Conventional long form: none
Conventional short form: Barbados
History: adopted 22 November 1966, effective 30 November 1966; Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2021 establishes Barbados as a republic and revokes the earlier Order in Council
Amendments: proposed by Parliament; passage of amendments to constitutional sections such as citizenship, fundamental rights and freedoms, and the organization and authorities of the branches of government requires two-thirds majority vote by the membership of both houses of Parliament; passage of other amendments only requires a majority vote of both houses; amended several times, last in 2021
2: note - following the transition to a republic on 30 November 2021, the Government of Barbados plans a consultation on drafting a new constitution
Citizenship by birth: yes
Citizenship by descent only: yes
Dual citizenship recognized: yes
Residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
Chief of state: President Sandra MASON (since 30 November 2021)
Head of government: Prime Minister Mia MOTTLEY (since 25 May 2018)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister
Elections appointments: the president is elected by an electoral college of both Houses of Parliament for a four year renewable term; election last held 20 October 2021; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of the majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the president; the prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister
Election results: Sandra MASON elected as first president on 20 October 2021 to take office on 30 November 2021
Description: bicameral Parliament consists of
Elections: Senate - last appointments on 5 June 2018 (next appointments NA)House of Assembly - last held on 24 May 2018 (next to be held in 2023)
Election results: Senate - appointed; composition - men 16, women 5, percent of women 23.8% House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - BLP 74.6%, DLP 22.6%, other 2.8%; seats by party - BLP 30; composition - men 24, women 6, percent of women 20%; note - total Parliament percent of women 21.6%
Note: tradition dictates that the election is held within 5 years of the last election, but constitutionally it is 5 years from the first seating of Parliament plus a 90-day grace period
Highest courts: Supreme Court (consists of the High Court with 8 justices) and the Court of Appeal (consists of the High Court chief justice and president of the court and 4 justices; note - in 2005, Barbados acceded to the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final court of appeal, replacing that of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London)
Judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister and opposition leader of Parliament; other justices appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, a 5-member independent body consisting of the Supreme Court chief justice, the commission head, and presidential appointees recommended by the prime minister; justices serve until mandatory retirement at age 65
Subordinate courts: Magistrates' Courts
Name: The National Anthem of Barbados
Lyrics music: Irving BURGIE/C. Van Roland EDWARDS
| Year |
|
