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Head of State Act 1965

CONSOLIDATED ACTS OF SAMOA 2009

HEAD OF STATE ACT 1965

Arrangement of Provisions

TITLE

1. Short title
2. Commencement
3. Style and title of the Head of State
4. Honours and civil dignities
5. Immunity from legal process
6. Exemptions from taxation
7. Salary and personal expense allowance of Head of State
8. Illness allowances
9. Allowance to widows of first joint Head of State
10. Official residence
11. Rights of widows of first joint Head of State in official residences
12. Transport
13. Transport rights of widows of first joint Head of State
14. Office
15. Official entertainments and other expenses
16. Remuneration of Council of Deputies
16A. Transport for Council of Deputies
16B. Official residence for Council of Deputies
17. Repeal

_________________

THE HEAD OF STATE ACT 1965
1965 No. 13

AN ACT to make provision for the emoluments, privileges and immunities of the Head of State and other matters pertaining to that Office.

(31 August 1965)
(Commencement date: 1 January 1962)

1. Short title - This Act may be cited as the Head of State Act 1965.

2. Commencement - This Act shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of January 1962.

3. Style and title of the Head of State - (1) The style, title and mode of address of the Head of State during a term of office shall be:

"His Highness the Head of State of Samoa".

(2) The style and mode of address of the wife of the Head of State during a term of office shall be:

"Her Highness the Masiofo".

4. Honours and civil dignities - The Head of State, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, may create and bestow any titles of honour, order, or civil dig-nities in recognition of parliamentary or other public service at the Head of State's pleasure.

5. Immunity from legal process-(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Head of State shall be accorded immunity from suit and legal process of any kind whether civil or criminal, including freedom from the arrest of the Head of State's person, during the Head of State's term of Office.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall affect the charging, prosecution and arrest of the Head of State where the Head of State is suspected of or is charged with a crime established under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

6. Exemptions from taxation - The Head of State shall be exempted during the term of office from liability to pay any of the following taxes or charges:

(a) Income tax in respect of income derived from the office;

(b) Customs duty on all goods imported for household consumption, and on not more than one motor car imported during each 5 years of the term or terms of office, in every case whether for official or private use:

PROVIDED THAT on any such goods or motor car purchased by the Head of State in Samoa the Head of State shall be entitled to a drawback of any customs duty paid on the importation thereof into Samoa:

PROVIDED FURTHER THAT if and when the Head of State sells, gives away or otherwise disposes of any such motor car within 3 years of importing or purchasing the same, the Head of State shall thereupon become liable to pay customs duty, at the rate current at the date of sale, gift or other disposition, on the depreciated value of such motor car at the last-mentioned date as determined by the Collector of Customs;

(c) Registration and other charges in respect of motor vehicles which are the Head of State's personal property or which are provided for official use;

(d) Motor driving licence fees;

(e) Radio, gun and dog licence fees;

(f) Charges for electric power consumption and water rates in respect of the official residence;

(g) Telephone rental and charges;

(h) Rental for a Post Office mail box.

7. Salary and personal expense allowance of the Head of State - There shall be charged on the Treasury Fund and paid to the Head of State as statutory expenditure:

(a) A salary at the rate of $60,000 per annum; and

(b) A personal expense allowance at the rate of $20,000 per annum.

8. Illness allowances - If Cabinet is satisfied that the Head of State is ill and cannot obtain adequate treatment for the illness in Samoa, but could and intends to obtain such treatment in an overseas country, Cabinet may authorise payment of the cost of transporting the Head of State (and any attendant or attendants, including his Masiofo, thought by Cabinet to be necessary or advisable) from Samoa to that country and back, any medical and hospital costs incurred by the Head of State in that country, and any hotel expenses properly incurred by the Head of State and any such attendant or attendants in that country.

9. Allowance to widows of first joint Head of State - The widow of each of them the first joint holders of the office of Head of State if she is living with her husband at the date of his death shall be entitled to be paid an amount equal to his salary and personal expenses allowance for 3 months from the date of his death.

10. Official residence - (1) There shall be made available free of charge to the Head of State an official residence appropriate to the dignity of the position equipped with adequate household, domestic and ground staff.

(2) The official residence of the Head of State shall be supplied free of charge with such furniture, floor coverings, soft furnishings, and other household articles as the Head of State may require.

