STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS
2007 No. 1678
caribbean and north atlantic territories
The Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007
Made - - - - 13th June 2007
Laid before Parliament 14th June 2007
Came into force 15th June, 2007
Contents
1. Citation, commencement and establishment of Constitution
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
CHAPTER 1
INTERPRETATION
2. Interpretation
3. References to public office
4. Appointments
5. Re-election or reappointment
6. Removal from office
7. Resignation
8. Power to amend or revoke instruments
CHAPTER 2
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF THE INDIVIDUAL
9. Fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual
10. Interpretation of Chapter 2
11. Protection of right to life
12. Equality before the law
13. Protection from inhuman treatment
14. Protection from slavery and forced labour
15. Protection of right to personal liberty
16. Provisions to secure protection of law
17. Protection of right of prisoners to humane treatment
18. Protection of freedom of movement
19. Protection of private and family life and privacy of home and other property
20. Protection of the right to marry and found a family
21. Protection of freedom of conscience
22. Protection of the right to education
23. Protection of freedom of expression
24. Protection of freedom of assembly and association
25. Protection from deprivation of property
26. Protection from discrimination
27. Provisions for periods of public emergency
28. Protection of persons detained under emergency laws
29. Protection of the environment
30. Protection of children
31. Enforcement of protective provisions
32. Proceedings which might affect freedom of conscience
33. Proceedings which might affect freedom of expression
34. Establishment of a Human Rights Commission
CHAPTER 3
THE GOVERNOR
35. Governor
36. Deputy Governor
37. Acting Governor
38. Functions of Deputy Governor
39. Deputy to Governor
40. Exercise of Governor’s functions
41. Crown lands
42. Powers to constitute offices and make appointments, etc
43. Powers of pardon, etc
44. Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy
45. The public seal
CHAPTER 4
THE EXECUTIVE
46. Executive authority of the Virgin Islands
47. Cabinet
48. Meetings of the Cabinet
49. Proceedings in the Cabinet
50. Summoning of persons to the Cabinet
51. Cabinet Secretary
52. Appointment of Ministers
53. Tenure of office of Ministers
54. Absence of Ministers from the Virgin Islands
55. Performance of functions of Premier in certain events
56. Assignment of responsibilities to Ministers
57. National Security Council
58. Attorney General
59. Director of Public Prosecutions
60. Governor’s special responsibilities
61. Oaths and affirmations
CHAPTER 5
THE LEGISLATURE
Composition
62. Composition of Legislature
63. House of Assembly
64. Elected members
65. Qualifications for elected membership
66. Disqualifications for elected membership
67. Tenure of seats of members of House of Assembly
68. Qualifications of voters
69. Speaker and Deputy Speaker
70. Leader of the Opposition
Powers and Procedure
71. Power to make laws
72. Standing Orders
73. Oaths and affirmations
74. Presiding in the House of Assembly
75. Voting
76. Validity of proceedings
77. Quorum
78. Introduction of Bills, etc
79. Assent to Bills
80. Disallowance of laws
81. Governor’s reserved power
82. Privileges, immunities and powers of House of Assembly
Miscellaneous
83. Sessions of House of Assembly
84. Prorogation and dissolution
85. Recalling dissolved House of Assembly in case of emergency
86. General elections
87. Determination of questions as to membership
88. Penalty for unauthorised sitting or voting
CHAPTER 6
THE JUDICATURE
89. Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
90. Subordinate courts and tribunals
CHAPTER 7
THE PUBLIC SERVICE
Public Service - General
91. Public Service Commission
92. Power to appoint, etc, to public office
93. Teaching Service Commission
94. Judicial and Legal Services Commission
95. Power to appoint, etc, to legal offices
96. Police Service Commission
97. Power to appoint, etc, to offices in the Police Force
98. Legislation regarding Commissions
Pensions
99. Applicability of pension law
100. Pensions, etc, charged on Consolidated Fund or Pension Fund
101. Grant and withholding of pensions, etc
CHAPTER 8
FINANCE
102. Consolidated Fund
103. Withdrawal of money from Consolidated Fund or other public funds
104. Authorisation of expenditure
105. Authorisation of expenditure in advance of appropriation
106. Contingencies Fund
107. Public debt
108. Remuneration of certain officers
109. The Auditor General
CHAPTER 9
THE COMPLAINTS COMMISSIONER AND REGISTER OF INTERESTS
110. The Complaints Commissioner
111. Functions of Complaints Commissioner
112. Registration of interests
CHAPTER 10
TRANSITIONAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
113. Meaning of the appointed day
114. Revocations
115. Existing laws
116. Existing offices and officers
117. Standing Orders
118. Elections
119. Power reserved to Her Majesty
SCHEDULE 1 — FORMS OF OATHS AND AFFIRMATIONS
SCHEDULE 2 — REVOCATIONS
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 13th day of June 2007
Present,
The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Her Majesty, in exercise of the powers conferred upon Her by sections 5 and 7 of the West Indies Act 1962() and of all other powers enabling Her to do so, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is ordered, as follows:
Citation, commencement and establishment of Constitution
1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007.
