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Systems of Government
What is Government?
The government describes the group of politicians who, together, decide on the policies, laws
and measures that control and guide society.

Government Systems in the Caribbean

There are 3 forms of government that have been utilized in the Caribbean. They are 1) Crown
Colony Government, 2) Constitutional Monarchies and 3) Republics.

Crown Colonies- Also known as British Overseas Territories, are countries with a governor
(appointed to represent the British monarch). These countries have varying degrees of self- rule
but ultimately come under British authority and protection, for example, Montserrat, Cayman
Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands

Structure of the Crown Colony Government

Constitutional Monarchies- This is a system of government in which a country is ruled by

a monarch whose powers are limited by a constitution.

The Crown or Monarch is represented by a locally appointed Governor General as the Head of
State. He/ she is a symbolic representative of the monarch/Crown and therefore has limited
powers.for e.g. Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Kitts and Nevis and St.
Lucia.
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Monarch

Governor-
General

Prime Minister

House of
Senate
Representatives

Above illustrates the structure of Government in a constitutional monarchy

Republicanism (Sovereign state)

In the Republicanism system of government, the Monarch has been replaced as Head of state by
a President. These countries are called Republics. Countries in the Commonwealth Caribbean
that are Republics include: Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. These countries were once
colonies of Britain. The Commonwealth of Dominica also embraces a Republican status.

There are two types of republics in the Caribbean:

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Break down of the two types of republics in the Caribbean

The diagram gives an over view of the two types of republic in the Caribbean. One type is based
on the presidential system while the other is on the parliamentary system.

The Republic of Guyana uses the Presidential system where the head of state is also the head of
government. This therefore means that Guyana has an executive president who has full
constitutional powers.

Trinidad and Tobago and the Commonwealth of Dominica government are based on the
Parliamentary system. Here, the president, who is Head of State, plays a ceremonial role which
therefore means that he has limited constitutional powers and is so referred to as a titular
president. The prime minister therefore has the executive powers and is the head of the
government.

The Arms of Government

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Structure of Government

The Structure and composition of Parliament:

The structure of government in the Commonwealth Caribbean is built on the Westminster

model of parliamentary democracy- tracing back to the 13th century. This model allows for a Bi-
cameral (two chambers) legislative body. In the Caricom countries, the two chambers are:

(1) Upper house (Senate)

(2) Lower House (House of Representatives)

In Britain, the upper house is called the House of Lords and the lower house is called the House
of Commons. Trinidad, St Lucia, Barbados, Antigua, Grenada are just a few of the
Commonwealth Caribbean countries that have a bi-cameral parliament.

If the Legislature has only one body, it is then described as a Unicameral Legislature.
Dominica, Guyana, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines all have unicameral
parliaments

(Parliament literally means place of speaking)

Structure of Bicameral Parliament

Composition of Parliament (Bicameralism)

As mentioned earlier, the Legislative body comprises the Senate (upper house) and the House of
Representatives (lower house). Entry into this body can either be through nomination or election.
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Entry into the House of Representatives

This house comprises the elected members of the governing party and the opposition party or
parties. This therefore is an indication that entrance into this house is through the public polls-
general elections. People in each constituencies vote for the candidate who they believe will best
represent their interest and the candidate who gains majority of the votes wins the election in that
constituency and entry into the lower house (first past the post). It is important to note that the
majority of the members in the House of Representatives are apart of the governing party (ruling
party).

Entry into the Senate

All the members of the Senate are nominated. The following persons are given the task of
nominating the members of the Senate:

 The Prime Minister - he or she nominates sitting members in the House of

Representatives. Senators nominated by the prime minister are called Government
Senators

 The Head of State - He or she nominates Senators to represent interests such as religion,
education or business. Senators nominated by the head of state are called Independent
Senators because they do not represent any political interest or party.

 Leader (s) of the Opposition party - he or she nominates sitting members in the House of
Representatives. Senators nominated by the leader(s) of Opposition Party (ies) are called
Opposition Senators.

The House of Representatives:

1. Provides an opportunity for the government and opposition to discuss matters of national
interest.
2. Passes and repeals laws
3. Approves the national budget
4. Authorizes the government to spend money from the treasury
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5. Amends the constitution when necessary

6. Imposes taxes
7. Ratifies international treaties
8. Provides from its membership members of the executive branch of government.
9. Examines the administrative actions of the government.

