Statutes (CAP. 415 1

CHAPTER 415

THE STATUTES ACT

Arrangement of Sections
Section

1. Short title.
2. Style of statutes.
3. Words of enactment.
4. Inscription by Clerk on Statutes.
5 . Coming into force of statutes.
6. Recording of Assent and authorisation.
7. Printing and distribution.
8. Acts to be printed.
9. Records of statutes.

10. Clerk to certify copies.
11. Certified copies to be held to be duplicate originals.
12. Copies for Registrar, Judges etc.
13. Certificate to be inserted at the foot of every copy of

Acts to be certified.
14. Payment to be made to Printer.
15. Cost of printing, binding and distributing statutes.

STATUTES

1. This Act may be cited as the Statutes Act. Short title.

2. This Act and all Statutes of Antigua and Barbuda Style of mutes-
passed after the commencement of this Act shall be styled Acts.

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

2 CAP. 415) Statutes

Words of
enactment.

3. (1) In the Bill for this Act and in every other Bill
submitted to the Governor-General for assent, other than a
Bill specified in subsection (2), (3) or (4) of this section, the
words of enactment shall be as follows:-

"ENACTED by the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda
as follows -"

(2) In every Bill submitted to the Governor-General
for assent under section 47 of the Constitution the words of
enactment shall be as follows:-

"ENACTED by the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda
(or by Her Majesty and the House of Represent-
atives of Antigua and Barbuda, as the case may be)
in accordance with the provisions of section 47 of
the Constitution as follows -"

(3) In every Bill presented or submitted to the
Governor-General for assent under section 54 or 55 of the
Constitution, the words of enactment shall be as follows:-

"ENACTED by Her Majesty and the House of Represent-
atives of Antigua and Barbuda in accordance with
the provisions of section 54 (or section 55 as the
case may be) of the Constitution as follows -"

(4) In every Bill submitted to the Governor-General
for assent under section 123 of the Constitution, the words
of enactment shall be as follows:-

"ENACTED by the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda
with the consent of the Barbuda Council in accor-
dance with the provisions of section 123 of the
Constitution as follows -"

(5) Any alteration of the words of enactment of a Bill
made in pursuance of the provisions of subsection (2), (3)
or (4) of this section shall not be deemed to be an amend-
ment of the Bill.

(6) The words of enactment shall follow the preamble,
if any, and the various clauses within the purview or body of
the statute shall follow in a concise and enunciative form.

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Statutes (CAP. 415 3

4. The Clerk to the House of Representatives shall ~ ~ : : ; i p r ~ ; ~ ; k s ,
inscribe on every statute immediately after the long title
thereof, the day, month and year, when the statute comes
into operation or if the statute provides that it is to come
into force or operation on a date to be fixed by proclama-
tion order or notice or that it is not to come into force or
operation until a day or date to be so fixed, he shall alterna-
tively inscribe the following words - "On proclamation", "By
Order" or "By Notice" as the case may be.

5. ( 1 ) Every statute that is not expressed to come into $,":Bgt:to force
force or operation on a particular day shall come into opera-
tion on the day when that statute is published in the Gazette.

(2) When a statute provides that it is to come into
force or operation on a day or date to be fixed by proclama-
tion order or notice or that it is not to come into force or
operation until a day or date to be so fixed, any such procla-
mation order or notice-

( a ) may apply to the whole or to any part or parts
or portion or portions or section or sections of the
statute; and

(b) may be issued at different times so as to apply
to any part or parts or portion or portions or section or
sections of the statute.

6 . (1) Subject to the provisions of sections 54 and 55 Assent Recording a d of
of the Constitution, a Bill shall not be presented to the authorisation
Governor-General for assent unless it has been approved by
both Houses of Parliament either without amendment or
with such amendments only as are agreed to by both
Houses; and, in addition, where a Bill is presented to the
Governor-General for assent under section 123 of the
Constitution, unless the Barbuda Council has given its con-
sent to the Bill pursuant to that section.

( 2 ) When the Governor-General assents to any Bill, his
assent shall be recorded in the usual form on an authenticated
manuscript or printed copy or on an authenticated copy
partly in print and partly in manuscript.

( 3 ) All Bills passed by Parliament shall be authenticat-
ed by the signature of the Speaker and by the signature of

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

4 CAP. 415) Statutes

the Clerk to the House of Representatives and if under the
provisions of the Constitution the Bill has been approved by
the Senate as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section by
the signatures of the President of the Senate and the Clerk
to the Senate.

Printing and
distribution.

7. (1) The Statutes shall, immediately after they are
passed, be printed in fair and legible type, published in the
Gazette and distributed by the Government Printer.

(2) The Clerk to the House of Representatives shall
furnish the Government Printer with a certified copy of
every statute of Parliament as soon as it has received the
Royal Assent.

(3) Every copy of a statute printed by the Government
Printer shall be evidence of that statute and its contents and
every copy purporting to be printed by the Government
Printer shall be deemed to be so printed unless the contrary
is shown.

Acts to be printed. 8. (1) As soon after the close of each year as is practi-
cable, the Acts shall be printed and bound together in one
volume unless it is impracticable or inconvenient so to do,
and in such case the Clerk to the House of Representatives
may authorise the parts to be bound in two or more volumes.

(2) The Government Printer shall, as soon after the
close of each year as is practicable, deliver or send by post or
otherwise, in the most economical manner, the proper
number of copies of the volume or volumes, to members of
Parliament, to such public departments, administrative
bodies and officers and other persons in Antigua and
Barbuda as the Minister may, from time to time, direct.

Records of
statutes.

9. This Act and all statutes passed after the com-
mencement of this Act shall be of record in the custody of
the Clerk to the House of Representatives.

Clerk to certify 10. The Clerk to the House of Representatives shall
copies. certify copies of all Acts required to be produced before

courts of justice either within or beyond the limits of
Antigua and Barbuda, and in any other case in which the
Clerk to the House of Representatives deems it expedient.

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Statutes (CAP. 415 5

11. All copies of the Acts certified by the Clerk to the EE~~&c;EE
House of Representatives pursuant to section 10 shall be duplicate
held to be duplicate originals and also to be evidence of originals-

. those Acts and of their contents as if printed by authority.

12. (1) At the close of each year is shall be the duty Copiesfor
Registrar, of the Clerk to the House of Representatives to obtain from Judges etc.

the Government Printer bound copies of statutes passed in
such year by Parliament and he shall deliver one copy of the
said Acts, duly certified, to the Registrar of the Supreme
Court to be recorded and enrolled in the office of the said
Registrar.

(2) The Clerk to the House of Representatives shall
also furnish one such volume to each judge assigned to
Antigua and Barbuda and to the Attorney-General to be
kept in the Court of such judge and for the use of the
Attorney-General respectively.

13. The Clerk to the House of Representatives shall ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ , b "
insert at the foot of every copy of an Act required to be cer- foot ofevery
tified for every purpose, a written certificate duly signed and COPY be certified. of Actst0
authenticated by him, to the effect that such copy is a true
copy of the Act.

14. Any person desiring to obtain a Bill of a private Paymenttobe
made to Printer.

or personal character shall pay the charges for printing such
Bill.

15. All expenditure incurred in printing, binding Cost.of~rinfing, bm&ng and
and distributing the statutes shall be defrayed from an &tributing
appropriation voted by Parliament for that purpose. statutes.