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Jamaica: Jamaica Government Profile 2012

2012/03/14

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Jamaica Government Profile 2012

Jamaica is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The government of Jamaica is modeled after that of Great Britain. Under the constitution of 1962, the British monarch is the monarch of Jamaica, and is represented by a governor general, who has limited governing powers. Jamaica has a two-house parliament which consists of a 21-member Senate and a 60-member House of Representatives. Members of the House of Representatives, which has functions similar to those of the British House of Commons, are elected; members of the Senate, which resembles the House of Lords, are appointed. The leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives is the prime minister. The judiciary includes a court of appeals, a supreme court, and various lesser courts.

Government type: 

constitutional parliamentary democracy and a Commonwealth realm

Administrative divisions: 

14 parishes; Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland note: for local government purposes, Kingston and Saint Andrew were amalgamated in 1923 into the present single corporate body known as the Kingston and Saint Andrew Corporation

Independence: 

6 August 1962 (from the UK)

National holiday: 

Independence Day, 6 August (1962)

Constitution: 

06-août-62

Legal system: 

based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 

18 years of age; universal

Legislative branch: 

bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (a 21-member body appointed by the governor general on the recommendations of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition; ruling party is allocated 13 seats, and the opposition is allocated 8 seats) and the House of Representatives (60 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held on 3 September 2007 (next to be held no later than October 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - JLP 50.1%, PNP 49.8%; seats by party - JLP 33, PNP 27

Judicial branch: 

Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal; Privy Council in UK; member of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)

Political parties and leaders : 

Jamaica Labor Party or JLP [Bruce GOLDING]; People's National Party or PNP [Portia SIMPSON-MILLER]; National Democratic Movement or NDM [Michael WILLIAMS]

Political pressure groups and leaders: 

New Beginnings Movement or NBM; Rastafarians (black religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists)

International organization participation: 

ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CDB, FAO, G-15, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITSO, ITU, LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PetroCaribe, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Flag description: 

diagonal yellow cross divides the flag into four triangles - green (top and bottom) and black (hoist side and outer side); green represents hope, vegetation, and agriculture, black reflects hardships overcome and to be faced, and yellow recalls golden sunshine and the island's natural resources

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