Benefits of having a second chamber (The Senate)

 The Senate provides a wider scope for checks and balances on the House of
Representative

 Considers all bills passed in the House of Representative before they can become law (A
second examination of legislative proposals)

 A wider scope of representation of interest in the society

Draw backs to having a second chamber (The Senate)

 A second examination of legislative proposals will lengthen the overall legislative

process

 The presence of non-elected members may be viewed as a challenge to the representative

government

 The presence of a government majority favours decisions of the government.

The stages involved in the law making process

The Legislative branch is responsible for making the laws of the country. The processes involve
will be outlined below.

Stage Action
Proposal  Citizens or parliamentarians propose the idea of a law
Preparation of Outline  The Cabinet prepares an outline of the proposed law and
sends it to the attorney general’s office.
Draft  Legal draftsmen in the attorney general’s office prepare a
draft bill and send it to the cabinet for approval.
First reading  Once the bill is approved, the relevant cabinet minister
gives notice in the House of Representatives of his or her
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intention to introduce the bill.

 The bill is presented to members of the House of
Representatives for study. It may also be presented to the
public or interest groups for comments. At this stage it may
be dropped or modified based on the comments receives.
Second reading  The bill is debated at length. If flaws or unintended
outcomes are identified, the bill goes to the committee
stage (a group of parliamentarians from the government
and opposition).
Committee stage  If the majority of parliamentarians agree that the bill should
go forward, a select group of parliamentarians from all the
parties studies the bill in detail and suggests/ makes any
necessary amendments.
Report stage  On completion of the review, the committee reports to the
House of Representatives.
Third reading  The amended bill is brought back to the House of
Representatives and debated and voted on.
Senate debate  If the bill is passed it is sent to the Senate there the whole
process is repeated
Assent/ Proclamation  If the Senate passes the bill it is sent to the head of state for
signature (assent). When the head of state signs and
proclaims it, the bill becomes an act of parliament. This
gives it the status of law.

Structure and function of the Executive Arm of Government

The Executive arm of government is often referred to as the business house of the country. This
is where the Prime Minister and his ministers of government congregate to direct the affairs of
the country. The executive arm of government is popularly known as the Cabinet. This type of
government setting is evident in all the Commonwealth countries except Guyana. In Guyana, the
Executive President heads the Cabinet.

The chart below highlights some of the basic functions of the Cabinet
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The Cabinet System

As mentioned earlier, the Cabinet is viewed as the business house of the country; hence, this arm
is responsible for directing the affairs of the country through initiating and implementing policies
that will see to its development. The Cabinet is the principal instrument of policy, insofar as it
exercises general direction and control over policy. To this end, Cabinet is collectively
responsible to Parliament for the general direction and control of policy. In the same way,
individual Ministers are individually responsible to Parliament for the general direction and
control of policy in their respective ministries.

These principles of Cabinet government are known as the Principle of Collective Responsibility.
Once a policy has been approved by Cabinet, it becomes the policy of the entire Cabinet and
every member is expected to defend it in public. This therefore means that even if a Cabinet
member disagrees with the policy, he or she is not at liberty to criticize it in public after it has
been approved by the Cabinet.

Rules that govern the Principle of Collective Responsibility:

I. The Confidence Rule- this implies that the ability of the Cabinet to exert direction and
control a function of the enjoyment of the confidence of a majority of elected members in the
Legislature

II. The Confidentiality Rule: This implies that all Cabinet documents and discussions must
remain confidential so as to preserve official secrecy in the making of Cabinet decisions

III. The Unanimity rule: This implies that the Cabinet can only speak with one voice so that
government policy will always be unambiguous
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Individual Ministerial Responsibility

The Prime Minister is the chief executive officer; therefore, he is entrusted with the
responsibility of assigning responsibilities to his ministers. This area of responsibility given by
the Prime Minister is called the Minister's portfolio. Each minister is expected to carry out the
duties of his or her office that is called a Ministry or government department. For example, in the
Ministry of Agriculture, the minister who occupies this portfolio is expected to implement
policies relating to his/her office and be willing and ready to defend such a ministry in public and
in Parliament.

The responsibility of respective ministries can be over bearing, as such, the ministers may be
assisted by ministers without portfolio or junior ministers. In Guyana, it is the President who
gives the ministers areas of responsibility.

