Singapore Colony Order in Council, 1955
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1955/187 |
| Year | 1955 |
1955 No. 187
The Singapore Colony Order in Council, 19551stFebruary 1955
5thFebruary 1955
On a day to be appointed by the Governor under Section 3 *
At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 1st day of February, 1955
Present,
The Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council
Her Majesty, by virtue and in exercise of the powers in that behalf by the British Settlements Acts, 1887(a) and 1945(b), and the Straits Settlements (Repeal) Act, 1946(c), or otherwise in Her Majesty vested, is pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:—
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Interpretation
1.—(1) In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires—
"the Assembly" means the Legislative Assembly established by this Order;
"the Colony" means the Colony of Singapore;
"the Council of Ministers" means the Council of Ministers established by this Order;
"the existing Instructions" means the Instructions mentioned in Part II of the Second Schedule to this Order;
"the existing Orders" means the Orders in Council mentioned in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Order;
"the Gazette" means the Official Gazette of the Colony;
"the Governor" means the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony and includes the officer for the time being administering the Government and, to the extent to which a Deputy for the Governor is authorized to act, that Deputy;
"meeting" means any sitting or sittings of the Legislative Assembly, commencing when the Assembly first meets after being summoned at any time and terminating when the Assembly is adjourned sine die or at the conclusion of a session;
"public office" means any office of emolument in the public service;
* Day appointed, 8.2.55 (except for s. 5 and Pt. III which came into operation on 6.2.55 and 4.4.55, respectively).
(a) 50 & 51 Vict. c. 54.
(b) 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 7.
(c) 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 37.
"public officer" means the holder of any public office and includes any person appointed to act in any such office;
"the Public Seal" means the Public Seal of the Colony;
"the public service" means the service of the Crown in respect of the Government of the Colony;
"session" means the sittings of the Legislative Assembly commencing when the Assembly first meets after being constituted under this Order, or after its prorogation or dissolution at any time, and terminating when the Assembly is prorogued or is dissolved without having been prorogued;
"sitting" means a period during which the Legislative Assembly is sitting continuously without adjournment, and includes any period during which the Assembly is in committee;
"the Speaker" and "the Deputy Speaker" mean respectively the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
(2) Where in this Order reference is made to any officer by the term designating this office, such reference shall be construed as a reference to the officer for the time being lawfully discharging the function of that office.
(3) Any reference in this Order to Her Majesty's dominions shall be construed as including a reference to all territories under Her Majesty's protection or in which Her Majesty has for the time being jurisdiction.
(4) (a) For the purposes of this Order a person shall not be considered to hold an office of emolument under the Crown if he is on leave of absence pending relinquishment of such office or by reason only that he is in receipt of a pension or other like allowance in respect of service under the Crown; and if it shall be declared by any law in force in the Colony that an office shall not be an office of emolument under the Crown for all or any of the purposes of this Order, this Order shall have effect accordingly as if such law were enacted herein.
(b) For the purposes of this Order a person shall not be considered to be a public officer or otherwise to hold office of emolument under the Crown by reason of the fact that he is in receipt of a salary or other emoluments in respect of his tenure of the office of Speaker, Minister, Assistant Minister, or Member of the Legislative Assembly.
(5) This Order shall be construed—
(a) as if subsection (1) of section 1 of the India (Consequential Provision) Act, 1949(a), applied to it in the same way as that subsection applies to laws in force on the date mentioned in that subsection; and
(b) as if subsection (2) of section 3 of the Ireland Act, 1949(b), applied to it as that subsection applies to laws in force at the date of the commencement of that Act.
(6) Save as in this Order otherwise provided or required by the context, the Interpretation Act, 1889(c), shall apply for the interpretation of this Order as it applies for the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.
(a) 12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6. c. 92.
(b) 12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6. c. 41.
(c) 52 & 53 Vict. c. 63.
Singapore to continue to be a separate Colony
2. The Island of Singapore and its dependencies, the Cocos or Keeling Islands and Christmas Island shall continue to be governed and administered as a separate Colony and to be called the Colony of Singapore.
