Dominica 1978 Constitution (reviewed 2014)

Chapter II. The President

18. Establishment of office

1. There shall be a President of Dominica who shall be elected by the House and shall hold office for a term of five years.
2. The President shall have such functions as are prescribed by this Constitution and such additional functions (if any) as may be prescribed by Parliament:Provided that no such additional functions shall be conferred upon him without his consent signified by writing under his hand addressed to the Speaker.

19. Election

1. Whenever the office of President is vacant or the term of office of the President is due to expire within not more than ninety days, the Prime Minister shall consult with the Leader of the Opposition as to their joint nomination of a suitable candidate for election as President.
2. If the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition submit to the Speaker by writing under their hands a joint nomination of a candidate for election as President to which that candidate has consented, the Speaker shall inform the House of the nomination, and declare that candidate to have been duly elected without putting the question to the vote.
3. If the Prime Minister is unable to agree with the Leader of the Opposition as to their joint nomination of a candidate for election as President, he shall notify the Speaker to that effect and the Speaker shall inform the House accordingly.
4. The Prime Minister or the Leader of the Opposition or any three members of the House may, during the period expiring fourteen days after the day on which the House has been so informed, submit to the Speaker by writing under their hands nominations of candidates for election as President and the Speaker shall at the first meeting of the House after the expiration of that period and before the House proceeds to any other business inform the House of the nominations he has received and to which the candidates concerned have consented.
5. An election of the President at which the candidates shall be those of whose nomination the House has been informed by the Speaker, shall thereafter be held at the meeting of the House referred to in subsection (4) of this section (or if proceedings under section 22 of this Constitution are pending before the Court of Appeal, at a meeting of the House held as soon as is practicable after those proceedings) and the Speaker shall declare the candidate who has at that election received the votes of a majority of all the members of the House to have been duly elected:Provided that when the question of the election of the President is put to the vote, the votes shall be given by ballot in such manner as not to disclose how any particular member of the House votes.
6. Where the only candidate for election under subsection (5) of this section does not receive the votes of a majority of all the members of the House, the Speaker shall inform the House accordingly and a new election shall be held to which the provisions of subsections (4) and (5) of this section shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.
7. Where a person consents to be nominated for election as President he shall do so by writing under his hand addressed to the Speaker.
8. A person who has been declared to have been duly elected as President under this section shall assume office as such on the day after the day on which his predecessor vacates the office of President or, if that office is already vacant, he shall assume office on the day after the day on which he was declared to have been duly elected.

20. Qualifications for office nomination

1. A person shall be qualified to be nominated for election as President if, and shall not be so qualified unless, he is a citizen of Dominica of the age of forty years or upwards who at the date of his nomination has been resident in Dominica for five years immediately preceding his nomination.
2. For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section a person shall be deemed to reside in Dominica if he holds an office in the service of the Government, or is employed with any intergovernmental organisation or institution of the Commonwealth Caribbean or any international organisation or institution of which Dominica is a member and lives outside Dominica because he is required to do so for the proper discharge of his functions.
3. Parliament may, by resolution supported by the votes of not less than three-fourths of all the elected members of the House waive the residence qualification laid down in subsection (1) of this section with respect to any particular person to be proposed for nomination.

21. Disqualifications for election and holding office

1. A person shall not be qualified to be elected as President if—
   1. he has already held the office of President for two terms; or
   2. he is disqualified to be elected or appointed as a Representative or Senator by virtue of subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f) of section 32 of this Constitution or by virtue of any law enacted in pursuance of subsection (2), (3) or (5) of that section.
2. A person shall not be qualified to hold the office of President if he holds any other office of emolument whether in the public service or otherwise or if he is engaged in any other occupation for reward.

22. Determination of questions as to qualifications

1. The Court of Appeal shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any question whether any person is qualified to be nominated for election, or elected, as President.
2. An application to the Court of Appeal for the determination of any question under this section may be made by the Attorney General or by any other member of the House and, if it is made by a member other than the Attorney General, the Attorney General may intervene and may then appear or be represented in the proceedings.
3. The powers, practice and procedure of the Court of Appeal in respect of any application for the determination of any question under this section, including (without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing) the time in which and the conditions upon which an application may be made, shall be regulated by such provision as may be made by Parliament.
4. No appeal shall lie from any decision of the Court of Appeal under this section.
5. A certificate under the hand of the Speaker stating that a person was declared to have been duly elected under section 19 of this Constitution shall be conclusive evidence of the fact so stated and shall not be questioned in any court of law.
6. In the exercise of his functions under this section, the Attorney General shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other person or authority.

