THE BAHAMAS INDEPENDENCE ORDER OF 1973
Drafted on the 20th of June 1973
Presented Before Parliament on the 26th of June 1973
Became effective on the 10th of July 1973
At the Court at Windsor Castle, the 20th day of June 1973
Present,
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Her Majesty, by virtue and in
exercise of the powers vested in Her by section 1 of the Bahamas
Islands (Constitution) Act 1963(a] and of all other powers enabling Her
in that behalf, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy
Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:
Citation, commencement and construction.
1.-
1. This Order may be cited as The Bahamas Independence Order 1973.
2. Subject to
the provisions of the next following subsection this Order shall come
into operation on 10th July 1973 (in this Order referred to as "the
appointed day").
3. The Governor
and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahamas Islands may at any time after
20th June 1973 exercise any of the powers conferred on the
Governor-General by section 4(3) of this Order or Article 39(4) of the
Constitution set out in the Schedule to this Order (in this Order
referred to as "the Constitution") to such an extent as may be
necessary or expedient to enable the Constitution to function as from
the appointed day.
4.
a. For the purposes of the exercise by the Governor under subsection
(3) of this section of the power conferred by section 4(3) of this
Order the Governor shall act in accordance with the advice of the Prime
Minister.
b. For the purposes of the exercise by the Governor under the said
subsection of the powers conferred by Article 39(4) of the Constitution
the Governor shall act in accordance with the advice of the Prime
Minister after consultation with the advice of the Prime Minister after
consultation with the Leader of the Opposition.
c. For the purposes of this subsection references to the Prime Minister
and Leader of the Opposition shall be construed as references to the
persons performing the functions of those office under the Bahamas
Islands (Constitution) Order 1969(a) (in this Order referred to as "the
existing Order"), and in relation to the exercise by virtue of this
subsection of the powers conferred by Article 39(4) of the Constitution
the provisions of Article 40 of the Constitution shall apply as they
would apply in relation to the exercise of those powers by virtue of
Article 39(4) of the Constitution.
5. Save where
the context otherwise requires, expressions used in section 1 to 17 of
this Order shall have the same meaning as in the Constitution and the
provisions of Article 127 and 137 of the Constitution and the
provisions of Articles 127 and 137 of the Constitution shall apply for
the purposes of interpreting those sections as they apply for the
purposes of interpreting the Constitution.
Revocation.
2.- The existing Order is
revoked; but the revocation of the existing Order shall not affect the
operation on and after the appointed day of any law made or having
effect as if made in pursuance of the existing Order or continued in
force thereunder and having effect as part of the law of the Bahamas
Island immediately before the appointed day (including any law made
before the appointed day and coming into operation on or after that
day).
Establishment of Constitution.
3.- Subject to the provisions of this Order, the Constitution shall come into effect on the appointed day.
Existing laws.
4.-
1. Subject to
the provisions of this section, the existing laws shall be construed
with such modifications, adaptations, qualifications and exceptions as
may be necessary to bring them into conformity with the Bahamas
Independence Act 1973(b) and this 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 or is otherwise
prescribed or provided for immediately before the appointed day by or
under the existing Order, that prescription or provision shall, as from
that day, have effect (with such modifications, adaptations,
qualifications and exceptions as may be necessary to bring it into
conformity with the Bahamas Independence Act 1973 and this 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 by Order made at any time before 10th July 1974
make such amendments 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 Bahamas Independence Act 1973 and this order or
otherwise for giving effect to or enabling effect to be given to those
provisions.
4. An Order made
by the Governor-General under subsection (3) of this section shall have
effect from such day, not earlier than the appointed day, as may be
specified therein.
5. The
provisions of this section shall be without prejudice to any powers
conferred by this Order or by any other law upon any person or
authority to make provision for any matter, including the amendment or
repeal of any existing law.
6. In this
section "existing law" means any law having effect as part of the law
of the Bahamas Islands immediately before the appointed day (including
any law made before the appointed day and coming into operation on or
after that day).
Parliament.
5.-
1. The persons
who immediately before the appointed day are members of the Senate
established by the existing Order (in this section referred to as "the
existing Senate"), having been appointed as such under paragraphs (a)
and (b) respectively of section 30(2) of the Schedule to the existing
Order, shall as from the appointed day be members of the Senate
established by the Constitution as if they had been appointed as such
under paragraphs (2) and (3) respectively of Article 39 of the
Constitution and shall hold their seats as Senator in accordance with
the provisions of the Constitution.
2. The persons
who immediately before the appointed day are members of the House of
Assembly then established for the Bahamas Islands (in this section
referred to as "the existing Assembly") shall as from the appointed day
be members of the House of Assembly established by the Constitution as
if elected as such in pursuance of Article 46(2) of the Constitution
and shall hold their seats in that House in accordance with the
provisions of the Constitution.
3. The persons
who immediately before the appointed day are Speaker and Deputy Speaker
of the existing Assembly shall as from the appointed day be Speaker and
Deputy Speaker respectively of the House of Assembly established by the
Constitution as if elected as such by that House in pursuance of
Article 50(1) of the Constitution and shall hold office in accordance
with the provisions of that Article.
