This Part of this Act shall come into force on the first day of October, nineteen hundred and fifty-nine.

The executive government of Western Samoa is hereby declared to be vested in Her Majesty the Queen in right of the Government of New Zealand.

There shall be a High Commissioner of Western Samoa, who shall be appointed by the Governor-General, and shall in the exercise of his powers and the discharge of his functions be subject to the general control of the Minister of Island Territories of New Zealand.

The High Commissioner shall be a member of the Council of State in accordance with the provisions of section eight of this Act.

The High Commissioner shall also be the representative in Western Samoa of the Government of New Zealand, and as such representative he shall exercise such functions, powers, and authorities as will enable him to give effect to the responsibilities of the Government of New Zealand in relation to Western Samoa and in particular to the responsibilities of the Government of New Zealand in relation to the external affairs and defence of Western Samoa and to any land vested in the Crown in right of the Government of New Zealand.

The High Commissioner shall be paid out of the Samoan Treasury such salary and allowances as may be fixed from time to time by the Minister of Island Territories of New Zealand.

The Governor-General may from time to time appoint a fit person to be Deputy High Commissioner of Western Samoa.

While the office of High Commissioner is vacant, the Deputy shall, without further authority or appointment, assume and exercise all the powers and authorities and perform all the functions of the High Commissioner, and all the provisions of the principal Act and its amendments (including this Act) and of any regulations thereunder and of any Ordinance and of any other enactment or law in force in Western Samoa with respect to the High Commissioner shall extend and apply to the Deputy accordingly.

The authority of the Deputy to act as aforesaid shall continue until a new High Commissioner has been appointed and has assumed the duties of his office in Western Samoa.

If at any time the High Commissioner is incapable by reason of sickness or otherwise of performing the office of High Commissioner, or is or proposes to be absent from Western Samoa, or is or proposes to be absent from Apia, he may, by instrument in writing, authorise the Deputy High Commissioner to act on his behalf during the period of that incapacity or absence.

Any such instrument may limit, in such manner as the High Commissioner thinks fit, the authority of the Deputy with respect to the matters to which that authority extends.

Subject to any limitations so expressed in the instrument, the Deputy so authorised may exercise all the powers and authorities and perform all the functions of the High Commissioner, and all the provisions of the principal Act and its amendments (including this Act) and of any regulations thereunder and of any Ordinance and of any other enactment or law in force in Western Samoa with respect to the High Commissioner shall extend and apply to the Deputy accordingly.

Any such instrument may be at any time revoked by the High Commissioner.

No such instrument, and no act done in pursuance thereof by the Deputy, shall be questioned or invalidated on the ground that the occasion for the instrument or for the exercise of the powers and authorities or the performance of the functions of the Deputy had not arisen or had ceased, and no act done by the High Commissioner shall be questioned or invalidated on the ground that any such instrument was still in force.

The Governor-General may from time to time, by Order in Council, appoint Samoans to be Fautua.

The manner of recommending Samoans for appointment as Fautua, and the terms and conditions of their appointment, and the number of Fautua that may from time to time be appointed may be prescribed by the Governor-General by Order in Council or, where there is no such Order in Council or so far as any such Order in Council does not extend, by Ordinance.

There shall be a Council of State of Western Samoa.

The Council of State shall consist of the High Commissioner and of the Samoans for the time being holding office as Fautua.

Subject to the provisions of subsection four of this section, the Council of State shall be the head of the executive government of Western Somoa, and shall exercise—

The Council of State shall not exercise the functions, powers, and authorities which may be exercised by the High Commissioner as representative of the Government of New Zealand in accordance with the provisions of section four of this Act.

All functions, powers, and authorities exercised by the Council of State under this section shall be exercised as far as may be on advice in accordance with the constitutional conventions for the time being applicable to the exercise of similar functions, powers, and authorities in the United Kingdom by Her Majesty.

