Democratic Labour Party - DLP (11)
Other parties in opposition
Independents (8)
Barbados Labour Party
Barbados Labour Party (2)
House of Assembly political groups
Her Majesty's Government
Democratic Labour Party - DLP (16)
HM Loyal Opposition
Barbados Labour Party
Barbados Labour Party - BLP (14)
Independents
Independents (2)
Elections
Senate voting system
None
House of Assembly voting system
First Past the Post
Senate last election
The entirety of the Senate is appointed by the Governor-General
House of Assembly last election
21 February 2013
Meeting place
Bridgetown, Barbados
The Parliament of
Barbados
Barbados is the national legislature of Barbados. It
is accorded legislative supremacy by Chapter V of the
Constitution
Constitution of
Barbados.[1] The Parliament is bicameral in composition[2] and is
formally made up of: Elizabeth II, Queen of
Barbados
Barbados (represented by
the Governor-General), an appointed Senate (Upper house), and an
elected House of Assembly (Lower house).[1][3] Both houses sit in
separate chambers in the Parliament Buildings (commonly known as "The
Public Buildings"), in the national capital
Bridgetown
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
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 Governor-General must come from the House of Assembly.)[6]
In theory, supreme legislative power is vested in the
Queen-in-Parliament; in practice during modern times, real power is
vested in the House of Assembly, as the Governor-General generally
acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and the powers of the Senate
have been limited.[7]
The Parliament of
Barbados
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
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.
Contents
1 History 2 Legislative functions 3 Enactment clause 4 Members in Parliament 5 Election date 6 International affiliation(s) 7 Official Gazette / Hansard 8 See also 9 Notes 10 External links
10.1 About 10.2 Press coverage 10.3 Other
History[edit]
The Parliament of
Barbados
Barbados is the third oldest legislature in the
Americas
.svg/400px-Americas_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Americas (behind The Virginia House of Burgesses, and Bermuda House of
Assembly), and is among the oldest in the Commonwealth of Nations.[9]
The genesis of a legislature in
Barbados
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
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
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
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
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.
The Parliament of
Barbados
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
Barbados continued to change in structure
until both of the present chambers assumed their present numbers.
Legislative functions[edit]
Parliament is empowered by Article 35(l) of the
Constitution
Constitution to make
laws for the
Peace, order, and good government
Peace, order, and good government of Barbados.[10] The
Constitution
Constitution also empowers Parliament to:
Determine the privileges, immunities and powers of the Senate and the House of Assembly and the members thereof;[11] alter or amend any of the provisions of the constitution;[12]
Enactment clause[edit] 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:-"[13]
"ENACTED by the Parliament of
Barbados
Barbados as follows:-"[14]
Members in Parliament[edit]
As of the election held on 21 February 2013, the Democratic Labour
Party held sixteen of the thirty directly elected seats, and the
opposition
Barbados Labour Party
Barbados Labour Party held fourteen seats.
Election date[edit]
Main article: Elections in Barbados
The next general election in
Barbados
Barbados is constitutionally due on 14
May 2018 with the countdown of 63 days from 11 March to 14 May 2018.
According to the
Constitution
Constitution of
Barbados
Barbados elections can take place no
longer than every five years from the first sitting of Parliament.[15]
The last general election was held on 21 February 2013.
The
Constitution
Constitution of
Barbados
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 Governor General and allow for the announcement of a
new date for General elections.[15] The Governor General 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.
International affiliation(s)[edit]
ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
Canada-
Caribbean
.svg/400px-Antillas_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Caribbean Parliamentary Friendship Group
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)
Official Gazette / Hansard[edit] See also: List of British colonial gazettes
The Official Gazette of Barbados
See also[edit]
Constitution
Constitution of Barbados
List of Parliamentary constituencies in Barbados
List of Speakers of the House of Assembly of Barbados
List of Presidents of the Legislative Council of Barbados
List of Presidents of the Senate of Barbados
List of Barbadian Members of Parliament
List of legislatures by country
Notes[edit]
^ a b Constitution, Chapter V, Part 1; Section 35
^ "Legislative Chambers: Unicameral or Bicameral?". Democratic
Governance. United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved 2 June
2010.
^ Parliament of Barbados
^ ConstitutionChapter V; Section 35
^ Constitution, Chapter VI, Part 3; Section 65(2)
^ Constitution, Chapter VI, Part 2; Section 65(1)
^ "Queen in Parliament". The Monarchy Today: Queen and State. The
Barbadian Monarchy. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
^ 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
Barbados consciously sought to replicate the ways of their
homeland, to make their
Caribbean
Caribbean colony truly English.
^ Cumberbatch, Jeff (5 May 2010). "Editorial got it right, Mr.
Simmons". The
Barbados
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
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".
^
Constitution
Constitution of
Barbados
Barbados Section 48(1)
^ Section 48(2)(3)
^ Section 49(1)
^ 1969 Companies Act., The Official Gazette of the Government of
Barbados
^ [1], University of the West Indies
^ 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
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:"
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Parliament of Barbados.
About[edit]
The Parliament of
Barbados
Barbados - official website
History of the Parliament of
Barbados
Barbados - Parliament of
Barbados
Barbados website
Laws of
Barbados
Barbados - Parliament
Parliament of
Barbados
Barbados profile - Secretariat of the Caribbean,
Americas
Americas and Atlantic Region of the CPA
Press coverage[edit]
Branford, Albert (13 August 2006). "SAME SEATS". Nation Newspaper. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2010. Branford, Albert (24 July 2006). "'Right-sizing' Parliament". Nation Newspaper. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
Other[edit]
Barbados
Barbados Government Information Network - official website
"
Constitution
Constitution of Barbados" (PDF). (7700 KB) –
Government of Barbados
Coordinates: 13°05′49.15″N 59°36′50.11″W / 13.0969861°N 59.6139194°W / 13.0969861; -59.6139194
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