Interpretation of words and expressions

(1) In this and in any other Act, unless the contrary intention appear “Act” in relation to a legislative measure, means any Act and any subsidiary legislation made under that Act; “act”, when used with reference to an offence or civil wrong, includes a series of acts, an illegal omission and a series of illegal omissions; “admiralty” means the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom or the Commissioners for executing the office of the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom; 7 “adult” means any person who has attained the age of eighteen years; “aircraft” means any machine that can derive support in the atmosphere from the reactions of the air; “alien” means a person who is neither a citizen of Belize nor a Commonwealth citizen; “amend” includes repeal, revoke, cancel, add to, vary and the doing of all such things simultaneously or by the same Act or instrument; “attorney-at-law” means an attorney-at-law admitted and enrolled under the Legal Profession Act, Cap. 320 or any other law for the time being in force; “Attorney-General” means the Attorney-General of Belize as defined in section 42 of the Belize Constitution, Cap. 4; “Auditor-General” means the person appointed as such under section 109 (1) of the Belize Constitution, Cap. 4; “bank holiday” means any day listed as a bank holiday in the Second Schedule to the Holidays Act, Cap. 289 or any day appointed as a bank holiday under section 9 of the Holidays Act, Cap. 289; “Belize City Council” means the Belize City Council established under the Belize City Council Act, Cap. 85; “British Islands” means the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man; “Cabinet” means the Cabinet constituted under section 44 of the Belize Constitution, Cap. 4; “cent” means a cent in Belizean currency; “Chief Forest Officer” means the Chief Forest Officer appointed by the Governor-General under the Forests Act, Cap. 213; 8 “Chief Justice” means the Chief Justice of Belize appointed under the Belize Constitution, Cap. 4; “Colony” means any part of Her Majesty’s dominions outside the British Islands except, (a) countries having fully responsible status within the Commonwealth; (b) territories for whose external relations a country other than the United Kingdom is responsible, and where parts of such dominions are under both a central and a local legislature, all parts under the central legislature are deemed for the purposes of this definition to be one colony; “Commissioner of Police” means the Commissioner of Police appointed under section 107 (1) of the Belize Constitution, Cap. 4; “Comptroller of Customs” or “Comptroller” means the Comptroller of Customs appointed by the Governor-General under the Customs Regulation Act, Cap.49; “Consolidated Revenue Fund” means the Consolidated Revenue Fund established by section 3 of the Finance and Audit Act, Cap.15; “Constitution” means the Belize Constitution, Cap.4; “consul” and “consular officer” means any person including the head of a consular post, recognised by the competent authority of the receiving state as entrusted in that capacity with the exercise of consular functions; “contravene” in relation to any requirement or condition prescribed in any Act or in any grant, permit, licence, lease or authority granted under or by virtue of any Act, includes a failure to comply with that requirement or condition; “court” means any court of competent jurisdiction; 9 “Court of Appeal” means the Court of Appeal of Belize established under the Court of Appeal Act, Cap. 90; “Crown Agents” means all or any of the persons designated Crown Agents in the United Kingdom for Overseas Governments and “daily penalty” means a penalty for each day on which the offences continued after conviction thereof; “definition” means the interpretation given by an Act to any word or “Director of Public Prosecutions” means the Director of Public Prosecutions appointed by the Governor-General under section 108(1) of the Belize Constitution, Cap. 4; “district” means any division of Belize or subdivision thereof thus defined in any Act or proclamation; “district court” means a district court established under the Inferior Courts Act, Cap. 94; “dollar” means a dollar in Belizean currency; “enactment” means an Act or subsidiary legislation or any provision in an Act or subsidiary legislation; “estate” includes any estate or interest, charge, right, title, claim, demand, lien or encumbrance at law or in equity; “financial year” means, in respect of any matters relating to the revenue, expenditure and accounts of Belize, City Councils, Town Councils or public bodies the twelve months ending on the 31 March, inclusive; “function” includes jurisdictions, powers and duties; 10 “Gazette” means the Government Gazette of Belize and includes any supplement thereto and any special or extraordinary issue thereof; “General Registry” or “Registry” means the General Registry established under the General Registry Act, Cap. 327; “Government” means the Government of Belize; “Governor-General” means the Governor-General of Belize appointed by Her Majesty under section 30 of the Belize Constitution and includes an Acting Governor-General appointed by Her Majesty under section 31 of the Belize Constitution and the Deputy Governor- General appointed by the Governor-General under section 33(1) of the Belize Constitution, Cap. 4; “Government