAPTER
II
THE
GOVERNOR-GENERAL
19.-
Establishment of office
There shall be a Governor-General of Saint
Lucia who shall be a citizen appointed by Her Majesty and shall hold office
during Her Majesty's pleasure and who shall be Her Majesty's representative in
Saint Lucia.
20.-
Acting Governor-General
(1) During any period when the office of
Governor-General is vacant of the holder of the office of Governor-General is
absent from Saint Lucia or is for any other reason unable to perform the
functions of his office those functions shall be performed by such person as
Her Majesty may appoint.
(2) Any such person as aforesaid shall not
continue to perform the function of the office of Governor-General if the
holder of the office of Governor-General or some other person having a prior
right to perform the functions of that office has notified him that he is
about to assume or resume those functions.
(3) The holder of the office of
Governor-General shall not, for the purposes of this section, be regarded as
absent from Saint Lucia or as unable to perform the function of his office-
a) by reason that he is in passage from one
part of Saint Lucia to another; or
b) at any time when there is a subsisting
appointment of a deputy under section 22 of this Constitution.
21.- Oaths
A persons appointed to hold the office of
Governor-General shall, before entering upon the duties of that office, take
and subscribe the oath of allegiance and the oath of office.
22.-
Deputy to Governor-General
(1) Whenever the Governor-General-
a) has occasion to be absent from the seat of
government by not from Saint Lucia;
b) has occasion to be absent from Saint Lucia
for a period which he considers, acting in his own deliberate judgment, will
be of short duration; or
c) is
suffering from an illness which he considers, acting in his own deliberate
judgment, will be of short duration, he
may, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, appoint any
person in Saint Lucia to be his deputy during such absence or illness and in
that capacity to perform on his behalf such of the function of the office of
Governor-General a s may be specified in the instrument by which he is
appointed.
(2) The power and authority of the
Governor-General shall not be abridged, altered or in any way affected by the
appointment of a deputy under this section, and, subject to the provisions of
this Constitution, a deputy shall conform to and observe all instructions that
the Governor-General, acting in his own deliberate judgment, may from time to
time address to him:
provided that the question whether or not a
deputy has conformed to and observed any such instructions shall not be
enquired into by any court of law.
(3) A person
appointed as deputy under this section shall hold that appointment for such
period as may be specified in the instrument by which he is appointed, and his
appointment may be revoked at any time by the Governor-genera, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.
[ Up ] [ Next ]
CHAPTER
III
PARLIAMENT
Part 1
Composition of Parliament
23.-
Establishment
There shall be a Parliament of Saint Lucia
which shall consist of Her Majesty, a Senate and a House of Assembly.
The Senate
24.-
Composition
(1) The Senate shall consist of eleven
Senators and such other Senators as may be temporarily appointed under section
28 of this Constitution.
(2) Of the eleven Senators-
a) six shall be appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister;
b) three shall be appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Leader of the
Opposition; and
c) two shall be appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in his own deliberate judgment after he has consulted
those religious, economic or social bodies or associations from which he
considers that such Senators should be selected.
25.-
Qualifications
Subject to the provisions of section 26 of
this Constitution, as person shall be qualified to be appointed as a Senator
if, and shall not be so qualified unless, he-
a) is a Commonwealth citizen who has attained
the age of thirty years;
b) has been ordinarily resident in Saint Lucia
for a period of five years immediately before the date of his appointment; and
c) is able to speak and, unless incapacitated
by blindness or other physical cause, to read the English language with
sufficient proficiency to enable him to take an active part in the proceedings
of the Senate.
26.-
Disqualifications
(1) No person shall be qualified to be
appointed as a Senator if, at the date of his appointment, he.
a) is by virtue of his own act, under any
acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or
state;
b) is a minister of religion (except in the
case of an appointment under section 24(2)(c) of is Constitution);
c) is an undischarged bankrupt, having been
adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in any part of
the Commonwealth;
d) is a person certified to be insane or
otherwise adjudged to be of unsound mind under any such law;
e) is under sentence of death imposed on him
by a court of law in any part of the Commonwealth or is serving a sentence of
imprisonment (by whatever name called) exceeding twelve months imposed on him
by such a court or substituted by competent authority for some other sentence
imposed on him by such a court, or is under such a sentence of imprisonment
the execution of which has been suspended; or
f) subject to such exceptions and limitations
as may be prescribed by Parliament, has any such interests in any such
government contract as may be prescribed.
(2) If it is so provided by Parliament, a
person who is convicted by any court of any offence that is prescribed by
Parliament and that is connected with the election of members of the House or
who is reported guilty of such an offence by the court trying an election
petition shall not be qualified, for such period (not exceeding five years)
following his conviction or, as the case may be, following the report of the
court as may be so prescribed, to be appointed as a Senator.
(3) No person shall be qualified to be
appointed as a Senator who is a member or is nominated as a candidate or
election to the House.
(4) If it is so provided by Parliament, and
subject to such exceptions and limitations (if any) as Parliament may
prescribed, a person shall not be qualified to be appointed as a Senator if,
at the date of his appointment-
a) he holds or is acting in any office or
appointment (whether specified individually or by reference to a class of
office or appointment);
b) he belongs to any of the armed forces of
the Crown or to any class of persons that is comprised in any such force; or
c) he belongs to any police force or to any
class of person that is comprised in any such force.
(5) In subsection (1) of this section-
"contract" means any contract made with the
Government or with a department of the Government or with an officer of the
Government contracting as such;
"minister of religion" means any person in
holy orders and any other person the functions of whose principal occupation
include teaching or preaching in any congregation for religious worship.
(6) For the purposes or paragraph (e) of
subsection (1) of this section-
a) two or more sentences of imprisonment that
are required to be served consecutively shall be regarded as separate
sentences if none of those sentences exceeds twelve months, but if any one of
such sentences exceeds that term they shall be regarded as one sentence; and
b) no account shall be taken of a sentence of
imprisonment imposed as an alternative to or in default of the payment of a
fine.
27.-
Tenure of office
(1) A senator shall vacate his seat in the
Senate at the next dissolution of Parliament after his appointment.
(2) A senator shall also vacate his seat in
the Senate-
a) if he is absent from the sittings of the
Senate for such period and in such circumstances as may be prescribed in the
rules of procedure of the Senate;
b) if he ceases to be a Commonwealth citizen;
c) if, with his consent, he is nominated as a
candidate for election to the House or if he is elected to be a member of the
House;
d) subject to the provisions of subsection (3)
of his section, if any other circumstances arise that, if he were not a
Senator, would cause him to be disqualified to be appointed as such by virtue
of subsection (1) of section 26 of his Constitution or by virtue of any law
enacted in pursuance of subsection (2) or (4) of that section; or
e) if the Governor-General, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister in the case of a Senator
appointed under paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 254 of this
Constitution or in accordance with the advice of the Leader of the Opposition
in the case of a Senator appointed under paragraph (b) of that subsection or
in his own deliberate judgment after such consultation as is specified in
paragraph (c) of that subsection in the case of a Senator appointed under that
paragraph, declares the seat of that Senator to be vacant.
(3) a) If any circumstances such as are
referred to in paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of this section arise because
any Senator is under sentence of death or imprisonment, adjudged to he of
unsound mind, declared bankrupt or convicted or reported guilty of an offence
relation to elections and if it is open to the Senator to appeal against the
decisions (either with the leave of a court or other authority or without such
leave), he shall forthwith cease to perform his functions as a member of the
Senate but, subject to the provisions of this section, he shall not vacate his
seat until the expiration of a period of thirty days thereafter:
Provided that the President may, at the
request of the Senator, from time to time, extend that period for further
periods of thirty days to enable the Senator to pursue an appeal against the
decision, so, however, that extensions of time exceeding in the aggregate one
hundred and fifty days shall not be given without the approval, signified by
resolution, of the Sound.
b) If on the determination of any appeal, such
circumstances continue to exist and no further appeal is open to the Senator,
or if, by reason of the expiration of any period for entering an appeal or
notice thereof of the refusal of leave to appeal or for any other reason, it
cases to be open to the Senator to appeal, he shall forthwith vacate his seat.
c) If at any time before the Senator vacates
his seat such circumstances as aforesaid cease to exist, his seat shall not
become vacant on the expiration of the period referred to in paragraph (a) of
this subsection and he may resume the performance of his functions as a member
of the senate.
28.-
Inability
(1) If the Governor-General considers that a
Senator is, by reason of his illness or absence from Saint Lucia, unable to
perform his functions as a member of the Senate the Governor-General may-
a) in accordance with the advice of the Prime
Minister in relation to a Senator appointed in pursuance of paragraph (a) of
subsection (2) of section 24 of this Constitution;
b) in accordance with the advice of the Leader
of the Opposition in relation to a Senator appointed in pursuance of paragraph
(b) of that subsection : and
c) in his own deliberate judgment after such
consultation as is specified in paragraph (c) of that subsection in relation
to a Senator appointed in pursuance of that paragraph.
29.-
President and Deputy
President
(1) When the Senate first meets after any
dissolution of Parliament and before it proceeds to the despatch of any other
business, it shall be elect a Senator, not being a Minister or a Parliamentary
Secretary, to be President of the Sound; and whenever the office of President
is vacant otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of Parliament, the Senate
shall, not later than its second sitting after the vacancy has arisen, elect
another Senator to fill that office.
(2) When the Senate first meets after any
dissolution of Parliament, it shall, as soon as practicable, elect a Senator,
not being a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary, to be Deputy President of
the Senate; and whenever the office of Deputy President becomes vacant, the
Senate shall, as soon as convenient, elect another Senator to fill that
office.
(3) A person shall vacate the office of
President or Deputy President-
a) if he ceases to be a Senator:
Provided that the President shall not vacate
his office by reason only that he has ceased to be a Senator on a dissolution
of Parliament until the Senate first meets after that dissolution;
b) if he is appointed to be a Minister or a
Parliamentary Secretary; or
c) in the case of the Deputy President, if he
is elected to be President.
(4) a) If, by virtue of section 27(3)(a) of
this Constitution, the President or Deputy President is required to cease to
perform his functions as a member of the Senate he shall also cease to perform
his functions as President or Deputy President, as the case may be, and those
functions shall, until he vacates his seat in the Senate or resumes the
performance or the functions of his office, be performed-
i) in the case of the President, by the Deputy
President or, if the office of Deputy President is vacant or the Deputy
President is required to cease to perform his functions as a member of the
Senate by virtue of section 27(3) of this Constitution, by such Senator (not
being a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary) as the Senate may elect for the
purpose;
ii) In the case of the Deputy President, by
such Senator (not being a Minister or Parliamentary Secretary) as the senate
may elect for the purpose.
b) If the President or Deputy President
resumes the performance of his functions as a members of the Senate, in
accordance with the provisions of section 27(3)(c) of this Constitution, he
shall also resume the performance of his functions as President or Deputy
President, as the case may be.
The House of Assembly
30.-
Composition
(1) The House shall consist of such number of
member of members as corresponds with the number of constituencies for the
time being established in accordance with the provisions of section 58 of this
Constitution, who shall be elected in accordance with the provisions of
section 33 of this Constitution.
(2) If a person who is not a member of the
House is elected to be Speaker he shall, by virtue of holding or acting in
that office, be a member of the House.
(3) At any time when the office of
Attorney-General is a public office, the Attorney-General shall by virtue of
holding or acting in that office, be a member of the House.
31.-
Qualifications for election
Subject to the provisions of section 32 of
this Constitution, a person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of
the House if, and shall not be so qualified unless, he-
a) is a citizen of the age of twenty-one years
or upwards,
b) was born in Saint Lucia and is domiciled
and resident there at the date of his nomination or, having been born
elsewhere, has resided there for a period of twelve months immediately before
that date; and
c) is able to speak and, unless incapacitated
by blindness or other physical cause, to read the English language with a
degree of proficiency sufficient to enable him to take an active part in the
proceedings of the House.
32.-
Disqualifications from
election
(1) A person shall not be qualified to be
elected as a member of the House (hereinafter in this section referred to as a
member) if he-
a) if by virtue of his own act, under any
acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power or
state;
b) is a minister of religion;
c) is an undischarged bankrupt, having been
adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in any part of
the Commonwealth;
d) is a person certified to be insane or
otherwise adjudged to be of unsound mind under any such law;
e) is under sentence of death imposed on him
by a court of law in any part of the Commonwealth or is serving a sentence of
imprisonment (by whatever name called) exceeding twelve months imposed on him
by such a court or substituted y competent authority for some other sentence
imposed on him by such a court, or is under such a sentence of imprisonment
the execution of which has been suspended; or
f) subject to such exceptions and limitations
as may be prescribed by Parliament, has an interest in any government
contract.
(2) If it is so provided by Parliament, a
person shall not be qualified to be elected as a member if he holds or is
acting in any office that is specified by Parliament and the functions of
which involve responsibility for, or in connection with, the conduct of any
election of members or the compilation of any register of voters for the
purpose of electing members.
(3) Id it is so provided by Parliament, a
person who is convicted by any court of law of any offence that is prescribed
by Parliament and that is connected with the election of member or who is
reported guilty of such an offence by the court trying an election petition
shall not be qualified, for such period (not exceeding seven years) following
his conviction or, as the case may be, following the report of the court as
may be so prescribed, to be elected as a member.
(4) A person shall not be qualified to be
elected as a member if he is a Senator.
(5) If it is so provided by Parliament and
subject to such exceptions and limitations (if any) as Parliament may
prescribed, a person shall not be qualified to be elected as a member if-
a) he holds or is acting in any office or
appointment (whether specified individually or by reference to a class of
office or appointment);
b) he belongs to any of the armed forces of
Saint Lucia or to any class of person that is comprised in any such force;
c) he belongs to any police-force or to any
class of person that is comprised in any such force; or
d) he has, within such period (not exceeding
three years) as parliament may prescribe, held or acted in any office or
appointment the tenure of which would, by virtue of any provisions made under
this subsection, disqualify him for election as a member, being an office or
appointment the emoluments of which exceed such amount as Parliament may
prescribe.
(6) In subsection (1) of this section-
"government contract" means any contract made
with the Government or with a department of the Government or with an office
or the Government contracting as such;
"minister of religion" means any person in
holy orders an any other person the function of whose principal occupation
include teaching or preaching in any congregation for religious worship.
(7) For the purposes of paragraph (e) of
subsection (1) of this section-
a) two or more sentences of imprisonment that
are required to be served consecutively shall be regarded as separate
sentences if none of those sentences exceeds that term they shall be regarded
as one sentence; and
b) no account shall be taken of a sentence of
imprisonment imposed as an alternative to on in default of the payment of a
fine.
33.-
Elections
(1) Each of the constituencies established in
accordance with the provision of section 58 of this Constitution shall return
one member to the House who shall be directly elected in such manner as may,
subject to the provisions of this Constitution, be prescribed by or under any
law.
(2) a) Every Commonwealth citizen of the
prescribed age who possesses such qualifications relating to residence or
domicile in Saint Lucia as Parliament may prescribe shall, unless he is
disqualified by Parliament from registration as a voter for the purpose of
electing members of the House, be entitled to be registered as such a voter in
accordance with the provisions of any law in that behalf, and no other person
may be so registered,
b) Every person who is registered as aforesaid
in any constituency shall, unless he is disqualified by Parliament from voting
in that constituency in any election of member so the House, be entitled so to
vote, in accordance with the provisions of any law in that behalf, and no
other person may so vote.
c) For the purpose of this subsection the
prescribed age shall be the age of twenty-one years or such lower age, not
being less than eighteen years, as Parliament may prescribe.
(3) In any election of members of the House
the votes shall be given be ballot in such manner as not to disclose how any
particular person votes.
34.-
Tenure of office
(1) A member of the House (hereinafter in this
section referred to as a member) shall vacate his seat in the House at the
next dissolution of Parliament after his election.
(2) A member shall also vacate his seat in the
House-
a) if he is absent from the sitting of the
House for such period and in such circumstances as may be prescribed in the
rules of procedure of the House;
b) if he ceases to be a citizen; or
c) subject to the provisions of subsection (3)
of this section, if any other circumstances arise that, if he were not a
member, would cause him to be disqualified to be elected as such by virtue of
subsection 81) of section 32 of this Constitution or of any law enacted in
pursuance of subsection (2), (3) or (5) of that section.
(3) (a) If any circumstances such as are
referred to in paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of this section arise because
any member is under sentence of death or imprisonment, adjudged to be of
unsound mind, declared bankrupt or convicted or reported guilty of an offence
relating to elections and if it is open to the member to appeal against the
decision (either with the leave of a court of law or other authority or
without such leave), he shall forthwith cease to perform his functions as a
member but, subject to the provisions of this section, he shall not vacate his
seat until the expiration of a period of thirty days thereafter:
Provided that the Speaker may, at the request
of the member, from time to time extent that period for further periods of
thirty days to enable the member to pursue an appeal against the decision, so
however, that extensions of time exceeding in the aggregate one hundred and
fifty days shall not be given without the approval, signified by resolution,
of the House.
b) If, on the determination of any appeal,
such circumstances continue to exist and no further appeal is open to the
member, or if, be reason of the expiration of any period for entering an
appeal or notice thereof or the refusal of leave to appeal or for any other
reason, it ceases to be open to the member to appeal, he shall forthwith
vacate his seat.
c) If at any time before the member vacates
his seat such circumstances aforesaid cease to exist, his seat shall not
become vacant on the expiration of the period referred to in paragraph (a) of
this subsection and he may resume the performance of his functions as a
member.
(4) References i this section to a member do
not include references to a Speaker who was elected from among persons who
were not members of the House.
35.- Speaker
(1) When the House first meets after any
general election of members and before it proceeds to the despatch of any
other business, it shall elect a person to be the Speaker; and if the office
of Speaker falls vacant at any time before the next dissolution of Parliament,
the House shall, as soon as practicable, elect another person to that office.
