Get Our Extension
Select Wikiz in another Language
EspañolFrançaisItaliano
Settings
A
A
Text Highlights
Notes/Citations
Edit on Wikipedia

Share This Article

About Wikiz About Us Cookies Policy Terms & Services Privacy Policy Contact Contact us Enjoying Wikipedia Content? DONATE TO WIKIPEDIA
Enjoying Wikipedia Content? DONATE TO WIKIPEDIA

Parliament of Barbados

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Parliament of Barbados
Coat of arms of Barbados (3).svg
Type
Type
Houses• Senate
• House of Assembly
Leadership
Reginald Farley, Labour
since 2020
Arthur Holder, Labour
since 5 June 2018
Mia Mottley, Labour
since 25 May 2018
None
since 19 January 2022
Structure
SeatsSenate: 21
House of Assembly: 30
Senate Seats (Barbados).svg
Senate political groups
Government
  •   Barbados Labour Party (12)

Opposition

Asemblee barbade 2018.svg
House of Assembly political groups
Government
Elections
Appointment by the President
First-past-the-post
House of Assembly last election
19 January 2022
Meeting place
Bridgetown barbados parliament building.jpg
Bridgetown, Barbados

The Parliament of Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the Constitution of Barbados.[1] The Parliament is bicameral in composition[2] and is formally made up of two houses, an appointed Senate (Upper house) and an elected House of Assembly (Lower house), as well as the President of Barbados who is indirectly elected by both.[1][3] Both houses sit in separate chambers in the Parliament Buildings (commonly known as "The Public Buildings"), in the national capital Bridgetown in Saint Michael.

The Senate is made up of twenty-one Senators,[4] while the House consists of thirty Members of Parliament (MPs) in addition to the Honourable Speaker of the House. Members to serve in the Cabinet of Barbados may be chosen by the Prime Minister from either the House of Assembly or Senate,[5] (the Prime Minister alone who must be chosen by the President must come from the House of Assembly.)[6]

In theory, supreme legislative power is vested in all three components equally; in practice during modern times, real power is vested in the House of Assembly, as the President generally acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and the powers of the Senate have been limited.[7]

The Parliament of Barbados is originally patterned after the Parliament of England,[8] so the structure, functions, and procedures of the parliament are based on the Westminster system of government.

Sittings of both House and Senate are usually held once per month, with other meetings called as necessary. The House sits on Tuesdays beginning at 10:30am, and are broadcast live on the local radio station, Quality 100.7 FM. Sittings of the Senate take place on Wednesdays.

As of February 2020 the government has been renting various private buildings around Barbados, including the Worthing Corporate Centre[9][10] and Conference Centre (on 15 Sep 2020 for the State Opening of Parliament)[11][12] to host Parliament without any firm return date mentioned as to when it might return to using the capital site.

Discover more about Parliament of Barbados related topics

Legislature

Legislature

A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.

Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of 432 km2 (167 sq mi) and has a population of about 287,000. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.

Parliamentary sovereignty

Parliamentary sovereignty

Parliamentary sovereignty, also called parliamentary supremacy or legislative supremacy, is a concept in the constitutional law of some parliamentary democracies. It holds that the legislative body has absolute sovereignty and is supreme over all other government institutions, including executive or judicial bodies. It also holds that the legislative body may change or repeal any previous legislation and so it is not bound by written law or by precedent.

Constitution of Barbados

Constitution of Barbados

The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law under which Barbados is governed. The Constitution provides a legal establishment of the Government of Barbados, as well as legal rights and responsibilities of the public and various other government officers. The Constitution which came into force in 1966 was amended in 1974, 1978, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2002, 2003, and 2021. The 1966 document succeeds several other documents concerning administration of Barbados. One of them, the Barbados Charter, is discussed in the present Constitution's Preamble. Prior statutes were created for the administration of Barbados as a colony. As a former English and later British colony, the Constitution is similar to those of other former Commonwealth realms, yet distinctly different in the spirit of the Statute of Westminster.