Every member of the Council of State shall, before entering on the duties of his office, take and subscribe before the Chief Judge of the High Court of Western Samoa an oath in the form set out in the First Schedule to this Act, or make before the said Chief Judge an appropriate affirmation instead of that oath.

The Council of State may from time to time, either generally or particularly, delegate any of the functions, powers, and authorities conferred on it by subsection three of section eight of this Act to any Minister:

Provided that no function, power, or authority conferred by the Samoa Amendment Act 1957 or this Act shall be so delegated.

Every such delegation shall be made by Order of the Council of State acting on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council, and shall be revocable in like manner.

Where any Minister purports to act pursuant to any delegation under this section, he shall be presumed to be acting in accordance with the terms of the delegation in the absence of proof to the contrary.

Except as provided in subsection two of this section, the appointment, terms of service, disciplinary control, termination of appointment, and dismissal of the staff of the Council of State, and of the personal staff of its members (other than the High Commissioner), shall be matters for the Council of State acting in its discretion.

The Council of State, if it so desires, may appoint to its staff, or to the personal staff of one of its members other than the High Commissioner, such public servants as it may select, acting in its discretion but after consultation with the Prime Minister of Western Samoa, from a list submitted by the Public Service Commission of Western Samoa; and the provisions of subsection one of this section (except so far as they relate to appointment) shall apply in relation to a person so appointed as respects his service on the staff of the Council of State or the personal staff of one of its members (other than the High Commissioner), but not as respects his service as a public servant.

One of the members of the staff of the Council of State shall be appointed as Secretary to the Council of State.

There shall be paid out of money to be appropriated by the legislative assembly—

Any decision as to the exercise of any function, power, or authority of the Council of State shall be taken at a meeting of the Council of State summoned by any member of the Council of State.

No decision shall be taken at any meeting of the Council of State unless the High Commissioner and one of the Fautua are present.

The High Commissioner shall preside at all meetings of the Council of State.

Decisions taken at any meeting of the Council of State shall require the affirmative vote of at least two members of the Council of State, and shall be authenticated by an instrument under the hand of the High Commissioner and at least one other member of the Council of State.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the principal Act or this Act, if any person or authority, in accordance with the provisions of subsection five of section eight of this Act, tenders advice to the Council of State as to the exercise of any function, power, or authority of the Council of State, and if the Council of State does not, within seven days after the date on which the tendering of that advice comes to the notice of the Secretary to the Council of State, decide either to accept that advice or to take some other action in relation thereto which it is entitled to take in accordance with that subsection, the Council of State shall be deemed to have accepted that advice; and an instrument under the hand of the High Commissioner to that effect shall operate as the exercise of the function, power, or authority concerned in accordance with that advice.

The members of the Council of State shall be provided with:

Subject to the provisions of this section, the procedure of the Council of State shall be determined from time to time by the Council.

There shall be a Cabinet of Ministers collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly, which shall—

The Cabinet shall be appointed as follows:

The Council of State shall terminate the appointment of the Prime Minister—

The office of any other Minister shall become vacant—(a) If the appointment of the Prime Minister has been terminated; or

Whenever, by reason of illness or absence from Western Samoa with the written permission of the Council of State, the Prime Minister is temporarily prevented from discharging his functions in Western Samoa, the Council of State may, by instrument under the Seal of Western Samoa, appoint another Minister to discharge the functions of the Prime Minister until such time as the Prime Minister is capable of again discharging those functions or has vacated his office.

The powers conferred on the Council of State by subsection three of this section shall be exercised by it acting in its discretion if in its opinion it is impracticable to obtain the advice of the Prime Minister owing to the Prime Minister’s illness or absence, and in any other case shall be exercised by the Council of State acting on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The Council of State, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, may, by instrument under the Seal of Western Samoa,—

Any Minister in respect of whom action has been taken under subsection five of this section shall not discharge any of the functions of his office or sit or vote in the Cabinet until the Council of State, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, has revoked the aforesaid instrument under the Seal of Western Samoa.

