Belize 1981 Constitution (reviewed 2011)

PART IX. Finance

114. Establishment of Consolidated Revenue Fund

1. All revenues or other moneys raised or received by Belize (not being revenues or other moneys payable under this Constitution or any other law into some other public fund established for a specific purpose) shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund.
2. No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the Fund by this Constitution or any other law enacted by the National Assembly or where the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an appropriation law or by a law made in pursuance of section 116 of this Constitution.
3. No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund unless the issue of those moneys has been authorised by a law enacted by the National Assembly.
4. No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund except in the manner prescribed by law.

115. Authorisation of expenditure from Consolidated Revenue Fund

1. The Minister responsible for finance shall prepare and lay before the House of Representatives in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditures of Belize for the next following financial year.
2. The heads of expenditure contained in the estimates (other than expenditure charged upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund by this Constitution or any other law) shall be included in a Bill, to be known as an Appropriation Bill, providing for the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the sums necessary to meet that expenditure and the appropriation of those sums for the purposes specified therein.
3. If in respect of any financial year it is found-
   1. that the amount appropriated by the appropriation law for any purpose is insufficient or that a need has arisen for expenditure for a purpose for which no amount has been appropriated by that law; or
   2. that any moneys have been expended for any purpose in excess of the amount appropriated for the purpose by the appropriation law or for a purpose for which no amount has been appropriated by that law,

   a supplementary estimate showing the sums required or spent shall be laid before the House of Representatives and the heads of any such expenditure shall be included in a Supplementary Appropriation Bill.

116. Authorisation of expenditure in advance of appropriation

Any law enacted by the National Assembly may make provision under which, if the appropriation law in respect of any financial year has not come into operation by the beginning of that financial year, the Minister responsible for finance may authorise the withdrawal of moneys from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on the services of the Government until the expiration of four months from the beginning of that financial year or the coming into operation of the appropriation law, whichever is the earlier.

117. Contingencies Fund

1. Any law enacted by the National Assembly may provide for the establishment of a Contingencies Fund and for authorising the Minister responsible for finance, if satisfied that there has arisen an urgent and unforeseen need for expenditure for which no other provision exists, to make advances from the Fund to meet that need.
2. Where any advance is made in accordance with subsection (1) of this section, a supplementary estimate shall be presented and a Supplementary Appropriation Bill shall be introduced as soon as possible for the purpose of replacing the amount so advanced.

118. Remuneration of certain officers

1. There shall be paid to the holders of the offices to which this section applies such salaries and such allowances as may be prescribed by or under a law enacted by the National Assembly.
2. The salaries and allowances prescribed in pursuance of this section in respect of the holders of the offices to which this section applies shall be a charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
3. The salary prescribed in pursuance of this section in respect of the holder of any office to which this section applies and his other terms of service (other than allowances that are not taken into account in computing, under any law in that behalf, any pension payable in respect of his service in that office) shall not be altered to his disadvantage after his appointment.
4. When a person’s salary or other terms of service depend upon his option, the salary or terms for which he opts shall, for the purposes of subsection (3) of this section, be deemed to be more advantageous to him than any others for which he might have opted.
5. This section applies to the offices of the Governor-General, the Chief Justice, Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice of the Supreme Court, member of the Belize Advisory Council, member of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission or the Security Services Commission or the Public Services Commission, member of the Elections and Boundaries Commission, the Director of Public Prosecutions, members of the Integrity Commission, the Ombudsman, the Contractor General and the Auditor-General.
6. The budgets presented by the offices of the Auditor General, the Ombudsman, the Contractor General, the Elections and Boundaries Commission, the Integrity Commission, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal shall be given first priority calls on the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
7. Nothing in this section shall be construed as prejudicing the provisions of section 112 of this Constitution.

119. Public debt

1. There shall be charged on the Consolidated Revenue Fund all debt charges for which Belize is liable.
2. For the purposes of this section debt charges include interest, sinking fund charges, the repayment or amortization of debt, and all expenditure in connection with the raising of loans on the security of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and the service and redemption of debt created thereby.

120. Audit of public accounts, etc

1. There shall be an Auditor-General whose office shall be a public office.
2. The Auditor-General shall-
   1. satisfy himself that all moneys that have been appropriated by the National Assembly and disbursed have been applied to the purposes to which they were so appropriated and that the expenditure conforms to the authority that governs it; and
   2. at least once in every year audit and report on the public accounts of Belize, the accounts of all officers and authorities of the Government, the accounts of all courts of law in Belize, the accounts of the Belize Advisory Council and every Commission established by this Constitution and the accounts of the Clerk to the National Assembly.
3. The Auditor-General and any officer authorised by him shall have access to all books, records, returns, reports and other documents which in his opinion relate to any of the accounts referred to in subsection (2) of this section.
4. The Auditor-General shall submit every report made by him in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section to the Minister responsible for finance who shall, not later than seven days after the House of Representatives first meets after he has received the report, lay it before the House. The Auditor General shall forthwith notify the Clerk, National Assembly, of the date on which he submitted the report to the Minister.
5. If the Minister fails to lay a report before the House in accordance with the provisions of subsection (4) of this section, the Clerk, National Assembly, shall forthwith inform the Auditor-General who shall promptly transmit copies of that report directly to the Clerk, and the Clerk shall, as soon as practicable, lay the report on the table of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
6. The Auditor-General shall exercise such other functions in relation to the accounts of the Government or the accounts of other authorities or bodies established by law for public purposes as may be prescribed by or under any law enacted by the National Assembly.
7. In the exercise of his functions under subsections (2), (3), (4) and (5) of this section, the Auditor-General shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.
8. Where the Auditor General fails to submit a report to the National Assembly in accordance with subsection (5) of this section, he may be required to appear before the Senate to answer to his failure to comply with the requirements of this section.
9. The Senate may, where it considers it appropriate having regard to all the circumstances of the case, extend the period of time within which the Auditor General shall submit his report.
10. Where the Auditor General fails to submit a report within the prescribed time or extended time as the case may be-
    1. such failure may be deemed a failure by the Auditor General in the due performance of the duties of his office, for the purpose of removal from office pursuant to section 109 (5); and
    2. the Senate shall forward a report on the matter to the Prime Minister with such recommendations as the Senate may consider fit.