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 The
Development Planning Unit
Government of the British Virgin Islands
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GOVERNMENT OF THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
The
Government of the British Virgin Islands is legally a constitutional democracy with the
Executive Authority vested in Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth because of our colonial
relationship with the United Kingdom. This democracy operates through parliamentary and
ministerial systems. The Parliament or Legislative Council has thirteen representatives
elected for a maximum of four year via a mixed system of nine (9) districts and 4
country-wide.
The government has
three branches: the Executive
Council, the Judiciary and the Legislative Council. The
Governor,
as the representative of Her Majesty the Queen, has special responsibility for the Courts,
the Public Service, the Police and Foreign Affairs. The Civil Service is divided into
6
ministries and a quasi-ministry consisting of the subject portfolios under the Governor.
There are approximately 44 departments spread across the full range of government
services except electricity, banking and port and marine services which are now public
enterprises wholly owned by the Government of the British Virgin Islands.
Photo: The Central Administration
Complex
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The Executive Council
The Executive
Authority of The Virgin Islands is vested in the Governor, who, as Her Majesty's
representative, exercises these powers on her behalf either directly or through officers
subordinate to him. While he retains personal responsibility for certain functions, the
Executive Council which advises him in the execution of all other executive powers may be
considered in those respects as the highest policy-making body in the territory. The
Executive Council which is established by section 14 of the Virgin Islands (Constitution)
Order 1976 is charged with the general direction and control of the Government of The
Virgin Islands and is collectively responsible therefore to the Legislative Council.
The membership of
the Executive Council is held as follows:
- The Chief
Minister - appointed by the Governor from the elected members of the Legislative Council
in accordance with section 15(l) of the Constitution.
- Not less than two
or more than three Ministers - appointed by the Governor in accordance with the advice of
the Chief Minister from among members of the Legislative Council.
- One Ex Officio
Member: The Attorney General
The Governor is not
a member of the Executive Council, but shall, so far as is practicable, attend and preside
at meetings of the Executive Council. In the absence of the Governor he may, in his
discretion, appoint any member of the Executive Council to preside at any meeting.
No business shall
be transacted at any meeting of the Executive Council if there are less than two members
present besides the Governor or other person presiding.
On the advice of
the Chief Minister the Governor will assign subjects or combinations of subjects to each
minister. Under the Constitution, however, the Governor retains personal responsibility
for external affairs; defence, including armed forces; internal security, including the
Police Force; the terms and conditions of service of persons holding or acting in public
offices; the administration of the courts.
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| Legislative Council The
Legislative Council of the British Virgin Islands consists thirteen (13) members, four (4)
of whom are elected territory-wide and remaining nine (9) are elected by districts. The
Legislative Council is the lawmaking body which authorizes all public expenditure whether
current or capital. The Legislative Council elects a speaker who is an unelected person
and a deputy speaker who is an elected member on the government side. |
Photo: The Legislative Council Chambers |
Members
of the Legislative Council are elected for a term not exceeding four years or at the
pleasure of the Chief Minister who can trigger an election by the dissolution of the
Council for the purposes of forming a new Government.
For
a fuller description of the Courts, please contact the appropriate office, the Constitution or
the Governor’s Office
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Photo: Magistrate's Court and Offices |
Judicial Branch
The Judicial Branch
of the Government of the British Virgin Islands consists of the Courts which presently
divided into the Appeal Court, High Court, Magistrate Court and an Office of the Registrar
of the High Court.
The Appeal Court
and High Court are associated with the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) of
which the BVI has been an Associate Member since 1984. The High Court has two resident
Judges and there is one Magistrate for the Magistrate Court. |
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Statutory Bodies
There are a number
of statutory bodies each established under separate acts of law at various times in the
development of the British Virgin Islands. Typically these bodies were formed to manage
critical areas of Government where the traditional department or ministry was not the best
option.
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Presently statutory
bodies are established to manage tourism, social security, and national parks. The
BVI
Tourist Board was established in 1977 to manage tourism affairs within and without the
territory, the BVI Social Security Board was formed in 1979 to provide national
insurance and social security services for the British
Virgin Islands and the National Parks Trust was established in 1972 to manage the
national parks and other recreational assets of the British Virgin Islands.
Photo: BVI Tourist Board Office
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Photo: BVI Social Security Board |
Ministries and Departments
The Government is
divided into 6 ministries and a collection of departments under the direction of the
Governor. The Ministries are: Chief Minister’s Office, Health and Welfare,
Education and Culture, Finance, Natural Resources and Labour and Communications
and Works. Subject portfolios under the Governor include the Deputy Governor’s
Office, the High Courts, Police, Personnel Department and the Magistrate Court. Under each
ministry falls a number of specialized departments to administer portfolios. Typically the
ministries are headed by a Permanent Secretary, a Deputy Permanent Secretary and a number
of Assistant Secretaries dedicated to administer selected portfolios. |
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The Permanent Secretary and associated staff are under the
direction of a Crown appointed minister. Typically the minister and collectively his
colleagues set policy and direction, the permanent secretary manages the process of
ensuring agreed outcomes and the technical and administrative staff support the
achievement of shared goals.
Ministries, like
departments, are given independent budgets for their operations, but they are responsible
and accountable for capital investments by departments. Ministries, similarly to
departments are given a base budget each year and new initiatives or programme are
considered and allocated financing from a block allocation budgetted for each ministry.
A breakdown of
ministries into their various departments together with particulars of the relevant
persons in charge is provided on this website. For fuller details of the Ministerial
System in the British Virgin Islands, please contact the Deputy Governor’s Office at:
E-mail - dgo@caribsurf.com
Telephone- 284-494-3701 ext.2195/2205/2206
Mailing Address – Deputy Governor’s Office
Administration Complex
Road Town, Tortola
British Virgin Islands
Photo: The British Virgin Islands
Electricity Corporation
Pockwood Pond
Public Enterprizes and Corporations
Public enterprizes
are typically incorporated to carry out commercial activities on behalf of Government
where traditional government management structures might be inappropriate or not fully
responsive to market conditions. In the British Virgin Islands the public enterprises are
established for banking (the Development Bank of the Virgin Islands), electricity (BVI
Electricity Corporation Ltd.) and port services (BVI Ports Authority Ltd.)
The Government of
the British Virgin Islands is the sole shareholders in all of the above enterprises.
Typically there is a Board of Directors appointed on the advice of the subject portfolio
minister to which the management is accountable as spelled out in the appropriate law.
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Webmaster: Jerinice Stoutt
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This page was last updated on: Monday, 21st November 2005
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