Rules that govern individual ministerial responsibility

I. The advice rule: This implies that Ministers are entitled to departmental advice, but their
decisions are their responsibility

II. The Culpability rule: This implies that ministers are responsible for errors of policy in their
ministries. Ministers cannot blame their public servants for any errors of policy, owing to the fact
that such decisions are exclusively limited to Ministers. A minister is accountable to Parliament.

III. The Propriety rule: This implies that ministers must conduct themselves with propriety and
professionalism in the discharge of their duties.

The Role of the Prime Minister

The prime minister’s powers are defined in the constitution and they extend to each branch of
government.

The prime minister:

1. Decides on the size and composition of the cabinet.

2. Assigns and re-assigns portfolios to cabinet ministers.

3. Heads the cabinet andchairs its meetings

4. Hires and fires cabinet ministers

5. Coordinates the work of the various ministries

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6. Chooses the governor- general and recommends his/her apppointment and dismissal to

the queen.

7. Advises the governor- general when to dissolve parliament

8. Is not subject to any re- election restrictions.

The Role of the Head of State

In all independent Commonwealth Caribbean countries, the head of state is either of the
following:

 An Executive President

 Governor General

 Titular President

In countries where the head of state is a Governor General (as in Grenada) or a titular president
(as in Trinidad and Tobago), his or her role/function is ceremonial in nature. This therefore
means that such a person has limited executive powers.

The Governor General or the Titular President acts upon the advice of the Prime Minister. The
Parliamentary function of the head of state includes:

1. Delivering the throne speech: this is a speech delivered at the opening of a session of

parliament.

2. Summoning, postponing, and dissolving the various sessions of parliament.

3. Approving bills passed in parliament.

4. Appointing the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.

5. Dismissing a prime minister in circumstances where the House of Representatives has

passed a “no confidence” motion against the prime minister.

6. Appointing or dismissing cabinet ministers on the advice of the prime minister.

7. Issuing writs for elections.

8. Appointing senators
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 The public service is a body of non- elected civilian government employees whose role it
is to administer the country and to implement the executive decisions of the government
of the day. It is part of the executive branch of government.
 A public servant is a full- time employee in a government ministry or department. All
public servants are attached to a ministry or government department. The Permanent
Secretary is the most senior public servant in a ministry and he/ she along with other
senior public servants known as technocrats are responsible for advising the minister on
policy.
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The Judiciary
The Judiciary is the legal branch/ arm of the government. Its role is to enforce the laws of the
country and also ensure that the other branches of government do not exceed the powers which
the constitution or parliament grants them. Therefore it is essential that government guarantees
the independence of the judiciary, thus enabling judges to decide cases fairly and impartially, by
relying only on the facts and the law.

The Judiciary is made up of different levels of courts, each specializing in different stages or
aspects of the judicial process. In most countries it is headed by the chief justice, who is assisted
by a number of judges, magistrates and paralegal officials.
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Hierarchy of Courts in the Commonwealth Caribbean

Courts and their functions

Courts Functions
Magistrates Court  Hears cases involving minor criminal offences.
 Conducts preliminary inquires in cases involving major
criminal offences such as rape, murder, or robbery with
violence, before passing the cases on to the High court
(Supreme Court) for judgement.
 Conducts inquiries into unnatural deaths.
Supreme Court  The criminal division of the High Court tries cases brought
by the police and passed from the Magistrates’ court. Cases
are heard before a judge and jury. The jury determines the
verdict based on the evidence presented. The Judge hears
evidence, directs the jury on aspects of the law, and also
imposes the sentence.
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 The civil division hears cases brought before it by

Appeal Court
Privy Council/ Caribbean
Court of Justice (CCJ)
individuals or institutions/businesses, for example, divorce,
custody, libel.
 A panel of three judges reviews cases/ trials from any of the
lower courts. This court may quash, maintain, r vary the
sentence imposed by the lower court or order a new trial.
 Based in England, the Privy Council serves as the final court
of appeal for all those Caribbean countries which have not
yet adopted the CCJ as their final court of appeal. It reviews
appeals referred to it from the Appeal Court of the countries
which it serves.
 The CCJ was established to serve as the final appellate court
for CARICOM countries and to settle disputes between
CARICOM countries which may arise in the interpretation
and application of the provisions of the Revised Treaty of
Chaguaramas. Most CARICOM countries have now adopted
it as their final court of appeal.

