Barbados

Government

Government type: parliamentary democracy (Parliament) under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm Capital: name: Bridgetown

Administrative divisions: 11 parishes and 1 city*; Bridgetown*, Christ Church, Saint Andrew, Saint George, Saint James, Saint John, Saint Joseph, Saint Lucy, Saint Michael, Saint Peter, Saint Philip, Saint Thomas Independence: 30 November 1966 (from the UK) National holiday: Independence Day, 30 November (1966) Constitution: adopted 22 November 1966, effective 30 November 1966; amended several times, last in 2007 (2016) Legal system: English common law; no judicial review of legislative acts International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction Citizenship: citizenship by birth: yes citizenship by descent: yes dual citizenship recognized: yes residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Sandra MASON (since 8 January 2018) head of government: Prime Minister Mia MOTTLEY (since 25 May 2018) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; governor general appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of the majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the governor general; the prime minister recommends the deputy prime minister Legislative branch: description: bicameral Parliament consists of: elections: House of Assembly - last held on 24 May 2018 (next to be held in 2023) note: note - tradition dictates that the election is held within 5 years of the last election, but constitutionally it is 5 years from the first seating of Parliament plus a 90-day grace period election results: House of Assembly - percent of vote by party - BLP 74.6%, DLP 22.6%, other 2.8%; seats by party - BLP 30 Judicial branch: highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the High Court with 8 justices) and the Court of Appeal (consists of the High Court chief justice and president of the court and 4 justices; note - in 2010, Barbados, a member of the Caribbean Court of Justice, replaced the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London as the final court of appeal judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the governor-general on the recommendation of the prime minister and opposition leader of Parliament; other justices appointed by the governor-general on the recommendation of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission, a 5-member independent body consisting of the Supreme Court chief justice, the commission head, and governor-general appointees recommended by the prime minister; justices serve until mandatory retirement at age 65 subordinate courts: Magistrates' Courts Political parties and leaders: Bajan Free Party [Alex MITCHELL] Barbados Integrity Movement [Neil HOLDER] Barbados Labor Party or BLP [Mia MOTTLEY] Democratic Labor Party or DLP [Verla DE PEIZA] People’s Democratic Congress [Mark ADAMSON] People's Empowerment Party or PEP [David COMISSIONG] Solutions Barbados [Grenville PHILLIPS II] United Progressive Party or UPP [Lynette EASTMOND]