Bicameralism

Bicameralism

Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single group. As of 2022, roughly 40% of world's national legislatures are bicameral, while unicameralism represents 60% nationally, and much more at the subnational level.

Lower house

Lower house

A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise exert significant political influence. The lower house, typically, is the larger of the two chambers, meaning its members are more numerous.

Parliament Buildings (Barbados)

Parliament Buildings (Barbados)

The Parliament Buildings, is the seat of the Parliament of Barbados. Built between 1870 and 1874, the buildings have been the meeting place for both chambers of Parliament since 16 June 1874, and a former site of Colonial administration of Barbados. It consists of two buildings in the neo-Gothic architectural style, and are reminiscent of the Victorian era of Great Britain.

Bridgetown

Bridgetown

Bridgetown is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The City", but the most common reference is simply "Town". As of 2014, its metropolitan population stands at roughly 110,000.

Member of parliament

Member of parliament

A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often have a different title. The terms congressman/congresswoman or deputy are equivalent terms used in other jurisdictions. The term parliamentarian is also sometimes used for members of parliament, but this may also be used to refer to unelected government officials with specific roles in a parliament and other expert advisers on parliamentary procedure such as the Senate Parliamentarian in the United States. The term is also used to the characteristic of performing the duties of a member of a legislature, for example: "The two party leaders often disagreed on issues, but both were excellent parliamentarians and cooperated to get many good things done."

Cabinet of Barbados

Cabinet of Barbados

The Cabinet are individuals of Barbados which execute the duties of the Government of Barbados. Under a Parliamentary republic, these powers are vested nominally by the President of Barbados, but are exercised in practice by a Cabinet of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister of Barbados. The Prime Minister is formally appointed by the President: the President must appoint, as Prime Minister, someone who can control a majority of votes in the House of Assembly. In practice, this is normally the leader of the largest political party or coalition in the house. When there is no clear majority, the president assumers the role of arbitrator and opens negotiations with the leaders of the various political parties, in the hope of finding someone whom a majority will accept as Prime Minister. In the event of that failing to take place, the President must dissolve the House of Assembly and call an early election.

Parliament of England

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised the English monarch. Great councils were first called Parliaments during the reign of Henry III. By this time, the king required Parliament's consent to levy taxation.

Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre

Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre

The Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre is a conference centre facility on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Owned by the government of Barbados and managed by the government agency Barbados Conference Services Limited (BCSL), the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre is just outside the capital city of Bridgetown, in St. Michael.

History

Established on 26 June 1639.[13] The Parliament of Barbados is the third oldest legislature in the Americas (behind the Virginia General Assembly and Bermuda House of Assembly), and is among the oldest in the Commonwealth of Nations.[14]

The genesis of a legislature in Barbados was introduced by Governor Henry Hawley, creating a structure of governance to Barbados, itself patterned after the Parliament of England). The then unicameral Parliament originally was tasked with establishing a system of laws and was completely under the domination of the island's planter-class. The first meeting of the Barbados Assembly was held in 1639.

The initial location known as the "Sessions House" which was situated in the Marlhill, which is now known as Spry Street. Built by Captain Henry Hawley, the building may have originally accommodated his Courts of Law. (On 25 June 1989, a monument was unveiled to commemorate the site outside of the current Central Bank.)

By 1653, the Assembly moved to the State House then located in Bridgetown area known as Cheapside (then encompassing Broad Street). In 1668 the State House was destroyed by a great fire started by an explosion of the Bridgetown military magazine. Over the next century, the colony's elected officials assembled at various locations all over Bridgetown, which were rented taverns and homes of local merchants and landlords. The Roebuck Tavern located on Roebuck Street was a favourite assembly point and was also owned by Henry Hawley. The movement of the Assembly among the various taverns in the town eventually presented an irony for the thriving colony. Governor Atkins, who was attending a meeting at Gwynn's Tavern in 1674 commented, "I must confess I am a little astonished to see so honourable an Assembly to meet in a place so considerable as the island is, and have no house to receive us but a public tavern" (TOB 71). For many years the Barbados Assembly continued to meet in various places. In 1724 an Act was passed providing for a building for the Council and Assembly, Law Courts and gaol. The building located on Coleridge Street was completed in 1731–1732, yet the House of Assembly still often met at times at different private houses and taverns. The current Parliament Buildings were built in the neo-Gothic style in the early 1870s on the site of what was known as the "New Burnt District", which was part of a 10-acre area in the town that was destroyed by the great fire in 1860.

In 1968 the Barbados Parliament was presented two complete libraries of Parliamentary and constitutional works of reference from the British House of Commons to celebrate political Independence with membership to the Commonwealth.[15][16]

The Parliament of Barbados in its current form was first introduced following the 1961 general elections. In 1963 the colonial era Legislative Council was disestablished. In its place came the Senate in 1964 (due to Barbados' status as a colony of Great Britain). As the years went by, governance in Barbados continued to change in structure until both of the present chambers assumed their present numbers.

Discover more about History related topics

Americas

Americas

The Americas are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.

Virginia General Assembly

Virginia General Assembly

The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members, and an upper house, the Senate of Virginia, with 40 members. Senators serve terms of four years, and Delegates serve two-year terms. Combined, the General Assembly consists of 140 elected representatives from an equal number of constituent districts across the commonwealth. The House of Delegates is presided over by the Speaker of the House, while the Senate is presided over by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. The House and Senate each elect a clerk and sergeant-at-arms. The Senate of Virginia's clerk is known as the "Clerk of the Senate".

Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations among member states. Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth.

Henry Hawley

Henry Hawley

Henry Hawley was a British army officer who served in the wars of the first half of the 18th century. He fought in a number of significant battles, including the Capture of Vigo in 1719, Dettingen, Fontenoy and Culloden.

Parliament of England

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised the English monarch. Great councils were first called Parliaments during the reign of Henry III. By this time, the king required Parliament's consent to levy taxation.

Central Bank of Barbados

Central Bank of Barbados

The Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) is the national monetary authority and central bank responsible for providing advice to the Government of Barbados on banking and other financial and monetary matters. The Central Bank of Barbados, was established by Act of parliament on 2 May 1972. Prior to the establishment of CBB, Barbados' monetary policies were governed through its membership in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority (ECCA). The Central Bank operates as the banknote issuing authority for Barbadian currency.

Legislative functions

Parliament is empowered by Article 35(l) of the Constitution to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of Barbados.[17] The Constitution also empowers Parliament to:

  • Determine the privileges, immunities, and powers of the Senate and the House of Assembly and the members thereof;[18]
  • alter or amend any of the provisions of the constitution;[19]

Following amendments to the Constitution that initiated a transition to a republican form of government in 2021, Parliament is also responsible for electing the country's President.

Enactment clause

Main article: List of enacting clauses § Barbados

"BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Assembly of Barbados and by the authority of the same as follows:-"[20]

"ENACTED by the Parliament of Barbados as follows:-"[21]

Members in Parliament

As of the election held on 19 January 2022, the Barbados Labour Party won all 30 seats of the Assembly, with the rival Democratic Labour Party remaining an extra-parliamentary party for the second time in a row.[22]

Discover more about Members in Parliament related topics

Elections in Barbados

Elections in Barbados

Elections in Barbados are held to choose members to fill elective offices in the House of Assembly. Elections are held on Election Day. These general elections do not have fixed dates, but must be called within five years of the opening of parliament following the last election. A former minister of the DLP, Warwick Franklin summed up the general elections process in Barbados as saying it is really just, "30 by-elections on the same day."

2022 Barbadian general election

2022 Barbadian general election

General elections were held in Barbados on 19 January 2022 to elect the 30 members of the House of Assembly. The ruling Barbados Labour Party won all 30 seats for the second consecutive election.

