The Governor exercises executive authority on behalf of His Majesty The King and is supported in this by an Island Council. The Island Council is advisory, sits for a three year term and may consist of five or seven members. Its powers are set out in the Constitution and in the Island Government (Ascension) Ordinance 2008.
The Governor can only make laws after consulting the Island Council. Local laws are made under the authority of the Constitution of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha and can be found on the website of the St Helena Government Attorney General.
Formal meetings of the Council are held regularly, usually every six weeks, and are open to members of the public. On a day-to-day basis the running of the Government is delegated to the Administrator who is the head of the Ascension Island Government.
Judicial services are provided through the Magistrates’ Court, Supreme Court and Coroner’s Court on Ascension. The Constitution establishes the Supreme Court of St Helena and the Court of Appeal under section 80. Sections 153 and 218 establish that the Supreme Court of St Helena and the Court of Appeal of St Helena are the Courts of Ascension and Tristan da Cunha respectively.
The Attorney General of St Helena is also the Attorney General of Ascension and of Tristan da Cunha under sections 150 and 215 of the Constitution respectively. As such the St Helena Attorney General is the principal legal advisor to the Government. They are an ex-officio member of the Island Council and have overall responsibility for law reform, law revision and legislative drafting. The Attorney General is supported on Ascension by a Crown Counsel and a Clerk to Court.
[wp_rss_retriever url=”https://rss.app/feeds/MNrgI5Ybn5Se8Pg6.xml” items=”1″ excerpt=”0″ read_more=”true” title=”true” source=”false” credits=”false” new_window=”true” thumbnail=”false” date=”true” ajax=”false” cache=”3600″]