Every Minister shall, before entering on the duties of his office, take and subscribe before the Council of State an oath in the form set out in the Second Schedule to this Act or make before the Council of State an appropriate affirmation instead of that oath.

The Cabinet shall be summoned only by the Prime Minister or, in his absence, by such Minister as the Prime Minister shall appoint in that behalf.

The Prime Minister shall, so far as practicable, attend and preside at all meetings of the Cabinet, and in his absence such other Minister as the Prime Minister shall appoint shall preside.

Subject to the provisions of subsection three of this section, the Cabinet shall not be disqualified for the transaction of business by reason of any vacancy in the number of the Cabinet, and any proceedings of Cabinet shall be valid notwithstanding that some person who was not entitled to do so sat or voted in the Cabinet or otherwise took part in the proceedings.

No business shall be transacted in the Cabinet if there are less than four Ministers present besides the Minister presiding.

Where any matter is dependent upon the decision of the Cabinet, any decision shall be regarded as the decision of Cabinet if a majority of votes of the Ministers present and voting is cast in its favour. Each Minister shall have an original vote and, if upon any question the votes are equally divided, the Minister presiding may exercise a casting vote.

A decision of the Cabinet shall be recorded in minutes which shall, under the hand of the Secretary to Cabinet, be communicated within twenty-four hours after its being made to the Secretary to the Council of State.

Subject to the provisions of subsection seven of this section, a decision of Cabinet shall not take effect until the expiration of seven days after the date of the meeting at which it was made, unless it takes effect in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-two of this Act.

In any case in which the issue involved in a decision of Cabinet is, in the opinion of a majority of the Ministers present and voting at the meeting at which that decision is taken, of extreme urgency, that decision shall take effect on the expiration of twenty-four hours after the time when the minutes in which the decision of Cabinet is recorded are communicated to the Secretary to the Council of State under the provisions of subsection five of this section, unless a meeting of the Executive Council is sooner summoned in accordance with the provisions of section twenty-two of this Act.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Cabinet may regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit.

There shall be an officer of the Western Samoan Public Service to be called the Secretary to the Cabinet.

The Secretary to the Cabinet shall, in accordance with such instructions as may be given to him by the Prime Minister, arrange the business for and keep the minutes of the Cabinet, and convey the decisions of the Cabinet to the appropriate person or authority, and shall have such other functions as the Prime Minister may direct.

The Prime Minister may, by direction in writing,—

The Prime Minister may retain in his charge any Department or subject.

There shall be an Executive Council of Western Samoa consisting of:

Subject to the provisions of section twenty-two of this Act, meetings of the Executive Council may be summoned by the Prime Minister or by any one member of the Council of State to perform such functions and to exercise such powers or authorities as may from time to time be prescribed by the principal Act or its amendments (including this Act) or any regulations thereunder or by any Ordinance or by any other enactment or law in force in Western Samoa.

No business shall be transacted in the Executive Council if there are less than four Ministers or less than two members of the Council of State present, including the member presiding.

The members of the Council of State present at any meeting of the Executive Council shall select one of their members to preside.

Subject to the provisions of subsection three of this section, the Executive Council shall not be disqualified for the transaction of business by reason of any vacancy in the number of its members; and any proceedings of the Executive Council shall be valid notwithstanding that some person who was not entitled to do so sat or voted in the Executive Council or otherwise took part in the proceedings.

Subject to the provisions of section twenty-two of this Act, where any matter is dependent upon the decision of the Executive Council, any decision shall be regarded as the decision of the Executive Council if a majority of votes of members of the Executive Council present and voting is cast in its favour. Each such member shall have an original vote and, if upon any question the votes shall be equally divided, the person presiding may exercise a casting vote.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Executive Council may regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit.

There shall be an officer of the Western Samoan Public Service to be called the Clerk of the Executive Council of Western Samoa, who shall arrange the business for and keep the records of the Executive Council.

The same person may be appointed to be both the Clerk of the Executive Council and Secretary to the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister or any one member of the Council of State may summon a meeting of the Executive Council to consider any decision recorded in the minutes of a Cabinet meeting.