Barbados Labour Party

Barbados Labour Party

The Barbados Labour Party (BLP), colloquially known as the "Bees", is a social democratic political party in Barbados established in 1938. Led by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, it is the governing party of Barbados and the sole ruling party in the House of Assembly of Barbados, holding 30 out of 30 seats. The BLP was elected to government on 25 May 2018 after a decade in opposition, with Mottley becoming the country's first female prime minister. The party originally won all of the seats in the House of Assembly, but Bishop Joseph Atherley, the MP for St. Michael West, became an independent MP and the leader of the opposition on 2 June 2018. The party won all 30 seats in the 2022 general election.

Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)

Democratic Labour Party (Barbados)

The Democratic Labour Party (DLP), colloquially known as the "Dems", is a political party in Barbados, established in 1955. It was the ruling party from 15 January 2008 to 24 May 2018 but faced an electoral wipeout in the 2018 general election which left it with no MPs.

Election date

Main article: Elections in Barbados

The next general election in Barbados is expected to be held by 2027 the latest. According to the Constitution of Barbados elections can take place no longer than every five years from the first sitting of Parliament.[23] The last general election was held on 19 January 2022.

The Constitution of Barbados also establishes that at any time before this date the Government in power may seek a new mandate from the electorate and may ask for the current sitting of Parliament be dissolved by the President and allow for the announcement of a new date for General elections.[23] The President of Barbados may also announce a new date of General elections should the Prime Minister in power not survive a vote of no confidence motion.

Discover more about Election date related topics

Elections in Barbados

Elections in Barbados

Elections in Barbados are held to choose members to fill elective offices in the House of Assembly. Elections are held on Election Day. These general elections do not have fixed dates, but must be called within five years of the opening of parliament following the last election. A former minister of the DLP, Warwick Franklin summed up the general elections process in Barbados as saying it is really just, "30 by-elections on the same day."

Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of 432 km2 (167 sq mi) and has a population of about 287,000. Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.

Constitution

Constitution

A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.

Government of Barbados

Government of Barbados

The Government of Barbados (GoB), is a unitary parliamentary republic, where the President of Barbados represents as the head of state and the Prime Minister of Barbados represents as the head of government.

President of Barbados

President of Barbados

The president of Barbados is the head of state of Barbados and the commander-in-chief of the Barbados Defence Force. The office was established when the country became a parliamentary republic on 30 November 2021. Before, the head of state was Elizabeth II, Queen of Barbados, who was represented on the island by a governor-general. The first and current president is Sandra Mason, who previously served as the last governor-general.

Motion of no confidence

Motion of no confidence

A vote of no confidence, also variously called a motion of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or management is still deemed fit to hold that position, such as because they are inadequate in some aspect, fail to carry out their obligations, or make decisions that other members feel to be detrimental. The parliamentary motion demonstrates to the head of government that the elected parliament either has or no longer has confidence in one or more members of the appointed government. In some countries, a no-confidence motion being passed against an individual minister requires the minister to resign. In most cases, if the minister in question is the premier, all other ministers must also resign.

International affiliation(s)

Discover more about International affiliation(s) related topics

ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly

ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states that have signed the Cotonou Agreement.

Canada

Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the world's longest coastline. It is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. The country is sparsely inhabited, with most residing south of the 55th parallel in urban areas. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights.

Parliamentarians for Global Action

Parliamentarians for Global Action

Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) is a non-profit, non-partisan international network of committed legislators, that informs and mobilizes parliamentarians in all regions of the world to advocate for human rights and the rule of law, democracy, human security, non-discrimination, gender equality, and climate justice. PGA Membership is open to individual legislators from elected parliaments. Currently, it consists of approximately 1,200 members in 139 parliaments. PGA was established in 1978 in Washington, D.C., by a group of concerned parliamentarians from around the world to take collective, coordinated and cohesive actions on global problems, which could not be successfully addressed by any one government or parliament acting alone. Founded during the Cold War era, an early focus and priority of the organization was the mobilization of parliamentarians worldwide in support of nuclear disarmament. The vision of PGA is "to contribute to the creation of a Rules-Based International Order for a more equitable, safe, and democratic world".