(2) The Speaker may be elected either form
among the members of the House who are not members of the Cabinet or
Parliamentary Secretaries of form among persons who are not members of the
House:
Provided that a person who is not a member of
the House shall not be elected as Speaker if_
a) he is not a Commonwealth citizen; or
b) he is a person disqualified to be elected
as a member by virtue of subsection (1) or (4) of section 32 of this
Constitution to be virtue or any law enacted in pursuance of subsection (2),
(3) or (5) of that section.
(3) No business shall be transacted in the
House (other than the election of a Speaker) at any time when the office of
Speaker is vacant.
(4) A person shall vacate the office of
Speaker -
a) in the case of a Speaker who was elected
from among the members of the House -
i) if he ceases to be a member of the House
Provided that the Speaker shall not vacate his
office by reason only that he ceased to be a member of the House on a
dissolution of Parliament, until the House first meets after the dissolution;
or
ii) if he becomes a member of the Cabinet or
Parliamentary Secretary;
b) in the case of a Speaker who was elected
form among persons who were not members of the House-
i) when the House first meets after any
dissolution of Parliament;
ii) of he ceases to be a Commonwealth citizen;
iii) if any circumstances arise that would
cause him to be disqualified to be elected as a member by virtue of subsection
(1) or (4) of section 32 of this Constitution or by virtue of any law enacted
in pursuance of subsection (2), (3) or (5) of that section.
(5) If, by virtue of section 34(3) of this
Constitution, the Speaker (being an elected member of the House) is required
to cease to perform his functions as a member of the House he shall also cease
to perform his functions as Speaker; and if the Speaker resumes the
performance of his functions as a member of the House, in accordance with the
provisions of that section, he shall also resume the performance of his
functions as Speaker.
(6) At any time when , by virtue of section
34(3) of this Constitution, the Speaker is unable to perform the functions of
his office, those functions shall, until he vacates his seat in the House or
resumes the performance of the function of his office, be performed by the
Deputy Speaker or, if the office of Deputy Speaker is vacant or the Deputy
Speaker is required to cease to perform his function as a member of the House
by virtue of that subsection, by such member of the House (not being a member
of the Cabinet or a Parliamentary Secretary) as the House may elect for the
purpose.
36.-
Deputy Speaker
(1) When the House first meets after any
general election of members and before it proceeds to the despatch of any
other business except the election of the Speaker, the House shall elect a
member of the House , who is not a member of the Cabinet or a Parliamentary
Secretary, to be Deputy Speaker of the House and if the office of Deputy
Speaker falls vacant at any time before the next dissolution of Parliament,
the House shall, as soon as convenient, elect another member of the House to
that office.
(2) A person shall vacate the office of Deputy
Speaker_
a) if he ceases to be a member of the House;
b) if he becomes a member for the Cabinet or a
Parliamentary Secretary; or
c) if he is elected to be Speaker.
(3) if by virtue of section 34(3) of this
Constitution, the Deputy Speaker is required to cease to perform his functions
as a member of the House he shall also cease to perform his function as Deputy
Speaker and if the Deputy Speaker resumes the performance of his function as a
member of the House, in accordance with the provisions of that section, he
shall also resume the performance of his function as deputy Speaker.
(4) At nay time when by virtue of section
34(3) of this Constitution, the Deputy Speaker is unable to perform the
functions of his office those function shall, until he vacates his seat in the
House or resumes the performance of the function of his office, be performed
by such member of the House (not being a member of the Cabinet or a
Parliamentary Secretary) as the House may elect for the purpose.
37.-
Responsibility for elections
(1) The Electoral Commission shall be
responsible for the registration of voters for the purpose of electing member
of the House and for the conduct of elections of member of the House and shall
have such powers and other functions relating to such registration and
elections as may be prescribed by law.
(2) In the discharge of its functions the
Electoral Commission shall be assisted by a Chief Elections officer, whose
office shall be a public office, and the Commission may give such directions
as it considers necessary or expedient to the Officer, who shall comply with
such directions or cause them to be complied with.
(3) For the purposes of the exercise of his
function under subsection (2) of this section , the Chief elections Officer
may give such directions as he considers necessary or expedient to any
registering officer, presiding officer or returning officer relating to the
exercise by tat officer of his functions under any law regulating the
registration of voters or the conduct of elections, and any officer to whom
directions are given under this subsection shall comply with those directions.
(4) The Electoral Commission may make such
reports to the Governor-General concerning the matters for which it is
responsible under this section or any draft bill or instrument that is
referred to it under section 52 of this Constitution, as it may think fit and
if the Commission so requests in any such report other than a report on a
draft bill or instrument that report shall be laid before the House.
(5) Without prejudice to the provisions of
subsection (2) of this section, in the exercise of his functions under this
section the Chief Elections Officer shall not be subject to the direction or
control of any other person or authority.
(6) The question whether the Chief Election
Officer has acted in accordance with the directions of the Electoral
Commission shall not be enquired into in any court of law.
General provisions
38.-
Clerks of Senate and House of Assembly and their staff
(1) There shall be a Clerk of the Senate and a
Clerk of the House:
Provided that the offices of Clerk of the
Senate and Clerk of the House may be held by the same person.
(2) Subject to the provisions of any law
enacted by Parliament the offices of Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the
House and the members of their staff shall be public offices.
39.-
Determination of
questions of membership
(1) The High Court shall have jurisdiction to
hear and determine any question whether-
a) any person has been validly elected as a
member of the House;
b) any person shall been validly appointed as
a Senator;
c) any person who has been elected as Speaker
from among persons who were not members of the House was qualified to be so
elected or has vacated the office of Speaker;
d) any Senator or any elected member of the
House has vacate his seat or is required, under the provisions of section
27(3) or 34(3) of this Constitution, to cease to perform any of his functions
as a member of the Senate or of the House.
(2) An application to the High Court for the
determination of any question under subsection (1)(a) of this section may be
made by any person entitled to vote in the election to which the application
relates or by any person who was a candidate at that election or by the
Attorney-General.
(3) An application to the High Court for the
determination for any question under subsection (1)(b) or (1)(c) of this
section may be made by any registered voter or by the Attorney-General.
(4) An application to the High Court for the
determination for any question under subsection (1)(d) of this section may be
made-
a) by a registered voter or by the
Attorney-General; or
b) in relation to the Senate, by a Senator and
in relation to the House by a member of the House
(5) If any application is made by a person
other than the Attorney-General to the High Court for the determination of any
question under this section, the Attorney-General may intervene and may then
appeal of be represented in the proceedings.
(6) the Circumstances and manner in which and
the imposition of conditions upon which any application may be made to the
High Court for the determination of any question under this section and the
powers, practice and procedure of the High Court in relation to any such
application shall be regulated by such provision as may be made by Parliament.
(7) An appeal shall lie as of right to the
Court of Appeal from any final decision of the High Court determining such a
question as is referred to in subsection (1) of this section.
(8) No appeal shall lie from any decision of
the Court of Appeal in exercise of the jurisdiction conferred by subsection
(7) of this section and no appeal shall lie from any decision of the High
Court in proceeding under this section other than a final decision determining
such a question as is referred to in subsection 81) of this section.
(9) In the exercise of his functions under
this section, the Attorney-General shall not be subject to the direction or
control of any other person or authority.
(10) In this section " registered voter" means
a person registered as a voter in accordance with section 33(2)(a) of this
Constitution.
Part 2
Legislation and procedure of
Parliament
40.-
Power to make laws
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution
parliament may make laws for the peace, order and good government of Saint
Lucia.
41.-
Alteration of Constitution and Supreme Court Order
(1) parliament may alter any for the
provisions of this Constitution or of the Supreme Court Order in the manner
specified in the following provisions of this section.
(2) A bill to alter this section, Schedule 1
to this Constitution or any of the provisions of this Constitution specified
in Part 1 of that Schedule or any of the provisions of the Supreme Court Order
specified in Part II of that Schedule shall not be regarded as being passed by
the House unless on its final reading in the House the bill is supported by
the votes of not less than three-quarters of all the members of the House.
(3) A bill to alter any of the provisions of
this Constitution to, as the case may be, of the Supreme Court Order other
than those referred to in subsection (2) of this section shall not be regarded
as being passed by the House unless on its final reading in the House the bill
is supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of
the House.
(4) An amendment made by the Senate to a bill
to which subsection (2) of this section applies shall not be regarded as being
agreed to by the House for the purposes of section 50 of this Constitution
unless such agreement is signified by resolution supported by the votes of not
less than three-quarters of all the members of the House.
(5) An amendment made by the Senate to a bill
to which subsection (3) of this section applies shall not be regarded as being
agreed to by the House for the purposes of section 50 of this Constitution
unless such agreement is signified by resolution supported by the votes of not
less than two-thirds of all the members of the House.
(6) A bill to alter any of the provisions of
this Constitution or the Supreme Court Order shall not be submitted to the
Governor-General for his assent -
a) unless there has been an interval of not
less than ninety days between the introduction of the bill in the House and
the beginning of the proceedings in the House on the second reading of the
bill; and
b) if the bill provides for the alteration of
this section, Schedule 1 to this Constitution or any of the provisions of this
Constitution or the Supreme Court Order specified in that Schedule, unless
after it has been passed by the Senate and the House or, in the case of a bill
to which section 50 of this Constitution applies after its rejection by the
Senate for the second time, the bill has been approved on a referendum, held
in accordance with such provision as may be made in that behalf by Parliament,
by a majority of the votes validly cast on that referendum.
(7) The provisions of paragraph (b) of
subsection (6) of this section shall not apply in relation to any bill to
alter_
a) section 107 of this Constitution in order
to give effect to any agreement between Saint Lucia and the United Kingdom
concerning appeals from any court having jurisdiction in Saint Lucia to Her
Majesty in Council;
b) any of the provisions of the Supreme Court
Order in order to give effect to any international agreement to which Saint
Lucia is a party relating to the Supreme Court or any other court (or any
officer or authority having functions in respect of any such court)
constituted in common for Saint Lucia and for other countries also parties to
the agreement.
(8) Every person who, at the time when the
referendum is held would be entitled to vote for the purpose of electing
members of the House shall be entitled to vote on a referendum held for the
purposes of this section in accordance with such procedures as may be
prescribed by Parliament for the purposes of the referendum and no other
person shall e entitled so to vote.
(9) In any referendum for the purposes of this
section the votes shall be given by ballot in such manner as not to disclose
how any particular person votes.
(10) The conduct of any referendum for the
purposes of this section shall be the responsibility of the Electoral
Commission and the provisions of section 37 and 52 of this Constitution shall
apply in relation to the referendum as they apply in relation to election of
members of the House and legislation relating thereto.
(11) a) A bill to alter any of the provisions
of this Constitution to the Supreme Court Order shall not be submitted to the
Governor-General for his assent unless it is accompanied by a certificate
under the hand of the Speaker that the provisions of subsection (2), (3), (4)
or (5) of this section, as the case may be, have been complied with and, where
a referendum has been held in pursuance of subsection (6)(b) of this section,
by a certificate under the hand of the Chief Elections Officer stating the
results of the referendum.
b) The certificate of the Speaker under this
subsection shall be conclusive that the provisions of subsection (2), (3), (4)
or (5) of his section, as the case may be, have been complied with and shall
not be enquired into in any court of law.
c) In this subsection references to the
Speaker shall, if the person holding the office of Speaker is for any reason
unable to perform the functions of his office and no other person is
performing them, include references the Deputy Speaker.
(12) In this section and Schedule 1 to this
Constitution references to any of the provisions of this Constitution or the
Supreme Court Order include references to any law that alters that provision.
42.-
Freedom of speech
Without prejudice to any provisions made by
Parliament relating to the powers, privileges and immunities of the Senate or
the House and the committees thereof, or the privileges and immunities of the
members and officers to the Senate or the House and of other persons concerned
in the business of the Senate or the House or the committees thereof, no civil
or criminal proceedings may be instituted against any member of the Senate or
the House for words spoken before, or written in a report to, the Senate or
the House or a committee thereof or by reason of any matter or thing brought
by him therein by petition, bill resolution, motion or otherwise.
43.-
Oath by members
(1) Every member of the Senate or the House
shall, before taking his seat therein, take and subscribe before the Senate or
the House, as the case may be, the oath of allegiance but a member may before
taking that oath take part in the election of the President or Speaker.
(2) Any person elected to the office of
President or Speaker shall, if he has not already taken and subscribed the
oath of allegiance under subsection (1) of this section, take and subscribe
that oath before the Senate or the House, as the case may be, before entering
upon the duties of his office.
44.-
Presiding
There shall preside at any sitting of the
Senate or the House-
a) the President or Speaker;
b) in the absence of the President or Speaker,
the Deputy President or Deputy Speaker; or
c) in the absence of the President or Speaker
and the Deputy President or Deputy Speaker, such member thereof (not being a
member of the Cabinet or a Parliamentary Secretary) as the Senate or the
House, as the case may be, may elect for that purpose.
45.- Voting
(1) Save as a otherwise provided in sections
17(7), 18(2) and 41(2), (3), (4) and (5) of this Constitution, any question
proposed for decision in the Senate or the House shall be determined by a
majority of the votes of the members present and voting.
(2) A question shall not be regarded as having
been validly determined by a vote in the Senate or the House unless at least
six member or such grater number of members as parliament may prescribe, take
part in the voting.
(3) The reference to all the members of the
House in sections 17(7), 18(2) and 41 (2), (3), (4) and (5) of this
Constitution shall not include the Speaker if he was elected from among
persons who were not members of the House.
(4) The President or other Senator presiding
in the Senate and a Speaker who was elected from among the members of the
House or other member presiding n the House shall not vote unless on any
question the votes are equally divided, in which case he shall have and
exercise a casting vote;
Provided that in the case of the question of
the final reading of such a bill as is referred to in subsection (2) or (3) of
section 41 of this Constitution or the question of a motion for such a
resolution as is referred to in subsection (4) or (5) of that section a
Speaker who was so elected or other member presiding in the House shall have
an original vote but no casting vote.
(5) A Speaker who was elected from among
persons who were not members of the House shall have neither an original nor a
casting vote.
(6) If, upon any question before the House the
votes of the members are equally divided and no casting vote may be exercised,
the motion shall be lost.
46.-
Penalty for sitting if
unqualified
(1) Any person who sits or votes in the Senate
or the House knowing or having reasonable grounds for knowing that he is not
entitled to do so shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not
exceeding one hundred dollars, or such other sum as may be prescribed by
Parliament, for each day on which he so sits or votes.
(2) Any prosecution for an offence under this
section shall be instituted except by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
47.-
Mode of exercise of
legislative power
(1) The power of Parliament to make laws shall
be exercised by bills passed b the Senate and the House (or in the cases
mentioned in section 49 and 50 of this Constitution by the House) and assented
to by the Governor-General.
(2) When a bill is submitted to the
Governor-General for assent in accordance with the provisions of this
Constitution he shall signify that he assents.
(3) When the Governor-General assents to a
bill that has been submitted to him in accordance with the provisions of this
Constitution the bill shall become law and the Governor-General shall
thereupon cause it to be published in the Official Gazette a law.
(4) No law made by Parliament shall come into
operation until it has been published in the Official Gazette but Parliament
may postpone the coming into operation of any such law and may make laws with
retrospective effect.
48.-
Restrictions with regard to certain financial measures
(1) A bill other than a money bill may be
introduced in the Senate or the House; a money bill shall not be introduced in
the Senate.
(2) Except on the recommendation of the
Governor-General signified by a Minister, neither the Senate nor the House
shall-
a) proceed upon any bill (including any
amendment to a bill) that, in the opinion of the person presiding, makes
provision for any of the following purposes:-
i) for the imposition of taxation of the
alteration of taxation otherwise than by reduction;
ii) for the imposition of any charge upon the
Consolidated Fund or any other public fund of Saint Lucia or the alteration of
any such charge otherwise than by reduction;
iii) for the payment, issue or withdrawal form
the Consolidated Fund or any public fund of Saint Lucia of any monies
not charged thereon or any increase in the amount of such payment, issue or
withdrawal; or
iv) for the composition or remission of any
debt due to the Crown; or
b) procedure upon any motion (including any
amendment to a motion) the effect of which, in the opinion of the person
presiding, would be to make provisions for nay of those purposes.
49.-
Restrictions on powers of Senate as to money bills
(1) If a money bill, having been passed by the
House and sent to the Senate at least one month before the end of the session,
is not passed by the Senate without amendment within one month after it is
sent to the Senate, the bill shall, unless the House otherwise resolves, be
presented to the Governor-General for his assent notwithstanding that the
Senate has not consented to the bill.
(2) There shall be endorsed on every money
bill when it is sent to the Senate the certificate of the Speaker signed by
him that it is a money bill; and there shall be endorsed on any money bill
that is submitted to the Governor-General for assent in pursuance of
subsection (1) of this section the certificate of the Speaker signed by him
that it is a money bill and the provisions of that subsection have been
complied with.
50.-
Restrictions on powers of Senate as to bills other than money bills
(1) This section applies to any bill other tan
a money bill that is passed by the House in two successive sessions (whether
of not Parliament is dissolved between those sessions) and, having been sent
to the Senate in each of those sessions at least one month before the end of
the session, is rejected by the Senate in each of those sessions.
(2) A bill to which this section applies
shall, on its rejection for the second time by the Senate, unless the House
otherwise resolves, be submitted to the Governor-General for assent
notwithstanding that the Senate has not consented to the bill:
Provided that-
a) the foregoing provisions of this subsection
shall not have effect unless at least six months have elapse between the date
on which the bill is passed by the House in the first session and the date on
which it is passed by the House in the second session;
b) a bill such as is referred to in subsection
82) or (3) of section 41 of this Constitution shall not be submitted to the
Governor-General for his assent unless the provisions of that subsection have
been complied with and the power conferred on the House by this subsection to
resolve that a bill shall not be exercised in respect of such a bill.