11. Rights of widows of first joint Head of State in official residences - (1) On the death of each of them the first joint holders of the office of Head of State the bed last used by the Head of State shall become the property of his widow if she is living with him at the date of his death.

(2) On the death of His Highness Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole his widow shall be entitled to purchase from the State at cost the set of bamboo chairs ordered from overseas and the dining suite made by the Public Works Department, and on the death of His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II his widow if she is living with him at the date of his death shall be entitled to purchase from the State at cost such of the furniture used by him as she chooses up to the cost of that set of bamboo chairs and that dining suite.

(3) Subject to subsections (1) and (2), there shall be made available free of charge to the widow and family of His Highness Tupua Tamasese Mea'ole, for a period of 86 days from the date of his death, the official residence and household articles occupied and used by him, at the date of his death, equipped with adequate household, domestic, and ground staff.

(4) Subject to subsections (1) and (2), there shall be made available free of charge to the widow and family of His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II if she is living with him at the date of his death, for a period of 14 days from the date of his death, the official residence and household articles occupied and used by him at the date of his death, equipped with adequate household, domestic and ground staff.

12. Transport - (1) The Head of State shall have 2 official motor vehicles and one chauffeur available at the Head of State's disposal free of charge at all times during the term of office.

(2) The cost of repairs, maintenance, oil, fuel and running expenses of those motor vehicles shall be met by annual appropriation in accordance with the provisions of section 15.

13. Transport rights of widows of first joint Head of State - On the death of each of them the first joint holders of the office of Head of State the motor vehicle last available at his disposal if only one, or such one as his widow chooses of the 2 motor vehicles last available at his disposal, shall become the property of his widow if she was living with him at the date of his death, and the State shall remove the Crown plate, register the motor vehicle in her name for the balance of the licensing period current at the date of his death, and, for 56 days from the date of his death, make a chauffeur available at her disposal free of charge and supply oil and fuel for that motor vehicle.

14. Office - (1) The State shall provide for the Head of State an office for the discharge of the official duties, together with such staff, office and other equipment as the Head of State may need for the efficient administration thereof.

(2) The Secretary to the Head of State shall be responsible to the Head of State for the administration of the office.

15. Official entertainments and other expenses - (1) There shall be set aside by the Legislative Assembly an annual sum which shall be sufficient to cover the cost of the following expenses of and incidental to the upkeep of the household of the Head of State:

(a) Any official entertaining undertaken by the Head of State;

(b) The maintenance and upkeep of the official residence and grounds of the Head of State;

(c) The administrative expenses of the office of the Head of State;

(d) The salaries of the office, household, domestic and ground staff of the Head of State;

(e) The cost of repairs, fuel and running expenses in respect of the official motor vehicles of the Head of State.

(2) The Secretary to the Head of State shall submit an annual estimate of the above expenditure to the Treasury for the purpose of ascertaining the amount to be appropriated each year by the Legislative Assembly under this section.

(3) As and when required, there shall be set aside by the Legislative Assembly a sum which shall be sufficient to cover the cost of the following expenses of and incidental to the upkeep of the household of the widow and family of each of the first joint holders of the office of Head of State if the widow was living with her husband at the date of his death:

(a) The maintenance and upkeep of the official residence and grounds occupied by them and the salaries of the household, domestic and ground staff employed in and out of that official residence for the period of 86 days specified in subsection (3) and the period of 14 days specified in section 11(4);

(b) The cost of oil and fuel for the motor vehicle which becomes the property of the widow on her husband's death, and the salary of the chauffeur made available to her, for the period of 56 days specified in section 13; and

(c) The cost of removing the Crown plate from that motor vehicle and registering it for the licensing period current at the date of such husband's death.

16. Remuneration of Council of Deputies - (1) Subject to subsection (2), there shall be charged on the Treasury Fund and payable to a member of the Council of Deputies in accordance with Article 25 of the Constitution as statutory expenditure:

(a) A salary at the rate of $42,000 per annum; and

(b) A non-taxable housing and entertainment allowance of $12,000;

(c) A taxable telephone expense allowance of $2,400;

(d) As from the 1st day of January 1990, a special taxable allowance calculated at the rate of $3,000 per annum.

(1A) When and so often as there occurs a general wage and salary increase for Public Servants by which wages and salaries of Public Servants are increased by a fixed percentage the salary of the Council of Deputies shall by authority of this Act be increased by a like percentage.