Printer” means any printer authorised by or on behalf of the Government to print any Act or any other document of the Government; “House” means the Senate or the House of Representatives, as the context may require; “Imperial Parliament” or “Parliament” means the Parliament of the United Kingdom; “indictment” means a written accusation signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions or other authorised person and presented to the Supreme Court charging any person or persons with the commission of one or more crimes, and includes any criminal information triable by a jury; “indictable offence” means an offence triable on indictment; “inferior court” means a court established under the Inferior Courts Act, Cap. 94; “instrument” includes any publication in the Gazette having legal 11 “judge” means the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal, a Judge of the Court of Appeal or a Judge of the Supreme Court; “judicial district” means a judicial district created under the Inferior Courts Act, Cap. 94; “land” includes land of any tenure, mines and minerals, whether or not held apart from the surface, buildings or parts of buildings (whether the division is horizontal, vertical or made in any other way) and other corporeal hereditaments, and an easement, right, privilege or benefit in, over or derived from land, but, not an undivided share in land; “laws” includes any legislative enactment and any proclamation, rule, regulation, by-law, order in council, order, statutory instrument or rule of court made under the authority of any law, and any command, enjoinment or prohibition by any authority, superior or subordinate, having power to give or make the same; “magistrate” means a magistrate appointed under the Inferior Courts Act, Cap. 94 and includes a travelling magistrate; “master” in relation to a ship, includes any person, except a pilot, having charge or command of a ship; “Minister” means a Minister of the Government appointed under section 40 of the Belize Constitution, Cap.4 and includes the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister; “month” means a calendar month; “oath” or “affidavit” in the case of a person for the time being allowed by law to affirm or declare instead of swearing, includes an affirmation and declaration; “or”, “other” and “otherwise” shall be construed disjunctively and not as implying similarity, unless the expression “similar” or some equivalent expression, is added; 12 “peace officer” includes a magistrate, justice of the peace, any police officer, special constable and every other person lawfully assisting or called in aid of any such person whilst so assisting or aiding any of them; “Permanent Secretary” or “Chief Executive Officer” means the Permanent Secretary of a Ministry or department of government and includes, (a) in the case of the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Secretary; (b) in the case of the Attorney General’s Ministry, the Solicitor General; and (c) in the case of the Office of the Prime Minister, the Secretary to the Cabinet. “person” means a natural person or a legal person and includes any public body and any body of persons, corporate or unincorporated, and this definition shall apply notwithstanding that the word “person” occurs in a provision creating or relating to an offence or for the recovery of any fine or compensation; “Police Department” means the Police Force established under the Police Act, Cap 138; “police officer” and terms of expression referring to ranks in the Belize Police Department shall bear the meanings assigned to them by the Police Act, Cap.138; “power” includes any privilege, authority and discretion; “preliminary inquiry” means an inquiry held by a magistrate under, and in accordance with Part III of the Indictable Procedure Act, Cap.96; “prescribed” when used in or with reference to any Act, means prescribed by that Act or by subsidiary legislation made thereunder; 13 “print” includes every mode of duplicating whether photocopying, letter press, stereotype, lithography or otherwise; “proclamation” means proclamation by the Governor-General under the public seal and published in the Gazette or if it is not possible so to publish, by publication in a local newspaper or by any other reasonable means; “property” includes, (a) money, goods, chooses in action and land; and (b) obligations, easements and every description of estate, interest and profit, present or future, vested or contingent, arising out of or incident to property as defined in paragraph (a) of this definition; “public holiday” means any day listed as a public holiday in the First Schedule to the Holidays Act, Cap. 289 or any day appointed as a public holiday under section 9 of the Holidays Act, Cap. 289; “public seal” means the public seal of Belize; “Public Service Commission” means the Public Service Commission constituted under section 105 of the Belize Constitution, Cap. 4; “publication” means, (a) all written and printed matter; (b) any record, tape, wire, perforated roll, cinematograph film or other contrivance by means of which any words or ideas may be mechanically, electronically or electrically produced, reproduced, represented or conveyed; (c) anything whether of a similar nature to the foregoing or not, containing any visible representation, or by its form, shape, or in any manner, capable of 14 producing, reproducing, representing or