4. Any person
who is a member of the Senate or the House of Assembly established by
the Constitution by virtue of the preceding provisions of this section
and who, since he was last appointed or elected as a member of the
existing Senate or the existing Assembly before the appointed day, has
taken the oath of allegiance in pursuance of section 45 of the Schedule
to the existing Order shall be deemed to have complied with the
requirements of Article 64 of the Constitution relating to the taking
of the oath or allegiance.
5. The rules of
procedure of the existing Senate and the existing Assembly as in force
immediately before the appointed day shall except as may be otherwise
provided in pursuance of Article 55(1) of the Constitution, be the
rules of procedure respectively of the Senate and the House of Assembly
established by the Constitution, but they shall be construed with such
modifications, adaptations, qualifications and exceptions as may be
necessary to bring them in to conformity with the Constitution.
6.
Notwithstanding anything contained in Article 66(3) of the Constitution
(but subject to the provisions of paragraphs (4) and (5) of that
Article) Parliament shall, unless sooner dissolved, stand dissolved on
the expiration of five years from the first sitting of the existing
Assembly after the general election of members of the existing Assembly
last preceding the appointed day.
7. For the
purposes of Articles 41 and 47 of the Constitution any period of
ordinary residence in the Bahamas Islands immediately before the
appointed day shall be deemed to be residence in The Bahamas.
Minister and Parliamentary Secretaries.
6.-
1. The Person
who immediately before the appointed day holds the office of Prime
Minister under the existing Order shall, as from the appointed day,
hold office as Prime Minister as if he had been appointed thereto under
Article 73(1) of the Constitution.
2. The persons
(other than the Prime Minister) who immediately before the appointed
day hold office as Minister under the existing Order shall, as from the
appointed day, hold the like office as if they had been appointed
thereto under Article 73(2) of the Constitution.
3. Any person
holding the office of Prime Minister or other Minister by virtue of
subsection (1) or (2) of this section who immediately before the
appointed day was charged with responsibility for any matter or
department of government shall, as from the appointed day, be deemed to
have been charged with responsibility for the corresponding business or
administration of the corresponding department of the Government under
Article 77 of the Constitution.
4. The person
who immediately before the appointed day hold office as Parliamentary
Secretaries under the existing Order shall, as from the appointed day,
hold the like offices as if they had been appointed thereto under
Article 81 (1) of the Constitution.
5. Any person
who holds office as Prime Minister or other Minister or Parliamentary
Secretary as from the appointed day by virtue of the provisions of this
section shall be deemed to have complied with the requirements of
Article 84 of the Constitution relating to the taking of oaths.
Leader of the Opposition.
7.-The person who immediately
before the appointed day is the Leader of the Opposition (as defined
for the purposes of the Schedule to the existing Order) shall, as from
the appointed day, hold office as Leader of the Opposition as if he had
been appointed thereto under Article 82 of the Constitution.
Existing officers.
8.- Subject to the provisions
of this Order and of the Constitution, every person who immediately
before the commencement of this Order holds or is acting in a public
office shall, as from the commencement of this Order, continue to hold
or act in the like office as if he had been appointed thereto in
accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
Supreme Court and Court of Appeal Judges.
9.-
1. The Supreme
Court and the Court of Appeal in existence immediately before the
appointed day shall, as from the appointed day be the Supreme Court and
the Court of Appeal for the purposes of the Constitution and the Chief
Justice and the Judges of the Supreme Court and the President of the
Court of Appeal and the Justices of Appeal holding office immediately
before that day shall, as from that day, hold offices as chief Justice
or Justices of the Supreme Court or President of the Court of Appeal or
Justices of Appeal, as the case may be, as if they had been appointed
under the provisions of Chapter vii of the Constitution.
2. Any
proceedings pending before the Supreme Court immediately before the
appointed day may be continued and any judgment of that Court given but
not satisfied before that day may be enforced as if it were the
judgment of the Supreme Court established by the Constitution.
Pending appeals.
10.-
1. Any
proceedings pending immediately before the appointed day on appeal from
the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeal for the Bahamas Islands may be
continued after the appointed day before the Court of Appeal for The
Bahamas established by the Constitution.
2. Any judgment
of the Court of Appeal for the Bahamas Islands in an appeal from a
court of the Colony of the Bahamas Islands given, but not satisfied,
before the appointed day may be enforced after the appointed day as if
it were a judgment of the Court of Appeal for The Bahamas established
by the Constitution.
Exercise of jurisdiction by Court of Appeal for Turks and Caicos Islands.
11.- A court of appeal for
the Turks and Caicos Island may, under arrangements between the
Government of that territory and the Government of The Bahamas, sit in
The Bahamas and exercise there such jurisdiction and powers in respect
of the Turks and Caicos Islands as may be conferred upon it by any law
for the time being in force in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Without
prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, persons committed to
custody in the Turks and Caicos Islands when present in The Bahamas in
connection with any proceedings in a court of appeal for the Turks and
Caicos Islands may be held in custody in The Bahamas and persons may be
committed to custody in The Bahamas by order of such a court.
