§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGHasked Her Majesty's Government:
What considerations led to the adoption of the proposal in paragraph 36 of the report of the Trinidad and Tobago Independence Conference, 1962 (Cmnd. 1757) relating to the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition, and for information as to the occasions on which the Governor-General will not be required to consult and act on the advice of the Cabinet.
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COLONIAL AFFAIRS (THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE)The proposal in paragraph 36, which was put forward by the Trinidad and Tobago delegation and accepted by the Conference, follows closely the corresponding provision in the proposed Jamaica Independence Constitution. It is modelled on the appropriate provision in the Ministers of the Crown Act, 1937, except that it is the Governor-General who will be required on all occasions to determine who shall be Leader of the Opposition. In this country the Speaker is required to determine who shall be Leader of the Opposition only in the event of any uncertainty as to which party in opposition has the greatest numerical strength in the House of Commons or as to who is the leader in that House of such a party.
Paragraph 37 indicates the principles which the Governor-General will be required to follow in the exercise of his functions. The general principle is that he will exercise them in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet except in those cases in which he will be required to 860WA exercise his own deliberate judgment or to act on the advice of persons or authorities other than the Cabinet. The cases in which the Governor-General will be required to act in his own deliberate judgment will be in appointing the Prime Minister, and, in certain circumstances, in appointing the acting Prime Minister, in appointing the Leader of the Opposition and in revoking such appointment, and in approving appointments to his personal staff. The cases in which the Governor-General will act on the advice of persons or authorities other than the Cabinet are as follows:
On the advice of the Prime Minister: the appointment and removal of the thirteen Senators supporting the Government; the appointment of the seven independent Senators after the Prime Minister has consulted bodies representing economic, religious and social interests; the prorogation and dissolution of Parliament; the summoning of the Houses of the preceding Parliament in the event of a grave emergency arising in the period between dissolution and the general election; the timing of General Elections; the appointment and removal of members of the Boundaries Commission and of the Elections Commission; the appointment and removal of Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries and the allocation of portfolios amongst them; the appointment of the Chief Justice; the appointment and removal of certain members of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, of the members of the Public Service Commission, and of the members of the Police Service Commission; the appointment of the Auditor General; the appointment and removal of the principal overseas representatives of Trinidad and Tobago, and the appointment of the Minister designated by the Governor-General to advise him on the exercise of the power of Pardon.
On the advice of the Leader of the Opposition; the appointment and removal of the four Senators who support the Opposition.
On the advice of the Judicial Legal Services Commission: the appointment of the Puisne Judges of the High Court and of the Justices of Appeal of the Court of Appeal.
House adjourned at a quarter before eight o'clock.