Guyana Independence Order 1966
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1966/575 |
| Year | 1966 |
1966 No. 575
CARIBBEAN AND NORTH ATLANTIC
TERRITORIES
The Guyana Independence Order 196616thMay 1966
20thMay 1966
16thMay 1966Remainder26thMay 1966
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 16th day of May 1966
Present,
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Her Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of the powers vested in Her by sections 6 and 7 of the Guyana Independence Act 1966(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 Guyana Independence Order 1966.
(2) Subject to the provisions of sections 4 and 13 of this Order, this Order shall come into operation on 26th May 1966 (in this Order referred to as "the appointed day").
(3) Save where the context otherwise requires, expressions used in sections 1 to 19 (inclusive) of this Order have the same meaning as in the Constitution set out in Schedule 2 to this Order and the provisions of article 125 of that Constitution shall apply for the purpose of interpreting those sections as they apply for the purpose of interpreting that Constitution.
(4) References in article 92 of the said Constitution to any question as to the interpretation of that Constitution shall be construed as including references to any question as to the interpretation of any provision of this Order.
Revocations and amendments.
2.—(1) The Orders in Council specified in Schedule 1 to this Order (hereinafter referred to as "the existing Orders") are revoked.
(2) The British Caribbean Court of Appeal Order in Council 1962(b) (as amended by the British Caribbean Court of Appeal (Amendment) (No. 2) Order in Council 1962(c)) is amended by the deletion of paragraph (c) (which specifies British Guiana) of the definition of "the Territories" in article 2(1); and the last mentioned Order is amended by the deletion of the words "and of the Supreme Court of British Guiana" in paragraph (b) of article 3(1).
(a) 1966 c. 14.
(b) S.I. 1962/1086 (1962 II, p. 1247).
(c) S.I. 1962/1870 (1962 II, p. 2186).
Establishment of Constitution
3. Subject to the provisions of the next following section and to the other provisions of this Order, the Constitution of Guyana set out in Schedule 2 to this Order (hereinafter referred to as "the Constitution") shall come into effect on the appointed day.
Exercise before appointed day by the Governor of powers of the Governor-General.
4.—(1) Where the Governor-General has power by or under this Order to make any appointment or make any order (other than an order under section 5(4) of this Order relating to any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom or any Order of Her Majesty in Council) or to do any other thing for the purposes of this Order, that power may be exercised by the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of British Guiana (hereinafter referred to. as "the Governor") at any time after the making of this Order to such extent as may, in his opinion, be necessary or expedient to enable the Constitution to function as from the appointed day.
(2) For the purposes of the exercise by the Governor under the preceding subsection of any power conferred by the Constitution, the provisions of the Constitution relating to the exercise of that power by the Governor-General (including any provisions requiring any person or authority to consult with, or obtain the concurrence of, any other person or authority before tendering any advice or recommendation to the Governor-General) shall apply and have effect, but any references therein to the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General, the Cabinet, the Government or the National Assembly of Guyana or the Speaker or members of the National Assembly shall be construed as if they were references respectively to the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General, the Council of Ministers, the Government or the House of Assembly of the Colony of British Guiana or the Speaker or members of the House of Assembly.
Existing laws.
5.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Order, all laws (including laws made or having effect as if made under the existing Orders) in force in, or otherwise having effect as part of the law of, British Guiana immediately before the appointed day (in this section referred to as "existing laws") shall continue to have effect as part of the law of Guyana on and after that day but all such laws shall, as from that day, be construed with such modifications, adaptations, qualifications and exceptions as may be necessary to bring them into conformity with the Guyana Independence Act 1966 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 Orders, 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 Guyana Independence Act 1966 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) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this section, if a proclamation of emergency is in force under article 14 of the Constitution set out in the Annex to the British Guiana (Constitution) Order in Council 1961 (a) immediately before
(a) S.I. 1961/1188 (1961 II, p. 2152).
the appointed day by virtue of a resolution of the House of Assembly, the proclamation shall, as from the appointed day, have effect as if it had been made under article 16 of the Constitution of Guyana and (without prejudice to its continuance in force for further periods by virtue of the provisions of paragraph (3)(c) of the said article) as if its continuance in force to the date referred to in that resolution had been approved by a resolution of the National Assembly; and if any person is on the appointed day detained or restricted in the manner referred to in article 17(1) of the Constitution of Guyana the provisions of that article requiring his cage to be reviewed by a tribunal established for the purposes of that article not later than three months from the commencement of the detention or restriction shall, in relation to that person, have effect as if the detention or restriction had commenced on the appointed day.
(4) The Governor-General may by order made at any time before 26th May 1967 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 Guyana Independence Act 1966 and this Order or otherwise for giving effect or enabling effect to be given to those provisions.
(5) An order made by the Governor-General under the preceding subsection shall have effect from such day, not earlier than the appointed day, as may be specified therein.
(6) 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.
(7) Nothing contained in or done under the authority of any written law having effect as part of the law of British Guiana immediately before 18th July 1961 (being the date appointed under section 1(2) of the British Guiana (Constitution) Order in Council 1961) and, except in proceedings commenced before 26th November 1966, nothing contained in or done under the authority of any law made under the existing Orders shall be held to have been inconsistent with or in contravention of any provision of articles 2 to 12 (inclusive) of the Constitution set out in the Annex to the said Order of 1961; and accordingly, except in so far as any such law has before the appointed day been repealed or held to be inconsistent with any such provision, and without prejudice to any proceedings commenced before 26th November 1966 (including proceedings commenced before the appointed day) with respect to a law made under the existing Orders, any such law shall, notwithstanding any inconsistency with any such provision, be deemed for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section and of article 18(1) of the Constitution to be a law having effect as part of the law of British Guiana immediately before the appointed day.
(8) In this section "amendment" includes modification and adaptation.
Ministers, Attorney-General and Parliamentary Secretaries.
6.—(1) The persons who immediately before the appointed day hold office as Prime Minister or other Minister, Attorney-General or Parliamentary Secretary shall, as from the appointed day, hold the like offices as if they had been appointed thereto in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, and shall be deemed to have taken and subscribed any necessary oath under the Constitution.
(2) Any person holding the office of Prime Minister or other Minister by virtue of the provisions of the preceding subsection who, immediately before the appointed day, was charged with responsibility for any matter or department of Government under the existing Orders shall, as from the appointed day, be deemed to have been assigned responsibility for that matter or department under article 36 of the Constitution.
High Court.
7.—(1) The persons who immediately before the appointed day are members of the House of Assembly constituted by the existing Orders (in this section referred to as "the existing Assembly") shall as from the appointed day be deemed to have been elected as members of the National Assembly in pursuance of the provisions of article 58 of the Constitution, and shall hold their...
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