The House of Assembly is the

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographical ...

. It is established by Chapter III of the Constitution of Dominica, and together with the President of Dominica constitutes Dominica's

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. The House is

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

, and consists of twenty-one Representatives, nine senators, and the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

as an ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

'' member. The

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hunger ...

becomes the thirty-second member if chosen from outside the membership of the House. Representatives are directly elected in single-member constituencies using the simple-majority (or

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast the ...

) system for a term of five years. The Representatives in turn decide whether the senators are to be elected by their vote, or appointed. If appointed, five are chosen by the president with the advice of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

and four with the advice of the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. The current Senators are appointed. The Cabinet of Dominica is appointed from members of the House of Assembly. However, no more than three senators may be members of the Cabinet.

History

House of Assembly was established in 1968, and it was preceded by a colonial Legislative council.

Representatives

Since the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

held on 6 December 2022, the Dominica Labour Party holds 19 of the 21 directly elected seats, and independent candidates hold two elected seats. The new House of Assembly included a record ten women.

Senators

The following Senators were appointed for the parliamentary term beginning 10 February 2020:

International affiliation(s)

* ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly *

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

-CARICOM Parliamentary Friendship Group * Commonwealth Parliamentary Association *ParlAmericasCaribbean Group
ParlAmericas

Notes

References

*. *. *.

External links

* House of Assembly

About

Profile of the Parliament of Dominica
- Secretariat of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)

Dominic Electoral system
Profile of Dominca
- Inter-Parlmiamentary Union

Other

Laws of the Commonwealth of Dominca
- Government portal
Official Gazette

Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica
- official website {{DEFAULTSORT:House Of Assembly Of Dominica 1978 establishments in Dominica Government of Dominica Politics of Dominica