(2) This Order shall come into force on the day on which the Legislative Council of the Virgin Islands is dissolved next following the day on which this Order is made, which day is in this Order referred to as “the appointed day”.
(3) On the appointed day the following provisions of this Order shall have effect as the Constitution of the Virgin Islands; but until the day after the polling in the first general election in the Virgin Islands after the appointed day—
(a) the office of Premier shall continue to be called Chief Minister;
(b) the Cabinet shall continue to be called the Executive Council; and
(c) no person shall be appointed to the office of Cabinet Secretary.
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
Whereas the people of the territory of the Virgin Islands have over centuries evolved with a distinct cultural identity which is the essence of a Virgin Islander;
Acknowledging that the society of the Virgin Islands is based upon certain moral, spiritual and democratic values including a belief in God, the dignity of the human person, the freedom of the individual and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms and the rule of law;
Mindful that the people of the Virgin Islands have expressed a desire for their Constitution to reflect who they are as a people and a country and their quest for social justice, economic empowerment and political advancement;
Recognising that the people of the Virgin Islands have a free and independent spirit, and have developed themselves and their country based on qualities of honesty, integrity, mutual respect, self-reliance and the ownership of the land engendering a strong sense of belonging to and kinship with those Islands;
Recalling that because of historical, economic and other reasons many of the people of the Virgin Islands reside elsewhere but have and continue to have an ancestral connection and bond with those Islands;
Accepting that the Virgin Islands should be governed based on adherence to well-established democratic principles and institutions;
Affirming that the people of the Virgin Islands have generally expressed their desire to become a self-governing people and to exercise the highest degree of control over the affairs of their country at this stage of its development; and
Noting that the United Kingdom, the administering power for the time being, has articulated a desire to enter into a modern partnership with the Virgin Islands based on the principles of mutual respect and self-determination;
Now, therefore, the following provisions have effect as the Constitution of the Virgin Islands.
CHAPTER 1
INTERPRETATION
Interpretation
2.—(1) In this Constitution, unless it is otherwise provided or required by the context—
“the Chief Justice” means the Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court;
“the Court of Appeal” means the Court of Appeal established by the Supreme Court Order 1967();
“dollars” means dollars in the currency of the Virgin Islands or the United States of America;
“election” means election of an elected member of the House of Assembly and “general election” shall be construed accordingly;
“the Gazette” means the official Gazette of the Virgin Islands;
“the High Court” means the High Court established by the Supreme Court Order 1967;
“legal practitioner” means a person qualified as a legal practitioner as prescribed by law;
“the Police Force” means any police force established for the Virgin Islands under any law in force in the Virgin Islands;
“public office” means, subject to section 3, any office of emolument in the public service or any office of emolument under any local government council or authority in the Virgin Islands;
“public officer” means the holder of any public office and includes any person appointed to act in any such office;
“public service” means the service of the Crown in a civil capacity in respect of the Government of the Virgin Islands;
“session”, in relation to the House of Assembly, means the sittings of the House commencing when the House first meets after being constituted by this Constitution, or after its prorogation or dissolution at any time, and terminating when the House is next prorogued or is dissolved without having been prorogued;
“sitting”, in relation to the House of Assembly, means a period during which the House is sitting continuously without adjournment and includes any period during which the House is in committee.
