Dominica is a small mountainous island nation located in the Caribbean between the French Overseas territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Its capital city, Roseau, is found in the islands West.
The island was settled by Arawak peoples from the South American continent in the 5th Century and they were violently displaced by Island Caribs in the 15th Century. The island was eventually colonized by Europeans, mostly French from the 1690s and they imported slaves from West Africa to work on plantations. The British took control of the island from 1763 as a result of the Seven Years’ War. Nationalist movements for self-government and eventually independence begun after the 1st World War of which the island was granted independence in November 1978.
The largest ethnic group are Black (Africans) and the official language is English with other vernacular languages being French and Dominican Creole. The largest religion is Roman Catholic and the nation’s currency is the East Caribbean dollar which is used alongside Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vicent and the Grenadines. The island nation’s population is estimated to reach 74,243 by July 2020 according to the CIA World Factbook.
Government Type
Dominica is a parliamentary democratic republic with a President who is Head of State and a Prime Minister who is Head of Government, it is one of the few Caribbean islands to currently have a republic (where the Head of State is not a foreign monarch/President), this does not necessarily mean those other islands aren’t independent though.
There is a unicameral parliament called the House of Assembly that makes up the legislative government. Multiple parties are allowed.
Executive Government
So as said there is a President who is Head of State, they represent the country abroad in its international diplomacy and foreign affairs. The President has a number of executive powers at their disposal.
Presidential Absence
If the President is unable to perform their duties due to absence from Dominica, due to illness or due to having been suspended from office, then there shall be an Acting President which is performed by a person who may have been designated by the President, who may Act as President after consultation with the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition.
If there is no one designated then the House of Assembly may elect an Acting President via the usual procedure followed under normal Presidential election via the House of Assembly (check Electoral System below). If the Deputy Speaker or Speaker is made Acting President then they shall cease their functions of Speaker or Deputy Speaker during the time they are Acting President.
The Acting President shall cease to act if another person is designated or elected to act or if the holder of the office is about to resume their position as President.
Presidential Powers
The President may at any time prorogue or dissolve parliament on advice of the Prime Minister. The President may also dissolve parliament if the Prime Minister/Government is vacant and does not believe they can appoint a Prime Minister who shall receive the confidence of the House of Assembly. Elections shall be organized and held after dissolution of parliament. Parliament that has been dissolved may be recalled under exceptional emergency circumstances.
The President appoints the Leader of the Opposition after parliamentary elections, which is who he views as commanding a majority support of opposition members towards the majority governing party or if this is not possible, appointed via the support of the largest single opposition group.
A Public Service Commission is appointed by the President, including a Chairman and Deputy Chairman on advice of the Prime Minister and two members appointed by the President on advice of the Prime Minister who has consulted with the Leader of the Opposition from among a list of nominees selected by a designated representative body and finally not more than three further members appointed by the President on advice from the Prime Minister who has consulted with the Leader of the Opposition.
The commission is in charge of the appointments of offices in public service, except for specific offices stated in Section 85 paragraph 3 and Section 86 of the constitution.
Chief Elections Officer is appointed by the President on advice from the Electoral Commission.
Director of Audit is appointed by the President on advice from the Public Service Commission.
The Government
The Government is headed by a Prime Minister who is appointed by the President of the Republic based on who has the best confidence of the house (typically leader of the largest party) after parliamentary elections.
The President shall appoint the Ministers of Government on advice from the Prime Minister who has chosen them from members of the House of Assembly, no more than three Senators in the House of Assembly may be appointed a Minister, but no restriction exists for normal representatives in the House.
The Prime Minister and Government must keep the confidence of the House of Assembly, if they shall fail this and lose a vote of confidence in the House then the President shall remove the Prime Minister from office if they fail to resign within three-days or have not called on the President to dissolve the House of Assembly for elections. The Cabinet of Ministers shall collectively resign on a loss of a vote of confidence against the Prime Minister/Government.
The Prime Minister and the other Ministers make up the Cabinet of Ministers. The Attorney General is an ex officio member of the Cabinet of Ministers. The Cabinet of Ministers shall determine governing policy, submit legislation to the House of Assembly, ensure implementation of legislation that has been passed by the House of Assembly and given assent by the President and give advice to the President of the Republic. The Prime Minister and Minister’s shall counter-sign a number of the President’s actions for them to have effect. The Prime Minister shall keep the President informed on conduct of Government and give information requested by the President.
Presidential Removal from Office
The President can be removed from office for willfully violating a provision of the constitution; behaving in a way that brings the President’s office into hatred, ridicule or contempt; a physical or mental incapacity that makes the President incapable of performing their duties; any circumstance where if the person were not President they would be disqualified from being nominated or he is appointed to an office or engages in any such occupation that the constitution forbids the President from doing.
A motion to remove the President can be brought forth by one-third of the House of Assembly members and passed via a two-third majority. If the motion passes a tribunal consisting of the Chief Justice and two other Judges of the Supreme Court who are appointed by the Chief Justice, being as far practical the most senior Judges, shall investigate the complaints from the House of Assembly against the President and make a report on the facts to the House of Assembly.
The House shall consider a report and then vote whether to remove the President from office, requiring another two-third majority to remove the President from office.
