JAMAICA INDEPENDENCE ACT, 1962

THE JAMAICA INDEPENDENCE ACT, 1962

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

Section
1. Provision for fully responsible status of Jamaica.
2. Consequential modifications of British Nationality Acts.
3. Consequential modification of other enactments.
4. Interpretation.
5. Short title.

SCHEDULES :

First Schedule.-Legislative powers of Jamaica
Second Schedule.-Amendments not affecting the Law of

Jamaica

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2 JAMAlCA 1NDEPENDENCE ACT, I962

Provision
for fully
responsible
sta,tus of
Jamaica.

Consequen-
tial modi-
ficat ions
of British
Nationality
Ads.

An Act to make provision for, and in connection with, the attainment
by Jamaica of fully responsible status within the Commonwealth.

[19th July, 1962.1

BE IT ENACTED by The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty,
by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament
assembled, and by the authority of the same, as
follows : -

1 .41) As from the sixth day of August, nineteen hundred
and sixty-two (in this Act referred to as “the appointed
day”), Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom
shall have no responsibility for the government of Jamaica.

(2) No Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
passed on or after the appointed day shall extend, or be
deemed to extend, to Jamaica as part of the law thereof; and
as from that day the provisions of the First Schedule to
this Act shall have effect with respect to the legislative
powers of Jamaica.

2-4 1) As from the appointed day, the British Nationality
Acts, 1948 and 1958, shall have effect as if in sub-
section (3) of section one of the said Act of 1948 (which
provides for persons to be British subjects or Common-
wealth citizens by virtue of citizenship of certain countries)
for the words “and Tanganyika” there were substituted
the words “Tanganyika and Jamaica”.

(2) Subject to the following provisions of this
section, any person who immediately before the appointed
day is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies shall
on tbat day cease to be such a citizen if-

(a) under the law of Jamaica he becomes on that day
a citizen of Jamaica, and

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JAMAICA INDEPENDENCE ACT, 1962 3

(b) he, his father or his father’s father was born in

(3) Subject to subsection (8) of this section, a person
shall not cease to be a citizen of the United Kingdom and
Colonies under the last preceding subsection if he, his
father or his father’s father-

(a) was born in the United Kingdom or in a colony;
or

(b) is or was a person naturalised in the United
Kingdom and Colonies; or

(c) was registered as a citizen of the United Kingdom
and Colonies; or

(d) became a British subject by reason of the annexa-
tion of any territory included in a colony.

(4) A person shall not cease to be a citizen of the
United Kingdom and Colonies under subsection (2) of this
section if he was born in a protectorate or protected state,
or if his father or his father’s father was so born and is
or at any time was a British subject.

(5 ) A woman who is the wife of a citizen of the
United Kingdom and Colonies shall not cease to be such a
citizen under subsection (2) of this section unless her
husband does so.

(6) Subsection (2) of section six of the British Na-
tionality Act, 1948 (which provides for the registration as
a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies of a woman
who has been married to such a citizen) shall not apply to
a woman by virtue of her marriage to a person who ceases
to be such a citizen under subsection (2) of this section, or
who would have done so if living on the appointed day.

(7) Subject to the next following subsection, the
reference in paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of this section
to a person naturalised in the United Kingdom and Colonies

Jam aica .

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4 JAMAICA INDEPENDENCE ACT, 1962

shall include a person who would, if living immediately
before the commencement of the British Nationality Act,
1948, have become a person naturalised in the United
Kingdom and Colonies by virtue of subsection (6) of section
thirty-two of that Act (which relates to persons given local
naturalisation before that commencement in a colony or
protectorate).

(8) Any reference in subsection (3) or subsection (4)
of this section to a colony, protectorate or protected state
shall, subject to the next following subsection, be construed
as a reference to a territory which is a colony, protectorate
or protected state on the appointed day; and the said sub-
section (3) shall not apply to a person by virtue of any
certificate of naturalisation granted or registration effeoted
by the governor or government of a territory outside the
United Kingdom which is not a colony, protectorate or
protected state on that day.

(9) The protectorates of Northern Rhodesia and
Nyasaland shall be excepted from the operation of any
reference in subsection (4) or subsection (8) of this section
to a protectorate.

(10) Part 111 of the British Nationality Act, 1948
(which contains supplemental provisions) shall have effect
for the purposes of subsections (2) to (9) of this section as
if those subsections were included in that Act.

ansequen- 3 . 4 1) Notwithstanding anything in the Interpretation
fication Act, 1889, the expression “colony” in any Act of the
enactments. Parliamen4t of the United Kingdom passed on or after the

appointed day shall not include Jamaica.

tid modi-

of other

(2) As from the appointed day-
(a) the expression “colony” in the Army Act, 1955, the

Air Force Act, 1955, and the Naval Discipline Act,
1957, shall not include Jamaica, and

,

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JAMAICA INDEPENDENCE ACT, 1962 5

(b) in the definitions of “Commonwealth force” in sub-
section (1) of section two hundred and twenty-five
and subsection (1) of section two hundred and
twenty-three respectively of the said Acts of 1955,
and in the definition of “Commonwealth country”
in subsection (1) of section one hundred and thirty-
five of the said Act of 1957, for the words “or
Tanganyika” there shall be substituted the words
“Tanganyika or Jamaica”;

and no Order in Council made on or after the appointed
day under section one of the Army and Air Force Act,
1961, shall operate to continue either of the said Acts of
1955 in force as part of the law of Jamaica.