Remuneration of certain persons.
12.-Until provisions is made
under and in accordance with Article 135 of the Constitution, the
salaries and allowances of the holders of each of the offices to which
that Article applies, other than the Governor-General, shall be the
salaries and allowances of the holders of each of the offices or of the
offices corresponding thereto were entitled immediately before the
appointed day, and the salary and allowances of the Governor-General
shall be the salary and allowances to which the Governor and
Commander-in-Chief of the Bahamas Island was entitled immediately
before such day.
Transitional provisions relating to existing Commissions.
13.-
1. Any power of
the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Bahamas Island acting on the
recommendation of the Public Service Commission established by the
existing Order which has been validly delegated to any public officer
under that Order shall, as from the appointed day, be deemed to have
been delegated to that public officer to the extent that power could be
so delegated under Article 110 of the Constitution.
2. Any matter
which, immediately before the appointed day, is pending before an
existing Commission or, as the case may be, before any person or
authority on whom the power to deal with such matter has been conferred
under the existing Order shall as from the appointed day be continued
before the Public Service Commission established by the Constitution,
or the Public Service Board of Appeal, or the Judicial and Legal
Service Commission, or the Police Service Commission, so established
or, as the case may be, the said person or authority:
Provided that where an existing Commission or, as the case may be, any
person or authority as aforesaid has, immediately before the appointed
day, partly completed the hearing of a disciplinary proceeding (in this
section referred to as "the original hearing"), no person shall take
part in the continued hearing unless he has also taken part in the
original hearing; and where by virtue of this subsection the original
hearing cannot be so continued the hearing of the disciplinary
proceeding shall be recommenced.
3. A person who
immediately before the appointed day holds the office of Chairman or
other member of an existing Commission shall, as from the appointed
day, continue to hold the like office as if he had been appointed
thereto in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and shall
be deemed to have been duly appointed to such office under the
Constitution.
4. The
provisions of Articles 107(3), 114(3), 116(3) or 118(3), as the case
may be, of the Constitution shall have effect in relation to such a
person as if the date of his appointment under the existing Order were
the date of his appointment under the existing Order were the date of
his appointment under the Constitution.
5. Until
Parliament otherwise prescribes under Article 117(2) of the
Constitution the public offices to which Article 117(1) thereof applies
shall be the offices of Solicitor-General, Registrar of the Supreme
Court, Legal Draftsman, Senior Crown Counsel, Chief Magistrate,
Registrar General, Stipendiary and Circuit Magistrate, Crown Counsel,
Assistant Legal Draftsmen, Assistant Registrar, Deputy Registrar
General and Assistant Crown Counsel.
6. In this
section "an existing Commission" means the Public Service Commission
established under the existing Order or, as the case may be, the Public
Service Board of Appeal, or the Judicial and Legal Service Commission,
or the Police Service Commission, so established.
Emergency Powers Order in Council 1939.
14.-
1. The Emergency
Powers Order in Council 1939(a) and any Order in Council amending that
Order(b) shall cease to have effect as part of the law of The Bahamas
on 10th July 1974 or such earlier date as Parliament may prescribe.
2. Until such
time as the said Orders cease to have effect under subsection (1) of
this section they shall continue to have effect in respect of The
Bahamas as they had effect in respect of the former Colony of the
Bahamas Island immediately before the appointed day, except that the
powers exercisable by the Governor thereunder shall be exercisable by
the Governor-General acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime
Minister.
Transfer of Crown Lands Fund for Development to Consolidated Fund.
15.- All sums standing to the
credit of the Crown Lands Fund for Development immediately before the
appointed day shall as from that day form part of the Consolidated
Fund, and all sums charged on the Crown Lands Fund for Development
immediately before that day shall as from that day stand charged on the
Consolidated Fund.
Transitional provisions relating to compensation etc.
16.- Any compensations,
gratuity, grant or allowance paid or payable, whether before or after
the appointed day, under any regulation made by the Governor under
section 15 of the Bahamas Islands (Constitution) Order in Council
1963(c) or under section 9 of the Bahamas Island (Constitution) Order
1969, which under those regulations as in force immediately prior to
the appointed day was or would have been exempt from tax in the Bahamas
Island, shall be exempt from tax to the same extent in The Bahamas
after the appointed day.
Alteration of his Order.
17.-
1. Parliament
may alter any of the provisions of this Order (in so far as those
provisions form part of the law of The Bahamas), other than those
mentioned in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, in the same
manner as it may alter the provisions of the Constitution other than
those specified in paragraphs (2) and (3) of Article 54 of the
Constitution.
2. Parliament
may alter subsection (6) of section 5 of this Order and this section in
the same manner as it may alter the provisions specified in Article
54(3) of the Constitution.
3. Parliament
may alter sections 8, 9, 12, subsections (3), (4) and (5) of section 13
and section 16 of this Order in the same manner as it may alter the
provisions specified in Article 54(2) of the Constitution.
4. In this section "alter" has the same meaning as in Article 54(4)(b) of the Constitution.
W. G. Agnew
Full text of
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE BAHAMAS
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