(2) For the purposes of this Constitution, a person belongs to the Virgin Islands if that person—
(a) is born in the Virgin Islands and at the time of the birth his or her father or mother is or was—
(i) a British overseas territories citizen (or a British Dependent Territories citizen) by virtue of birth, registration or naturalisation in the Virgin Islands or by virtue of descent from a father or mother who was born in the Virgin Islands; or
(ii) settled in the Virgin Islands; and for this purpose “settled” means ordinarily resident in the Virgin Islands without being subject under the law in force in the Virgin Islands to any restriction on the period for which he or she may remain, but does not include persons on contract with the Government of the Virgin Islands or any statutory body or Crown corporation;
(b) is born in the Virgin Islands of a father or mother who belongs to the Virgin Islands by birth or descent or who, if deceased, would, if alive, so belong to the Virgin Islands;
(c) is a child adopted in the Virgin Islands by a person who belongs to the Virgin Islands by birth or descent;
(d) is born outside the Virgin Islands of a father or mother who is a British overseas territories citizen by virtue of birth in the Virgin Islands or descent from a father or mother who was born in the Virgin Islands or who belongs to the Virgin Islands by virtue of birth in the Virgin Islands or descent from a father or mother who was born in the Virgin Islands;
(e) is a British overseas territories citizen by virtue of registration in the Virgin Islands;
(f) is a person to whom a certificate has been granted under section 16 of the Immigration and Passport Act 1977 of the Virgin Islands (in this subsection referred to as “the Act”, and references to the Act or to any section thereof include references to any enactment amending, replacing or re-enacting the same) and has not been revoked under section 17 of the Act; and (without prejudice to the right of any person to apply for the grant of such a certificate under the Act) a British overseas territories citizen by virtue of naturalisation in the Virgin Islands has a right by virtue of this Constitution to apply for the grant of such a certificate;
(g) is the spouse of a person who belongs to the Virgin Islands and has been granted a certificate under section 16 of the Act; or
(h) was immediately before the commencement of this Constitution deemed to belong to the Virgin Islands by virtue of the Virgin Islands (Constitution) Order 1976().
(3) In this Constitution, unless it is otherwise provided or required by the context, any reference to the holder of an office by a term designating or describing his or her office shall be construed as including a reference to any person who, under and to the extent of any authority in that respect, is for the time being performing the functions of that office.
(4) In this Constitution, unless it is otherwise provided or required by the context, references to the functions of the Governor shall be construed as references to his or her powers and duties in exercise of the executive authority of the Virgin Islands and to any other powers or duties conferred or imposed on him or her as Governor by or under this Constitution or any other law.
References to public office
3.—(1) For the purposes of this Constitution, a person shall not be considered to hold a public office by reason only that—
(a) he or she is in receipt of a pension or other like allowance in respect of public service; or
(b) he or she is in receipt of any remuneration or allowances in respect of his or her tenure of the office of Minister, Speaker, Deputy Speaker or member of the House of Assembly, or member of the Public Service Commission, the Teaching Service Commission, the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, or the Police Service Commission.
(2) If it is provided by any law in force in the Virgin Islands that an office shall not be a public office for the purposes of section 66(1)(a), this Constitution shall have effect accordingly as if that provision of that law were enacted herein.
(3) References in section 60 and Chapter 7 to public offices shall not be construed as including references to—
(a) the office of a member of any board, committee or other similar body (whether incorporated or not) established by any law in force in the Virgin Islands; or
(b) any office of emolument under any local government council or authority in the Virgin Islands.