(3) For the purposes of his section a bill
that is sent to the Senate from the House in any session shall be deemed to be
the same bill as a former bill sent to the Senate in the preceding session if,
when it is sent to the Senate, it is identical with the former bill or
contains only such alterations as are certified by the Speaker to be necessary
owing to the time that has elapse since the date of the former bill or to
represent any amendments which have been made by the Senate in the former bill
in the preceding session.
(4) The house may, if it thinks fit, on the
passage through the House of a bill tat is deemed to be the same bill as a
former bill sent to the Senate in the preceding session, suggest any
amendments without inserting the amendments in the bill, and any such
amendments shall be considered by the Senate, and if agreed to by the Senate,
shall be treated as amendments made by the Senate, and if agreed to by the
Senate, shall be treated as amendments made by the Senate and agreed to by the
House; but the exercise of this power by the House shall not affect the
operation of this section in the event of the rejection of the bill in the
Senate.
(5) There shall be inserted in any bill that
is submitted to the Governor-General for assent in pursuance of this section
any amendments that are certified by the Speaker to have been made in the bill
by the Senate in the second session and agreed to by the House.
(6) There shall be endorsed on any bill that
is presented to the Governor-General for assent in pursuance of this section
the certificate of the Speaker signed by him that the provisions of this
section have been complied with.
51.-
Provisions
relating to ss. 48, 49 and 50
(1) In section 48, 49 and 50 of this
Constitution, "money bill" means a public bill which, in the opinion of the
Speaker, contains only provisions dealing with all or any of the following
matters, namely the imposition, repeal, remission, alteration or regulation of
taxation; the imposition, for the payment of debt or other financial purposes,
of charges on public money, or the variation or repeal of any such charges;
the grant of money to the Crown or to any authority or person, or the
variation or revocation of any such grant; the appropriation, receipt,
custody, investment, issue or audit of accounts of public money; the raising
or guarantee of any loan or there payment thereof, or the establishment,
alteration, administration or abolition of any sinking fund provided in
connection with any such loan; or subordinate matters incidental to any of the
matters aforesaid; and in this subsection the expressions "taxation", "debt",
"public money" and "loan" do not include any taxation imposed, debt incurred
or money provided or loan raised by any local authority or body for local
purposes.
(2) For the purposes of section 50 of this
Constitution, a bill shall be deemed to be rejected by the Senate if-
a) it is not passed by the Senate without
amendment; or
b) it is passed by the Senate with any
amendment which is not agreed to by the House.
(3) In this section and section 49 and 50 of
this Constitution references to the Speaker shall, if the person holding the
office of Speaker is for any reason unable to perform the functions of his
office and no other person is performing them, include references to the
Deputy Speaker.
(4) Any certificate of the Speaker given under
section 49 or 50 of this Constitution shall be conclusive for all purposes and
shall not be questioned in any court of law.
(5) Before giving any certificate under
section 49 or 50 of this Constitution the Speaker shall consult the
Attorney-General.
52.-
Scrutiny of electoral
legislation
Every proposed bill and every proposed
regulation or other instrument having the force of law relating to the
registration of voters for the purpose of electing members of the House or to
the election of members of the House shall be referred to the Electoral
Commission and to the Chief Elections Officer at such time as shall give them
sufficient opportunity to make comments thereon before the bill is introduced
in the Senate or the House or, as the case may be, the regulation or other
instrument is made.
53.-
Regulation of procedure
(1) Subject to the provisions of this
Constitution, the Senate and the House may each regulate its own procedure and
may in particular make rules for the orderly conduct of its own proceedings.
(2) The Senate or the House may act
notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership (including any vacancy not
filled when it first meets after any general election) and the presence or
participation of any person not entitled to be present at or to participate in
its proceedings shall not invalidate those proceedings.
Part 3
Summoning, prorogation and
dissolution
54.-
Sessions
(1) Each session of Parliament shall be held
at such place within Saint Lucia and shall being at such time, not being later
than twelve months from the end of the preceding session if Parliament has
been prorogued or one month from the holding of a general election of members
of the House if parliament has been dissolved, as the Governor-General shall
appoint by Proclamation.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(1) of this section, the sitting of the Senate or the House shall be held at
such time and place as it may, by its rules of procedure or otherwise,
determine.
55.-
Prorogation and dissolution
(1) The Governor-General may at any time
prorogue or dissolve Parliament.
(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(3) of this section parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for
five years from the date of the first sitting of the House after any
dissolution and shall then stand dissolved.
(3) At any time when Saint Lucia is at war,
parliament may extend the period of five years specified in subsection (2) of
this section for not more than twelve months at a time:
Provided that the life of Parliament shall not
be extended under this subsection for more than five years.
(4) In the exercise of this powers to dissolve
Parliament, the Governor-General shall act in accordance with the advice of
the Prime Minister:
Provided that-
a) if the Prime Minister advises a dissolution
and the Governor-General, acting in his own deliberate judgment, considers
that the government of Saint Lucia can be carried on without a dissolution and
that a dissolution would not be in the interests of Saint Lucia, he may,
acting in his own deliberate judgment, refuse to dissolve Parliament;
b) if a resolution of no confidence in the
Government is passed by the House and the Prime Minister does not within three
days either resign or advise a dissolution the Governor-General , acting in
his own deliberate judgment, may dissolve Parliament; and
c) if the office of the Prime Minister is
vacant and the Governor-General, acting in his own deliberate judgment,
considers that there is no prospect of his being able within a reasonable time
to make an appointment to that office the Governor-General shall dissolve
Parliament.
(5) If, after a dissolution of Parliament and
before the holding of a general election of members of the House, the Prime
Minister advises the Governor-General that, owing to the existence of a state
of war or of a state of emergency in Saint Lucia, it is necessary to recall
Parliament, the Governor-General shall summon the Parliament that has been
dissolved to meet, but unless the life of parliament is extended under the
provisions of subsection (3) of his section, the general election shall
proceed and the parliament that has been recalled shall, if not sooner
dissolved, again stand dissolves on the date appointed for the nomination of
candidate in the general election.
56.-
Holding of elections
(1) A general election of members of the House
shall be held at such time within three months after any dissolution of
Parliament as the Governor-General may appoint.
(2) Where the seat of a member of the House or
a Senator falls vacant otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of
Parliament-
a) if the vacant seat is that of a member of
the House, a by-election shall be held; or
b) if the vacant seat is that of a Senator an
appointment shall be made.
to fill the vacancy within three months of the
occurrence of the vacancy unless Parliament is sooner dissolved.
Part 4
Constituency
Boundaries and Electoral Commissions
57.-
Constituency Boundaries Commission and Electoral Commission
(1) There shall be a constituency Boundaries
Commission and an Electoral Commission for Saint Lucia (each of which is
hereinafter in this section referred to as a Commission).
(2) The Constituency Boundaries Commission
shall consist of-
a) the Speaker, as chairman;
b) two members appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister;
and
c) two members appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Leader of the
Opposition.
(3) The Electoral Commission shall consist of
-
a) a chairman appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in his own deliberate judgment;
b) one member appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister;
and
c) one member appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Leader of the
Opposition.
(4) A person shall not be qualified to be
appointed as a member of a Commission if he is a Senator or member of the
House or a public officer nor, in the case of the chairman of the Electoral
Commission, unless he holds one of the specified qualifications and has held
one or other of those qualifications for a total period of not less than seven
years.
(5) Subject to the provisions of this section,
a member of a Commission who has been appointed shall vacate his office-
a) when the House first meets after the next
dissolution of Parliament after his appointment;
b) if any circumstances arise that, if he were
not a member of the Commission, would cause him to be disqualified for
appointment as such.
(6) A member of a Commission who has been
appointed may be removed from office but only for inability to discharge the
functions thereof (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other
cause) or for misbehaviour, and he shall not be so removed except in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
(7) A member of a Commission who has been
appointed shall be removed from office by the Governor-General if the question
of his removal from office has been referred to a tribunal has recommended to
the Governor-general that he ought to be removed from office for inability as
aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(8) if the prime Minister, in the case of a
member of the Constituency Boundaries Commission appointed in accordance with
paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section, or the Leader of the
Opposition, in the case of a member of that Commission appointed in accordance
with paragraph (c) of that subsection, represents to the Governor-General of
if, in the case of the chairman of the electoral Commission, the
Governor-General, acting in his own deliberate judgment, and , in the case of
any other member of that Commission, the Governor-General, acting after
consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition,
considers that the question of removal of a member of the Commission from
office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour ought to be investigate,
then-
a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal, which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two other
members, selected by the Chief Justice, from among persons who hold or have
held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and
criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having
jurisdiction in appeals from any such court; and
b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommended to the
Governor-General whether the member of the Commission ought to be removed from
office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(9) A Commission may regulate its own
procedure, and, with the consent of the Prime Minister, confer powers and
impose duties on any public officer or on any authority of the Government for
the purpose of the discharge of its functions.
(10) A Commission may, subject to its rules of
procedure, act not withstanding any vacancy in its member ship and its
proceedings shall not be invalidated by the presence of participation of any
person not entitled to be present at or to participate in those proceedings;
provided that any decision of the Commission
shall require the concurrence of a majority of all its members.
(11) In the exercise of its functions under
this Constitution a Commission shall not be subject to the direction or
control of any other person or authority.
Part 5
Delimitation of constituencies
58.-
Review of constituency boundaries
(1) The Constituency Boundaries Commission
(hereinafter in this section referred t as the Commission) shall, in
accordance with the provisions of this section, review the number and
boundaries of the constituencies into which Saint Lucia is divided and submit
to the Governor-General reports either-
a) showing the constituencies into which it
recommends that Saint Lucia should be divided in order to give effect to the
rules set out in Schedule 2 to this Constitution; or
b) stating that, in its opinion, no alteration
is required to the existing number or boundaries of constituencies in order to
give effect to those rules.
(2) Reports under subsection (1) of this
section shall be submitted by the Commission at intervals of not less than
three nor more than seven years;
Provided that a report under paragraph (b) of
that subsection shall not be submitted until the expiration of six years from
the submission of the last report under that subsection.
(3) As soon as may be after the Commission has
submitted a report under subsection (1)(a) of this section, the Prime Minister
shall law before the House for its approval the draft of an order by the
Governor-General for giving effect, whether with or without modification, to
the recommendations contained in the report, and that draft order may make
provisions for any matters that appear tot he Prime Minister to be incidental
to or consequential upon the other provisions of the draft.
(4) Where any such draft order gives effect to
any such recommendations with modifications, the Prime Minister shall law
before the House together with the draft order a statement of the reason for
the modifications.
(5) If the motion for the approval of any
draft order laid before the House under this section is rejected by the House,
or is withdrawn by leave of that House, the Prime Minister shall amend the
draft order and lay the amended draft before the House.
(6) If any draft order laid before the House
under his section is approved by resolution of the House, the Prime Minister
shall submit it to the Governor-general who shall make and order in terms of
the draft; and that order shall come into force upon the ext dissolution of
Parliament after it is made.
(7) The question of the validity of any order
by the Governor-general purporting to be made under this section and reciting
that a draft thereof has been approved by resolution of the House shall to be
enquired into in any court of law.
(8) There
shall be such provisions as may be made by Parliament for an appeal to the
High Court against a recommendation or statement made to the Governor-General
by the Commission in pursuance of paragraph (a) or (b) subsection (1) of his
section.
CHAPTER
IV
THE
EXECUTIVE
59.-
Executive authority
(1) The executive authority of Saint Lucia is
vested in the Her Majesty.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this
Constitution, the executive authority of Saint Lucia may be exercised on
behalf of Her Majesty by the Governor-general either directly or through
officers subordinate to him.
(3) Nothing in this section shall prevent
parliament from conferring functions on persons or authorities other than the
Governor-General.
60.-
Ministers of the Government
(1) There shall be a Prime Minister of Saint
Lucia who shall be appointed by the Governor-General.
(2) Whenever the Governor-general has occasion
to appoint a Prime Minister he shall appoint a member of the House who appears
to him likely to command the support of the majority of the members of the
House.
(3) There shall be, in addition to the office
of Prime Minister, such other offices of Minister of the Government as may be
established by Parliament or, subject to the provisions of any law enacted by
Parliament, by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of
the Prime Minister.
(4) Appointments to the office of Minister,
other than the office of Prime Minister, shall be made by the
Governor-general, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister,
from among the Senators and the members of the House.
(5) If occasion arises for making and
appointment to the office of Prime Minister or any other Minister while
Parliament is dissolved then, notwithstanding the provisions of subsections
(2) and (4) of this section, a person who was a member of the House
immediately before the dissolution may be appointed as Prime Minister or any
other Minister and a person who was a Senator immediately before the
dissolution may be appointed as any Minister other than Prime Minister.
(6) The Governor-general shall remove the
Prime Minister from office of a resolution of no confidence in the Government
is passed by the House and the Prime Minister does not within three days
either resign from his office or advise the Governor-general to dissolve
Parliament.
(7) If, at any time between the holding of a
general election of members of the House and the first meeting of the House
thereafter, the Governor-General considers that in consequence of changes in
the membership of the House resulting from that election the Prime Minister
will not be able to command the support of the majority of the members of the
House the Governor-general may remove the Prime Minister from office.
(8) The office of any Minister shall become
vacant-
a) if the holder of the office ceases to be a
Senator or a member the House otherwise than by reason of the dissolution of
Parliament;
b) in the case of the Prime Minister, if, when
the House first meets after the dissolution of Parliament, he is not then a
member of the House;
c) in the case of any other Minister, if, when
the House first meet after the dissolution of Parliament, he is not then a
Senator or a member of the House; or
d) if, by virtue of section 27(3) or 34(3) of
this Constitution, he is required to cease to perform his functions as a
Senator or a member of the House.
(9) The office of a Minister other than the
Prime Minister shall become vacant-
a) if the Governor-General, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, so directs;
b) if the Prime Minister, resigns from office
within three days after a resolution of no confidence in the Government has
been passed by the House or is removed from office under subsection (6) of
this section; or
c) on the appointment of any person to the
office of Prime Minister
(10) In the exercise of the powers conferred
upon him by subsections (2), (5) and (7) of his section the Governor-general
shall act in his own deliberate judgment.
61.-
Cabinet of Ministers
(1) There shall be a Cabinet of Ministers for
Saint Lucia which shall consist of the Prime Minister and the other Ministers.
(2) At any time when the office of
Attorney-General is a public office the Attorney-General shall, by virtue of
holding or acting in that office, be a member of the Cabinet in addiction to
the Ministers.
(3) The functions of the Cabinet shall be to
advice the Governor-general in the government of Saint Lucia and the Cabinet
shall be collectively responsible to Parliament for any advice given to the
Governor-General by or under the general authority of the cabinet and for all
things done by or under he authority of any Minister in the execution of his
office.
(4) The provisions of subsection (3) of this
sections shall not apply in relation to-
a) the appointment and removal from office of
Ministers and parliamentary Secretaries, the assignment of responsibility to
any Ministers under section 62 of this Constitution , of the authorization of
another Minister to perform the functions of the Prime Minister during absence
or illness;
b) the dissolution of Parliament; or
c) the matters referred to in section 74 of
this Constitution (which relate to the prerogative of mercy).
62.-
Allocation of
portfolios to Ministers
The Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Prime Minister, may, by directions in writing, assign
to the Prime Minister or any other Minister responsibility for any business of
the Government, including the administration of any department of government:
Provided that responsibility for finance shall
be assigned to a Minister who is a member of the House.
63.-
Performance of functions of Ministers during absence or illness
(1) Whenever the Prime Minister is absent from
Saint Lucia or be reason of illness is unable to perform the functions
conferred upon him by this Constitution, the Governor-General may authorize
some other Minister to perform those functions (other than the functions
conferred by this section) and that Minister may perform those functions until
his authority is revoked by the Governor-General.
(2) Whenever a Minister other than the Prime
Minister is absent from Saint Lucia or is within Saint Lucia but by leave of
the Governor-General is not performing the functions of his office or by
reason of illness is unable to perform those functions, the Governor-General
may authorize some other Minister to perform those functions or may appoint a
Senator or a member of the House to be a temporary Minister in order to
perform those functions; and that Minister may perform those functions until
his authority or, as the case may be, his appointment is revoked by the
Governor-General or he vacates office as a Minister under subsection (8) or
(9) of section 60 of this Constitution.
(3) The power of the Governor-General under
his section shall be exercised by him in accordance with the advice of the
Prime Minister;
Provided that if the Governor-General, acting
in his own deliberate judgment considers that it is impracticable to obtain
the advice of the Prime Minister owing to his absence or illness he may
exercise those powers without that advice and in his own deliberate judgment.
64.-
Exercise of
Governor-General's functions
(1) In the exercise of his functions the
Governor-General shall act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or a
Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet except in cases
where he is required by this Constitution or any other law to act in
accordance with the advice of, or after consultation with, any person or
authority other than the Cabinet:
Provided that the foregoing provisions of this
subsection shall not apply where the Governor-General is authorized to act in
his own deliberate judgment in accordance with the following provisions of
this Constitution-
a) section 57 (which relates to the
Constituency Boundaries Commission and the Electoral Commission);
b) section 60 and 63 (which relates to
Ministers);
c) section 67 (which relates to the Leader of
the Opposition);
d) section 86 (which relates to the
appointment, etc, of public officers);
e) section 88 (which relates to the Chief
Elections Officer); and
f) section 95 (which relates to the Public
Service Board of Appeal).
(2) During any period in which there is a
vacancy in the office of Leader of the Opposition by reason of the fact that
no person is both qualified for appointment to that office in accordance with
this Constitution and willing to accept appointment, or if the
Governor-general, acting in his own deliberate judgment, considers that it is
not practicable for him to obtain the advice of the Leader of the Opposition
within the time within which it may be necessary for him to act, he may act
without that advice and in his own deliberate judgment in the exercise of any
power conferred upon him by this Constitution in respect of which it is
provided that he shall act on the advice or, or after consultation with, the
Leader of the Opposition.
(3) Nothing in subsection (1) of his section
shall require the Governor-General to act in accordance with the advice of the
Cabinet or a Minister in exercise of the functions conferred upon him by the
following provisions of this Constitution-
a) the proviso to section 55(4) (which
requires the Governor-General to remove the Prime Minister from office in
certain circumstances);
b) section 60(6) (which requires the
Governor-General to remove the Prime Minster from office in certain
circumstances);
c) section 65 (which entitles the
Governor-general to information);
d) section 57 (7), 67 (5), 85 (6), 88 (7), 89
(8), 90 (7), 92 (6), 95 (5), 110 (7) and 118 (8) (which requires the
Governor-General to remove holders of certain officers from office in certain
circumstance).
65.-
Governor-General to be informed concerning government matters
The Prime Minister shall keep the
Governor-general fully informed concerning the general conduct of the
government of Saint Lucia and shall furnish the Governor-General with such
information as he may request with respect to any particular matter relating
to the government of Saint Lucia.
66.-
Oaths to be taken by
Ministers, etc
A Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary shall
not enter upon the duties of his office unless he has taken and subscribed the
oath of allegiance, the oath of office and the oath of secrecy.
67.-
Leader of the Opposition
(1) There shall (except at times when there
are no members of the House who do not support the Government) be a Leader of
the Opposition who shall be appointed by the Governor-General.
(2) Whenever there is occasion for the
appointment of a Leader of the Opposition the Governor-General shall appoint
the member of the House who appears to him most likely to command the support
of a majority or the members of the House who do not support the Government:
or, if no member of the House appears to him to command such support, the
member of the House who appeals to him to command the support of the largest
single group of members of the House who do not support the Government.
(3) If occasion arises to appoint a Leader of
the Opposition during the period between a dissolution of Parliament and the
day on which the ensuing election of members of the House is held, and
appointment may be made as if Parliament had not been dissolved.
(4) The office of Leader of the Opposition
shall become vacant-
a) if he ceases to be a member of the House
otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of Parliament;
b) if, when the House first meets after a
dissolution of Parliament, he is not then a member of the House;
c) if, under the provisions of section 34(3)
of this Constitution, he is required to cease to perform his functions as a
member of the House; or
d) if he is removed from office by the
Governor-General under the provisions of subsection (5) of this section.
(5) If it appears to the Governor-General that
the Leader of the Opposition is no longer able to command the support of a
majority of the members of the House who do not support the Government or (if
no member of the House appears to him to be able to command such support) the
support of the largest single group of members of the House who do not support
the Government, he shall remove the Leader of the Opposition from office.
(6) The power of the Governor-General under
his section shall be exercised by him in his own deliberate judgment.
68.-
Parliamentary Secretaries
(1) The Governor-General, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Prime Minister, may appoint parliamentary Secretaries
from among the Senators and the members of the House to assist Ministers in
the performance of their duties:
Provided that, if occasion arises for making
an appointment while parliament is dissolved, a person who was a Senator or a
member of the House immediately before the dissolution may be appointed as a
Parliamentary Secretary.
(2) The office of a Parliamentary Secretary
shall become vacant-
a) if the Governor-General, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, so directs;
b) if the Prime Minister resigns from office
within three days after a resolution of not confidence in the Government has
been passed by the House or is removed from office under section 60(7) of this
Constitution;
c) upon the appointment of any person to the
office of Prime Minister;
d) if the holder of the office ceases to be a
Senator or a member of the House otherwise than by reason of a dissolution of
Parliament;
e) if, when the House first meets after the
dissolution of Parliament, he is not then a Senator or a member of the House;
or
f) if, by virtue of section 27(3) or 34(3) of
this Constitution, he is required to cease to perform his functions as a
member of the Senate or a member of the House.
69.-
Permanent Secretaries
Where any Minister has been charged with
responsibility for any department of government, he shall exercise general
direction and control over that department; and subject to such direction and
control, every department of government shall be under the supervision of a
public officer whose office is referred to in this Constitution as the office
of a permanent secretary:
Provided that two or more government
departments may be places under the supervision of one permanent secretary.
70.-
Secretary to the Cabinet
(1) There shall be a Secretary to the Cabinet
whose office shall be a public office.
(2) The Secretary to the Cabinet, who shall
have charge of the Cabinet Office, shall be responsible, in accordance with
such instructions as may be given to him by the Prime Minister, for arranging
the business for, and keeping the minutes of the Cabinet and for conveying the
decisions of the Cabinet to the appropriate person or authority and shall have
such other functions the Prime Minister may direct.
71.-
Constitution of offices, etc.
Subject to the provisions of the Constitution
and of any other law, the Governor-General may constitute offices for Saint
Lucia, make appointments to any such office and terminate any such
appointment.
72.-
Attorney-General
(1) There shall be an Attorney-General who
shall be the principal legal adviser to the Government.
(2) The office of Attorney-General shall be
either a public office or the office of a Minister.
(3) At any time when the office of
Attorney-General is a public office the same person may, if qualified, be
appointed to hold or act in the office of Attorney-General and the office of
Director of Public Prosecutions.
(4) Where the offices of Attorney-General and
Director of Public Prosecutions are held by the same person the following
provisions of this Constitution shall have effect as if references therein to
the Director included references to the Attorney-General, that is to say,
sections 87, 89(5), (6), (7), (8), (9) and (10), 98 (3) and 124 (8)(a); but
the provisions of this subsection shall be without prejudice to the powers of
Parliament or, subject to the provisions of any law enacted by Parliament, the
Governor-general to determine that the office of Attorney-General shall be the
office of a Minister.
73.-
Control of public
prosecutions
(1) There shall be a Director of Public
Prosecutions whose office shall be a public office.
(2) The Director of Public Prosecutions shall
have power in any case in which he considers it desirable so to do-
a) to institute and undertake criminal
proceedings against any person before any court of law (other than a
court-martial) in respect of any offence alleged to have been committed by
that person;
b) to take over and continue any such criminal
proceedings that have been instituted or undertaken by any other person or
authority; and
(c) to discontinue at any stage before
judgment is delivered any such criminal proceedings instituted or undertaken
be himself or any other person or authority.
(3) The powers of the Director of Public
Prosecutions under subsection (2) of this section may be exercised by him in
person or through other persons acting under and in accordance with his
general or special instruction.
(4) the posers conferred on the Director of
Public Prosecutions by paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (2) of this
section shall be vested in him to the execution of nay other person or
authority;
Provided that where any other person or
authority has instituted criminal proceedings, nothing in this subsection
shall prevent the withdrawal of those proceedings by or at the instance of
that person or authority and with the leave of the court.
(5) For the purposes of this section, any
appeal from a judgment in criminal proceedings before any court or any case
stated or question of law reserved for the purpose of any such proceedings, to
any other court (including Her Majesty in Council) shall be deemed to be part
of those proceedings;
Provided that the power conferred on the
Director of Public Prosecutions by subsection (2)(c) of this section shall not
be exercised in relation to any appeal by a person convicted in any criminal
proceedings or to any case stated or question of law reserved at the instance
of such a person.
(6) In the exercise of the powers vested in
him by subsection (2) of this section and section 46 of this Constitution, the
Director of Public Prosecutions shall not be subject to the director or
control of any other person or authority.
74.-
Prerogative of mercy
(1) The Governor-General may-
a) grant a pardon , either free or subject to
lawful conditions, to any person convicted or any offence;
b) grant to any person a respite, either
indefinite or of a specified period, of the execution of any punishment
imposed on that person for any offence;
c) substitute a less severe form of punishment
for any punishment imposed on any person for any offence; or
d) remit the whole or any part of any
punishment imposed on any person for any offence or of any penalty or
forfeiture otherwise due to the Crown on account of any offence.
(2) The power of the Governor-general under
subsection (1) of this section shall be exercised by him in accordance with
the advice of the Committee established by section 75 of this Constitution.
75.-
Committee on Prerogative
of Mercy
(1) There shall be a Committee on the
Prerogative of Mercy which shall consist of-
a) such Minister as may be designated by the
Governor-General, who shall be chairman;
b) the Attorney-General;
c) the chief medical officer of the
Government; and
d) not more than three other members appointed
by the Governor-General, by instrument in writing under his hand.
(2) A member of the Committee appointed under
subsection (1)(d) of this section shall hold his seat thereon for such period
as may be specified in the instrument by which he was appointed:
Provided that his seat shall become vacant-
a) in the case of a person who at the date of
his appointment was a Minister, if he ceases to be a Minister; or
b) if the Governor-General, by instrument in
writing under his hand, so directs.
(3) The Committee may act notwithstanding any
vacancy in its membership or the absence of any member and its proceedings
shall not be invalidated by the presence or participation of any person not
entitled to be present at or to participate in those proceedings.
(4) The Committee may regulate its own
procedure.
(5) In the exercise of his functions under
this section, the Governor-General shall act in accordance with the advice of
the Prime Minister.
76.-
Procedure in capital cases
Where any
person has been sentenced to death (otherwise than by a court-martial) for an
offence the Minister for the time being designated under section 75(1) of this
Constitution shall cause a written report of the case from the trial judge (or
the Chief Justice, if a report from the trial judge cannot be obtained),
together with such other information derived from the record of the case or
elsewhere as he may require, to be taken into consideration at a meeting of
the Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, so that the Committee may advice
the Governor-General whether to exercise any of his power under section 74(1)
of this Constitution.
CHAPTER V
FINANCE
77.-
Consolidated Fund
All revenues or other moneys raised or
received by Saint Lucia (not being revenues or other moneys that are payable,
by or under any law for the time being in force in Saint Lucia, into some
other fund established for specific purpose) shall be paid into and form a
Consolidated Fund.
78.-
Withdrawals from Consolidated Fund or other public funds.
(1) No money shall be withdrawn from the
Consolidated Fund except-
a) to meet expenditure that is charged upon
the Fund by this Constitution or by any law enacted by parliament; or
b) where the issue of those moneys has been
authorized by an appropriation law or by law made in pursuance of section 80
of this Constitution.
(2) Where any moneys are charged by this
Constitution or any law enacted by Parliament upon the Consolidated Fund or
any other public fund, they shall be paid out of that fund by the Government
to the person or authority to whom payment is due.
(3) No moneys shall be withdrawn from any
public fund other than the Consolidated Fund unless the issue of those moneys
has been authorized by or under any law.
(4) There shall be such provision as may be
made by parliament prescribing the manner in which withdrawals may be made
from the Consolidated Fund or nay other public fund.
79.-
Authorisation of expenditure from Consolidated Fund by appropriation
law
(1) The Minister for the time being
responsible for finance shall cause to be prepared an laid before the House
before, or not later than thirty days after, the commencement of each
financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditure of Saint Lucia for
that financial year.
(2) When the estimates of expenditure (other
than expenditure charged upon the Consolidated Fund by this Constitution or by
any law enacted by Parliament) have been approved by the House, a bill, known
as an appropriation bull, shall be introduced in the House, providing for the
issue from the Consolidated Fund of the sums necessary to meet that
expenditure and the appropriation of those sums, under separate votes for the
several services required, to the purposes specified therein.
(3) if in respect of any financial year it is
found-
a) that the amount appropriated by the
appropriation law to any purpose is insufficient or that a need has arisen for
expenditure for a purpose to which no amount has been appropriated by that
law; or
b) that any moneys have been expended for any
purpose in excess of the amount appropriated to that purpose by the
appropriation law or for a purpose to which no amount has bee appropriated by
that law.
a supplementary estimate showing the sums
required or spent shall be laid before the House and, when the supplementary
estimate has been approved by the House, a supplementary appropriation bill
shall be introduced in the House providing for the issue of such sums from the
Consolidated Fund and appropriating them to the purposes specified therein.
80.-
Authorisation of expenditure in advance of appropriation
There shall be such provisions as may be made
by Parliament under which, if the appropriation law in respect of any
financial year has not come into operation by the beginning of that financial
year, the Minister for the time being responsible for finance may authorize
the withdrawal of money from the Consolidated Fund for the purpose of meeting
expenditure necessary to carry of the services of the Government until the
expiration of four months from the beginning of that financial year or the
coming into operation of the law, whichever is the earlier.
81.-
Contingencies Fund
(1) There shall be such provisions as may be
made by Parliament for the establishment of a Contingencies Fund and for
authorizing the Minister for the time being responsible for finance, if
satisfied that there has arisen an urgent and unforeseen need for expenditure
for which no other provision exists, to make advances from that Fund to meet
that need.
(2) Where any advance is made from the
Contingencies Fund, a supplementary estimate shall as soon as possible be laid
before the House and when the supplementary estimate has been approved by the
House, a supplementary appropriation bill shall be introduced as soon as
possible in the House for the purpose of replacing the amount so advanced.
82.-
Remuneration of certain
officers
(1) There shall be paid to the holders of the
office to which this section applies such salaries and such allowances as may
be prescribed by or under a law enacted by Parliament.
(2) The salaries and allowances prescribed in
pursuance of this section in respect of the holders of the office to which
this section applies shall be charge on the Consolidated Fund.
(3) The salary prescribed in pursuance of this
section in respect of the holder of any office to which this section applies
and his other terms of service (other than allowances that are not taken into
account in computing, under any law in that behalf, any pension payable in
respect of his service in that office) shall not be altered to his
disadvantage after his appointment.
(4) When a person's salary or other terms of
service depend upon his option, the salary or terms for which he opts shall,
for the purposes of subsection (3) of this section, be deemed to be more
advantageous to him than any others for which he might have opted.
(5) This section applies to the offices of the
Governor-general, member of the Public Service Commission, member of the
Teaching Service Commission, member of the Public Service Board of Appeal, the
Director of Public Prosecutions, the Director of Audit, the Parliamentary
Commissioner, the Deputy parliamentary Commissioner and the Chief Elections
Officer.
(6) Nothing in this section shall be construed
as prejudicing the provisions of section 97 of this Constitution (which
protects pensions rights in respect of service as a public officer).
83.-
Public Debt
(1) All debt charges for which Saint Lucia is
liable shall be a charge on the Consolidated Fund.
(2) For the purposes of this section debt
charges include interest, sinking fund charges, the repayment or amortization
of debt and all expenditure in connection with the raising of loans on the
security of the Consolidated Fund and the service and redemption of the debt
created thereby.
84.-
Audit of public accounts,
etc.
(1) there shall be a Director of Audit whose
office shall be a public office.
(2) The Director of Audit shall-
a) satisfy himself that all moneys that have
been appropriated by Parliament and disbursed have been applied to the
purposes to which they were so appropriated and that the expenditure conforms
to the authority that governs it; and
b) at least once in every audit and report on
the public accounts of Saint Lucia, the accounts of all officers and
authorities f the Government, the accounts of all officers and authorities of
the Government, the account of all courts of law in Saint Lucia (including any
accounts of the Supreme Court maintained in Saint Lucia), the accounts of
every Commission established by this Constitution and the accounts of the
Parliamentary Commission the Clerk of the Senate and the Clerk of the House.
(3) The Director of Audit and any officer
authorized by him s have access to all books, records, return, reports
and other documents which in his opinion relate to any of the accounts
referred to in s section (2) of this section.
(4) The Director of Audit shall submit every
made by him pursuance of subsection (2) of this section to the Minister for
the t being responsible for finance who shall, not later than seven
days at the Hose first meets after he has received the report, lay it before
House.
(5) If the Minister fails to lay a report
before the House in accordance with the provisions of subsection (4) of this
section the Director Audit shall transmit copies of that report tot he Speaker
who shall, soon as practicable, present them to the House.
(6) The Director of Audit shall exercise such
other functions in reception to the accounts of the Government or the accounts
of other authorities or bodies established by law for public purposes as may
be prescribed by or under any law enacted by Parliament.
(7) In the
exercise of his functions under subsections (2), (3), (4) and (5) of his
section, the Director of Audit shall not be subject to the direction or
control of any other person or authority.
CHAPTER
VI
THE PUBLIC SERVICE
Part 1
The Public Service Commission
85.-
Public Service Commission
(1) There shall be a Public Service Commission
for Saint Lucia (hereinafter in this section referred to as the Commission )
which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two nor more than four
other members, who shall be appointed by the Governor-General, acting
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister;
Provided that the Prime Minister shall consult
the Leader of the Opposition before tendering any advice to the
Governor-General for the purposes of this subsection.
(2) A person shall not be qualified to be
appointed as a member of the Commission if-
a) he is a Senator or a member of the House;
b) he is, or has at any time during the three
years preceding his appointment been, a judge of the Supreme Court or a public
officer.
(3) A member of the Commission shall not,
within the period of three years commencing with the day on which he last held
or acted in the office or member of the Commission, be eligible for
appointment to or to act in any public office.
(4) Subject to the provisions for this
section, the office of a member of the Commission shall become vacant-
a) at the expiration of three years from the
date of his appointment; or
b) if any circumstances arise that, if he were
not a member of the Commission, would cause him to be disqualified to be
appointed as such under subsection (2) of this section.
(5) A member of the Commission may be removed
from office only for inability to exercise the functions of his office
(whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or for
misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the
provisions of this section.
(6) A member of the Commission shall be
removed from office by the Governor-General if the question of his removal
from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (7) of
this section and the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-General that he
ought to be removed from office for inability as aforesaid of for misbehaviour.
(7) If the Prime Minister represents to the
Governor-General that the question of removing a member of the Commission
under this section ought to be investigated then-
a) the Governor-general shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two other
members, selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have
held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and
criminal matters income part of the Commonwealth or a court having
jurisdiction in appeals from such a court; and
b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-general and recommend to him
whether the member ought to be removed under this section.
(8) If the question of removing a members of
the Commission has been referred to a tribunal under this section, the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister,
may suspend that member from the exercise of the functions of his office and
any such suspensions may at any time be revoked by the Governor-general,
acting in accordance with such advice as aforesaid, and shall in any case
cease to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-general that
member should not be removed.
(9) If the office of chairman of the
Commission is vacant or if the holder of that office is for any reason unable
to exercise the functions of his office, then until a person has been
appointed to and has assumed the functions of that office or until the person
holding that office has resumed those functions, as the case may be, they
shall be exercised by such other member so the Commission as may for the time
being be designated by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the
advice of the Prime Minister.