23. Tenure of office

1. Subject to the provisions of this section and of section 25 of this Constitution, the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a term of five years from the date on which he was declared to have been duly elected.
2. Where a person is elected to fill a vacancy in the office of President occurring before the expiration of the term of office of his predecessor he shall hold office only for the unexpired portion of that term.
3. Parliament may extend the term of office of the President under subsection (1) or (2) of this section for a period not exceeding six months, in order to avoid the holding of an election to the office of President during a period while Parliament is dissolved or at a time within one month before the beginning or one month after the end of such a period.

24. Removal from office

The President may be removed from office under section 25 of this Constitution where—

1. he wilfully violates any provision of the Constitution;
2. he behaves in such a way as to bring his office into hatred, ridicule or contempt;
3. he behaves in a way that endangers the security of Dominica;
4. because of physical or mental incapacity, he is unable to perform the functions of his office;
5. any circumstances arise that, if he were not President, would cause him to be disqualified to be elected as such by virtue of subsection (1)(b) of section 21 of this Constitution; or
6. he is appointed to any such office, or engages in any such occupation, as is referred to in subsection (2) of that section.

25. Procedure for removal from office

1. The office of the President shall become vacant if—
   1. the House (acting upon a motion signed by not less than one-third of all the members of the House) by resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the House proposes the removal of the President from office on grounds of complaint specified with full particulars in the resolution;
   2. a tribunal consisting of the Chief Justice and two other Judges of the Supreme Court appointed by the Chief Justice, being as far as practicable the most senior Judges, investigates the complaint and makes a report on the facts thereof to the House; and
   3. the House, after considering the report, by resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the House declares that the President shall be removed from office.
2. Parliament may make provision with respect to the powers, practice and procedure of tribunals established for the purpose of subsection 1(b) of this section and, subject as aforesaid, any such tribunal may by regulation or otherwise regulate its own procedure.
3. Where a resolution is passed in accordance with subsection (1)(a) of this section, the President shall forthwith cease to perform the functions of his office; but he may resume the performance of those functions if, after the House has considered a report made to it under subsection (1)(b) of this section, no such resolution as is referred to in subsection (1)(c) of this section is passed.

26. Oath

A person elected to hold the office of President or designated or elected to act as President shall before entering upon the duties of the office of President take and subscribe the oath of office, such oath being administered by the Chief Justice or such other Judge of the Supreme Court as may be designated by the Chief Justice.

27. Protection in respect of legal proceedings

1. Whilst any person holds office or is acting as President no criminal proceedings shall be instituted or continued against him in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by him either in his official capacity or in his private capacity and no civil proceedings shall be instituted or continued in respect of which relief is claimed against him in respect of anything done or omitted to be done in his private capacity.
2. Where provision is made by law limiting the time within which proceedings of any description may be brought against any person, the period during which any person has held office or acted as President shall not be taken into account in calculating any period of time described by that law which determines whether any such proceedings as are mentioned in subsection (1) of this section may be brought against that person.

28. Acting President

1. Whenever the holder of the office of President is unable to perform the functions of his office by reason of his absence from Dominica, by reason of illness or by reason that he is suspended from the exercise of those functions under section 25(3) of this Constitution, those functions shall be performed—
   1. by such person as may with his consent have been designated in that behalf by the holder of the office of President, acting after consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, by writing under his hand; or
   2. if there is no person so designated or if the person so designated is unable to act, by such person as may have been elected in that behalf by the House in accordance with the like procedure as is prescribed by section 19 of this Constitution for the election of the President.
2. A person shall not be qualified to act as President unless he is qualified to be elected as, and to held the office of, President:Provided that the Speaker or the Deputy may act as President, in which case he shall cease to perform the functions of his office during any period during which he is so acting.
3. A person acting as President under this section shall cease to act when he is notified—
   1. that another person has been designated or elected to act; or
   2. that the holder of the office of President is about to resume the performance of the functions of his office.