If such a decision, on consideration by the Executive Council, is supported by two members of the Council of State, that decision shall take effect both as a decision of the cabinet and as a decision of the Executive Council.

If on consideration by the Executive Council of a decision referred to that Council under the provisions of subsection one of this section any two members of the Council of State oppose that decision or request any amendment thereto, Cabinet shall thereupon be summoned in accordance with the provisions of section sixteen of this Act and requested to reconsider the decision concerned.

If Cabinet after such reconsideration reaffirms its original decision or accepts the amendment requested by the two members of the Council of State, the original decision or the decision as so amended, as the case may be, shall forthwith take effect as a decision of Cabinet and as a decision of the Executive Council.

If Cabinet, after reconsideration as aforesaid, adopts a decision which incorporates an amendment to its original decision, other than the amendment requested by the two members of the Council of State under subsection two of this section, the decision as so amended shall operate as a new decision of Cabinet and the provisions of subsections five, six, and seven of section seventeen of this Act, and of this section shall apply to that decision.

An instrument under the hand of either the Secretary to the Cabinet or the Clerk of the Executive Council certifying—

shall be conclusive evidence that that decision of the Cabinet or of the Executive Council, as the case may be, has taken effect.

There shall be an officer of the Western Samoan Public Service to be called the Secretary to the Government of Western Samoa, who shall have such duties and functions as may from time to time be determined by the Prime Minister or prescribed by Ordinance.

There shall be an officer of the Western Samoan Public Service to be called the Attorney-General of Western Samoa, who shall be the principal legal adviser to the Government of Western Samoa and shall have such legal and other functions as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Council of State, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, or prescribed by the principal Act and its amendments (including this Act) or any regulations thereunder, or by any Ordinance or by any other enactment or law in force in Western Samoa.

The Attorney-General shall be vested with responsibility for the initiation, conduct, and discontinuance of prosecutions for criminal offences triable in Courts constituted under the provisions of the principal Act and its amendments or any regulations thereunder or by any Ordinance or by any other enactment or law in force in Western Samoa.

The assignment to a Minister of responsibilities for the Department of the Attorney-General shall confer responsibility only for submitting to the Cabinet questions referring to that Department and conducting business relating to that Department in the Assembly, and shall have effect without prejudice to the provisions of subsection two of this section.

Except as may otherwise be provided by Ordinance, the Attorney-General shall perform the duties of Crown Solicitor.

There shall be an officer of the Western Samoan Public Service to be called the Financial Secretary of Western Samoa, who shall be the principal financial adviser to the Government of Western Samoa, and shall have such other functions in relation to financial matters as may from time to time be determined by the Prime Minister, or prescribed by the principal Act and its amendments (including this Act) or any regulations thereunder, or by any Ordinance or by any other enactment or law in force in Western Samoa.

Except as may otherwise be provided by Ordinance, the Financial Secretary shall perform the duties of Treasurer of Western Samoa.

This Part of this Act shall come into force on the first day of October, nineteen hundred and fifty-nine.

There is hereby established a Commission to be known as the Public Service Commission of Western Samoa.

The Commission shall consist of not more than three persons, who shall be appointed by the Council of State on the advice of the Executive Council:

Provided that the person holding office as Public Service Commissioner of Western Samoa immediately before the commencement of this Act shall become a member of the Commission at the commencement of this Act.

One of the members of the Commission shall be appointed by the Council of State, on the advice of the Executive Council, as the Chairman of the Commission.

Every member of the Commission shall be appointed for a term of not more than three years but may from time to time be reappointed for a term of not more than three years.

Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect the rights, whether as to superannuation or the term of appointment or otherwise, of any person holding office at the commencement of this Part of this Act as the Public Service Commissioner or as Samoan Assistant Public Service Commissioner.

No person shall be eligible for appointment or reappointment as a member of the Commission if he has attained the age of sixty years.

