Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696585952191.pdf (Vanuatu)
A ~rief History of the Vanuatu~Parliament ·~y~~,~.~~~';~~~0~~~~-=:~~~~:~~~~:~::~'~'~:~~f'~:'·~:'[~~~~,,~~~:~~~~::~:~~~m~:':"~;":~~~ ....._....__...:=~~;':;":~~~:=~:~~:-~~~~'::~,~~~: A Brief History of the Vanuatu Parliament ~~~~:~~:~~~";::~~~~~~~~~:~~~~~:f:':':~~~~'f~~'~~:':;t''f:~~:':~~~~~:~~~:~:~~::~,:'::~:";~~:~~~:~:~-~~:-'::".~~~:~~~~~'~ People first came to the islands we now call Vanuatu from the north and west, about 3500 years ago.
We know little about those brave explorers and their descendants, the first ni-Vanuatu, but we may guess that they had little of what we now call "government".

They probably were organised in groups no bigger than a village, with a bigman or chief, and perhaps a sorcerer to keep the affairs of the people in order.

The smaller islands or groups may have had one "chief of chiefs" (highest grade chief) or island councils.

Men love to talk of power, and to make themselves important, everywhere in the world.
But just as the languages of Vanuatu grew into many different languages, different islands may have developed different forms of government, a chief here, a there, maybe even assemblies of the whole community, or powerful council women.

So "devolution" for different parts of the - limited self-government country - may not be such a foreign idea.

And over more than 2400 years, customs certainly changed.

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o ~" Fernandez The first Europeans to come to Vanuatu were Spanish, the crews of the Capitana, Almiranta and Los Tres Reyes under Pedro de Quiros, who called the is- lands "Tierra Australia del Espiritu Santo" - Southern Land of the Holy Spirit - in May, 1606.

(The name has shortened and its use has narrowed to the one island.)
It was Captain James Cook in 1774 who renamed the islands "the New Hebrides", after some cold and windswept (but much loved) islands off the north-west of Scotland.

As recently as 1815, England and France were at war.

Relations between the two countries remained uneasy long after that, and this has cast a long shadow over the government of what is now Vanuatu.
In 1887, a joint English-French Naval Commission was set up to take control over the English and French people in the islands, the traders, planters and (shared government) was agreed to in 1906, missionaries.

A "Condominium" a protocol (plan) was written in 1914, and it finally came into force in 1922.

British and French people (including the "Tonkinese" brought from what is now Vietnam) came under the governments of their own countries, and other for- to have.
Ni-Vanuatu did not come eigners could choose which government under either umbrella, so there were really three sets of people in Vanuatu.

(terrible noise) be- The Condominium was jokingly called a "Pandemonium" cause of the clashes between the governments.

A symbol of this was the fact that neither government could bear to have its flag lower than the other's, so they both put up higher and higher flagpoles - until they finally agreed they were being silly and decided on a single height.
As well as French and British law, there was New Hebridean customary law.

This had power over ni-Vanuatu unless the case was covered by the Joint Regulations made "for the good government of the group" in the 1922 Anglo- French Protocol.

The Joint Regulations were made by a Joint Commission, controlled by French and British officials.

These regulations were the starting point of a national law for Vanuatu after Independence.
Ni-Vanuatu had no say in government until 1957, when an Advisory Council was set up.

This still gave little power to the indigenous people, and did not Demands for independence satisfy the growing interest in self-government.

independent, and in increased through the 1970s as countries around went 1975, the first step towards indigenous government was taken, when elections were held for municipal councils in Port Vila and Luganville.
Soon after, elec- tions were held for a Representative Assembly, but there was also conflict between European authorities and local political parties.

As a result, discussions began between French and British officials and ni- Vanuatu over the political future of the New Hebrides.

A Constitution Commit- tee was set up, and after much discussion, it reached agreement on a Consti- tution for an independent nation.
It was agreed on September 19, 1979, by the representatives present at the Consitutional Conference held in Port Vila, and put into effect by "an exchange of notes" (actually very formal documents) between France and the United Independence was declared officially on July 30, 1980.

Kingdom.

Under the 1980 Constitution, Vanuatu has a unitary state (unlike, say, Aus- tralia, which has federal government and separate state parliaments).
The Vanuatu Parliament was founded on the Rule of Law, the Separation of Pow- ers (see Section Three), and what is often called a "Westminster" ,style of gov- ernment (an elected Parliament divided into a Government and a loyal Oppo- sition).