(2) No salary allowance payable under subsection (1) shall be payable to a member of the Council of Deputies for a period during which the member is a full-time salaried employee of the Government.

16A. Transport for Council of Deputies - (1) The Government may provide each Member of the Council of Deputies with one official motor vehicle and a chauffeur to be at the member's disposal free of charge at all times during the member's term of office.

(2) The cost of repairs, maintenance, oil, fuel and other running expenses in respect of such official motor vehicle shall be met by annual appropriation by the Legislative Assembly.

16B. Official residence for Council of Deputies - The Government may provide each or any Member of the Council of Deputies with an official residence, appropriate to the dignity of the position, together with such furniture, floor coverings, soft furnishings and necessary household articles to be approved from time to time by the Head of State acting on the advice of Cabinet.

17. Repeal - The Head of State Ordinance 1961 is hereby repealed.

REVISION NOTES 1997

The Head of State Act 1965 appearing in this Reprint comprised that Act as it appears in the 1977 Reprint together with the amendment shown below:

Section 7(a) - the salary rate of the Head of State was substituted by the 1989 Amendment Act.

Section 7(b) - personal expense allowance of the Head of State was substituted by the 1986 Amendment Act.

Section 16(1) - was substituted by the 1980 Amendment Act

Section 16(1)(a) (b)(c) - was substituted by the 1993 Amendment Act.

Section 16(1)(d) - was added by the 1992/1993 Amendment Act.

Section 16(1A) - was added by the 1992/1993 Amendment Act.

Section 16(2) - was substituted by the 1980 Amendment Act but was later amended by 1992/1993 Amendment Act by omitting the words "or personal expense allowance" and substituted the words "allowance or refund", it was further amended by the 1993 Amendment Act by omitting the words "or refund".

Section 16B - was substituted by the 1992/1993 Amendment Act but was later amended by 1993 Amendment Act by omitting the words "free of charge" and "comma" and omitting section 16B(2), (3).

REVISION NOTES 2008

This law has been generally edited as provided for by section 5 of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008. The following general revisions have been made –

(a) References to Western Samoa have been amended to Samoa in accordance with an amendment to the Constitution of Samoa in 1997.

(b) Amendments have been made to conform to modern drafting styles and to use modern language as applied in the laws of Samoa.

(c) Other minor editing has been done in accordance with the lawful powers of the Attorney General.

The following amendments have been made to specific sections of the Act to incorporate amendments made by Act of Parliament passed since the publication of the Western Samoa Statutes Reprint 1978-1996 –

By the Head of State (Amendment) Act 1997 (No. 10) -

Section 7 Amendments were made to the salary and allowances of the Head of State – "$51, 761" in paragraph (a) became "$60,000", and "$3,500" in paragraph (b) became "$12,000".

Section 16 An amendment was made to the salary of the members of the Council of Deputies – "$35,000" in paragraph (a) became "$42,000".

By the Head of State (Amendment) Act 1998 (No. 2) -

Section 7 An amendment was made to the allowances of the Head of State – "$12,000" in paragraph (b) became "$20,000".

[By the General Wage Increase (Public Officeholders and Public Servants) Act 2001 (No. 2) -

The salaries of the Head of State under section 7, and the members of the Council of Deputies under section 16 were increased by 5%.]

NOTE: No changes have been made to references to the male gender only as in some instances this would change the substance of the provisions. Formal legislative amendment would be required to give authority for such changes.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2007. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

REVISION NOTES 2008 No. 2

The commencement date is inserted after the assent date.

The following amendment has been made to a specific section of the
Act to incorporate amendments made by Act of Parliament passed since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

Section 5 was substituted by an amendment made by section 110 of the International Criminal Court Act 2007.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2008. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Teleiai Lalotoa Sinaalamaimaleula Mulitalo (Parliamentary Counsel)

REVISION NOTES 2009

There were no amendments made to this law since the publication of the Consolidated and Revised Statutes of Samoa 2007.

This law has been consolidated and revised by the Attorney General under the authority of the Revision and Publication of Laws Act 2008 and is an official version of this Act as at 31 December 2009. It is an offence to publish this Act without approval or to make any unauthorised change to an electronic version of this Act.

Revised and consolidated by the Legislative Drafting Division under the supervision of Papalii Malietau Malietoa (Parliamentary Counsel).

The Head of State Act 1965 is administered in the Legislative Department.