33. (1) Whenever the office of
Governor-General is vacant of the holder of the office is absent from
The Bahamas or is for any other reason unable to perform the functions
of his office, those functions shall be performed-
(a) by any person for the time
being designated by her Majesty in that behalf
who is in The Bahamas and
able to perform those functions; or
(b) at any time when there is
no person in The Bahamas so designated and
able to perform those
functions, by the holder of the office of Chief
Justice; or
(c) at any time referred to in
sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph when the
office of Chief Justice is
vacant or the holder thereof is absent from The
Bahamas or is for any
other reason unable to perform those functions,
by the President of the
Senate.
(2) The holder of the office
of Governor-General or any person designated under sub-paragraph (1)(a)
of this Article or by sub-paragraph (1)(b) of this Article shall not,
for the purposes of this Article, be regarded as absent from The Bahamas
or as unable to perform the function of the office of Governor-General
at any time when there is a subsisting appointment of a deputy under
Article 34 of this Constitution.
34. (1) Whenever the
Governor-General-
(a) has occasion to be absent
from The Bahamas for a period which he
has reason to believe will be of
short duration; or
(b) is suffering from an
illness that he has reason to believe will be of short
duration,
he may, acting in accordance
with the advice of the Prime Minister, by instrument under the Public
Seal, appoint any person in The Bahamas to be his deputy during such
absence or illness and in that capacity to perform on his behalf such of
the function of the office of Governor-General as may be specified in
that instrument.
(2) The power and authority of
the Governor-General shall nor be abridged, altered or in any way
affected by the appointment of a deputy under this Article, and in the
exercise of any function that is exercisable by the Governor-General
acting in accordance with his own deliberate judgment or after
consultation with any person or authority a deputy shall conform to and
observe any instructions that the Governor-General, acting in like
manner, may address to him;
Provided that the question whether or not a deputy has conformed
to or observed any such instruction shall not be inquired into in any
court.
(3) A person appointed as a
deputy under this Article shall hold that appointment for such period as
may be specified in the instrument by which he is appointed, and his
appointment may be revoked at any time by the Governor-General acting in
accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister.
35. (1) Parliament may
prescribe the offices that are to constitute the personal staff of the
Governor-General, the salaries and allowances that are to be paid in
respect of the expenditure attaching to the office of Governor-General.
(2)
Any salaries or other sums
prescribed under paragraph (1) of this Article are hereby charged on and
shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund.
(3) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4) of this Article, power
to make appointments to the offices for the time being prescribed under
paragraph (1) of this Article as offices that are to constitute the
personal staff of the Governor-General, and to remove and to exercise
disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in any such office,
is hereby vested in the Governor-General acting in accordance with his
own deliberate judgment.
(4) The Governor-General,
acting in accordance with his own deliberate judgment, may appoint to
any of the offices prescribed under paragraph (1) of this Article such
public officers as he may select from a list submitted by the Public
Service Commission, but-
(a) the provisions of
paragraph (3) of this Article shall apply in relation to an
officer so
appointed as respects his service on the personal staff of the
Governor-General but not as respects his service as a public officer;
(b) an officer so appointed
shall not during, continuance on the personal staff
of the
Governor-General, perform the functions of any public office; and
(c) an officer so appointed
may at any time be appointed by the
Governor-General, if the Public
Service Commission so recommend, to
assume or resume the function of a
public office and he shall thereupon
vacate his office on the personal
staff of the Governor-General, but the
Governor-General may , in his own
deliberate judgment, decline to
release the officer for that
appointment.
(5) All offices prescribed under
paragraph (1) of this Article as offices that are to constitute the
personal staff of the Governor-General shall, for the purposes of
Chapter VIII, be deemed to be public offices.
36.
The Governor-General shall
keep and use the Public Seal for sealing all things that shall pass the
Public Seal.
37.
A person appointed to the
office of Governor-General or assuming the functions of that office
under Article 33 of this Constitution shall, before entering upon the
duties of that office, take and subscribe the oath of allegiance and an
oath for the due execution of the office of Governor-General in such
form as is prescribed by any law in force in The Bahamas, such oaths
being administered by the Chief Justice of such other Justice of the
Supreme Court as may be designated by the Chief Justice.