|
|
[Home]
[Databases]
[WorldLII]
[Search]
[Feedback]
[Report an error]
[F.A.Q.]
Vanuatu Sessional Legislation |
Not yet commenced
REPUBLIC OF VANUATU
FOREIGN
SERVICE ACT
NO. 22 OF
2008
Arrangement of Sections
1 Definition
2 Appointment and selection of head of
mission (other than a consul general)
3 Recommendation and advertising of
head of mission (other than a consul general) position
4 Duties of head of
mission (other than a consul general)
5 Reporting requirement of a head of
mission (other than a consul general)
6 Removal and resignation of a head of
mission (other than a consul general)
7 Appointment of a consul
general
8 Duties of a consul general
9 Reporting requirement of a consul
general
10 Removal and resignation of a consul general
11 Appointment of
a foreign national as a head of mission or consul general
12 Head of mission
a leader
13 Appointment of an honorary consul
14 Duties of an honorary
consul
15 Reporting requirement of an honorary consul
16 Removal and
resignation from office of an honorary consul
17 Appointment of a special
envoy
18 Terms and conditions of employment
19 Secondment to a head of
mission position
20 Other staff of mission
21 Transitional arrangement and
cessation of office
22 Regulation
23 Commencement
--------------------------------------------
REPUBLIC OF VANUATU
FOREIGN
SERVICE ACT
NO.
22 OF
2008
An Act to provide for a legal framework for the
appointment of head of missions and for related matters.
Be it enacted
by the President and Parliament as
follows:
1 Definitions
In
this Act, unless the contrary intention
appears:
Council means the
Council of Ministers;
Director
General means the Director General responsible for foreign
affairs;
head of mission means a
person who is:
(a) issued with a letter of credentials under section 2 to be:
(i) a high commissioner of Vanuatu; or
(ii) an ambassador of Vanuatu; or
(iii) a roving ambassador of Vanuatu; or
(iv) a permanent representative to the United Nations or any other international organization, or
(b) appointed as a consul general under section 7;
honorary
consul means a person appointed under section 13 to be an honorary
consul;
Minister means the
Minister responsible for foreign
affairs;
Ministry means the
Ministry responsible for foreign
affairs;
mission means a high
commission, embassy, consulate or permanent mission of the Republic of
Vanuatu;
State means any State,
country or territory, but does not include
Vanuatu.
2 Appointment and selection of
head of mission (other than a consul general)
(1) An application for the post of a head of
mission is to be made in writing to the Director General. The Director General
must make
the applications available to the selection panel referred to in
subsection (4).
(2) The Council must not recommend to the President a
person for appointment, unless the person:
(a) is qualified and capable of carrying out the required duties at the mission; and
(b) has been recommended to the Minister by a selection panel under subsection (9).
(3) The President is to appoint and
issue a letter of credence to a person, upon the recommendation of the Council,
to be a head of
a mission.
(4) The Minister is to appoint the following
persons as members of the selection panel:
(a) a representative of the Office of the Prime Minister;
(b) a representative of the civil society;
(c) a representative of the Office of the Leader of Opposition;
(d) the Director General of the Ministry;
(e) the First Political Advisor of the Ministry;
(f) the Secretary of the Public Service Commission.
(5) In making an appointment under
paragraph (4)(a), (b) or (c), the Minister must take into consideration the
interest of ensuring
gender equity.
(6) The quorum for selecting and
recommending candidates to the Council is 4 members present at the
meeting.
(7) The Minister must nominate another person in accordance with
paragraph (4)(a), (b) or (c) to replace a member referred to in these
paragraphs
at a meeting if the member declares a conflict of interest at the meeting or is
absent for any reason approved by the
selection panel.
(8) If a member
referred to in paragraph (4)(d), (e) or (f) declares a conflict of interest at
the meeting or is absent for any reason
approved by the selection panel, the
next available senior officer under the position of the member is to replace the
member at the
meeting.
(9) The selection panel must recommend to the
Minister all candidates rated suitable by the selection panel, and the Minister
must
recommend all of those candidates to the Council.
(10) The
selection panel must not recommend a person unless the person is a citizen
(other than an honorary citizen) of Vanuatu.
(11) A person appointed and
issued with a letter of credentials under subsection (3) is to hold office for a
period of 3 years. However,
the period can be extended only once by the
President on the recommendation of the Council for another period not exceeding
3 years.
