The House of Assembly is the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

. It is established by Chapter III of the

Constitution of Dominica The politics of Dominica takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Dominica is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the governm ...

, and together with the

President of Dominica The president of Dominica is the head of state under the system implemented by the Constitution of 1978, the year of Dominica's independence. The current president is Sylvanie Burton, since 2 October 2023. List of officeholders Source: ;Pol ...

constitutes Dominica's

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. The House is

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

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

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

as an ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or 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 r ...

'' 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 Hung ...

becomes the thirty-second member if chosen from outside the membership of the House. Representatives are directly elected in single-member

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

using the simple-majority (or

first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

) 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 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. The current Senators are appointed. The

Cabinet of Dominica The Cabinet of Dominica is appointed by the President of Dominica acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister of Dominica. Ministers of Dominica (17 December 2019 – present) * Roosevelt Skerrit: Prime Minister, Minister for ...

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 A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

Representatives

Since the

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

held on 6 December 2022, the

Dominica Labour Party The Dominica Labour Party is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Dominica. History Founded in 1955 by Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Emmanuel Christopher Loblack, the Dominica Labour Party is the oldest political party in Dominica. ...

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 Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition each get to appoint additional Senators, to join the elected Representatives. The following Senators are currently in office:

International affiliation(s)

ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly The ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union (the Members of the European Parliament) and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states ("ACP ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

-CARICOM Parliamentary Friendship Group *

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights. In 1989 the patron of the CPA was the Head ...

*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