West Indies Act 1962
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1962 c. 19 |
West Indies Act, 1962
(10 & 11 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 19
An Act to enable provision to be made for the cesser of the inclusion of colonies in the federation established under the British Caribbean Federation Act, 1956, and for the dissolution of that federation and for matters consequential on the happening of either of those events; to enable provision to be made for the establishment of common courts and other authorities for, and fresh provision to be made for the government of, certain West Indian colonies; to enable provision to be made for the establishment of new forms of government for combinations of such colonies; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Power of Her Majesty to provide for secession of colonies from, and dissolution of, the West Indies.
(1) Her Majesty may—
(a ) by Order in Council provide for a colony's ceasing to be included in the Federation established by virtue of section one of the British Caribbean Federation Act, 1956 , by the name of the West Indies (in this Act referred to as ‘the Federation’);
(b ) by Order in Council dissolve the Federation and, with it, the authorities established by virtue of sub-paragraph (i) of paragraph (a ) of subsection (1) of that section (in this Act referred to as the ‘Federal authorities’).
(2) An Order in Council under paragraph (a ) of the foregoing subsection may as respects the colony for the cesser of inclusion of which in the Federation provision is made by the Order, and an Order in Council under paragraph (b ) of that subsection may as respects each colony included in the Federation immediately before the dissolution thereof,—
(a ) determine, or provide for the determination of, the laws which, after the cesser or, as the case may be, the dissolution, are (subject to any amendment or repeal by the legislature of the colony or other competent authority) to remain valid as respects the colony notwithstanding the cesser or, as the case may be, the dissolution;
(b ) adapt or modify, or empower any such authority as may be specified in the Order to adapt or modify, to such extent as Her Majesty in Council or that authority, as the case may be, thinks necessary or expedient in view of the cesser or, as the case may be, the dissolution, any laws having effect in the colony and any other laws relating or referring to the colony or the Federation.
2 Power of Her Majesty to provide for interim performance of functions heretofore performed by Federal authorities for benefit of federated colonies.
(1) With a view to securing that, notwithstanding the exclusion of colonies from, or the dissolution of, the Federation, the performance of functions performed by the Federal authorities for the benefit of the colonies which at the passing of this Act are included in the Federation is maintained pending the making, apart from this section, of arrangements in that behalf of a permanent nature, Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide for the establishment of an authority to be charged, or authorities to be severally charged, with the duty of performing for the benefit of those colonies, or of such of them as may be specified in the Order, any such functions (being functions which at the passing of this Act are, for the benefit of all or any of those colonies, performed by any of the Federal authorities) as may be specified in the Order, and such other (if any) functions as may be so specified.
(2) An Order in Council under this section may—
(a ) empower an authority established by the Order to make, for such purposes as may be specified in the Order, laws for the colonies for whose benefit it is to perform functions;
(b ) make provision, or enable provision to be made, for persons holding office in the public service of the Federation to become officers of such an authority;
(c ) vest in such an authority such of the assets and liabilities as may be specified in the Order of the government of the Federation or of any body which, for the purpose of performing functions on behalf of, or in accordance with directions given by, that government, is established by a law made by the legislature of the Federation;
(d ) provide for the making to such an authority by the governments of the colonies for whose benefit the authority is to perform any functions of contributions towards defraying expenses incurred by the authority in performing those functions.
3 Compensation scheme for officers of Federal public service.
(1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council make such provision as appears to Her necessary or expedient—
(a ) for securing that the payment of a pension, gratuity, allowance or other like benefit to a person in respect of service of his, or that of another's, in the public service of the Federation is not prejudiced by reason of a colony's ceasing to be included in the Federation or of the dissolution of the Federation;
(b ) for securing the making of payments to or in respect of persons who, at the passing of this Act, are serving in that public service and, by reason of the happening of either of the events aforesaid, lose office or, by reason of being transferred to some other service, become in a worse position in respect of the conditions of their service as compared with the conditions of service formerly obtaining with respect to them;
(c ) for securing the payment to or in respect of such persons as are mentioned in the last foregoing paragraph who are transferred as therein mentioned (whether or not they become in a worse position as so mentioned) of sums in respect of disturbance suffered by them in consequence of being so transferred.
(2) An Order in Council under this section may provide for the raising of the moneys necessary to make payments falling to be made under the Order by either or both of the following means, namely,—
(a ) the appropriation of assets of the government of the Federation;
(b ) the making of contributions by all or any of the governments of the colonies included in the Federation at the passing of this Act.
4 Power of Her Majesty to establish common courts for West Indian colonies.
(1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide—
(a ) for the establishment, in place of the Federal Supreme Court of the Federation, of a court constituted in such manner as may be specified in the Order and having such jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from, and to determine questions of law reserved by judges of, the courts of the relevant colonies as may be determined by or under the Order;
(b ) confer, or provide for conferring, on the court established by the Order, jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals from, and to determine questions of law reserved by judges of, the courts of such other colonies as may be specified in the Order;
(c ) confer upon the legislature of a colony from whose courts criminal appeals lie to the court established by the Order power to make, with extra-territorial operation, laws providing for the conveyance of prisoners to and from the place where that court is sitting.
(2) Her Majesty may, by Order in Council, provide for the establishment for the relevant colonies or for any two or more of them of courts additional to that whose establishment is authorised by the foregoing subsection, being courts constituted in such manner and having such jurisdiction (whether civil or criminal, original or appellate) as may be determined by or under the Order.
(3) An Order in Council under this section may provide for the expenses of maintaining a court established by the Order to be defrayed by the governments of the colonies for which it is established.
(4) In this section—
(a ) ‘relevant colonies’ means, for the purposes of subsection (1), the colonies from whose courts appeals lie at the passing of this Act to the Federal Supreme Court of the Federation and, for the purposes of subsection (2), the colonies...
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