(10) If at any time there are less than two
members of the Commission besides the chairman or if any such member is acting
as chairman or is for any reason unable to exercise the functions of his
office, the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the
Prime Minister, may appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed as a
member of the Commission to act as a member, and any person so appointed
shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section continue to
act until the office in which he is acting has been filled or, as the case may
be, until the holder thereof has resumed his functions or until his
appointment to act has been revoked by the Governor-General, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.
(11) A member of the Commission shall not
enter upon the duties of his office until he has taken and subscribed the oath
of allegiance and the oath of office.
(12) The Commission shall, in the exercise of
its functions under this Constitution, not be subject to the direction or
control of any other person or authority.
(13) The Commission may be regulation or
otherwise regulate its own procedure and, with the consent of the Prime
Minister, may confer powers or impose duties on any public officer or on any
authority of the Government for the purpose of the exercise of its functions.
(14) The Commission may, subject to its rules
of procedure, act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership or the absence
of any members and its proceedings shall not be invalidated by the presence or
participation of any person not entitled to be present at or to participate in
those proceedings:
Provided that any decision of the Commissions
hall require the concurrence of a majority of all its members.
86.-
Appointment etc. of
public officers
(1) The power to appoint persons to hold or
act in offices in the public service (including the power to confirm
appointments), and, subject to the provisions of section 96 of this
Constitution, the power to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding
or acting in such offices and the power to remove such persons from office
shall vest in the Public Service Commission.
(2) The public Service Commission may, by
directions in writing and subject to such conditions as it thinks fit,
delegate any of its powers under subsection (1) of this section to any one or
more members of the Commission or, with the consent of the Prime Minister, to
any public officer.
(3) The provisions of this section shall not
apply in relation to the following offices, that is to say-
a) any office to which section 87 of this
Constitution applies;
b) the office of Chief Elections Officer;
c) the office of Director of Public
Prosecutions;
d) the office of Director of Audit;
e) any office to which section 91, 93 or 94 of
this Constitution applies.
(4) No person shall be appointed under this
section to or to act in any office on the Governor-General's personal staff
except with the concurrence of the Governor-General, acting in his own
deliberate judgment.
(5) Before any of the powers conferred by this
section are exercised by the Public Service Commission or any other person or
authority in relation to the Clerk of the Senate or the Clerk of the House or
a member of their staff, the Commission or that person or authority shall
consult with the President or the Speaker, as the case may be.
(6) Before any of the powers conferred by this
section are exercised by the Public Service Commission or any other person or
authority in relation to a members of the staff of the Parliamentary
Commissioner or the Chief Elections Officer, the Commission or that person or
authority shall consult with the Commissioner or ,as the case may be, the
Officer.
(7) A public officer shall not be removed from
office or subject to any other punishment under this section on the grounds of
any act done or omitted by him in the exercise of a judicial function
conferred on him unless the Judicial and Legal Services Commission concurs
therein.
Part 2
Appointments, etc., to
particular offices
87.-
Appointment, etc., of permanent secretaries and certain other
officers
(1) This section applies to the offices of
Secretary to the Cabinet, permanent secretary, head of a department of
government, deputy head of a department of government, any office for the time
being designated by the Public Service Commission as an office of a chief
professional adviser to a department of government and any office for the time
being designate by the Commission, after consultation with the Prime Minister,
as an office the holders of which are required to reside outside Saint Lucia
for the proper discharge of their functions or as an office in Saint Lucia
whose functions relate to external affairs.
(2) The power to appoint person to hold or to
act in offices to which this section applies (including the power to confirm
appointments) and, subject to the provisions of section 96 of this
Constitution, the power to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding
or acting in such offices and the power to remove such persons from office
shall vest in the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of
the Public Service Commission:
Provided that-
a) the power to appoint a person to hold or
act in an office of permanent secretary on transfer from another such office
carrying the same salary shall vest in the Governor-General, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister;
b) before the Public Service Commission
tenders advice to the Governor-General with respect to the appointment of any
person to hold an office to which this section applies (other than an
appointment to an office of permanent secretary on transfer from another such
office carrying the same salary) it shall consult with the Prime Minister and
if the Prime Minister signifies his objection to the appointment of any person
to the office, the Commission shall not advise the Governor-General to appoint
that person;
c) in relation to any office of Ambassador,
High Commissioner or other principal representative of Saint Lucia in any
other country or accredited to any international organization the
Governor-General shall act in accordance with the advice of the Prime
Minister, who shall, before tendering any such advice in respect of any person
who holds any public office to which appointments are made by the
Governor-General on the advice of or after consultation with some other person
or authority, consult that person or authority.
(3) References in this section to a department
of government shall not include the office of the Governor-General, the
department of the Attorney-General, the department of the Director of Public
Prosecutions, the department of the Director of Audit, the department of the
Parliamentary Commissioner, the department of the Chief Elections Officer or
the Police Force.
88.-
Chief Elections Officer
(1) The Chief Elections Officer (hereinafter
in this section referred to as the Officer) shall be appointed by the
Governor-General, acting after consultation with the Electoral Commission.
(2) If the office of the Officer is vacant or
if the holder of that office is for any reason unable to exercise the
functions of his office, the Governor-General, acting after consultation with
the Electoral Commission, may appoint a person to act as Officer.
(3) A person shall not be qualified to be
appointed to hold the office of the Officer unless he holds such
qualifications (if any) as may be prescribed by parliament.
(4) A person appointed to act in the office of
the Officer shall, subject to the provisions of subsection (5), (7) and (8) of
this section, cease so to act-
a) when a person is appointed to hold that
office and has assumed the functions thereof or, as the case may be, when the
person in whose place he is acting resumes the functions of that office; or
b) at such earlier time as may be prescribed
by the terms of his appointment.
(5) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(6) of this section, the Officer shall vacate his office when he attains the
prescribed age.
(6) A person holding the office of the Officer
may be removed from office only for inability to exercise the functions of his
office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or
for misbehaviour and shall not e so removed except in accordance with the
provisions of this section.
(7) The Officer shall be removed from office
by the Governor-general if the question of his removal from office has been
referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (8) of this section and the
tribunal has recommended to the Governor-General that he ought to be removed
for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(8) If the Governor-General, acting in his own
deliberate judgment, considers that the question of removing the Officer under
this section ought to be investigated, then-
a) The Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two other
members, selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have
held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and
criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having
jurisdiction in appeals from such a court; and
b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the officer ought to be removed under this section.
(9) If the question of removing the office has
been referred to a tribunal under this section, the Governor-general, acting
in his own deliberate judgment, may suspend the Officer form the exercise of
the functions of this office and any such suspension may at anytime be revoked
by the Governor-General, acting as aforesaid, and shall in any case cease to
have effect if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General that the
Officer should not be removed.
(10) The prescribed age for the purpose of
subsection (5) of this section is the age of fifty-five years or such other
age as may be prescribed by Parliament;
Provided that any law enacted by Parliament,
to the extent t which it alters the prescribe age after a person has been
appointed to be of to act as Officer, shall not have effect in relation to
that person unless he consents that it should have effect.
89.-
Director of Public
Prosecutions
(1) The Director of Public Prosecutions shall
be appointed by the Governor-general, acting in accordance with the advice of
the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.
(2) If the office of Director of Public
Prosecutions is vacant of if the holder of that office is for any reason
unable to exercise the functions of his office, the Governor-General, acting
in accordance with the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission,
may appoint a person to act as Director.
(3) Before tendering advice for the purposes
of subsection (1) or 82) of this section the Judicial and Legal Services
Commission shall consult the Prime Minister.
(4) A person shall not be qualified to be
appointed to hold the office of Director of Public Prosecutions unless he
holds one of the specified qualifications and has held one or other of those
qualifications for a total period of not less than seven years.
(5) A person appointed to act in the office of
Director of Public Persecutions shall, subject to the provision of subsections
(6), (8), (9) and (10) of this section, cease so to act-
a) when a person is appointed to hold that
office ad has assumed the functions thereof or, as the case may be, when the
person in whose place he is acting resumes the functions of that office; or
b) at such earlier time as may be prescribed
by the terms of his appointment.
(6) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(7) of this section, the Director of Public Prosecutions shall vacate his
office when he attains the prescribed age.
(7) A person holding the office of Director of
Public Prosecutions may be removed from office only for inability to exercise
the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or
any other cause) or for misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
(8) he Director of Public Prosecutions shall
be removed from office by the Governor-General if the question of his removal
from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (9) of
his section and the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-General that he
ought to be removed for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(9) If the Prime Minister or the chairman of
the Judicial and Legal Services Commission represents to the Governor-General
that the question of removing the Director of Public Prosecutions under his
section ought to be investigated then-
a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two other
members, selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have
held office as a judge or a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and
criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having
jurisdiction in appeals from such a court, and
b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the Director ought to be removed under this section.
(10) if the question of removing the Director
of Public Prosecutions has been referred to a tribunal under this section, the
Governor-general, acting in accordance with the advice of the Judicial and
Legal Services Commission, may suspend the Director from the exercise of the
functions of his office and any such suspension may at any time be revoked by
the Governor-General, acting in accordance with such advice as aforesaid, and
shall in any case cease to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the
Governor-general that the Director should not be removed.
(11) The prescribed age for the purposes of
subsection (6) of this section is the age of fifty-five years or such other
age as may be prescribed by Parliament
Provided that any law enacted by Parliament,
to the extent to which it alters the prescribed age after a person has been
appointed to be or to act as Director of Public Prosecutions, shall not have
effect in relation to that person unless he consents that it should have
effect.
(12) The Judicial and Legal Services
Commission shall consult the Prime Minister before it tenders any advice to
the Governor-General under this section in its application to the
Attorney-General by virtue of section 72(4) of this Constitution.
90.-
Director of Audit
(1) The Director of Audit shall be appointed
by the Governor-General acting in accordance with the advice of the Public
Service Commission.
(2) If the office of Director of Audit is
vacant or if the holder of that office is for any reason unable to exercise
the functions of his office the Governor-General, acting in accordance with
the advice of the Public Service Commission, may appoint a person to act as
Director.
(3) Before tendering advice for the purposes
of subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section , the Public Service
Commission shall consult the Prime Minister.
(4) A person appointed to act in the office
and of Director of Audit shall, subject to the provisions of subsections (5),
(7), (8) and (9) of this section, cease so to act-
a) when a person is appointed to hold that
office and has assumed the functions thereof or, as the case may be, when the
person in whose place he is acting resumes the functions of that office; or
b) at such earlier time as may be prescribed
by the terms of his appointment.
(5) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(7) of this section the Director of Audit shall vacate his office when he
attains the prescribed age.
(6) A person holding the office of Director of
Audit may be removed from office only for inability to exercise the functions
of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other
cause) or for misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except in accordance
with the provisions of this section.
(7) The Director of Audit shall be removed
from office by the Governor-General if the question of his removal from office
has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (8) of this
subsection and the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-General that he
ought to be removed for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(8) If the Prime Minister or the chairman of
the Public Service Commission represented to the Governor-General that the
question of removing the Director of Audit under this section ought to be
investigated -
a) the Governor-general shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two other members
selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have held office
as a judge or a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal
matters in some part of the Commonwealth of a court having jurisdiction in
appeals from such a court; and
b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the fact thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the Director ought to be removed under this section.
(9) If the question Of removing the Director
of Audit has been referred to a tribunal under this section, the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Public Service
Commission, may suspend the Director from the exercise of the functions of his
office and any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with such advice as aforesaid and shall
in any case cease to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the
Governor-General that the Director should not be removed.
(10) The prescribed age for the purposes of
subsection (5) of the section is the age of fifty or such other age as may be
prescribed by Parliament:
Provided that any law enacted by parliament,
to the extent to which it alters the prescribed age after a person has been
appointed to be or to act as Director of Audit, shall not have effect in
relation to that person unless he consents that it should have effect.
91.-
Appointment, etc., of magistrates, registrars and legal officers
(1) This section applies to the offices of
magistrate, registrar of the High Court and assistant registrar of the High
Court, to any public office in the department of the Attorney-General (other
than the public office of Attorney-General) or in the department of the
Parliamentary Commissioner, the department of the Chief Elections Office
(other than the office of Officer) or the department of the Director of Public
Prosecutions (other than the office of Director) for appointment which persons
are required to hold one or other of the specific qualifications and such
other offices connected with the courts parliament may prescribe.
(2) The power to appoint persons to hold or
act in offices to which this section applies (including the power to confirm
appointments) shall vest in the Judicial and Legal Services Commission:
(3) Subject to the provisions of section 96 of
this Constitution the power to exercise disciplinary control over persons
holding acting in offices to which this section applies and the power to
remove such persons from office shall vest in the Judicial and Legal Service
Commission.
Part 3
The Teaching Service Commission
92.-
Teaching Service Commission
(1) There shall be a Teaching Service
Commission for Saint Lucia (hereinafter in this section referred to as the
Commission ) which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two nor more
than for other member, who shall be appointed by the Governor-General, acting
in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister:
provided that the Prime Minister shall consult
the Leader of the Opposition before tendering any advice to the
Governor-General for the purposes of this subsection.
(2) A person shall not be qualified to be
appointed as a member of the Commission if-
a) he is a Senator or a member of the House;
b) he is, or has at any time during the three
years preceding his appointment been, a judge of the Supreme Court or a public
officer.
(3) A member of the Commission shall not,
within the period of three years commencing with the day on which he last held
or acted in the office on member of the Commission, be eligible for
appointment to or to act in any public office.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this section,
the office of a member of the Commission shall become vacant-
a) at the expiration of three years from the
date of his appointment; or
b) if any circumstances arise that, if he were
not a member of the Commission, would cause him to be disqualified to be
appointed as such under subsection (2) of this section.
(5) A member of the Commission may be removed
from office only for inability to exercise the functions of his office
(whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or for
misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the
provisions of this section.
(6) A member of the Commission shall be
removed from office by the Governor-General if the question of his removal
from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (7) of
this section and the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-general that he
ought to be removed for office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(7) If the Prime Minister represents to the
Governor-General that the question of removing a member of the Commission
under this section ought to be investigated, then-
a) the Governor-Genera shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two other member,
selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have held office
as judge or a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal
matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having jurisdiction in
appeals from such a court; and
b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the member ought to be removed under this section.
(8) If the question of removing a member of
the Commission has been referred to a tribunal under this section, the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister,
may suspend that member from the exercise of the functions of his office and
any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the Governor-General, acting
in accordance with such advice as aforesaid, and shall in any case cease to
have effect if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General that member
should not be removed.
(9) If the office of chairman of the
Commission is vacant or if the holder of that office is for any reason unable
to exercise the functions of is office, then, until a person has been
appointed to and has assumed the functions of that office or until the person
holding hat office has resumed those function , as the case may be, they shall
be exercised by such other member of the Commission as may for the time being
be designated by the Governor-general, acting in accordance with the advice of
the Prime Minister.
(10) If at any time there are less than two
members of the Commission besides the chairman or if any such member is acting
as chairman or is for any reason unable to exercise the function of his
office, the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the
Prime Minister, may appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed as a
member of the Commission to act as a member, and any person so member of the
Commission to act as a member, and any person so appointed shall, subject to
the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, continue to act until the
office in which he is acting has been filled or, as the case may be, until the
office in which he is acting has been filled or, as the case may be, until the
holder thereof has resumed his functions or until his appointment to act has
been revoked by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of
the Prime Minister.
(11) A member of the Commission shall not
enter upon the duties of his office until he has taken and subscribed the oath
of allegiance and the oath of office.
(12) The Commission shall, in the exercise of
its functions under this Constitution, not be subject to the direction or
control of any other person or authority.
(13) The Commission may by regulation or
otherwise regulate its own procedure and, with the consent of the Prime
Minister, may confer powers or impose duties on any public office or on any
authority of the Government for the purpose of the exercise of its functions.
(14) The Commission may, subject to its rules
of procedure, act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership or the absence
of any member and its proceedings shall not be invalidated by the presence or
participation of any person not entitled to be present at or to participate in
those proceedings:
provided that any decision of the Commission
shall enquire the concurrence of a majority of all its members.
93.-
Appointment, etc., of
teachers
(1) The power to appoint persons to hold or
act in offices to which this section applies (including the power to confirm
appointments), and, subject to the provisions of section 96 of this
Constitution, the power to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding
or acting in such offices and the power to remove such persons from office
shall vest in the Teaching Service Commission.
(2) The Teaching Service Commission may, by
directions in writing and subject to such conditions as it thinks fit delegate
any of its powers under subsection (1) of this section to any one or more
members of the Commission or, with the consent of the Prime Minister, to any
public officer.
(3) This section applies to any office in the
public service, the duties of which are wholly or mainly concerned with
teaching in schools or with the administration of schools, not being an office
to which section 87 of this Constitution applies.
Part 4
The Police
94.-
Police Force
(1) The power to appoint a person to hold or
act in the office of Commissioner of Police and, subject to the provision of
section 96 of this Constitution, the power to remove the Commissioner from
office shall rest in the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the
advice of the Public Service Commission.
Provided that before the Commission tenders
advice to the Governor-General with respect to the appointment f any person to
hold the office of Commissioner the Commission shall consult with the Prime
Minister and if the Prime Minister signifies his objection to the appointment
of any person to the office the Commission shall not advise the
Governor-general to appoint that person.
(2) The power to appoint persons to hold or
act in office in the Police Force below the rank of Commissioner of Police but
above the rank of Inspector (Including the power to confirm appointments),
and, subject to the provisions of section 96 of this Constitution ,the power
to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such
offices and the power to remove such persons from office shall vest in the
Public Service Commission.
(3) The power to appoint persons to hold or
act in offices in the Police Force of or below the rank of Inspector
(including the power to confirm appointments), and, subject to the provisions
of section 96 of this Constitution, the power to exercise disciplinary control
over persons holding or acting in such offices and the power to remove such
persons from office shall vest in the Commissioner of Police.