Legislative Government
Procedure and Purpose
There is a unicameral parliament that is called the House of Assembly that makes up the legislative government. The house’s main function is to introduce, debate, amend and pass or reject legislation. The number of representatives the house has can change via Electoral Law, there are also several senators who are appointed (explained under Electoral System) and the Speaker can be elected from outside the members of the House (making them ex-officio) and the Attorney General is an ex officio member.
Altogether currently there can be as many as 32 members of the House of Assembly including 2 ex-officio members, 21 democratically elected representatives and the nine appointed senators.
Bills passed by the House shall go to the President for assent.
The House is restricted on legislating on a number of financial matters such as taxes, alteration of public funds, payment, issue or withdrawal of the Consolidated Fund or remission/composition of any debt due to the Government, unless recommended by the President of the Republic which has been counter-signed by a Minister of the Government.
Important Commissions
There shall be an Electoral Commission and Constituency Boundaries Commission that reviews and approves legislation that aims to change electoral law or the boundaries of electoral constituencies.
Members of the Boundaries Commission shall be the Speaker of the House as its Chairman; two members appointed by the President of the Republic on advice of the Prime Minister and two members appointed by the President of the Republic on advice of the Leader of the Opposition.
Members of the Electoral Commission shall be a Chairman appointed by the President; two members appointed by the President on advice from the Prime Minister and two members appointed by the President on advice from the Leader of the Opposition.
A Police Service Commission is appointed in the same way as the Electoral Commission. This commission shall work in unison with the President and Government to appoint the positions of the Police Forces and to discipline/remove them.
On the occasion that the President does not receive advice to appoint within 30 days he may act in his own deliberate judgement without the advice.
Speakers of the House
The House members elect a Speaker of the House after parliamentary elections, they can be elected either from among their own members (and they may not be part of the Cabinet or a Parliamentary Secretary) or from outside of the house of a person who is citizen of the Commonwealth.
The House shall also elect a Deputy Speaker from among their own members.
It is the Speaker’s job to regulate debate, keep order and make sure house rules are followed and abided by and the Speaker also plays a role in deciding the house’s agenda.
The Judicial System
The Attorney General is the principle legal advisor of the Government and the position can either be a Minister or a Public Office, appointed by the Public Service Commission. The position can be synonymous with the Director of Public Prosecutions when it is a Public Office, otherwise the Director of Public Prosecutions is held separately and is appointed by the President on advice from the Public Service Commission.
The President is able to grant pardons, respite, give remit or less severe punishments to a person convicted of an offense, on advice of a Minister designated by the President, with the Minister acting on advice from the Prime Minister. The Minister shall be part of an advisory committee on the matter that also includes the Attorney General and not more than four members appointed by the President. These functions are exercised on advice of the Prime Minister.
Magistrates of the High Court are appointed by the Public Service Commission after consultation with the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.
The Judicial and Legal Services Commission has the power to discipline and remove magistrates from office, after consultation with the Public Service Commission.
The Electoral System
The President of the Republic is elected every 5-years by the Parliament (House of Assembly) via a joint-nomination put forth by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to the Speaker who shall then declare him duly elected without a vote of the House of Assembly. If the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition cannot come to an agreement on a candidate the Speaker shall inform the House and then during a period of 14-days the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and/or any three members of the House can put forth a candidate for President.
After the 14-day period the House of Assembly shall elect one of the candidates via simple majority to become President of the Republic.
Requirements to be nominated as a candidate are that they are a citizen of Dominica who has lived there for at least 5-years preceding the nomination and is at least 40-years or older.
The above 5-year residence requirement can be waived for a candidate via a three-fourth majority vote of the House of Assembly, allowing them to stand as a candidate.
One person can serve a max of two-terms (10-years) as President before no longer being allowed to be re-nominated.
Parliamentary elections happen every 5-years to elect representatives of the House of Assembly and where the Senators are appointed. The representatives are elected from single-seat constituencies using a first-past-the-post system requiring a simple majority. The senators are appointed by the President of the Republic, five are appointed on advice of the Prime Minister and four on the advice of the Leader off the Opposition, parliament can choose to have the Senators elected instead by the public for a particular election.
To be a candidate for representative in the House of Assembly one must be a citizen of Dominica, who has residence in Dominica for at least 12-months prior to the election and who is at least 21-years or older. Who is able to speak English and unless otherwise incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, read English and is not otherwise disqualified for any reasons stated in the constitution under Section 32.
To be appointed as a Senator in the House of Assembly almost all the requirements are the same bar not having a period needing to have lived in Dominica before appointment, just that they are at the time they are appointed and that they be a citizen of the Commonwealth and is not otherwise disqualified for any reasons stated in the constitution under Section 32.
To vote in elections one must be a citizen of Dominica living in the nation at the time of election who is at least 18-years-old. Voting is not mandatory.
Sources
The source for this post came from Dominica’s 1978 constitution with amendments through to 2014 (constituteproject.org) and so it should be as accurate as possible but of course there is always the chance I may have misinterpreted something and the constitution can always be changed via an amendment and so this post may eventually become outdated and so if you are using this in a serious capacity, cross-research is suggested.
Information on election procedure and population from CIA World Factbook Dominica entry.
The country’s constitution can be amended by the House of Assembly, with a majority or either at least three-quarters of members or two-thirds of members depending on what part of the constitution is being amended, there may also be a national referendum to confirm the amendment.
Next up will be the government system of the Dominican Republic.
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