Senate (Barbados)

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The Senate is the upper house in the two-chamber system of Barbados .

Appointment of the senators

Formally, all 21 senators are appointed by the Queen. However, the Governor General of Barbados assumes this obligation on their behalf. He appoints twelve senators on the proposal of the prime minister and two on the proposal of the opposition leader. The governor general can choose the remaining seven senators.

Potential senators must meet certain criteria before being appointed to the House of Lords. To be eligible, they must be at least 21 years old and a citizen of Barbados. You must also have lived in the country for the 12 months prior to the election. In addition, individuals who are bankrupt, have a mental illness, are loyalty to another state, have been convicted of a capital crime , have served a term of more than six months in prison, or are guilty of electoral fraud , treason, or a similar crime are not to be appointed as senators. After all, a senator is not allowed to work in the army or the Royal Barbados Police Force , in the civil service, as a judge or prosecutor, among others .

Senators have a five-year term. Before each election, the Senate is dissolved together with the House of Assembly , the lower house of Barbados.

Powers

From a constitutional point of view, both the Senate and the House of Assembly are responsible for many issues . Similar to other parliaments that go back to the Westminster system , the lower house also dominates in Barbados. Any law can be passed or amended in both chambers, with the exception of laws that affect public finances ( money bills ). These must always be approved by the House of Assembly . The Senate has only limited options for making changes. If the House of Assembly passes the state budget but the Senate does not approve it within one month, the Governor General can bring the law into force. The same applies to laws in other matters to which the House of Assembly approves in two consecutive legislative periods.

Chairperson

At the beginning of each legislative period, the Senate elects a President and a Vice-President. Neither of them may be ministers or state secretaries. The President does not normally take part in votes unless the remaining votes are tied.

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