(4) The Commissioner of Police may, by
directions give in such manner as he thinks fit and subject to such conditions
as he thinks fit delegate any of his powers under subsection 83) of this
section to any other member of the Police Force.
(5) A police office shall not be removed from
office or subjected to any other punishment under his section on the grounds
of any act done or omitted by him in the exercise of any judicial function
conferred on him unless the Judicial and Legal Services Commission concurs
therein.
(6) IN this section references to the rank of
Inspector shall, if the ranks within the Police Force are altered (whether in
consequence of the reorganization or replacement of any existing part of the
Force or the creation of an additional part) be construed as references to
such rank or ranks as may be specified by the Public Service Commission by
order published in the Official Gazette, being a rank or ranks that in the
opinion of the Commission most nearly correspond to the rank of Inspector as
it existed before the alteration.
Part 5
The Public Service Board of
Appeal
95.-
Public Service Board of
Appeal
(1) There shall be a Public Service Board of
Appeal for Saint Lucia (hereinafter in this section and in section 96 of this
Constitution referred to as the Board) which shall consist of-
a) one member appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in his own deliberate judgment, who shall be
chairman;
b) one member appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister;
and
c) two members appointed by the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the appropriate
representative bodies.
(2) A person shall not be qualified for
appointment as a member of the Board if he is a Senator or a member of the
House and a person shall not be qualified for appointment under paragraph (c)
of subsection (1) of this section unless he is or has been a public office.
(3) Subject to the provisions of this section,
the office of a member of the Board shall become vacant-
a) at the expiration of three years from the
date of his appointment; or
b) if any circumstances arise that, if he were
not a member of the Board, would cause him to be disqualified to be appointed
as such under subsection 82) of this section.
(4) A member of the Board may be removed from
office only for inability to exercise the functions of his office (whether
arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or for misbehaviour
and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the provision of this
section.
(5) A member of the Board shall be remove from
office by the Governor-general if the question of his removal from office has
been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection 86) of this section and
the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-general that he ought to be
removed from office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(6) If the Governor-general considers that the
question of removing a member of the Board under this section ought to be
investigated, then-
a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two other
members, selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have
held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and
criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or of a court having
jurisdiction in appeals from such a court; and
b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the member ought to be removed under this section.
(7) If the question of removing a member of
the Board has been referred to a tribunal under this section, the
Governor-General may suspend that member from the exercise of the functions of
his office and any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the
Governor-General and shall in any case cease to have effect if the tribunal
recommends to the Governor-general that member should not be removed.
(8) If at any time any member of the Board is
for any reason unable to exercise the functions of his office, the
Governor-General may appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed as a
member of the Board to act as a member, and any person so appointed shall,
subject to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, continue to act
until the holder thereof has resumed his functions or until his appointment to
act has been revoked by the Governor-General.
(9) In the exercise of the powers conferred
upon him by subsections (6), (7) and (8) of this section the Governor-General
shall, in the case of a member of the Board appointed under paragraph (b) of
subsection (1) of this section, act in accordance with the advice of the Prime
Minister and shall in any other case act in his own deliberate judgment.
(10) The Board shall, in the exercise of its
functions under this Constitution, not be subject to the direction or control
of any other person or authority.
(11) In this section " the appropriate
representative bodies" means the Saint Lucia Civil Service Association and the
Police Association or such other bodies as may be designated by the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister,
as representing the interest of public officers and of members of the Police
Force.
96.-
Appeals in discipline cases
(1) This section applies to-
a) any decision of the Governor-General,
acting in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission, or any
decision of the Public Service Commission, or any decision of the Public
Service Commission or of the Teaching Service Commission, to remove a public
officer from office or to exercise disciplinary control over a public officer
(including a decision made on appeal from or confirming a decision of any
person to whom powers are delegated under section 86(29 or 93(2) of this
Constitution);
b) any decision of any person to whom powers
are delegated under section 86(2) or 93(2) of this Constitution to remove a
public officer from office or to exercise disciplinary control over a public
officer (not being a decision which is subject to appeal to confirmation by
the Public Service Commission or the Teaching Service Commission);
c) if it is so provided by parliament, any
decision f the Commissioner of Police under subsection (3) of section 94 of
this Constitution, or of a person to whom powers are delegate under subsection
(4) of that section, to remove a police officer from office or to exercise
disciplinary control over a police officer;
d) such decisions with respect to the
discipline of any military, naval or air force of Saint Lucia as may be
prescribed by Parliament.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this section,
and appeal shall lie to the Board from any decision to which this section
apples at the instance of the public officer or member of the naval, military
or air force in respect of whom the decision is made:
provided that in the case of any such decision
as is referred to in subsection (1)(c) of this section, an appeal shall lie in
the first instance to the Commissioner of Police if it is so provided by
Parliament or, if it is not so provided, if the Commissioner so requires.
(3) Upon an appeal under this section the
Board may affirm or set aside the decision appealed against or may make any
other decision which the authority or person from whom the appeal lies could
have made.
(4) Every decision of the Board shall require
the concurrence of a majority of all its members.
(5) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(4) of this section, the Board may be regulation make provision for-
a) the procedure of the Board;
b) the procedure in appeals under this
section; or
c) excepting from the provisions of subsection
(2) of this section decisions in respect of public officers holding offices
whose emoluments do not exceed such sum as may be prescribed by the
regulations or such decisions to exercise disciplinary control, other than
decisions to remove from office, as may be so prescribed.
(6) Regulations made under this section may,
with the consent of the Prime Minister, confer powers or impose duties on any
public officer or any authority of the Government for the purpose of the
exercise of the functions of the Board.
(7) The Board may, subject to the provisions
of this section and to its rules of procedure, act notwithstanding any vacancy
in its membership or the absence of any member.
Part 6
Pensions
97.-
Pensions
laws and protection of pension rights
(1) The law to be applied with respect to any
persons benefits that were granted to any person before the commencement of
this Constitution shall be the law that was in force at the date on which
those benefits were granted or any law in force at a later date that is not
less favourable to that person.
(2) The law to be applied with respect to any
persons benefits (not being benefits to which subsection (1) of this section
applies) shall-
a) in so far as those benefits are wholly in
respect of a period of service as a judge or officer of the Supreme Court or a
public officer that commenced before the commencement of this Constitution, be
the law that was in force at such commencement; and
b) in so far as those benefits are wholly or
partly in respect of a period of service as a judge or officer of the Supreme
Court or a public office that commenced after the commencement of this
Constitution, be the law in force on the date on which that period of service
commenced,
or any law in force at a later date that is
not less favourable to that person.
(3) Where a person is entitled to exercise an
option as to which of two or more laws shall apply in his case the law for
which he opts shall, for the purposes of this section, be deemed to be more
favourable to him than the other law or laws.
(4) All persons benefits shall (except to the
extent that they are by law charged upon and duly paid out of some other fund)
be a charge on the Consolidated Fund.
(5) In this section "pensions benefits" means
any pension, compensation, gratuities or other like allowance for persons in
respect of their services as judge or officers of the Supreme Court or public
officers or for the widows, children, dependants or personal representatives
of such persons in respect of such service.
(6) References in this section to the law with
respect to pensions benefits include (without prejudice to their generality)
references to the law regulating the circumstances in which such benefits may
be granted or in which the grant of such benefits may be refused, the law
regulating he circumstances in which any such benefits that have been granted
may be withheld, reduce in amount or suspended and the law regulating the
amount of any such benefits.
98.-
Power to withhold
pensions, etc.
(1) Where under any law any person or
authority has a discretion -
a) to decide whether or not any pensions
benefits shall be granted; or
b) to withhold, reduce in amount or suspend
any such benefits that have been granted,
those benefits shall be granted and may not be
withheld, reduced in amount or suspended unless the Public Service Commission
concurs in the refusal to grant the benefits or, as the case may be, in the
decision to withhold them, reduce them in amount or suspend them.
(2) where the amount of any persons benefits
that may be granted to any person is not fixed by law, the amount of the
benefits to be granted to him shall be the greatest amount for which he is
eligible unless the Public Service Commission concurs in this being granted
benefits of a smaller amount.
(3) The Public Service Commission shall not
concur under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section in any action
taken on the ground that any person who holds or has held the office of judge
of the Supreme Court, Director of Public Prosecutions, Director of Audit or
Chief Elections Officer has been guilty of misbehaviour in that office unless
he has been removed from that office by reason of such misbehaviour.
(4) Before the Public Service Commission
concurs under subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section in any action
taken on the ground that any person who holds or has held any office to which,
at the time of such action, section 91 of this Constitution applies has been
guilty of misbehaviour in that office, the Public Service Commission shall
consult the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.
(5) In this
section " pension benefits" means any pensions, compensation, gratuities or
other like allowances for persons in respect of their service as judges or
officers of the Supreme Court or public officers or for the widows, children,
dependants or personal representatives of such persons in respect of such
service.
CHAPTER
VII
CITIZENSHIP
99.-
Persons
who become citizens on 22nd February 1979
(1) Every person who, having been born in
Saint Lucia, is immediately before the commencement of this Constitution a
citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies shall become a citizen at such
commencement.
(2) Every person who, immediately before the
commencement of this Constitution, is a citizen of the United Kingdom, and
Colonies -
a) having become such a citizen under the
British nationality Act 1948(a) by virtue of his having been naturalized in
Saint Lucia as a British subject before that Act came into force; or
b) having while resident in Saint Lucia become
such a citizen by virtue of his having been naturalizes or registered under
the British Nationality Act 1948,
shall become a citizen at such commencement.
(3) Every person who, having been born outside
Saint Lucia, is immediately before the commencement of this Constitution a
citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies shall, if his father or mother
becomes, or would but for his death or the renunciation of his citizenship of
the United Kingdom and Colonies have become, a citizen by virtue of subsection
(1) or subsection (2) of this section, become a citizen at such commencement.
(4) Every woman who, having been married to a
person who becomes or but for his death or the renunciation of this
citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies would have become, a citizen by
virtue of subsection (1), (2) or (3) of this section, is a citizen of the
United Kingdom and Colonies immediately before the commencement of this
Constitution shall become a citizen at such commencement.
100.-
Persons born in Saint Lucia on or after 22nd February 1979
Every person born in Saint Lucia after the
commencement of this Constitution shall become a citizen at the date of his
birth:
Provided that a person shall not become a
citizen by virtue of this section if at the time of his birth-
a) neither of his parents is a citizen of
Saint Lucia and his father possesses such immunity from suit and legal process
as is accorded to the envoy of a foreign sovereign power accredited to Saint
Lucia; or
b) his father is a citizen of a country with
which Saint Lucia is at war and the birth occurs in a place then under
occupation by that country.
101.-
Persons born outside Saint Lucia on or after 22nd February 1979
A person born outside Saint Lucia after the
commencement of this Constitution shall become a citizen at the date of his
birth if, at that date, his father or mother is a citizen otherwise than by
virtue of this section or section 99(3) of this Constitution.
102.-
Registration
(1) The following persons shall be entitled,
upon making application, to be registered as citizens-
a) any woman who is married to a citizen or
who has been married to a person who, at any time during the period during
which they were married to each other, was a citizen;
b) any person who, being a Commonwealth
citizen, is ordinarily resident in Saint Lucia at the commencement of this
Constitution having been so resident for the period of seven years immediately
preceding such commencement;
c) any person who, having been a citizen has
renounced his citizenship in order to quality for the acquisition or retention
of the citizenship of another country;
d) any person who, but for having renounced
his citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies in order to qualify for the
acquisition or retention of the citizenship of another country, would have
become a citizen at the commencement of this Constitution;
e) any woman who is married to any such person
as is mentioned in paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of this subsection or who was
married to a person who, at any time during the period during which they were
married to each other, was entitled to be registered as a citizen under any
such paragraph;
f) any woman who, before the commencement of
this Constitution has been married to a person-
i) who becomes a citizen by virtue of section
99 of this Constitution; or
ii) who, having died before such commencement,
would but for his death have becomes a citizen by virtue of that section.
but whose marriage has been terminated by
death or dissolution before such commencement.
(2) The following persons shall upon making
application, be entitled to be registered as citizens-
a) any man who is married to a citizen or who
has been married to a person who, at any time during the period during which
they were married to each other, was a citizen;
b) any person who, being a Commonwealth
citizen, is and for seven years previous to his application has been
ordinarily resident in Saint Lucia;
c) any man who is married to any such person
as is mentioned in paragraph (b), (c) or (d) of subsection (1) of this section
or who was married to a person who, at any time during the period which they
were married to each other, was entitled to apply to be registered as a
citizen under any such paragraph;
d) any person under the age of twenty-one
years who is the stepchild or child adopted in a manner recognized by law of a
citizen or is the child stepchild so adopted of a person who is or would but
for his death have been entitled to be registered as a citizen under
subsection (1) of this section;
Provided that if it is so provided by
Parliament an application for registration as a citizen under this subsection
may, in such circumstances as may be prescribed by Parliament in the interests
of defence, public safety or public order, be refused by the Minister
responsible for the matter in any case in which he is satisfied that there are
reasonable grounds for refusing the application.
(3) An application under this section shall be
made in such manner as may be prescribed, as respects that application, by or
under a law enacted by Parliament and in the case of a person to whom
subsection (2)(d) of this section applies, it shall be made on his behalf by
his parent or guardian:
Provided that, if any such person is or has
been married, he may make the application himself.
(4) Every person who, being a British
protected person, an alien or if it so prescribed by Parliament, a citizen of
any country within the Commonwealth that does not form part of Her Majesty's
dominions and having reached the age of twenty-one years applies for
registration under this section shall, before such registration, take the oath
of allegiance.
103.-
Acquisition,
deprivation and renunciation
There shall be such provision as may be made
by Parliament for-
a) the acquisition of citizenship by persons
who are not eligible or who are no longer eligible to become citizen under the
provisions of this Chapter.
b) depriving of his citizenship any person who
is a citizen other wise than by virtue of section 99, 100 or 101 of this
Constitution
c) the renunciation by any person of his
citizenship.
104.-
Interpretation
(1) In this Chapter-
"alien" means a person who is not a
Commonwealth citizen, a British protected person or a citizen of the republic
of Ireland;
"British protected person" means a person who
is a British protected person for the purposes of the British Nationality Act
1948;
"the British Nationality Act 1948" includes
any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom altering that Act.
(2) For the purposes of this Chapter, a person
born aboard a registered ship or aircraft, or aboard an unregistered ship or
aircraft of the government of any country, shall be deemed to have been born
in the place in which the ship or aircraft was registered or, as the case may
be, in that country.
(3) Any
reference in this Chapter to the national status of the father of a person at
the time of that person's birth shall, in relation to a person born after the
death of his father at the time of the father's death; and where that death
occurred before the commencement of this Constitution and the birth occurred
after such commencement the national status that the father would have had if
he had died immediately after such commencement shall be deemed to be his
national status at the time of his death.
CHAPTER
VIII
JUDICIAL
PROVISIONS
105.-
Original jurisdiction of High Court in constitutional questions
(1) Subject to the provisions of section
22(2), 37(6), 41(11), 58(7), 117(8), 121(3) and 124(10) of this Constitution,
any person who alleges that any provisions of this Constitution (other than a
provisions of Chapter 1 thereof) has been or is being contravened may, if he
has a relevant interest, apply to the High Court for a declaration and for
relief under this section.
(2) The high Court shall have jurisdiction on
an application made under this section to determine whether any provisions of
this Constitution (other than a provision of Chapter 1 thereof) has been or is
being contravened and to make a declaration accordingly.
(3) Where the High Court makes a declaration
under this section that a provision of this Constitution has been or is being
contravened and the person on whose application the declarations made has also
applied for relief, the High Court may grant to that person such remedy as it
considers appropriate, being a remedy available generally under any law in
proceedings in the High Court.
(4) The Chief Justice may make rules with
respect to eh practice and procedure of the High Court in relation to the
relation to the jurisdiction and power conferred on the Court by or under his
section, including provision with respect to the time within which any
application under this section may be made.
(5) A person shall be regarded as having a
relevant interest for the purpose of an application under this section only if
the contravention of this Constitution alleged by him is such as to affect his
interests.
(6) The right conferred on a person by this
section to apply for a declaration and relief in respect of any alleged
contravention of this Constitution shall be in addition to any other action in
respect of the same matter that may be available to that person under any
other law.
(7) Nothing in this section shall confer
jurisdiction on the High Court to hear or determine any such question as is
referred to in section 39 of this Constitution.
106.-
Reference of constitutional questions to High Court
(1) Where any question as to the
interpretation of this Constitution arises in any court of law established for
Saint Lucia (other than the Court of Appeal , the High Court or a court
martial) and the court is of opinion that the question involves a substantial
question of law, the court shall refer the question to the High Court.
(2) Where any question is referred to the High
Court in pursuance of this section the High Court shall give its decision upon
the question and the court in which the question arose shall dispose of the
case in accordance with that decision or, if the decision is the subject of an
appeal to the Court of Appeal or Her Majesty in Council, in accordance with
the decision of the Court of Appeal or, as the case may be, her Majesty in
Council.
107.-
Appeals to Court of Appeal
Subject to the provisions of section 39(8) of
this Constitution, an appeal shall lie from decision of the High Court of
Appeal as of right in the following cases-
a) Final decision in any civil or criminal
proceedings on question as to the interpretation of this Constitution:
b) final decision given in exercise of the
jurisdiction conferred on the High Court by section 16 of this Constitution
(which relates to the enforcement of the fundamental rights and freedoms); and
c) such other cases as may be prescribed by
Parliament.
108.-
Appeals to Her Majesty
in Council
(1) An appeal shall lie from decisions of the
Court of Appeal to Her Majesty in Council as of right in the following cases-
a) final decision in any civil proceedings
where the matter in dispute on the appeal to Her Majesty in Council is of the
prescribed value or upwards or where the appeal involves directly or
indirectly a claim to or question respecting property or a right of the
prescribed value or upwards;
b) final decision in proceedings for
dissolution or nullity of marriage;
c) final decisions in any civil or criminal
proceedings which involve a question as to the interpretation of this
Constitution; and
d) such other cases as may be prescribed by
Parliament.
(2) An appeal shall lie from decision of the
Court of Appeal to Her Majesty in Council with the leave of the Court of
Appeal in the following cases-
a) decision in any civil proceedings where in
the opinion of the Court of Appeal the question involve in the appeal is one
that, by reason of its great general or public importance or otherwise, ought
to be submitted to Her Majesty in Council; and
b) such other cases as may be prescribed by
Parliament,
(3) An appeal shall lie to Her Majesty in
Council with the special leave of Her Majesty from any decision of the Court
of Appeal in any civil criminal matter.
(4) References in this section to decisions of
the Court of Appeal shall be construed as references to decisions of the Court
of Appeal in exercise of the jurisdiction conferred by this Constitution or
any other law.
(5) In this section the prescribed value means
the value of fifteen hundred dollars or such other value as may be prescribes
by Parliament.
(6) This section shall be subject to the
provisions of section 39 (7) of this Constitution.
109.-
Interpretation
In this
Chapter references to the contravention of any provision of , or the
interpretation of, this Constitution shall be construed as including
references to the contravention of any provision of , or the interpretation of
the Supreme Court Order.
CHAPTER
IX
PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSIONER
110.-
Appointment, etc. of Commissioner
(1) There shall be a Parliament Commissioner
for Saint Lucia who shall be an officer of Parliament ad who shall not hold
any other office of emolument whether in the public service or otherwise nor
engage in any other occupation for reward.
(2) The Parliamentary Commissioner shall be
appointed by the Governor-General, acting after consultation with the Prime
Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, for a term not exceeding five
years.
(3) Before entering upon the duties of his
office, the Parliamentary Commissioner shall take and subscribe the oath of
office before the Speaker.
(4) Subject to the provisions of subsection
(7) of this section the Parliamentary Commissioner shall vacate his office at
the expiration of the term for which he was appointed;
Provided that he shall vacate his office-
a) if he is appointed as a Senator or with his
consent he is nominated as a candidate for election to the House; or
b) if he is appointed to any other office of
emolument or engages in any other occupation for reward.
(5) If the office of Parliamentary
Commissioner becomes vacant, and appointment to fill the office shall be made
within ninety days of the occurrence of the vacancy;
provided that the House may be resolution
extent that period for further periods not exceeding in the aggregate one
hundred and fifty days.
(6) A person holding the office of
parliamentary Commissioner may be revoked from office only for inability to
exercise the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of body
or mind or any other cause) of for misbehaviour ad shall not be so removed
except in accordance with he provisions of this section.
(7) The parliamentary Commissioner shall be
removed from office by the Governor-general if the question of his removal
from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection (8) of
his section and the tribunal has recommended tot he Governor-general that eh
ought to be removed for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(8) If the Governor-General, acting after
consultation with he Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition,
considers that the question of removing the Parliamentary Commissioner under
this section ought to be investigated-
a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two other member
selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have held office
as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal
matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having jurisdiction in
appeals from such a court; and
b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-general and recommend to him
whether the Commissioner ought to be removed under this section.
(9) If the question of removing the
Parliamentary Commissioner has been referred to a tribunal under this section
the Governor-General, acting after consultation with the Prime Minister and
the Leader of the Opposition, may suspend the Commissioner from the exercise
of the functions of his office and any such suspension may at any time be
revoked by the Governor-general, acting as aforesaid, and shall in any case
cease to have effect if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General that
the Commissioner should not be removed.
111.-
Deputy Parliamentary
Commissioner
(1) There shall be a Deputy Parliamentary
Commissioner and the provisions of section 110 of this Constitution shall
apply in relation to the Commissioner and his office as they apply in relation
to the parliamentary Commissioner and his office.
(2) The Deputy Parliamentary Commissioner
shall assist the Parliamentary Commissioner if the performance of the
functions of his office and whenever that office is vacant or the holder of
the office is for any reason unable to perform those functions, the Deputy
parliamentary Commissioner shall perform those functions.
112.-
Functions of Commissioner
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section
and sections 113 and 114 of this Constitution , the principal functions of the
Parliamentary Commissioner shall be to investigate any decision or
recommendation made including any advice give or recommendation made to a
Minister, or any act done or omitted by any department of government or any
other authority to which this section applies, or by officers or member of
such a department or authority, being action taken in exercise of the
administrative functions of that department or authority.
(2) The Parliamentary Commissioner shall be
provided with a staff adequate for the efficient discharge of his functions
and the office of the member of this staff shall be public offices.
(3) The Parliamentary Commissioner may
investigate any such matter in any of the following circumstances-
a) where a complaint in duly made to the
Commissioner by any person alleging that the complainant has sustained an
injustice as a result of a fault in administration;
b) where a Senator or a member of the House
request the Commissioner to investigate the matter on the ground that some
person or body of persons has or may have sustained such injustice.
(4) The authorities other than departments of
government to which this section applies are-
a) local authorities or other bodies
established for purposes of the public service or of local government;
b) authorities or bodies the majority of whose
members are appointed by the Governor-General or by a Minister or whose
revenues consist wholly or mainly of moneys provided out of public funds;
c) any authority empowered to determine the
person with whom any contract shall be entered into by or on behalf of the
Government; and
d) such other authorities as may be prescribed
by Parliament.
113.-
Restrictions on
matters for investigation
(1) In investigating any matter leading to
,resulting from or connected with the decision of a Minister, the
Parliamentary Commissioner shall not inquire into or question the policy of
the Minister in accordance with which the decision was made.
(2) The Parliamentary Commissioner shall have
power to investigate complaints of administrative injustice under section 112
notwithstanding that such complaint raise question as to the integrity or
corruption of the public service or any department or office of the public
service, and may investigate any conditions resulting from, or calculated to
facilitate or encourage, corruption in the public service, but he shall not
undertake any investigation into specific charges of corruption against
individuals.
(3) Where in the course of an investigation it
appears to the parliamentary Commissioner that there is evidence of any
corrupt act by any public office or by any person in connection with the
public service, he shall report the matter to the appropriate authority with
his recommendation as to any further investigation he may consider proper.
(4) The Parliamentary Commissioner shall not
investigate-
a) any action in respect of which the
complainant has or had
i) a remedy by way of proceedings in a court
of law; or
ii) a right of appeal, references or review to
or before an independent and impartial tribunal other than a court of law; or
b) any such action, or action taken with
respect to any matter, as is described in Schedule 3 to this Constitution.
(5) Notwithstanding the provision of
subsection(4) of this section the Parliamentary Commissioner-
a) may investigate a matter notwithstanding
that the complainant has or had a remedy by way of proceedings in a court of
law if satisfied that in the particular circumstances it is not reasonable to
expect him to take or to have taken such proceedings;
b) is not i any case preclude from
investigating any matter by reason only that it is open to the complainant to
apply to the High Court for redress under section 16 of this Constitution
(which relates to the enforcement of the fundamental rights and freedoms).
114.-
Discretion of Commissioner
In determining whether to initiate, continue
or discontinue an investigation, the Parliamentary Commissioner shall, subject
to the provisions of sections 112 and 113 of this Constitution, act in his
discretion, the Commissioner may refuse to initiate or may discontinue an
investigation where it appears to him that-
a) a complaint relates to action of which the
complainant has knowledge for more than twelve months before the complaint was
received by the Commissioner;
b) the subject matter of the complaint is
trivial;
c) the complaint is frivolous or vexatious or
is not made in good faith; or
d) the complainant has not a sufficient
interest in the subject matter of the complaint.
115.-
Report on investigation
(1) Where a complaint or request for an
investigation is duly made and the Parliamentary Commissioner decides not to
investigate the matter or where he decides to discontinue and investigation of
the matter, he shall inform the person who made the complaint or request of
the reasons for his decision.
(2) Upon the completion of an investigation
the Parliamentary Commission shall inform the department of government of the
authority concerned of the results of the investigation and if he is of the
opinion that any person has sustained an injustice in consequence of a fault
in administration, he shall inform the department of government of the
authority of the reason for his opinion and make such recommendations as he
thinks fit.
(3) The Parliamentary Commissioner may in his
original recommendation, or at any later stage if he thinks fit specify the
time within which the injustice should he remedied.
(4) Where the investigation is undertaken as a
result of a complaint or request, the Parliamentary Commissioner shall inform
the person who made the complaint or request of his findings.
(5) Where the matter is in the opinion of the
Parliamentary Commissioner of sufficient public importance or where the
Commissioner has made a recommendation under subsection (2) of this section
and within the time specified by him no sufficient action has been taken to
remedy the injustice, then the Commissioner shall make a special report to the
Senate and the House on the case.
(6) The parliamentary Commission shall make
annual reports to the Senate and the House on the performance of his functions
which shall include statistics in such form and in such detail as may be
prescribed by law of the complaints received by him and the results of his
investigations.
116.-
Power to obtain evidence
(1) The Parliamentary Commissioner shall have
the powers of the High Court to summon witnesses to appear before him and to
compel them to give evidence on oath and to produce documents relevant to eh
proceedings before him and all person giving evidence at those proceedings
shall have the same duties and liabilities and enjoy the same privileges as in
the High Court.
(2) The parliamentary Commissioner shall have
power to enter and inspect te premises of any department of government of any
authority to which section 112 applies, to call for, examine and where
necessary retain any document kept on such premises and there to carry out any
investigation in pursuance of his functions.
117.-
Prescribed
matters concerning Commissioner
(1) There shall be such provisions as may be
made be Parliament-
a) for regulating the procedure for the making
of complaints and request to the Parliamentary Commissioner and for the
exercise of his functions;
b) for conferring such power on the
Commissioner and imposing duties on persons in connection with the due
performance of his functions; and
c) generally for facilitating the performance
by the Commissioner of his functions.
(2) The Parliamentary Commissioner may not be
empowered to summon Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary to appear before him
or to compel a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary to answer any question
relating to any matter under investigation by the Commissioner.
(3) The parliamentary Commissioner may not be
empowered to summon any witness to procedure any Cabinet papers or to give any
confidential income tax information.
(4) No complainant may be required to pay any
fee in respect of his complaint or request or for any investigation to be made
by the Parliamentary Commissioner.
(5) No proceedings, civil or criminal, may lie
against the Parliamentary Commissioner, or against any person holding an
office or appointment under him, for anything he may do or report or say in
the course of the exercise or intended exercise of the functions of the
Commissioner under this Constitution, unless it is shown that he acted in bad
faith.
(6) The parliamentary Commissioner, and any
person holding office or appointment under him, may not be called to give
evidence in any court of law, or in any proceedings of a judicial nature, in
respect of anything coming to his knowledge in the exercise of his functions.
(7) Anything said or any information supplied
or any document paper, or thing produced by any person in the course of any
enquiry by or proceedings before that parliamentary Commissioner under this
Constitution shall be privileges in the same manner as if the enquiry of
proceedings were proceedings in a court of law.
(8) No
proceedings of the Parliamentary Commissioner may be held bad for want of
form, and, except on the ground of lack of jurisdiction not proceeding or
decision of the Commissioner shall be liable to be challenged review, quashed
or called in question in any court of law.
CHAPTER X
MISCELLANEOUS
118.-
The Integrity Commission
(1) There shall be an Integrity Commission for
Saint Lucia (hereinafter in this section referred to as the Commission) which
shall consist of a chairman and not less than two nor more than four other
members, who shall be appointed by the Governor-general, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Prime Minister:
provided that the Prime Minister shall consult
the Leader of the Opposition before tendering any advice to the
Governor-general for the purposes of this subsection.
(2) A person shall not be qualified to be
appointed as a member of the Commission if-
a) he is a Senator or a member of the House:
b) he is, or has at any time during the three
years preceding his appointment been, a judge of the Supreme Court or a public
officer.
(3) A member of the Commission shall not,
within the period of three years commencing with the day on which he last held
or acted in the office of member of the Commission, be eligible for
appointment to or to act in any public office.
(4) Subject to the provisions of this section,
the office of a member of the Commission shall become vacant-
a) at the expiration of three years from the
date of his appointment or
b) if any circumstances arise that, if the
were not a member of the Commission, would cause him to be disqualified to be
appointed as such under subsection (2) of this section.
(5) A member of the Commission may be removed
from office only for inability to exercise the functions of his office
(whether arising from infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) or for
misbehaviour and shall not be so removed except in accordance with the
provisions of this section.
(6) A member of the Commission shall be
removed from office by the Governor-General if the question of this removal
from office has been referred to a tribunal appointed under subsection 87) of
this section and the tribunal has recommended to the Governor-General that he
ought to be removed from office for inability as aforesaid or for misbehaviour.
(7) If the Prime Minister represents to the
Governor-General, that the question of removing a member of the Commission
under this section ought to be investigated, then-
a) the Governor-General shall appoint a
tribunal which shall consist of a chairman and not less than two other
members, selected by the Chief Justice from among persons who hold or have
held office as a judge of a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and
criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth of a court having
jurisdiction in appeals from such a court; and
b) the tribunal shall enquire into the matter
and report on the facts thereof to the Governor-General and recommend to him
whether the member ought to be removed under this section.
(8) If the question of removing a member of
the Commission has been referred to a tribunal under his section , the
Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister,
may suspend that member form the exercise of the functions for this office and
any such suspension may at any time be revoked by the Governor-General. acting
in accordance with such advice as aforesaid , and shall in any case cease to
have effect if the tribunal recommends to the Governor-General that member
should not be removed.
(9) If the office of chairman of the
Commission is vacant or if the holder of that office is for any reason unable
to exercise the functions on his office, then until a person has been
appointed to and has assumed the function of that office or until the person
holding that office has resumed those functions as the case may be, they shall
be exercised y such other member of the Commission as may for the time being
the designated by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice
of the Prime Minister.
(10) If at any time there are less two members
of the Commission besides the chairman or if any such member is acting as
chairman or is for any reason unable to exercise the function of this office,
the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime
Minister, may appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed as a member of
the Commission to act as a member, and any person so appointed shall, subject
to the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, continue to act until the
office in which he is acting has been filled or, as the case may be, until the
holder thereof has resumed his functions or until his appointment to act has
been revoked by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of
the Prime Minister.
(11) A member of the Commission shall not
enter upon the duties of his office until he has taken and subscribed the oath
of allegiance and the oath of office.
(12) The Commission shall, in the exercise of
its functions under this Constitution, not be subject to the direction of
control of any other person or authority.
(13) The Commission may be regulation or
otherwise regulate its own procedure and, with the consent of the Prime
Minister, may confer powers or impose duties on any public office or on any
authority of the Government for the purpose of the exercise of its functions.
(14) The Commission may, subject to its rules
of procedure, act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership or the absence
of any member and its proceedings shall not be invalidated by the presence or
participation of any person not entitled to be present at or to participate in
those proceedings:
provided that any decision of the Commission
shall require the concurrence of a majority of all its members.
119.-
Declaration of assets
(1) The integrity Commission shall obtain
declaration in writing from time to time of their assets, liabilities and
income from Senators and member of the House (including Ministers and
Parliamentary Secretaries) and from the holders of such other offices as
Parliament may prescribe.
(2) There shall be such provision as may be
made by Parliament in relation to the due performance by the Commission of its
function under this section, including its powers, privileges, immunities and
procedure and the security and confidentiality of the information it receives.
120.-
Supreme law
This Constitution is the supreme law of Saint
Lucia and, subject to the provisions of section 41 of this Constitution, if
any other law is inconsistent with this Constitution shall prevail and the
other law shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.
121.-
Functions of Governor-General
(1) Any reference in this Constitution to the
functions of the Governor-general shall be construed as a reference to his
powers and duties in the exercise of the executive authority of Saint Lucia
and to any other powers and duties conferred of impose on him as
Governor-general by or under his Constitution or any other law.
(2) Where by this Constitution the
Governor-general is required to perform any function in accordance with any
person or authority he shall not be obliged to exercise that function in
accordance with the advice of that person or authority.
(3) Where by this Constitution the
Governor-general is required to perform any function in accordance with the
advice of, or after consultation with, any person or authority the question
whether the Governor-General, has so exercised that functions shall not be
enquired into in any court of law.
122.-
Resignations
(1) A Senator or a member of the House may
resign his seat by writing under his hand addressed t the president or the
Speaker as the case may be, and the resignation shall take effect, and the
seat shall accordingly become vacant, when the writing is received, as the
case may be, by-
a) the President or Speaker;
b) if the office of President or Speaker is
vacant or the President or Speaker is for any reason unable to perform the
functions of his office and no other person is performing them, the Deputy
President or Deputy Speaker; or
c) if the office of Deputy President or Deputy
Speaker is vacant or the Deputy President or Deputy Speaker is for any reason
unable to perform the functions of his office and no other person is
performing them, the Clerk of the Senate or Clerk of the House.
(2) The President or the Deputy President or
the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker may resign his office by writing under his
hand addressed to the Senate or the House, as he case may be, and the
resignation shall take effect, and the office shall accordingly become vacant,
when the writing is received, as the case may be, by the Clerk of the Senate
or Clerk of the House.
(3) Any person who has been appointed to an
office established by this Constitution (other than an office to which
subsection (1) or (2) of this section applies) or any office of Minister
established under his Constitution may resign that office by writing under his
hand addressed to the person or authority by whom he was appointed and the
resignation shall take effect, and the office shall accordingly become vacant-
a) at such time or on such date (if any) as
may be specified in the writing; or
b) when the writing is received by the person
or authority to whom it is addressed to by such other person a may be
authorized to received it,
whichever is the later;
Provided that the resignation maybe withdrawn
before it takes effect if the person or authority to whom the resignation is
addressed consents to its withdrawal.