Operation of the Court System

The court reviews or listens to cases that are either of a criminal or civil nature.

What are the differences between criminal cases and civil cases?

 Civil Cases - these are cases which deal with wrongs committed by one private individual against
another. These would include situations where injury is suffered by one person as a result of
negligence by another and so seek redress in the court of law. For example in vehicular accident.

 Criminal Cases - These are cases that are brought by the police against an individual or group and
prosecuted by the state. These cases deal with the rules of law relating to elements of murder,
rape, robbery, etc.
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Responsibilities of the Legal Officials

The Director of Public Prosecution heads a department that advices the police on prosecutions in
serious cases. The D.P.P. decides whether an accused person should be prosecuted based on the
information provided from police investigations and if needs be, used against the accused in the court of
law. The director of public prosecutions reserves the right to discontinue any legal proceedings at any
stage of a trial.

Judges are in charge of the court house and so maintains order and discipline. They are responsible for
guiding the jury on legal matters relating to the particular case. The cases coming to the courts are heard
before judges who will make a determination base on the verdict given by the jury.

The Solicitor General defends the government in cases brought against it in the High court.

The Jury is usually made up of twelve persons randomly chosen from among members of the society .
The jury decides whether or not the accused is guilty or not based on the evidence/facts presented during
the trial.

The Attorney General is the legal advisor to the government. He is a member of Parliament who
supports the party which forms
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Functions of Government

Chart highlighting the functions of Governments.

This is a system whereby the powers of the state are separated, with each branch acting as a counter-
weight against the other. The counter-weight would be the protection against corruption.

The legislature (parliament) is responsible for making the laws, and reviewing the actions of the executive
(prime minister/president and his cabinet).

The Prime minister/president and his cabinet would have the executive power. Therefore, they are
responsible for policy creation and administration and audit the actions of all public officials including the
legislature.

The Judiciary (judicial officers) interprets the laws and has the right to adjudicate between the branches.

In essence, the principle of separation of power is based on the idea that the common man (voter) is
protected from abuse of power by any single
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The Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals in the Caribbean community

Rights and
Explanation
Freedoms

The right
of an Every individual has the right to life, which therefore means that no one has the right to
1.
individual take it away
to life

The right to Every one has the right to be engaged in meaningful work so as to satisfy needs and
2.
work wants

The right to
3. Every individual has the right to be educated
education

The right to This ensures that our franchise is exercised. Citizens are given the opportunity to
4.
vote exercise their democracy through indirect means

The right to
5. own It is the right of every citizen to own property and use it as one wishes
property

The right to The law of the land does not support forced labour or enslavement of any kind as every
6.
liberty citizen is entitled to be free.

The right to
7. Every citizen has a right to protection of person or property
security

The right to
8. The right of the individual to enjoy privacy of property and family life
privacy

The right to
protection
Unless one is suspected of committing a criminal offence, he or she should not be
9. from
arrested or detained
arbitrary
arrest
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The right to Every citizen has the right to a fair trial in the courts of law. All citizens are innocent
10.
a fair trial until proven guilty

Freedom of
11. Citizens are free to assemble as long as it does not breach the law of the land
Assembly

Freedom of
12. Every citizen is free to join any organization of his or her choice
Association

Freedom of Every citizen has the freedom to express him/her self through speech or in writing
13.
expression without being slanderous

Freedom of Every citizen of the country has the right to move about in the country as he or she
14.
movement wishes without interference

Freedom of Every citizen has the freedom to join any religious group or engage in worship without
15.
worship constraint

Freedom of Every citizen is entitled to his or her beliefs and views (whether religious, political,
16.
conscience social etc.)

Responsibilities of Citizens

The following are a few of the responsibilities of a Citizen:

 To respect the rights and freedom of other persons irrespective of race, sex, class or creed.

 To obey the laws of the country

 To protect public property

 To participate in elections

 To protect the environment /public property

 To contribute to the revenues required for providing public services

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Provisions made for Human Rights in the Constitution

Constitution - It is a written document which contains the most important laws and principles by which
the citizens of a country agree to be governed. This is the most important legislation of any country in the
Commonwealth Caribbean.

The constitution serves to protect the fundamental human rights; in fact, the Judiciary protects the
constitutional rights of citizens.

The Constitution of the Commonwealth Caribbean countries contains a Bill of Rights which is based on
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights