Heads of State

• Pages: 319-336

CHAPTER 15

MONARCHICAL V PRESIDENTIAL REGIMES

General historical introduction

In the Caribbean, the nomenclature of Heads of State depends on the constitutional

system over which they preside. In colonial times, the Governor was the official

representative of the British Sovereign in the colonies of Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and

Tobago, Guyana, Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda,

St Kitts/Nevis, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, Montserrat, and British

Virgin Islands. In each colony, the Governor’s deputy was styled ‘Colonial Secretary’, a

designation which, in time, was changed to ‘Chief Secretary’ in the larger colonies and

‘Administrator’ in the smaller ones in an apparent attempt to avoid the increasing

unpopularity of the words ‘colony’ and ‘colonial’. Even at the present time the word

‘colony’ has become so odious that the British no longer speak of ‘colonies’ at all. Their

colonies (wherever they still exist) are euphemistically referred to as ‘overseas territories’1

Until the late 1950s, a Governor, in what was then the British Caribbean, usually

presided over the larger territories and where that territory had ‘dependencies’, the

dependency would be headed by a warden, district officer or commissioner who would,

in effect, be the Governor’s surrogate in the dependency. For example, warden was the

term used to designate the Governor’s representative in Anguilla and Nevis while the

Colony of St Kitts itself – the parent territory – was presided over by an administrator. In

the case of the Leeward Islands, for example, the term ‘Governor’ was, up to 1960,

reserved for the Queen’s representative of the group comprising St Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla,

Antigua, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands. His grandiloquent title was ‘Governor

and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Leeward Islands’.

The position was the same in the Windward Islands, the Governor and Commander-

in-Chief of which would reside on the island where the ‘seat of Government’ was

located’.

In the larger territories of British Guiana (as it then was), Trinidad and Tobago,

Barbados, Jamaica and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, the Queen’s representative

was called ‘Governor’. As has been stated elsewhere, these Governors in colonial times

(and those who still ‘rule’ today) derived their authority from Letters Patent and Royal

Instructions. Letters Patent were ‘passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom’

while the Royal Instructions were given to the Governor ‘under the Royal Sign Manual

and Signet’.2

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HEADS OF STATE

1 The remaining overseas territories in the Caribbean are Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos,

Montserrat, British Virgin Islands and Anguilla. See a discussion of these territories in Phillips, 1985,

Chapter VII, pp 177–86.

2 See Phillips, 1977, p 107 and the Letters Patent and Royal Instructions at Apps I and II, respectively,

pp 225–40.

PRESENT DAYPOSITION REGARDING

CLASSIFICATION OF NOMENCLATURE

Today the hierarchy has, of course, changed dramatically. In the Commonwealth

Caribbean, the Heads of State in 2001 comprise: three Presidents, nine Governors General

and six Governors. We shall now have a look at the functions and the way they may be

appointed and removed from office. In this section, Governors and Governors General

will be referred to simply as Heads of State.

Functions and powers of Heads of State

Under the Guyana Republican Constitution of 1980 the President of Guyana is an

executive President who is ‘Head of State, the supreme executive authority and

Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Republic’.3He also presides over the

Cabinet4 and is empowered to address the National Assembly from time to time.5The

Presidents of Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica perform neither of these functions, but are

symbols of unity and perform such ceremonial functions as swearing in Chief Justices,

receiving ambassadors and being present to deliver the Throne Speech at the opening of

Parliament. Their method of appointment differs as well. The Guyana President is

appointed at a general election by the people6whereas the Trinidad President is appointed

by an electoral college comprising both Houses of Parliament.7 In the case of the

President of Dominica, if both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition agree

on a nominee, the speaker of the House of Representatives simply declares the new

President appointed. If they do not so agree, he (or she) is elected by a secret ballot of the

House.8

But the Trinidad and Tobago President shares more functions with the Prime Minister

than does his counterpart in Dominica. In the former case, he is the appointing authority

in respect of a number of important officers who are appointed in his own discretion after

consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, as well as such

other persons as he considers fit. These appointments are:

(a) the Chief Justice;9

(b) the Acting Chief Justice;10

Commonwealth Caribbean Constitutional Law

320

3 See Guyana Republican Constitution of 1980, Art 89 (hereafter ‘the Guyana Constitution’).

4 Ibid, Art 106(3).

5 Ibid, Art 67(1).

6 Ibid, Arts 91 and 177.

7 See Trinidad Constitution, ss 22 and 26.

8 See Dominica Constitution, s 19.

9 Trinidad and Tobago Constitution 1976, s 102.

10 Ibid, s 103.