CHAPTER X. MISCELLANEOUS AND INTERPRETATION
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- Where any person has vacated any office established by this Constitution (including any office established under section 41(1), 64(1) and 80(2)) he may, if qualified, again be appointed, elected or otherwise selected to hold that office in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
- Where by this Constitution a power is conferred upon any person or authority to make any appointment to any public 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 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 last appointed shall be deemed to be the sole holder of the office.
- Subsection (2) shall have effect in relation to the office of a Judge as if that office were a public office.
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- Any person who is appointed or elected to or otherwise selected for any office established by this Constitution (including any office established under section 41(1), 64(1) or 80(2)) may resign from that office and, save as otherwise provided by section 40(3) or 45(1), shall do so by writing under his hand addressed to the person or authority by whom he was appointed, elected or selected.
- The resignation of any person from any such office as aforesaid signified by writing under his hand shall take effect when the writing signifying the resignation is received by the person or authority to whom it is addressed or by any person authorised by that person or authority to receive it or employed to assist that person in the performance of the functions of his office.
- Where by this Constitution a person is required to vacate an office when he attains an age prescribed by or under the provisions of this Constitution, nothing done by him in the performance of the functions of that office shall be invalid by reason only that he has attained the age so prescribed.
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- In this Constitution–
- “Act of Parliament” means any law made by Parliament;
“the Commonwealth” means Barbados, any country to which section 8 applies and any dependency of any such country; “the Consolidated Fund” means the Consolidated Fund established by section 107; “House” means the Senate or the House of Assembly, as the context may require; “Judge” means the Chief Justice, a Justice of Appeal and a Judge of the High Court; “law” includes any instrument having the force of law and any unwritten rule of law; “oath of allegiance” means the oath of allegiance set out in the First Schedule; “Parliament” means the Parliament of Barbados; “Police Force” means the Royal Barbados Police Force established under the Police Act, 1961l; “public office” means any office of emolument in the public service; “public officer” means the holder of any public office and includes any person appointed to act in any such office; “the public service” means, subject to the provisions of subsection (7), the service of the Crown in a civil capacity in respect of the government of Barbados; “session” means, in relation to Parliament, the sittings of Parliament commencing when it first meets after this Constitution comes into force or after the prorogation or dissolution of Parliament at any time and terminating when Parliament is prorogued or is dissolved without having been prorogued; “sitting” means in relation to a House, a period during which that House is sitting continuously without adjournment and includes any period during which the House is in committee; “Speaker” and “Deputy Speaker” mean the member of the House of Assembly from time to time elected by that House to be respectively Speaker or Deputy Speaker of that House.
- “Act of Parliament” means any law made by Parliament;
- For the purposes of this Constitution the territory of Barbados shall comprise all the areas that were comprised therein immediately before 30th November 1966 together with such other areas as Parliament may declare to form part thereof.
- Any reference in this Constitution to power to make appointments to any office shall be construed as including a reference to power to make appointments on promotion or transfer to that office and to power to appoint a person to act in or perform the functions of that office during any period during which it is vacant or during which the holder thereof is unable (whether by reason of absence or infirmity of body or mind or any other cause) to perform those functions.
- Any reference in this Constitution to the holder of an office by the term designating his office shall be construed as including a reference to any person for the time being lawfully performing the functions of that office.
- Where by this Constitution any person is directed, or power is conferred on any person or authority to appoint a person, to perform the functions of any office if the holder thereof is unable to perform those functions, the validity of any performance of those functions by the person so directed or of any appointment made in exercise of that power shall not be called in question in any court on the ground that the holder of that office was not or is not unable to perform those functions.
- For the purposes of this Constitution a person shall not be considered as holding a public office by reason only of the fact that he is in receipt of a pension or other like allowance in respect of public service.
- In this Constitution references to the public service shall not be construed as including service in
- the office of Governor-General, Prime Minister or other Minister, Parliamentary Secretary, Leader of the Opposition, President, Deputy President or member of the Senate, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, or member of the House of Assembly or member of the Privy Council;
- the office of a member of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, the Public Service Commission or the Police Service Commission;
- the office of a member of any board, committee or other similar body (whether incorporated or not) established by any law in force in Barbados; or
- except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, the office of a Judge.
- References in this Constitution to the power to remove a public officer shall be construed as including references to any power conferred by any law to require or permit that officer to retire from the public service:Provided that-
- nothing in this subsection shall be construed as conferring on any person or authority power to require a Judge or the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Auditor-General to retire from the public service; and
- 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 the Governor-General acting in accordance with the advice of a Commission established by this Constitution, vest in the Governor-General acting on the recommendation of the Public Service Commission.
- Where any power is conferred by this Constitution to make any proclamation or order or to give any directions, the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in like manner to amend or revoke any such proclamation, order or directions.
- 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 exercising any functions under this Constitution shall be construed as precluding a court from exercising jurisdiction in relation to any question whether that person or authority has performed those functions in accordance with this Constitution or any other law.
- The Interpretation Act as in force on 1st February, 19751 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, an Act of the Legislature of Barbados passed after the commencement of the aforesaid Act.