(12) The appointment of a person and the letter of credentials
issued by the President to a person is to be published in the Official
Gazette.
3 Recommendation and
advertising of head of mission (other than a consul general) position
(1) A recommendation made by the selection panel under subsection
2(9) must be made on merit following a fair and transparent selection
process.
(2) In making a recommendation under subsection 2(9), the selection
panel must have regard to the person’s qualifications, experience
and
suitability for the position concerned.
(3) All vacancies must be
advertised in such a way that informs and seeks applications from people
throughout Vanuatu.
4 Duties of head
of mission (other than a consul general)
Except as otherwise
instructed by the Minister, a head of mission is to have:
(a) the management and direction of the mission, its resources and activities; and
(b) the coordination of the official activities of the various departments and agencies of the Government of Vanuatu; and
(c) such other duties as may be assigned to him or her by the Minister or the Director General,
in the country or portion of the country or
at the international organization to which he or she is
appointed.
5 Reporting requirement of a
head of mission (other than a consul general)
(1) A head of
mission must report in writing to the Minister on a quarterly basis on the
performance of his or her duties.
(2) The Minister may require a head of
mission to report orally or in writing to him or her from time to time on any
specific matter
of importance to Vanuatu.
(3) A head of mission is
required to meet relevant government officials in Vanuatu, once in a year, for
debriefing purposes.
6 Removal and
resignation of a head of mission (other than a consul
general)
(1) The President may, on the
recommendation of the Council, remove
from office a head of mission if he or she:
(a) ceases to be a citizen of Vanuatu (other than a person appointed under section 11 of this Act); or
(b) becomes bankrupt inside or outside Vanuatu; or
(c) is convicted of an offence inside or outside Vanuatu that is listed under subsection 27(2) of the Leadership Code Act [CAP 240]; or
(d) is incapacitated by an illness; or
(e) is not complying with his or her performance agreement with the Minister; or
(f) has acted in a manner contrary to any lawful instruction of the Minister; or
(g) brings into disrepute the integrity and reputation of Vanuatu; or
(h) acts contrary to the Government’s foreign policy.
(2) If a head of mission is removed
under a paragraph of subsection (1), the next senior staff of the mission is to
act as the head
of mission until such time as the President appoints and issues
a letter of credence to a person to be the head of mission for that
mission
under section 2.
(3) A head of mission may resign at any time by giving 3
months notice in writing to the President.
7 Appointment of a consul
general
(1) The Minister may, with the prior approval of the Council, appoint a consul general.
(2) A person is not to be appointed as a consul general
unless:
(a) the person is qualified and capable of carrying out the duties of a consul general; and
(b) the person is a citizen of Vanuatu (other than a person appointed under section 11 of this Act).
(3) The provisions of
subsections 2(4) to (10) apply to the appointment of a consul
general.
(4) A person is to be appointed to hold office as a consul
general for a period of three years and may be reappointed for a period
not
exceeding 3 years.
(5) An appointment made under this section is to be
published in the Official
Gazette.
8 Duties of a consul
general
The consul general is to have such duties as may be
assigned to him or her by the Minister or the Director
General.
9 Reporting requirement of a
consul general
(1) A consul general must report in writing to the
Minister on a quarterly basis on the performance of his or her
duties.
(2) The Minister may require a consul general to report orally or
in writing to him or her from time to time on any specific matter
of importance
to Vanuatu.
10 Removal and resignation
of a consul general
(1) The Minister may, with the prior approval
of the Council, remove from office a consul general if he or she:
(a) ceases to be a citizen of Vanuatu (other than a person appointed under section 11 of this Act); or
(b) becomes bankrupt inside or outside Vanuatu; or
(c) is convicted of an offence inside or outside Vanuatu that is listed under subsection 27(2) of the Leadership Code Act [CAP 240]; or
(d) is incapacitated by an illness; or
(e) is not complying with his or her performance agreement with the Minister; or
(f) has acted in a manner contrary to any lawful instruction of the Minister; or
(g) brings into disrepute the integrity and reputation of Vanuatu; or
(h) acts contrary to the Government’s foreign policy.
(2) A consul general may resign at any
time by giving 3 months notice in writing to the Minister.