The first Article of the Constitution recognises democracy as the foundation of the Republic.

Democracy means government by the people.

but in practice it (Switzerland is a is almost always done through their elected representatives.
country where the people do some of the governing directly, through public votes - referendums.)

The Constitution provides for this with m emphasis on the Rule of Law !bD basic human rights and duties Wi a free and universal vote) and election processes the Separation of Powers.

The Constitution has separate chapters for the Legislature, franchise (all adults - with a few exceptions - may the Executive and the Judiciary.

Wi is called "the Westminster model" of government.
Vanuatu uses what Like most Commonwealth countries, this is actually different in some important ways from the British system whose Parliament m Parliamentary sovereignty W a head of state with few powers m a bipartisan (two-sided) and bicameral structure (with an Upper and a is at Westminister.
That one has Lower House of Parliament) W executive control through a strong one-party Government WI a suffrage-based electoral system (people, not only land-owners, vote) and W no entrenched (hard-to-change) Constitution In most Commonwealth countries, those have changed.

Parties may still be strong, but there are usually more than two of them, and the Government may be formed from more than one (a coalition government), though the executive may still be controlled by a one-party Cabinet.
Many countries now have a written Constitution which is entrenched - built in to the structure of the govern- ment - and can only be changed with extra difficulty.

is quite similar to those of other Common- The Vanuatu form of government wealth countries.

What makes it different is is the French influence.

probably why the Head of State is called the "President" and not, say, the "Governor".
Unlike other Pacific states, in- stalled a local government, whether French or British, so what has come out is designed especially for the needs of Vanuatu.

An example of that is the Na- tional Council of Chiefs (Malvatumauri), which is elected, and has advisory powers under Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution.

the colonial Government never That The role of President seems to conflict with the supremacy of Parliament, which is part of the Westminster model.
But the President can not over-rule Parlia- merit unless thla Supreme Court has ruled that Parliament has broken the Con- stitution.

And the President is not elected directly by the people, so that title could be misleading.

The Constitution grants the President only a restricted role.
The President is something of a figure-head (respected but with no power), like the Monarch of Britain or the Governor-General of a country like New Zea- land, but in New Zealand it is the Attorney General who checks legislation for breaches of human rights (NZ Bill of Rights Act 1990, 57).

But he (President) has power to pardon convicted criminals and to appoint the Ombudsman (and exercises both during any time) is one thing in theory, another in practice.
The Westminster model like New Zealand, only a matter of convention.

One of its basic rules, decided anything, every Minister must support another convention.

the very existence of Cabinet (the Council of Ministers) In countries is that once Cabinet has is it (collective responsibility), The Constitution is "entrenched": features like the Council of Ministers written into its Vanuatu has important Constitution.
it can only be changed by a two-thirds majority of three-quarters of the Members of Parliament, and for some issues, only after a national referendum (public vote, under Articles 83 and 84).

The Constitution gives complete jurisdiction (power to decide) about Constitu- tional matters to the Supreme Court.

This means the Judiciary can stop the Executive from using its power wrongly, following the principie of the Separa- tion of Powers (see Section Three, and especially the diagram on page 3-2.)
the real centre of the system is a powerful Cabinet, accountable to Usually, In giving final say to the Parliament, but rarely controlled by any other body.

from the Westminster Supreme Court, (English) model.

It still keeps to the Commonwealth model because Parlia- ment usually has the final say, and the powers of the Supreme Court are not often used, usually only when parties affected by the decision ask for it.
the Vanuatu Constitution is different So how much influence did the French government system have?

The name "Westminster" implies that the British model was the main one.

French is a national language, and French law a source of Vanuatu law, but French law has no Constitutional role.

Both French and British laws that applied before Independence continue un- less they are inconsistent with independent status (Article 93 (2)).

This could create conflict between French and British law.
That There is a trend towards the use of common law rather than other possible is because it fits in with Vanuatu having a government and systems.

constitutional the Westminister system.

Vanuatu has a rich mixture of systems borrowed from various forms of government, but the main influence is British law, in both Par- liament and the Judiciary.

is related to the Commonwealth system that version of