The Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation was the bicameral legislature in

West Indies Federation The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean th ...

from 1958 to 1962. It was formally made up of two houses, an appointed Senate (

Upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

) and an elected House of Representatives (

Lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

). The governor general, on behalf of the monarch, summoned and appointed the 19 senators, while each of the 45 members of the House of Representatives represented an electoral district, and were elected by voters residing in the district. The governor general also summoned and called together the House of Representatives, and had the power to

prorogue Prorogation in the Westminster system of government is the action of proroguing, or interrupting, a parliament, or the discontinuance of meetings for a given period of time, without a dissolution of parliament. The term is also used for the period ...

dissolve Parliament The dissolution of a legislative assembly (or parliament) is the simultaneous termination of service of all of its members, in anticipation that a successive legislative assembly will reconvene later with possibly different members. In a democrac ...

, in order to either end a

parliamentary session A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections. ...

or call a general election. The only election was held in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

. It remained for 4 years until the dissolution of the federation in 1962. The official language of the Parliament was English.

Senate

The upper chamber was called the Senate, and it had 19 members appointed by the

Governor-General of the West Indies Federation Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

. There were 2 senators from each territory except

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

, which only had 1 senator. Potential Senators must have met certain criteria before they could be nominated to the upper chamber. In order to be eligible for appointment, a person must have been a British subject of at least 21 years of age who has resided in the territory compromised in the Federation for the previous three years. A person would have been ineligible for appointment if they were in bankruptcy, had a mental illness, held an allegiance to a foreign state, had a

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

sentence, have been in prison for a time exceeding twelve months, or disqualified to be elected at the House of Representatives. Furthermore, a Senator could not have also served as a civil servant, a member of the armed forces or police, a judge, a public prosecutor, a controller, or a sitting member of the House of Representatives. Senators served for five years.

President of the Senate

The president of the Senate was the presiding officer of the Senate. He or she was assisted by a vice president who must have been a sitting senator. Both the president and the vice president must not have been a member of the Council of State.

List of presidents

House of Representatives

The lower chamber was called the House of Representatives, and it had popularly elected 45 members, where five members were from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, 17 from

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, 10 from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

, 1 from Montserrat, and 2 from each of the remaining territories. Montserrat also had a privilege of an alternate member, who served as a substitute member in the absence of the main member. The requirements to stand for election were similar with the requirements for Senate appointment. However, the alternate member for Montserrat was forbidden to stand election as the main member of Montserrat.

Speaker of the House of Representatives

The speaker of the House of Representatives was the presiding officer of the House of Representatives who must not have been a member of the Council of State. Erskine Ward was the sole speaker during the existence of the Federal Parliament.

List of speakers

References

{{reflist West Indies Federation British West Indies History of the Caribbean 1958 establishments in North America 1962 disestablishments in North America 1958 establishments in the British Empire 1962 disestablishments in the British Empire 20th-century disestablishments in the Caribbean