Citation and commencement
3. This Order may be cited as the Singapore Colony Order in Council, 1955. It shall be published in the Gazette and, save as otherwise expressly provided in this Order, shall come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Governor by Proclamation published in the Gazette (hereinafter called "the appointed day"), which day shall not be earlier than the day after the day on which this Order shall have been laid before both Houses of Parliament.
Revocation and modification of certain laws
4.—(1) Save as provided in subsection (2) of this Order the existing Orders are hereby revoked.
(2) The following provisions of the Singapore Colony Order in Council, 1946(a), (hereinafter referred to as "the Order of 1946") as amended by section 6 of the Singapore Colony (Amendment) Order in Council, 1948(b), that is to say—
(i) subsection (1) of section 1;
(ii) subsection (1) of section 2 in so far as it contains definitions of the expressions "the Colony", "the Governor", "property" and "the Settlement of Singapore";
(iii) subsections (2) and (4) of section 2; and
(iv) sections 44, 45, 47 and 48;
shall not be revoked, but shall have effect as if—
(a) the reference to the Order of 1946 contained in the aforesaid definition of "the Colony" and the second such reference in section 44 were references to this Order;
(b) for the words "under this Order" in section 45 there were substituted the words "for the Colony"; and
(c) every reference to the Order of 1946 in section 44 (other than the reference mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection) and section 48 included a reference to this Order.
(3) The provisions mentioned in subsection (2) of this section, including the modifications thereto contained in that subsection, may be amended by laws made under Part VI of this Order.
(4) The aforesaid revocation shall not prejudice anything lawfully done under the existing Orders and in particular the continued operation of any law in force in the Colony immediately before the appointed day shall not be affected by reason only of such revocation, but any such law shall be construed subject to such modifications as may be necessary to bring it into conformity with the provisions of this Order.
(5) Without prejudice to the generality of sub-section (4) of this section any such law as is mentioned therein shall, in its application to the Colony, be construed, where the context admits, subject to the following modifications—
(a) references to the Colony of the Straits Settlements shall be construed as referring (but not exclusively) to the Colony;
(a) S.R & O. 1946/464 (Rev. XXI, p. 9: 1946 I, p. 1539).
(b) S.I. 1948/341 (Rev. XXI, p. 9: 1948 I, p. 3990).
(b) references to the Settlement of Singapore shall be construed as references to the Colony;
(c) references to the Governor or Governor in Council or any officer of the Straits Settlements, or to any authority or body constituted in or for the Straits Settlements, shall be construed as references to the Governor or the Governor in Council or the corresponding officer of, or authority or body constituted in or for, the Colony, as the case may be; and
(d) references to the Chief Justice or to any Court, Judge or Magistrate of the Straits Settlements shall be construed as references to the Chief Justice or to the corresponding Court, Judge or Magistrate of the Colony.
Provisions to give effect to Order
5.—(1) The Governor may by Order, at any time within twelve months after the date on which this section comes into operation—
(a) make such provision as appears to him necessary or expedient for the purpose of bringing existing instruments into accord with the provisions of this Order or otherwise for giving effect, or enabling effect to be given, to those provisions, and in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power the Governor may by such Orders—
(i) modify, add to or adapt any provisions in existing instruments which refer, in whatever terms, to the Legislative Council, the Executive Council, the Governor in Council, or the Members of either of those Councils;
(ii) provide for the transfer of functions, powers and duties conferred or imposed by existing instruments upon any person or authority to such other person or authority as may be specified by such Orders;
(iii) declare that any office shall not be an office of emolument under the Crown for all or any of the purposes of this Order;
(b) revoke or amend any provisions in existing instruments under which a Member of the Legislative Council is, or may be, by virtue of membership of that Council, an officer or member of any board, committee, corporation or other body established by, or in pursuance of, such existing instruments.
(2) An Order made under this section—
(a) may be given retrospective operation to a date not earlier than the date on which this section comes into operation;
(b) shall be...
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