11 Appointment of a foreign national
as a head of mission or consul general
(1) Subject to subsection (3), the Minister may with the prior approval of the Council appoint, a foreign national to be a head of mission or consul general for the Republic of Vanuatu.
(2) The provisions of subsections 2(4) to (9) apply to the
appointment of a foreign national as a head of mission or consul
general.
(3) A foreign national may only be appointed under this section
in the following circumstances:
(a) if it is in the best interest of the Government that a head of mission or consul general be appointed for a particular jurisdiction; and
(b) due to budgetary constraints the Government is not able to fund these missions in that particular jurisdiction.
12 Head of mission a
leader
A head of mission is a leader for the purposes of the
Leadership Code Act [CAP 240].
13 Appointment of an honorary
consul
(1) The Minister with the prior approval of the Council, is
to appoint a person to be an honorary consul for Vanuatu in a State.
(2) A person is not to be appointed as an honorary consul
unless:
(a) the person is qualified and capable of carrying out the duties of an honorary consul; and
(b) the Minister has received an agreement for the mission from the receiving State; and
(c) the person has no record of criminal conviction.
(3) A person is to be appointed as
an honorary consul for a period not exceeding 3 years and may be reappointed.
(4) An appointment made under this section is to be published in the
Official Gazette.
14 Duties of an
honorary consul
(1) An honorary consul is to represent Vanuatu and
promote awareness of Vanuatu in a State and is to perform such other duties as
are prescribed by the regulations.
(2) In carrying out his or her
duties, the honorary consul is to liaise with other relevant authorities in
Vanuatu through the Ministry.
15 Reporting requirement of an
honorary consul
(1) An honorary consul must report in writing to
the Minister on a quarterly basis on the performance of his or her
duties.
(2) The Minister may require an honorary consul to report orally
and in writing to him or her from time to time on any specific matter
of
importance to Vanuatu.
(3) An honorary consul is required to meet
relevant government officials in Vanuatu once in a
year.
16 Removal and resignation from
office of an honorary consul
(1) The Minister may with the prior
approval of the Council, remove from office an honorary consul. The Minister
must provide the
honorary consul with 1 month notice in writing of his or her
intention to remove the person from that office.
(2) An honorary consul
may resign at any time by giving 1 month notice in writing to the Minister.
17 Appointment of a special
envoy
(1) The Minister may with the prior approval of the Council, appoint in writing a special envoy of the Republic of Vanuatu to represent the Minister or the Government of Vanuatu on specific matters in another jurisdiction.
(2) An appointment ceases to have effect on the date on which the Minister with the prior approval of the Council specifies in writing.
18 Terms
and Conditions of employment
The Minister is to determine, subject
to the prior approval of the Council, by Order, the terms and conditions of
appointment of a
head of mission, an honorary consul, a special envoy and other
staff of the mission.
19 Secondment to
a head of mission position
(1) A senior officer of a Government
Ministry, Department or Agency may be seconded to a head of mission position by
the President
on the recommendation of the Council.
(2) Any
recommendation by the Council must be made on merit.
(3) A secondment
must not exceed 3 years.
20 Other staff
of Mission
(1) An officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs or
another relevant Government Department or Agency may be seconded to a mission
by
the relevant Director General, the Public Service Commission or the relevant
authority (as the case may be), on the recommendation
of the Director
General.
(2) Any recommendation made by the Director General must be made
on merit.
(3) A secondment is not to exceed 3 years.
(4) A head of
mission is to appoint persons as members of the local staff of the overseas
mission concerned on such terms and conditions
as may be determined by the
Public Service Commission.
21 Transitional arrangement and
cessation of office
(1) This section applies to any person who was
a head of mission or an honorary consul immediately before the commencement of
this
Act.
(2) On and after that commencement, the person is to
continue:
(a) on the same terms and conditions; and
(b) in the same position.
(3) A person who is
not a citizen of Vanuatu and who is a head of mission or an honorary consul in a
State immediately before the
commencement of this Act, ceases to hold office on
the commencement of this Act.
22 Regulation
The
Minister may make regulations prescribing matters:
(a) required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or
(b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.
23 Commencement
This
Act commences on the date on which it is published in the Gazette.
PacLII:
Copyright Policy
|
Disclaimers
|
Privacy Policy
|
Feedback|
Report an error
URL: http://www.paclii.org/vu/legis/num_act/fsa2008162