# The Bahamas Independence Order 1973, Paragraph 50: Speaker and Deputy Speaker


(1) When the House of Assembly first meets after any general election and before it proceeds to the despatch of any other business, the House shall, in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed by the rules of procedure of the House, elect from among the members who are not Ministers or Parliamentary Secretaries one member to be the Speaker of the Assembly and another member to be Deputy Speaker; and, if the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker falls vacant at any time before the next dissolution of the House of Assembly, the House shall, as soon as practicable, proceed in like manner to fill the vacant office.
(2) A person shall vacate the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker—
(a) if he ceases to be a member of the House of Assembly:
Provided that the Speaker shall not vacate his office by reason only that he has ceased to be a member on a dissolution of Parliament, until the House of Assembly first meets after that dissolution;
(b) if he is appointed to be a Minister or Parliamentary Secretary;
(c) if he announces the resignation of his office to the House of Assembly or if, by writing under his hand addressed, in the case of the Speaker, to the Clerk of the House and, in the case of the Deputy Speaker, to the Speaker (or, if the office of Speaker is vacant or the Speaker is absent from The Bahamas, to the Clerk), he resigns that office; or
(d) in the case of the Deputy Speaker, if he is elected to be Speaker.
(3) If by reason of Article 49(2) of this Constitution the Speaker or Deputy Speaker is required to cease to perform his functions as a member of the House of Assembly, he shall also cease to perform his functions as Speaker or Deputy Speaker and those functions shall, until he vacates his seat in the House or resumes the performance of the functions of his office, be performed—
(a) in the case of the Speaker, by the Deputy Speaker or, if the office of Deputy Speaker is vacant or the Deputy Speaker is required to cease to perform his functions as a member of the House of Assembly by virtue of Article 49(2) of this Constitution, by such member (not being a Minister or Parliamentary Secretary) as the House may elect for the purpose;
(b) in the case of the Deputy Speaker, by such member (not being a Minister or Parliamentary Secretary) as the House may elect for the purpose.
(4) If the Speaker or Deputy Speaker resumes the performances of his functions as a member of the House in accordance with the provisions of Article 49(4) of this Constitution, he shall also resume the performance of his functions as Speaker, or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1973/1080/schedule/1/paragraph/50 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/bahamas-independence-order-1973/schedule-1/paragraph-50
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.