Unless he sooner vacates his office, every member of the Commission shall continue in office until his successor comes into office, notwithstanding that the term for which he was appointed may have expired or that he has attained the age of sixty years.

In the event of the incapacity of any member of the Commission by reason of illness or absence or any other cause, the Council of State, on the advice of the Executive Council, may appoint a deputy to act for that member during his incapacity, and any such deputy shall, while he acts as such, be deemed for all purposes to be a member of the Commission. No appointment of a deputy as such, and no acts done by the Commission when any deputy is acting as such, shall in any proceedings be questioned on the ground that the occasion for his appointment had not arisen or had ceased.

The powers of the Commission shall not be affected by any vacancy in the number of its members.

The Chairman of the Public Service Commission, and each other member of the Commission, shall be paid such salaries as may from time to time be appropriated by the Legislative Assembly of Western Samoa.

The Public Service Commission shall be responsible for—

Subject to the provisions of section thirty of the Samoa Amendment Act 1949, the Commission shall, in the exercise of its functions and powers, comply with the general policy of the Government of Western Samoa relating to the Western Samoan Public Service, and shall comply with such policy directions as may from time to time be given by the Executive Council to the Commission.

Every reference in the principal Act or any other Act or Ordinance or regulation or document to the Public Service Commissioner or to the Assistant Commissioners shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be read as a reference to the Commission or the members of the Commission, as the case may be.

Meetings of the Public Service Commission shall be held at such times and places as the Commission or the Chairman from time to time appoints.

At all meetings of the Commission two members shall form a quorum, except when there are less than two members of the Commission in office.

At any meeting of the Commission, the Chairman shall have a deliberative vote, and in the case of an equality of votes shall have a casting vote.

All questions before the Commission shall be determined by a majority of the valid votes recorded thereon.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Public Service Commission may regulate its procedure in such manner as it thinks fit.

The Public Service Commission may from time to time, either generally or particularly, delegate any of its powers to any of its members or to any other person or persons; and may delegate to the Board of Directors of the Western Samoa Trust Estates Corporation such of its powers in relation to the appointment and control of employees of the Corporation or any particular class of those employees as the Commission thinks fit.

Subject to any general or special directions given by the Commission, the person to whom any powers are so delegated may exercise those powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been conferred on him directly by this section and not by delegation.

Every person purporting to act pursuant to any delegation under this section shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be acting in accordance with the terms of the delegation.

Any delegation under this section may be made to a specified person or to persons of a specified class or to a Board of Directors or to the holder for the time being of a specified office.

Every such delegation shall be revocable at will, and no such delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power by the Commission.

Unless and until any such delegation is revoked, it shall continue in force according to its tenor. In the event of any member of the Commission ceasing to hold office, the delegation shall continue to have effect as if made by the Commission as it is for the time being constituted; and, in the event of any member of any such Board of Directors ceasing to hold office, the delegation shall continue to have effect as if made to that Board of Directors as it is for the time being constituted.

Where any person who is appointed to be a member of the Public Service Commission was employed in the Western Samoan Public Service or the New Zealand Government service immediately before he was appointed to be a member of the Commission, that person shall, unless he was removed from office under section thirty-four of this Act, be eligible for any position in the service in which he was employed as if he retained the status in that service which he had immediately before he was so appointed:

Provided that, where any higher status in the New Zealand Government service is conferred on any such person after he became a member of the Commission, he shall, unless he is so removed from office, be eligible for any position in that service as if he had that higher status.

On the advice of the Executive Council, any member of the Commission may be removed or suspended from office by the Council of State for misbehaviour or incompetence, or for engaging without the approval of the Council of State during his term of office in any paid employment or any business or profession outside the duties of his said office or of any other office in the Western Samoan Public Service or the New Zealand Government service held by him concurrently during his said term of office.

On the advice of the Executive Council, the Council of State may restore as a member of the Commission any person who is suspended from his office as aforesaid.

No person who is suspended from his office as aforesaid shall be entitled to recover any salary, allowance, or payment in respect of the period while he is suspended, unless the Council of State otherwise directs.