123.-
Re-appointment
and concurrent appointments
(1) Where any person has vacated any office
established by this Constitution or any office of Minister established under
this Constitution, he may, if qualified, again be appointed or elected to hold
that office in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
(2) Where this Constitution vests in any
person or authority the power to make any appointment to any office, a person
may be appointed to that office, notwithstanding that some other person may be
holding that office, when that other person is on leave of absence pending the
relinquishment of the office; when that other person is on leave of absence
pending the relinquishment of the office; and where two or more persons are
holding the same office by reason of an appointment made in pursuance of this
subsection, then for the purposes of any function conferred upon the holder of
that office, the person las t appointed shall be deemed to be the sole holder
of the office.
124.-
Interpretation
(1) In this Constitution, unless the context
otherwise requires-
"citizen" means a citizen of Saint Lucia and
"citizenship" shall be construed accordingly;
"Commonwealth citizen" has such meaning as
Parliament may prescribed;
"dollars" means dollars in the currency of
Saint Lucia;
"financial year" means any period of twelve
months beginning on 1st January in any year or such other date as may be
prescribed by law;
"the Government" means the Government of Saint
Lucia,
"the House" means the House of Assembly;
"law" means any law in force in Saint Lucia or
any part thereof including any instrument having the force of law and any
unwritten rule of law and "lawful" and "lawfully" shall be construed
accordingly;
"Minister" means a Minster of the Government
and includes a temporary Minister;
"Parliament" means the Parliament of Saint
Lucia;
"oath" includes affirmation;
"oath of allegiance" means such oath of
allegiance as may be prescribed by law;
"oath of office" means, in relation to any
office such oath for the due execution of that office as may be prescribed by
law;
"oath of secrecy" means such oath of secrecy
as may be prescribed by law;
"the Police Force" means the Royal Saint Lucia
Police Force and includes any other police force established to succeed tot he
functions of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force;
"President" and "Deputy President" mean the
respective persons holding office as President and Deputy President of the
Senate;
"public office" means any office of emolument
in the public service;
"public officer" means a person holding or
acting in any public office;
"the public service " means, subject to the
provisions of this section, the service in a civil capacity of the Government;
"session" means, in relation to the Senate or
the House, the period beginning when it first meets after Parliament has at
any time been prorogued or dissolved and ending when Parliament is prorogued
or when Parliament is dissolved without having been prorogued;
"sitting" means, in relation to the Senate or
the House the period during which it is sitting continuously without
adjournment and includes any period during which it is in committee;
"Speaker" and "Deputy Speaker" means the
respective persons holding office as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House.
(2) In this Constitution references to an
office in the public service shall not be construed as including-
a) references to the office of the President
of Deputy president, the Speaker or Deputy Speaker, the Prime Minister or any
other Minister, a Senator, a Parliamentary Secretary or a member of the House,
the Parliamentary Commissioner of the Deputy Parliamentary Commissioner;
b) references to the office of a member of any
Commission established by the Constitution or a member of the Advisory
Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy or a member of the Public Service Board
of Appeal;
c) references to the office of judge or
officer of the Supreme Court;
d) save in so far as may be provided by
Parliament, references to the office of a member of any other council, board,
panel, committee or other similar body (whether incorporate or not)
established by or under any law.
(3) In this Constitution-
a) references to the Supreme Court Order
include references to any law in force in Saint Lucia altering that Order;
b) references to the Supreme Court, the Court
of Appeal, the High Court and the Judicial and Legal Services Commission are
references to the Supreme Court, the Court or Appeal, the High Court and the
Judicial and Legal Services Commission established by the Supreme Court Order;
c) references to the Chief Justices have the
same meaning as in the Supreme Court Order;
d) references to a judge of the Supreme Court
are references to a judge of the High Court or the Court of Appeal and ,
unless the context otherwise requires, include references to a judge of the
former Supreme Court of the Windward Islands and Leeward islands; and
e) references to officers of the Supreme Court
are references to the Chief Registrar and other officers of the Supreme Court
appointed under the Supreme Court Order.
(4) In this Constitution " the specified
qualification " means the professional qualifications specified by or under
any law, one of which must be held by any person before he may apply under
that law to be admitted to practice as a barrister or a solicitor in Saint
Lucia.
(5) For the purposes of this Constitution, a
person shall not be regarded as holding an office by reason only of the fact
that he is in receipt of a persons or other like allowance.
(6) In this Constitution, unless the context
otherwise requires, a reference to the holder of an office by the term
designating his office shall be construed as including, to the extent of his
authority, a reference to any person for the time being authorized to exercise
the functions of that office.
(7) Except in the case where this Constitution
provides for the holder of any office thereunder to be such person holding or
acting in any other office as may for the time being be designated in that
behalf by some other specified person or authority, no person may without his
consent, be nominated for election to any such office or be appointed to or to
act therein or otherwise be selected therefor.
(8) References in this Constitution to the
power to remove a public office from his office shall be construed as
including references to any powers conferred by any law to require or permit
that officer to retire from the public service:
Provided that-
a) nothing in this subsection shall be
construed as conferring on any person or authority the power to require the
Director of Public Prosecutions, the Director of Audit or the Chief Elections
Officer to retire from the public service; and
b) any power conferred by any law to permit a
person to retire from the public service shall, in the case of any public
officer who may be removed from office by some person or authority other than
a Commission established by this Constitution, vest in the Public Service
Commission.
(9) Any provisions ins this Constitution that
vests in any person or authority the power to remove any public officer from
his office shall be without prejudice to the power of any person or authority
to abolish any office or to any law providing for the compulsory retirement of
public officers generally or any class of public officer on attaining an age
specified by or under the law.
(10) Where this constitution vested in any
person or authority the power to appoint any person to act in or to exercise
the functions of any office if the holder thereof is himself unable to
exercise those functions, no such appointment shall be called in question on
the grounds that the holder of the office was not unable to exercise those
functions.
(11) No provision of this Constitution that
any person or authority shall not be subject to the direction or control of
any other person or authority in the exercise of any functions under his
Constitution shall be construed as a precluding a court of law from exercising
jurisdiction in relation to any question whether that person or authority has
exercised those functions in accordance with this Constitution to any other
law.
(12) Without prejudice to the provisions of
section 32(3) of the Interpretation Act 1889(a) (as applied by subsection (14)
of this section), where any power is conferred by this Constitution to make
any order, regulation or rule or give any direction or make any designation,
the power shall be construed as including the power, exercisable in like
manner and subject to the like conditions, if any, to amend or revoke any such
order, regulation, rule, direction, or designation.
(13) In this Constitution references to
altering this Constitution or any other law, or any provision thereof, include
references_
a) to revoking it, with or without
re-enactment thereof or the making of different provisions in lieu thereof;
b) to modifying it whether by omitting or
amending any of its provisions or inserting additional provisions in it or
otherwise; and
c) to suspending its operation for any period
or terminating any such suspension.
(14) The Interpretation Act 1889 shall apply,
with the necessary adaptations, for the purpose of interpreting this
Constitution and otherwise in relation thereto as it applies for the purpose
of interpreting and in relation to Acts of the Parliament of the United
Kingdom.
Section 41
SCHEDULE
1 TO THE CONSTITUTION
ALTERATION OF
CONSTITUTION AND SUPREME COURT ORDER
Part I
Provisions
of Constitution referred to in section 41(2)
i) Chapter I;
ii) section 19, 20 and 59;
iii) sections 23, 24, 30, 33, 37, 39, 40, 47,
48, 49, 50, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 and 73;
iv) Chapter V;
v) sections 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 93,
94, 97, and 98;
vi) Chapter VIII;
vii) Chapter IX;
viii) section 124 in its application to any of
the provisions mentioned in this Schedule; or
ix) Schedule 2.
Part II
Provisions of the Supreme Court Order Referred
to in section 41(2)
Section 4,
5, 6, 8, 11, 18 and 19.
Section 58
SCHEDULE
2 TO THE CONSTITUTION
RULES CONCERNING CONSTITUENCIES
All constituencies shall contains as nearly
equal numbers of inhabitants as appear to the Constituency Boundaries
Commission to be reasonable practicable by the Commission may depart from this
principle to such extent as it considers expedient to take account of the
following factors, that is to say:-
a) the density of population, and in
particular the need to ensure the adequate representation of sparsely
populated rural areas;
b) the means of communication;
c) geographical features; and
d) the
boundaries of administrative areas.
Section 113
SCHEDULE
3 TO THE CONSTITUTION
MATTERS NOT SUBJECT TO INVESTIGATION BY PARLIAMENTARY
COMMISSIONER
1.- Action taken in matters certified
by the Attorney-general to affect relations or dealings between the Government
and the Government of any country or territory other than Saint Lucia or any
international organization.
2.- Action taken in any country or
territory outside Saint Lucia by or on behalf of any officer representing or
acting under the authority of the Government.
3.- Action taken under any law relating
to extradition or fugitive offenders.
4.- Action taken for the purposes of
investigating crime or of protecting the security of Saint Lucia.
5.- The commencement or conduct of
civil or criminal proceedings before any court of law having jurisdiction in
Saint Lucia or before any international court or tribunal.
6.- Any exercise of the prerogative of
mercy.
7.- Action taken in matters relating to
contractual or other commercial transactions, being transactions of a
department of government of an authority to which section 112 applies but nor
being transactions for or relating to-
a) the acquisition of land compulsorily or in
circumstances in which it could be acquired compulsorily;
b) the disposal as surplus of land acquired
compulsorily or in circumstances in which it could have been acquired
compulsorily.
8.- Action taken in respect of
appointments or removals, pay, discipline, superannuation or other personnel
matter in relation to service in any office or employment in the public
service or under any authority as may be prescribed by law.
9.- Any matter relating to any person
who is or was a member of the armed forces of Saint Lucia in so far as the
matter relates to-
a) the terms and conditions of his service as
such; or
b) any order, command, penalty or punishment
given to or affecting him in his capacity as such.
10.-
Any action which by virtue of any provision of this Constitution may not be
enquired into by any court of law.
Section 3
SCHEDULE
2 TO THE ORDER
TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
Arrangement of paragraphs
Paragraph
1.
Discharge of Governor-General's functions
2.
Existing laws
3.
Parliament
4.
Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries
5.
Office of Attorney-General
6.
Existing public officers
7.
Oaths
8.
Supreme Court Order
9.
Appeals Order
10.
Protection from inhuman treatment
11.
Commonwealth citizen
12.
Interpretation
1.-
Discharge of
Governor-General's functions
Until such time as a person has assumed office
as Governor-General having been appointed as such in accordance with section
19 of the Constitution, the person who immediately before the commencement of
the Constitution held office as Governor of Saint Lucia (or, if there is no
such person, the person who was then acting as Governor) shall discharge the
functions of the office of Governor-General.
2.-
Existing laws
(1) the Existing laws shall, as from the
commencement of the Constitution, be construed with such modifications,
adaptations, qualification and exceptions as may be necessary to bring them
into conformity with the Constitution and the Supreme Court Order.
(2) Where any matter that falls to be
prescribed or otherwise provided for under the Constitution by Parliament or
by any other authority or person is prescribed or provided for by or under an
existing law (including any amendment to any such law made under this
section), that prescription or provisions shall, as from the commencement of
the Constitution, have effect (with such modifications, adaptations,
qualification and exceptions as may be necessary to bring it into conformity
with the Constitution and the Supreme Court Order) as if it had been made
under the Constitution, by Parliament or, as the case may require by the other
authority or person.
(3) The Governor-general may be order made at
any time before 31st December 1980 make such alterations to any existing law
as may appear to him to be necessary or expedient for bringing that law into
conformity with the provisions of the Constitution and the Supreme Court Order
or otherwise for giving effect or enabling effect to be given to those
provisions.
(4) The provision so of this paragraph shall
be without prejudice to any powers conferred by the Constitution or by any
other law upon any person or authority to make provision for any matter
including the alteration of any existing law.
(5) For the purposes of this paragraph, the
expression "existing law" means any Act ordinance, rule, regulation, order of
other instrument made in pursuance of or continued in force by or under the
former constitution and having effect as a law immediately before the
commencement of the Constitution.
3.-
Parliament
(1) Until other constituencies are established
for Saint Lucia by order in pursuance of section 58 of the Constitution and
the order has come into effect there shall, for the purposes of the election
of members of the House, be seventeen constituencies having the same
boundaries as the constituencies into which Saint Lucia is divided immediately
before the commencement of the Constitution of for the purposes of the
election of elected members of the House under the former Constitution and
those constituencies shall be deemed to have been established under that
section.
(2) The persons who, immediately before the
commencement of the Constitution, are elected member of the House under the
former Constitution shall, as from the commencement of the Constitution, be
deemed to have been elected in pursuance of the provisions of section 33 of
the Constitution in the respective constituencies corresponding to the
constituencies by which they were returned to the House and shall hold their
seat in the House in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
(3) The persons who, immediately before the
commencement of the Constitution, are nominated members of the House under the
former Constitution shall vacate their seats in the House at the commencement
of the Constitution but shall be eligible for appointment as Senators in
pursuance of the provisions of section 245 of the Constitution.
(4) The persons who immediately before the
commencement of the Constitution, are respectively the Speaker and the Deputy
Speaker and the Leader of the Opposition shall be deemed as from the
commencement of the Constitution to have been elected as Speaker and Deputy
Speaker or, as the case may be, appointed as leader of the Opposition in
accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and shall hold office in
accordance with those provisions.
(5) Until Parliament otherwise provides , any
person who hold or acts in any office the holding of which would, immediately
before the commencement of the Constitution, have disqualified him for
membership of the House under the former Constitution shall be disqualified to
be elected as a member of the House or appointed as a Senator as though
provisions in that behalf had been made in pursuance of section 26 and 32 of
the Constitution.
(6) The rules of procedure of the House under
the former Constitution as in force immediately before the commencement of the
Constitution shall, until it is otherwise provided by the House under section
53(1) of this Constitution, be the rules of procedure of the House but they
shall be construed with such modifications, adaptations, qualification and
exceptions as may be necessary to bring them into conformity with the
Constitution.
(7) Subject to the provisions of section 55 of
the Constitution Parliament shall, unless sooner dissolved, stand dissolved on
6th June 1979 (that is to say, five years from the first sitting of the House
after the last dissolution of Parliament under the former Constitution)
(8) For the purpose of section 58(2) of the
Constitution, a report of the Constituency Boundaries Commission shall be
deemed to have been submitted on 19th November 1973 (that is to say, the date
of the submission of the last report of the Standing Committee of the House
under section 49 of the former Constitution).
4.-
Ministers and
Parliamentary Secretaries
(1) The person who, immediately before the
commencement of the Constitution, holds the office of Premier under the former
Constitution- shall as from the commencement of the Constitution ,hold office
as prime Minster as if the had been appointed thereto under section 60 of the
Constitution.
(2) The person who, immediately before the
commencement of the Constitution, hold office as Minister (other than the
Premier) or as parliamentary Secretaries under the former Constitution shall,
as from the commencement of the Constitution hold the like offices as if they
had been appointed thereto under section 60 or 68 of the Constitution.
(3) Any person holding the office of Prime
Minister or other Minister by virtue of the provisions of sub-paragraphs (1)
and (2) of this paragraph who, immediately before the commencement of the
Constitution, was charged under the former Constitution with responsibility
for any matter or any department of government, shall, as from the
commencement of the Constitution, be deemed to have been assigned
responsibility for that matter or department under section 62 of the
Constitution.
5.-
Office of Attorney-General
Until Parliament or, subject to the provisions
of any law enacted by Parliament, the Governor-General, acting in accordance
with he advice of the Prime Minister, otherwise decides, the office of
Attorney-General shall be a public office.
6.-
Existing public officers
Subject to the provisions of the Constitution,
every person who immediately before the commencement of the Constitution holds
or is acting in a public office under the former Constitution shall, as from
the commencement of the constitution, continue to hood or act in that office
or the corresponding office established by the Constitution as if he had been
appointed thereto in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution:
Provided that any person who under the former
Constitution to any other law in force immediately before immediately before
such commencement would have been required to vacate his office at the
expiration of any period shall vacate his office at the expiration of that
period.
7.- Oaths
Until such time as the oath of allegiance, the
oath of secrecy or, in relation to any office, the oath of office is
prescribed by law, that oath may be taken in the form prescribed immediately
before the commencement of the Constitution.
8.-
Supreme Court Order
The West Indies Associated States Supreme
Court Order 1967(a), in so far as it has effect as a law, may be cited as the
Supreme Court Order and for the purposes of the Order or any other law-
a) the Supreme Court established by that Order
shall, unless parliament otherwise provides, be styled the Eastern Caribbean
Supreme Court; and
b) references in that Order to the Premier of
Saint Lucia or to the Premier of any other independent state shall be
construed as references tot e Prime Minister of Saint Lucia or, as the case
may be, to the Prime Minister of that other state.
9.-
Appeals Order
The West Indies Association States (Appeals to
Privy Council) Order 1967(b) may, in its application to Saint Lucia, be cited
as the Saint Lucia Appeals to Privy Council Order and shall, to the extent
that it has effect as a law, have effect as if the expression "Court Order"
included any law altering the Supreme Court Order and as if section 3 were
revoked.
10.-
Protection from inhuman
treatment
Nothing contained in or done under the
authority of any law shall be held to be inconsistent with or in contravention
of section 5 of the Constitution to the extent that the law in question
authorizes the infliction of any description of punishment that was lawful in
Saint Lucia immediately before 1 March 1967 (being the date on which Saint
Lucia became an associated state).
11.-
Commonwealth citizen
Until such time as Parliament otherwise
prescribes, the expression "Commonwealth citizen" shall have the meaning
assigned to it by the British Nationality Act 1948 or any Act of the
parliament of the United Kingdom altering that Act.
12.-
Interpretation
(1) In this Schedule-
"the Constitution" means the Constitution set
out in Schedule 1 of this Order;
"the former Constitution" means the
Constitution in force immediately before the commencement of this Order.
(2) The
provisions of section 124 of the Constitution shall apply for the purposes of
interpreting this Schedule and otherwise in relation thereto as they apply for
the purposes of interpreting and in relation to the Constitution.