(3) For the purposes of the making, on or after the
appointed day, of Orders in Council under the West Indies
Act, 1962, and for the purposes of the making on or after
that day of grants under section eight of that Act, Jamaica
shall be treated as not being a colony within the meaning
of that Act.

(4) Subsection (3) of section five of the West Indies
Act, 1962 (which enables provision made by Order in
Council for the government of the Cayman Islands and
the Turks and Caicos Islands to include provision for the
performance of functions by the legislature or other
authorities of Jamaica, or by any court of Jamaica) is hereby
repealed as from the appointed day:

Provided that this subsection shall not af€ect-
(a) the operation (whether as part of the law of Jamaica

or as part of the law of the Cayman Islands or
of the Turks and Caicos Islands) of any Order in
Council made before the appointed day, or

(b) the exercise, on or after the appointed day, of any
power to revoke or vary an Order in Council made

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6 JAMAICA lNDEPENDENCE ACT, 1962

before that day, in so far as any such Order forms
part of the law of the Cayman Islands or of the
Turks and Caicos Islands.

( 5 ) As from the appointed day, the provisions
specified in the Second Schedule to this Act shall have effect
subject to the amendments respectively specified in that
Schedule, and Her Majesty may by Order in Council, which
shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution
of either House of Parliament, make such further adapta-
tions in any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
passed before this Act, or in any instrument having effect
under any such Act, as appear to Her necessary in con-
sequence of section one of this Act; and any Order in
Council made under this subsection may be varied or
revoked by a subsequent Order in Council so made, and,
though made after the appointed day, may be made so as
to have effect from that day.

(6) The last preceding subsection shall not extend
to Jamaica as part of the law thereof.

Interprets- 4.-(1) In this Aot, and in any amendment made
by this Act in any other enactment, “Jamaica” includes tion.
the islands known as the Morant Cays and the Pedro
Cays and any other territories which at the passing of
this Aot are dependencies of the Colony of Jamaica,-but
does not include the Cayman Islands or the Tuiks and
Caicos Islands; and in any Act of the Parliament of the
United Kingdom passed after the passing of this Act, -and
in any instrument made after the passing- of this Act by
virtue of an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
(whenever passed), the expression “3amaica” shall be taken
to have the same meaning as in this Act unless-a contrary
intention is expressed in that Act or instrument, a s the
case may be.

JAMAICA INDEPENDENCE ACT, I962 7

(2) References in this Act to any enactment are
references to that enactment as amended or extended by
or under any other enactment.

5. This Act may be cited as the Jamaica Independence Shorttitle.
Act, 1962.

S C H E D U L E S

FIRST SCHEDULE Section 1

LEGISLATIVE POWERS OF JAMAICA

1. The Colonial Laws Validity Act, 1865, shall not apply to any
law made on or after the appointed day by the legislature of Jamaica.

2. No law and no provision of any law made on or after the
appointed day by that legislature shall be void or inoperative on the
ground that it is repugnant to the law of England, or to the provisions
of any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, including this
Act, or to any order, rule or regulation made under any such Act,
and, subject to paragraph 6 of this Schedule, the powers of that
legislature shall include the power to repeal or amend any such Act,
order, rule or regulation in so far as it is part of the law of Jamaica.

3. The legislature of Jamaica shall have full power to make laws
having extra-territorial operation.

4. Without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions
of this Schedule, sections seven hundred and thirty-five and seven
hundred and thirty-six of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, shall be
construed as though references therein to the legislature of a British
possession did not include references to the legislature of Jamaica.

5. Without prejudice to the generality of the preceding provisions
of this Schedule, section four of the Colonial Courts of Admiralty
Act, 1890 (which requires certain laws to be reserved for the significa-
tion of Her Majesty's pleasure or to contain a suspending clause), and
so much of section seven of that Act as requires the approval of Her
Majesty in Council to any rules of court for regulating the practice
and procedure of a Colonial Court of Admiralty, shall cease to have
effect in Jamaica.

6 . 4 1 ) Nothing in this Act shall confer on the legislature of Jamaica
any power to repeal, amend or modify the constitutional provisions
otherwise than in such manner as may be provided for in those
provisions.