The Public Service Commission shall furnish to the Council of State at least once in every year a report on the efficiency and condition of the Western Samoan Public Service; and a copy thereof shall be laid before the Legislative Assembly within twenty-eight days after the date of the receipt of the same by the Council of State if the Assembly is then meeting, and, if it is not then meeting, shall be laid before it during its next meeting.

The Commission shall cause to be kept a record of all persons in the Western Samoan Public Service, and shall in each financial year publish a list of persons permanently employed in that service on the first day of that financial year together with particulars of the salaries and allowances payable to those persons in that financial year; and a copy thereof shall be laid before the Legislative Assembly of Western Samoa within twenty-eight days after the date of the publication thereof if the Legislative Assembly is then meeting and, if it is not then meeting, shall be laid before it during its next meeting, but in any case not later than three months after the beginning of that financial year.

In order to ensure the maintenance of a proper standard of efficiency in the Western Samoan Public Service, the Commission may from time to time make such recommendations to the Government as it thinks fit.

In the exercise of its functions the Commission shall, consonant with the efficient conduct of the Government service of Western Samoa, take such action as it thinks necessary to ensure that the citizens of Western Samoa are afforded a progressively increasing share in the administrative and other services of Western Samoa; and a full statement of action taken in this regard shall be included in each annual report by the Commission to the Council of State.

Where in or by any Act, Ordinance, Order in Council, rule, regulation, bylaw, contract, or agreement any duty, obligation, right, or power is imposed or conferred upon the holder of any position under the control of the Commission, and where that position is for the time being vacant (whether by reason of death or resignation or otherwise), or the holder of the position is for the time being absent from duty, the duty, obligation, right, or power may be performed or exercised by any employee whom the Commission may have directed to perform or exercise the same while the position is vacant or the holder of the position is absent, in the same manner and to the same extent in all respects as the same might have been performed or exercised by the holder of the position; and everything so done under the provisions of this section shall be as good and effectual for all purposes and against all persons as if it had been done by the holder of the position.

No such direction and no act done by any employee acting pursuant to any such direction shall in any proceedings be questioned on the ground that the occasion for the direction had not arisen or had ceased, or on the ground that the employee had not been appointed to any position to which the direction relates.

Section two of the Samoa Amendment Act 1949 is hereby amended—

The Samoa Amendment Act 1949 is hereby further amended—

Subsection two of section thirty-three of the Samoa Amendment Act 1949 is hereby amended by inserting, after paragraph (a), the following paragraph:

The principal Act is hereby amended by repealing section three hundred and sixty-four, and substituting the following section:

The following enactments are hereby consequentially repealed:

Subsection one of section three hundred and sixty-five of the principal Act is hereby amended by inserting, after the word “Any” where it first appears, the words “person who is for the time being authorised by the Council of State by notice in the Western Samoa Gazette to take and receive declarations under this section, and any”.

Section three hundred and sixty-five of the principal Act is hereby further amended by adding the following subsection:

The Second Schedule to the Samoa Amendment Act 1957 is hereby amended—

Section thirty-two of the Samoa Amendment Act 1957 is hereby amended by adding the following subsection:

The Citizenship of Western Samoa Ordinance 1959 is hereby validated as from the commencement thereof.

Every Ordinance of the Legislative Assembly that comes into force on or after the first day of October, nineteen hundred and fifty-nine but was passed before that date shall be valid if it would have been valid if it had been passed on or after that date.

The enactments specified in the Third Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed.

Without limiting the provisions of the Acts Interpretation Act 1924, it is hereby declared that the repeal of any provision by this Act shall not affect any document made or any thing whatsoever done under the provision so repealed or under any corresponding former provision, and every such document or thing, so far as it is subsisting or in force at the time of the repeal and could have been made or done under this Act, shall continue and have effect as if it had been made or done under the corresponding provision of this Act and as if that provision had been in force when the document was made or the thing was done.