Official Gazette / Hansard

See also: List of British colonial gazettes

Source: "Parliament of Barbados", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, November 28th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliament_of_Barbados.

Enjoying Wikiz?

Enjoying Wikiz?

Get our FREE extension now!

Download Extension

Further Reading

Government of Barbados

Politics of Barbados

Politics of Bermuda

Parliament of Australia

New South Wales Legislative Council

Parliament of Victoria

Elections in Barbados

Senate of Barbados

House of Assembly of Barbados

Parliament of the Bahamas

House of Assembly of Bermuda

South Africa Act 1909

Monarchy of Barbados

National Assembly (Thailand)

Constitution of Barbados

Parliament Buildings (Barbados)

President of Barbados
See also
Notes
  1. ^ a b Constitution, Chapter V, Part 1; Section 35
  2. ^ "Legislative Chambers: Unicameral or Bicameral?". Democratic Governance. United Nations Development Programme. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  3. ^ Parliament of Barbados
  4. ^ ConstitutionChapter V; Section 35
  5. ^ Constitution, Chapter VI, Part 3; Section 65(2)
  6. ^ Constitution, Chapter VI, Part 2; Section 65(1)
  7. ^ "Queen in Parliament". The Monarchy Today: Queen and State. The Barbadian Monarchy. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  8. ^ Gragg, Larry Dale (2003). Englishmen transplanted: the English colonization of Barbados, 1627–1660. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-925389-7. Retrieved 6 February 2011. The English settlers on Barbados consciously sought to replicate the ways of their homeland, to make their Caribbean colony truly English.
  9. ^ "Estimates get underway at new home of Parliament". 24 February 2020.
  10. ^ "Parliament temporarily relocated". 22 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Splendid ceremony for historic opening of second session of Parliament". 16 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Historic opening of Parliament". 15 September 2020.
  13. ^ Greetings to (British) House of Commons to commemorate the Ter-centenary of the House of Assembly of Barbados, Sir Harold Austin, Speaker of the House of Assembly of Barbados. British Hansard
  14. ^ Cumberbatch, Jeff (5 May 2010). "Editorial got it right, Mr. Simmons". The Barbados Advocate. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2011. Barbados' Parliament, which postdates that of Britain and Bermuda could not then be the third oldest. Perhaps Barbados might take a leaf from Bermuda’s book and describe our Parliament not as the third oldest in the world or the third oldest in the Commonwealth, but truthfully as "the oldest continuous Parliament of an independent Commonwealth country outside the British Isles".
  15. ^ "BARBADOS (GIFT OF a PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY) (Hansard, 21 May 1968)".
  16. ^ "BARBADOS (GIFT OF A PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY) (Hansard, 23 October 1968)". api.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018.
  17. ^ Constitution of Barbados Section 48(1)
  18. ^ Section 48(2)(3)
  19. ^ Section 49(1)
  20. ^ 1969 Companies Act., The Official Gazette of the Government of Barbados
  21. ^ http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/LAWLIBRARY/getattachment/8e11bdcc-677d-429b-9af5-693433e950b7/MINORS-ACT.aspx , University of the West Indies
  22. ^ "Barbados' Mottley hails landslide victory for ruling party". Reuters. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  23. ^ a b Constitution: Section 61 (3): "Subject to the provisions of subsection (4), Parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date of its first sitting after any dissolution and shall then stand dissolved. (4) At any time when Barbados is at war, Parliament may extend the period of five years specified in subsection (3) for not more than twelve months at a time:"
  24. ^ Barbados Parliament, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, CPA
  25. ^ Caribbean Group, ParlAmericas
  26. ^ Pink Parliament, on Facebook
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Parliament of Barbados.

About

Press coverage

Other

Coordinates: 13°05′49.15″N 59°36′50.11″W / 13.0969861°N 59.6139194°W / 13.0969861; -59.6139194

Categories

The content of this page is based on the Wikipedia article written by contributors..
The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence & the media files are available under their respective licenses; additional terms may apply.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use & Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization & is not affiliated to WikiZ.com.