Bahama Islands (Constitution) Order 1969
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1969/590 |
1969 No. 590
CARIBBEAN AND NORTH ATLANTIC TERRITORIES
The Bahama Islands (Constitution) Order 196923rdApril 1969
29thApril 1969
On a day to be appointed under Section 1(2).
At the Court at Windsor Castle, the 23rd day of April 1969
Present,
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Whereas at a conference held in London in September 1968 between representatives of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and representatives of the Bahama Islands it was agreed that it was desirable that a new Constitution for the Bahama Islands embodying certain changes from the existing Constitution should be conferred and that the Bahama Islands should be known as the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands:
Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of the powers vested in Her in that behalf by section 1 of the Bahama 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 and commencement.
1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Bahama Islands (Constitution) Order 1969.
(2) This Order shall come into operation on such day as the Governor, acting in his discretion, may, by proclamation published in the Gazette, appoint, which day shall not be earlier than 30th April 1969.
Interpretation.
2.—(1) In this Order—
" the appointed day " means the day appointed under section 1(2) of this Order;
" the Constitution " means the Constitution set out in the Schedule to this Order;
" the existing Constitution " means the Constitution set out in the Schedule to the Bahama Islands (Constitution) Order in Council 1963(b) as amended by the Bahama Islands (Constitution) (Amendment) Order 1964(c);
(a) 1963 c. 56.
(b) S. I. 1963/2084 (1963 III, p. 4403).
(c) S. I. 1964/2041 (1964 III, p. 5125).
Establishment of Constitution.
" the existing laws" means any laws made before the appointed day by any legislature for the time being constituted as the legislature of the Bahama Islands and having effect as part of the law of the Bahama Islands immediately before the appointed day (whether or not they have then come into operation) and any rules, regulations, orders or other instruments made in pursuance of such laws and having such effect.
(2) The provisions of section 130 of the Constitution shall apply for the purpose of interpreting sections 2 to 10 of this Order and otherwise in relation thereto as they apply for the purpose of interpreting and in relation to the Constitution.
Establishment of Constitution.
3. With effect from the appointed day—
(a) the Bahama Islands shall be known as the Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands;
(b) the Constitution shall come into force in the Bahama Islands; and
(c) the Bahama Islands (Constitution) Order in Council 1963, the Bahama Islands Royal Instructions 1963 and the Bahama Islands (Constitution) (Amendment) Order 1964 are revoked.
Existing laws.
4.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the existing laws shall have effect on and after the appointed day as if they had been made in pursuance of the Constitution and shall be construed with such modifications, adaptations, qualifications and exceptions as may be necessary to bring them into conformity with the Constitution.
(2) Where any matter that falls to be prescribed or otherwise provided for the purposes of the Constitution by the Legislature or by any other authority or person is prescribed or provided for by or under any existing law (including any adaptation or modification of any such law made under this section) or is otherwise prescribed or provided for immediately before the appointed day by or under the existing Constitution, that prescription or provision shall, as from the appointed day, have effect as if it had been made for those purposes by the Legislature or, as the case may be, by the other authority or person.
(3) The Governor may, by order published in the Gazette, at any time within six months after the appointed day make such adaptations or modifications 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 or otherwise for giving effect or enabling effect to be given to those provisions; and any existing law shall have effect accordingly from such day (not being earlier than the appointed day) as may be specified in the order.
(4) An order made under this section may be amended or revoked by the Legislature or, in relation to any existing law affected thereby, by any other authority having power to amend, repeal or revoke that existing law.
(5) The provisions of this section 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 amendment or repeal of any existing law.
Existing Governor, Ministers, judges and other officers.
5.—(1) Any person who immediately before the appointed day holds or is acting in any office to which this section applies shall be deemed as from that day to have been appointed to or to act in that office or the corresponding office in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution:
Provided that any person who under the existing Constitution or any existing law would have been required to vacate his office at the expiration of any period shall vacate his office at the expiration of that period.
(2) This section applies to the offices of the Governor, the Premier, any other Minister, any judge of the Supreme Court, any judge of the Court of Appeal, the Secretary to the Cabinet, any whole time member of the Public Service Commission and any member of the Police Service Commission, to the offices constituting the personal staff of the Governor and to any public office.
(3) Any person who becomes the holder of the office of Prime Minister or any other Minister by virtue of subsection (1) of this section and who immediately before the appointed day is charged with responsibility for any matter or any department of government shall, as from the appointed day, be deemed to have been charged with responsibility for that matter or department under section 70(1) of the Constitution, and any designation of the style by which any such Minister is to be known having effect immediately before the appointed day shall, as from that day, be deemed to have been made under that section.
(4) The provisions of this section shall be without prejudice to any powers conferred by or under the Constitution upon any authority or person to abolish any office or to remove from office any person holding or acting in any office.
(5) Any person who holds or is acting in any office by virtue of subsection (1) of this section and who, before the appointed day, has made any oath or affirmation required to be taken by him before assuming the functions of his office shall be deemed to have made any like oath or affirmation so required by the Constitution or any other law.
The Legislature.
6.—(1) As soon as practicable on or after the appointed day the Governor shall proceed under section 30 of the Constitution to the appointment of Senators.
(2) The persons who immediately before the appointed day are members of the House of Assembly established by the existing Constitution (in this section referred to as " the existing House ") shall as from that day be members of the House of Assembly established by the Constitution as if they had been elected thereto in pursuance of the Constitution and, subject to subsections (3) and (4) of this section, shall hold their seats in that House in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
(3) If any person who becomes a member of the House of Assembly by virtue of subsection (2) of this section does not possess Bahamian status on the appointed day he shall be deemed for the purposes of paragraph (d) of section 39(1) of the Constitution to have ceased to possess that status on the expiration of one month after the appointed day if he does not then possess that status.
(4) If any person who becomes a member of the House of Assembly by virtue of subsection (2) of this section is on the appointed day interested in any government contract for the purposes of paragraph (f) of section 39(1) of the Constitution and if he is still so interested on the expiration of one month after the appointed day he shall be deemed for the purposes of that paragraph to have become interested in that contract on the expiration of that period.
(5) The persons who immediately before the appointed day are the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the existing House shall as from that day be the Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively of the House of Assembly established by the Constitution as if they had been elected as such in pursuance of the Constitution and shall hold their offices in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
(6) The Rules of Procedure of the Senate established by the existing Constitution and of the existing House as in force immediately before the appointed day shall, except as may be otherwise provided under section 44 of the Constitution, have effect on and after that day as if they had been made under that section, but shall be construed with such modifications, adaptations, qualifications and exceptions as may be necessary to bring them into conformity with the Constitution.
(7) Any person who becomes a member of the House of Assembly by virtue of subsection (2) of this section and who, since he was last elected as a member of the existing House, has made an oath or affirmation of allegiance in accordance with section 43 of the existing Constitution, shall be deemed to have complied with the requirements of section 45 of the Constitution relating to the making of such an oath or affirmation.
(8) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 57(2) of the Constitution (but subject to section 58 of the...
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