The Public Service

• Pages: 303-317

CHAPTER 14

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF DISMISSALAT PLEASURE

Dismissal at pleasure was, at the time of colonial domination, a firm principle of British

constitutional law which was applicable in the then British Empire. But (as we shall see in

this chapter), there are still traces in the public service of present day independent States.

The doctrine derives its origin from the Stingsby case1in which Stingsby, the Master of the

Mint, having been accused of misdemeanour, was suspended by the Sovereign, even

though he held office for life. The court upheld the suspension on the ground that it was

within the King’s prerogative to suspend a public officer. The doctrine was to reign

supreme not only in Britain (as it still does) but in ‘Her Majesty’s Dominions and Realms’

beyond the seas, where it is today very much on the wane, having been abolished in the

Caribbean in the dramatic and abrupt manner that we shall show below.

Why did it linger so long?

It is hardly necessary to remind readers that the Caribbean territories were Colonies of

Britain up to the second half of the 20th century and that, until that time, the civil service

was manned especially in the smallest territories at the highest levels by expatriate British

officers recruited by the then Colonial Office. They were all itinerant officials liable to be

transferred from one territory to another serving as members of such Colonial Services as

the administrative, educational, agricultural, legal and medical. They were servants of the

Crown liable to dismissal at pleasure, as were (of course) also their local supporting

clerical and administrative staff for whom rules and regulations were laid down by the

expatriates who gave the orders and extracted compliance.

In respect of local junior staff in the colonies, the Governor promulgated

administrative rules variously known as General Orders, Civil Service Staff Orders or

Departmental Orders and these were at the time of independence to continue to operate

in tandem with new Civil Service Acts of Parliament. In addition, there had in colonial

times been what were called Colonial Regulations, with their origin in the Colonial Office

in London, sent out as guides to Governors in their dealings mainly with the expatriate

staff.

In general, the regulations, as they affected local civil servants, were draconian. A

public officer was forbidden, for instance, from serving as an editor of a newspaper and a

magazine, or from taking part in managing them either directly or indirectly.2Nor was a

public officer permitted to contribute to journals or newspapers anonymously or to

express opinions on matters of a political or administrative nature.3Nor may he

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1 Stingsby [1680] 3 Swan 178.

2 St Vincent Public Service (Conditions of Employment) Act 1971 (No 16 of 1971), s 3(1)(a).

3 Ibid, s 3(1)(b) and (c).