Constitution of Barbados

Barbados

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Barbados

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The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law under which Barbados is governed.^[1] The Constitution provides a legal establishment of the structure and various roles of administration of the Sovereign (known as "The Crown"), the Vice-Royal (known as Governor-General), the Government of Barbados, as well as legal rights and responsibilities of the public and various other government officers. The Constitution which came into force in 1966 was amended in both 1974,^[2] and again in 2003.^[3][4] The 1966 document succeeds several other documents concerning administration of Barbados. One of them the Barbados Charter, is discussed in the present Constitution's Preamble. Prior Constitutions were created for the administration of Barbados as a colony. As a former English and later British colony, the Constitution is similar, yet distinctly unique of all other Commonwealth realms through the spirit of the Statute of Westminster.

History

Early history

In 1625 the English landed at Barbados and carved the term 'For King James of E. and this island' on a tree, then some personal items were left behind, and the ship's crew returned to England to notify The Crown and to seek initial settlers. In 1627 the initial settlers landed at Barbados and formed a colony based entirely on Common Law. As the population of Barbados grew a General Assembly was created and began to draft laws. After conflict in England erupted during English Civil War, large numbers of English settlers to Barbados, the General Assembly began the practice of creating a distinctly Barbados based administration.

Recent history

As a constituent province of the West Indies Federation, Barbados became independent of the United Kingdom on 30 November 1966 under the Barbados Independence Act 1966. Under the West Indies Act 1962, the Monarchy of the United Kingdom was allowed to form governments for the former colonies of the West Indies Federation. Elizabeth II issued the Barbados Order in Council 1966 which formally gave force and effect to the present constitution.

Parts of the Constitution

The Constitution of Barbados consists of the following 14 parts:

1. CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER
2. PREAMBLE
3. CHAPTER I- The Constitution
4. CHAPTER II- Citizenship
5. CHAPTER III- Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual
6. CHAPTER IV- The Governor General
7. CHAPTER V- Parliament
8. CHAPTER VI- Executive Powers
9. CHAPTER VII- The Judicature
10. CHAPTER VIII- The Public Service
11. CHAPTER IX- Finance
12. CHAPTER X- Miscellaneous and Interpretation
13. FIRST SCHEDULE- Oath
14. SECOND SCHEDULE- Provisions Relating to Certain Tribunals

References

1. ^ Constitution of Barbados, Chapter 1, Section 1.
2. ^ 1974 Amendment
3. ^ 2003 Ammendment
4. ^ Constitutional amendments

External links

• Constitution of 1966 with Reforms through 1999 from the Georgetown University Political Database of the Americas
• Constitution of Barbados 1966, World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO)