Constitution of Fiji: Chapter 6 - Part 1: The Parliament (general Overview)

Part 1: The Parliament (general Overview)

• See main articles: Cabinet of Fiji; Parliament of Fiji

Part 1 of Chapter 6 sets out the general functions of the Parliament. It comprises sections 45 through 49 of the Constitution.

Section 45 vests legislative power in Parliament, which is declared to consist of the President, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. According to British constitutional theory, on which much of the Fijian Constitution is based, the British Parliament consists not only of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, but also the reigning Monarch, who is replaced by the President in the Fijian context. This has important constitutional ramifications. The Westminster parliamentary model followed in Fiji affirms the distinction between the executive and legislative branches of government, but does not separate them to the same extent as the American model does; there is considerable overlap. Although the office of the President is a largely honorary one, modeled on the British Monarchy, the Cabinet officially exercises executive authority in his name, and the President's status as a part of the Parliament is the source of the power of the Cabinet to initiate legislation.

Section 46 sets out the way in which legislative power is to be exercised. Bills become law on being passed by the two Houses of the Parliament, and assented to by the President. The latter step is a mere formality, however, as the President is expressly forbidden in this Section to refuse his assent. He therefore has no veto. This follows British practice, though not theory: no British Monarch has vetoed a bill for almost three hundred years (the last exercise of a veto was by Queen Anne in 1708), and "common law" makes it doubtful that any future Monarch would consider himself or herself at liberty to do so. The Fijian Constitution formalizes this ban on the royal veto. Prior to 1987, Fiji's Head of State was, in fact, the British Monarch. When Fiji became a republic and replaced the Monarch with a President, no drastic changes were made to the institutions of the state, or to their functions.

Sections 47 through 49 deal with the relative powers of the two houses of Parliament with respect to the passage of bills. All bills are to originate in the House of Representatives; the Senate has the power, with some limitations, to review, amend, or veto such bills. Senatorial amendments must be agreed to by the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives may override a Senate veto, provided that the same bill was passed by two consecutive sessions of the House of Representatives with an interval of at least six months.

There are three exceptions to these rules.

• 1. The Senate's veto over amendments to the Constitution is absolute; the House of Representatives may not override it.
• 2. The Senate may not amend money bills, defined as "Bills imposing taxation or appropriating revenue or moneys." It may, however, reject such a bill in its entirety within twenty-one days of receiving it. If, at the end of twenty-one days, the Senate has done nothing about a money bill, it is deemed to have passed it.
• 3. If the Prime Minister certifies in writing to the President of the Senate that a bill passed by the House of Representatives is "urgent," the Senate has a maximum of seven days to decide on its fate. If at the end of the seven days the Senate has done nothing about the bill, it is deemed to have passed it.

Greater powers given to the House of Representatives because it is popularly elected. The Senate's absolute veto over constitutional amendments, however, reflects the view of the framers of the Constitution that safeguards were necessary to protect it from being lightly tampered with by putting a veto in the hands of a body less susceptible to electoral pressure. With its built-in near-majority of Fijian chiefs, the Senate was also seen as a bulwark against attempts to amend the Constitution at the expense of ethnic Fijians.