Senate (Bermuda)
Bermuda coat of arms | Senate building |
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Basic data | |
Seat: | Hamilton , Bermuda |
First session: | August 1, 1620 (June 2, 1968 as a modern two-chamber system) |
MPs: | 11 |
Current legislative period | |
Chair: | Joan Dillas-Wright |
Distribution of seats: |
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Website | |
parliament.bm |
The Senate of Bermuda (Senate of Bermuda) is the upper house of the Parliament of Bermuda , which in the two-chamber system of modeled British Westminster system is based.
The Senate consists of eleven members, all of whom are appointed by the governor . Five of them on the proposal of the Prime Minister , three on the proposal of opposition leader (Leader of the Opposition) and three more due to an own law of the governor, which are thus quasi politically independent. The members of the lower house , the House of Assembly , are elected in general elections.
The current Senate President is Carol AM Bassett .
history
The framework of the administration of Bermuda was formed by the Somers Isles Company as early as 1620 and expanded under British control from 1684. This lasted until 1968, before it was changed due to the Constitutional Conference held in London in 1966 . The only significant change up to then was the replacement of the Governor's Council in 1888 by two newly created bodies: an Executive Council and a Legislative Council . The Cabinet emerged from the Executive Council in 1973, while the name of the Legislative Council was changed to Senate in 1980.
As a result of these 1888 changes, the executive branch consisted of the governor and the executive board, which was composed of senior administrators and five or six representatives from the House of Assembly. All members of the Executive Board were appointed by the governor. The amendment in 1888 made the legislature a bicameral system, so that from then on the parliament consisted of the House of Assembly as the lower house and the Legislative Council as the upper house. The Legislative Council at that time also consisted of administrators and other members, all of whom were also appointed by the governor.
After the necessary laws were passed, the Executive Council was renamed Cabinet in 1973, before the Legislative Council was renamed Senate after the second Bermuda Constitutional Conference in 1979 in Warwick Camp . In 1980 the House of Lords met for the first time under the new name. Jennifer M. Smith , who became the Progressive Labor Party's first female Prime Minister between November 1998 and July 2003 , was the first person to be appointed to the Senate in 1980. Marjorie Bean was the first and only woman to serve on the Legislative Council.
Presidents of the Legislative Council and Senate
Administration of the Senate
The President of the Senate chairs the Senate, making him President of the Upper House of Parliament. The President of the Senate chairs the meetings in the context of the agenda (Business Papers / Order Papers) and the debates on the legislative process. He also initiates the answering of the question time based on oral or written questions (Parliamentary Questions) . This also applies to inquiries about government statements (Ministerial Statements) . In doing so, he pays particular attention to compliance with the Senate Standing Orders .
The Senate President is supported in his work by the Head of the Senate Administration (Clerk to the Senate) , who is also the Deputy Head of the Parliament Administration (Deputy Clerk to the Legislature) . The current Clerk of the Senate is Clark Somner.
List of Presidents of the Legislative Council and Senate
Surname | Beginning of the term of office | Term expires |
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President of the Legislative Council | 1888 | 1980 |
Josiah Rees | 1888 | 1899 |
S. Brownlow Gray | 1900 | 1904 |
HC Gollan | 1904 | 1911 |
PMC Sheriff | 1912 | 1917 |
C. Rees-Davies | 1917 | 1923 |
KJ Beatty | 1924 | 1927 |
SO Rowan Hamilton | 1927 | 1939 |
RC Hollis Hallett | 1939 | 1941 |
CG Brooke Francis | 1941 | 1952 |
J. Trounsell Gilbert | 1952 | 1958 |
Newnhan A. Worley | 1958 | 1960 |
Allen C. Smith | 1960 | 1961 |
Myles John Abbott | 1961 | 1968 |
George O. Ratteray | 1969 | 1980 |
President of the Senate | 1980 | today |
Hugh E. Richardson | 1980 | 1987 |
Albert S. Jackson | 1987 | 1998 |
Alfred T. Oughton | 1998 | 2008 |
Carol AM Bassett | 2008 | officiating |
Work of the senate
Legislative process
Most bills go through both houses of parliament, with bills first being presented to the House of Assembly. There are four types of bill in the House of Assembly. The public bills are presented to the government by the minister responsible. Furthermore, draft laws can be submitted by the opposition (opposition bills) as well as by a single MP as so-called private member's bills . Finally, there is the so-called Private Bills that come from an organization or group of individuals and a backbencher (Backbencher) be submitted to the House of Assembly. This backbencher is in most cases a member of the majority party, but not a minister.
The legal advice takes place in five parts:
- First Reading (First Reading) : Formal presentation of the bill
- Second reading (Second Reading) : General policy debate in the House
- Detailed discussion and additional applications in technical committees (Committee)
- Report on additional requests from the specialist committees and the possibility of introducing other additions
- Third reading (Third Reading) : Final debate on the entire bill with amendments
After the legislative consultation in the House of Assembly has been completed, the speaker signs a bill and then presents it to the Senate. There, the bill is discussed in the same way. After a bill has been debated in both Houses, it is submitted to the offices of the Prime Minister and Attorney General for consideration before finally being presented to the Governor for signature and approval.
Committees
The Senate has essentially no committees of its own, but only sends representatives to the following Joint Committees of the Legislature :
- Register of Members' Interest Committee : This committee also reviews the personal interests of the members of parliament, including with regard to possible influence on the legislative process. The area of responsibility also includes the submission of the respective declaration of honor and interest of the members of the parliament. The chairman of the committee is Dennis P. Lister
- Joint Select Committee on Private Bills : Chair Suzzan Roberts-Holshouser
Expense allowance
Senators will receive an annual allowance of BD $ 30,367 . The Senate President is entitled to an increased allowance of BD $ 45,548, as is the Senate Vice President, who receives an annual allowance of BD $ 33,675.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The President of the Legislative Council was between 1888 and 1968 in personal union President of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice)
- ↑ Register of Members' Interest ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the homepage of the Parliament of Bermuda