Constitution of Barbados

The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law under which Barbados is governed. The Constitution provides a legal establishment of the structure and various roles of administration of the Queen of Barbados (often referred to as The Crown, and represented by the Governor-General), the Government of Barbados, as well as legal rights and responsibilities of the public and various other government officers. The Constitution which came into force in 1966 was amended in 1974, 1978, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2002 and 2003. The 1966 document succeeds several other documents concerning administration of Barbados. One of them, the Barbados Charter, is discussed in the present Constitution's Preamble. Prior statutes were created for the administration of Barbados as a colony. As a former English and later British colony, the Constitution is similar to those of other Commonwealth realms, yet distinctly different in the spirit of the Statute of Westminster. In recent years there has been some dialogue on whether Barbados should undertake a process of patriating the constitution to cease the foundation being a 1966 Act of the British House of Commons.

In 1625 the English landed at Barbados and carved the term 'For King James of E. and this island' on a tree, then some personal items were left behind, and the ship's crew returned to England to notify The Crown and to seek initial settlers. In 1627 the initial settlers landed at Barbados and formed a colony based entirely on common law. As the population of Barbados grew a General Assembly was created and began to draft laws. After conflict in England erupted during the English Civil War, and large numbers of English settlers moved to Barbados, the General Assembly began the practice of creating a distinctly Barbados-based administration.

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