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(2) In this paragraph “the constitutional provisions” means the
following, that is to say-

(U) this Act;
(b) any Order in Council made before the appointed day (whether

before or after the passing of this Act) which made or makes
provision in respect of Jamaica in pursuance of section five, ,
of the West Indies Act, 1962;

(c) any law, or instrument made under a law, of the legislature
of Jamaica made on or after the appointed day which amends,
modifies, re-enacts with or without amendment or modifica-
tion, or makes different provision in lieu of, any provisions
of this Act, of any such Order in Council, or of any such
law or instrument previously made.

SECOND SCHEDULE Section 3

AMENDMENTS NOT AFFECTING THE LAW OF JAMAICA

Diplomatic immunities

1. In section four hundred and sixty-one of the Income Tax Act,
1952 (which relates to exemption from income tax in the case of
certain Commonwealth representatives and their staffs), in subsection
(2) and subsection (3), for the words “or Tanganyika” there shall be
substituted the words “Tanganyika or Jamaica”.

2. In subsection (6) of section one of the Diplomatic Immunities
(Commonwealth Countries and Republic of Ireland) Act, 1952, after
the word “Tanganyika” there shall be inserted the word “Jamaica”.

3. In subsection (5) of section one of the Diplomatic Immunities
(Conferences With Commonwealth Countries and Republic of Ireland)
Act, 1961, after the word “Tanganyika” there shall be inserted the
word “Jamaica”.

Financial
4. In subsection (4) of section two of the Import Duties Act, 1958,

after the word “India” there shall be inserted the word “Jamaica”.

Visiting forces

5. In the Visiting Forces (British Commonwealth) Act, 1933, section
four (which deals with attachment and mutual powers of command)
shall apply in relation to forces raised in Jamaica as it applies in
relation to forces raised in Dominions within the meaning of the
Statute of Westminster, 1931.

6. In the Visiting Forces Act, 1952-
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JAMAlCA INDEPENDENCE ACT, 1962 9

(U) in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section one (which specifies
the countries to which that Act applies) for the words “or
Tanganyika” there shall be substituted the words “Tanganyika
or Jamaica”;

(b) in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section ten the expression
“colony” shall not include Jamaica;

and, until express provision with respect to Jamaica is made by an
Order in Council under section eight of that Act (which relates to
the application to visiting forces of law relating to home forces), any
such Order for the time being in force shall be deemed to apply to
visiting forces of Jamaica.

Ships and aircraft

7. In subsection (2) of section four hundred and twenty-seven of the
Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, as substituted by section two of the
Merchant Shipping (Safety Convention) Act, 1949, for the words “or
Tanganyika” there shall be substituted the words “Tanganyika or
Jamaica”.

8. In the proviso to subsection (2) of section six of the Merchant
Shipping Act, 1948, for the words “or Tanganyika” there shall be
substituted the words “Tanganyika or Jamaica”.

9. In the definition of “excepted ship or airckift” in paragraph 3
of the Third Schedule to the Emergency Laws (Repeal) Act, 1959, for
the words “or Tanganyika” there shall be substituted the words
“Tanganyika or Jamaica”. $2 .

..g-

10. The Ships and Aircraft (Transfer Restriction) Act, 1939, shall
not apply to any ship by reason only of its being registered in, or
licensed under the law of, Jamaica; and the penal provisions of that
Act shall not apply to persons in Jamaica (but without prejudice to
the operation with respect to any ship to which that Act does apply
of the provisions thereof relating to the forfeiture of ships).

11. In the Whaling Industry (Regulation) Act, 1934, the expression
“British ship to which this Act applies” shall not include a British
ship registered in Jamaica.

12. In paragraph (b) of subsection (7) of section two of the Civil
Aviation (Licensing) Act, 1960, the expression “colony” shall not include
Jamaica.

Copyright
13. If the Copyright Act, 1911, so far as in force in the law of

Jamaica is repealed or amended by that law at a time when sub-
paragraph (2) of paragraph 39 of the Seventh Schedule to the Copyright

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Act, 1956 (which applies certain provisions of that Act in relation
to countries to which the said Act of 1911 extended) is in force in
relation to Jamaica, the said sub-paragraph (2) shall thereupon cease
to have effect in relation thereto.

Divorce jurisdiction
14. In subsection (2) of section two of the Indian and Colonial

Divorce Jurisdiction Act, 1926 (which enables section one of that Act
to be extended to certain countries, but not to any of the countries
named in the said subsection (2)) for the words “and Tanganyika” there
shall be substituted the words “Tanganyika and Jamaica”.

Commonwealth Institute
15. In subsection (2) of section eight of the Imperial Institute Act,

1925, as amended by the Commonwealth Institute Ad, 1958 (which
relates to the power to vary the provisions of the said Act of 1925
if an agreement for the purpose is made with the governments of
certain territories which for the time being are contributing towards
the expenses of the Commonwealth Institute) for the words “and
Tanganyika” there shall be substituted the words “Tanganyika and
Jamaica”.

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