conveying words or ideas; and (d) every copy and reproduction of any publication as defined in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this “Registrar” means the Registrar of the Supreme Court; “Registrar General” means the Registrar General appointed under the General Registry Act, Cap. 327; “registered” when used with reference to a document, means registered under the provisions of any law applicable to the registration of such a document; “regulation” includes any rule, by-law, order, form or notice, issued or made under the authority of any law; “rule” includes regulation and has the same meaning as that term; “sell” includes offer or exposure for sale, barter and exchange; “sign” with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions with reference to a person who is unable to write his name, includes “mark” with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions; “subsidiary legislation” means any proclamation, regulation, rule, order, resolution, rule of court, by-law, or other instrument made under or by virtue of any Act and having legislative effect; “statute” means any Act, Ordinance, statutory instrument or other subordinate legislation for the time being having the force of law in Belize; “statutory declaration” if made, (a) in Belize, means a declaration under the Oaths Act, Cap.130; 15 (b) in any part of the Commonwealth except Belize, means a declaration made before a justice of the peace, notary public, or other person having authority therein under any legal provision for the time being in force in such part to take or receive a (c) in any other place, means a declaration before a notary public exercising his office in that place, and having a valid commission, or a person having authority under any Act for the time being in force to take or receive any declaration; “street” and “road” means, (a) any highway, street, road, bridge, thoroughfare, parade, square, court, alley, lane, bridle-way, footway, passage or tunnel; and (b) any open place, whether situate on and leased from the Crown or not, used or frequented by the public or to which the public have or are permitted to have access; “subject to affirmative resolution” when used in relation to any subsidiary legislation shall mean that such subsidiary legislation shall not come into operation unless and until affirmed by a resolution of each House; “subject to negative resolution” when used in relation to any subsidiary legislation shall mean that such subsidiary legislation shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before the Senate and the House of Representatives and if either the Senate or the House at the very next sitting after any such subsidiary legislation has been so laid resolves that the subsidiary legislation shall be annulled, the subsidiary legislation shall be void as from the date of the resolution, but without prejudice to the validity of anything done thereunder or to the making of a new instrument or document; 16 “summary conviction” means a conviction by a summary jurisdiction “summary conviction offence” means an offence punishable by a summary jurisdiction court; “summary jurisdiction court” or “court of summary jurisdiction” means a summary jurisdiction court established under the Inferior Courts Act, Cap.94; “Summary Jurisdiction Acts” means the Acts relating to summary jurisdiction offences and regulating the practice and procedure of a summary jurisdiction court; “Supreme Court” means the Supreme Court of Belize established under section 94 of the Belize Constitution, Cap. 4; “swears” and “sworn” includes the words “affirm” and “affirmed” respectively; “territorial waters” means such part of the sea adjacent to the coast of Belize as is deemed by international law to constitute the territorial waters of Belize; “Territory” means the Territory of Belize; “United Kingdom” means the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; “vessel” includes ship, boat, lighter and craft of every kind, whether navigated by steam or otherwise; “warrant” means a warrant under the hand of the person having authority to issue the same; “writing” includes typewriting, printing, photocopying, lithography and any other means of representing or reproducing words in any form; 17 “will” includes any testamentary disposition; “year” means a calendar year. (2) (a) In this and in any other Act, the expression “Commonwealth” means Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Cameroon, Canada, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua-New Guinea, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. (b) The Attorney General may from time to time, by Order published in the Gazette, add any country to, or delete any country from, the countries specified in subsection (2) (a) of this section. (3) An Order signed by the Attorney General under subsection (2)(b) above, (a) that on a date specified in the Order, a country was or was not a Commonwealth country; or (b) that on a date specified in the Order, a country had voluntarily left the Commonwealth, or had been expelled or suspended therefrom, or had joined the Commonwealth, 18 shall be conclusive proof in proceedings before any court or any person acting judicially or administratively in respect of the matters stated in the Order. (4) Where an Order made under subsection (2) (b) above is not produced before the court or the person referred to in subsection (3) above, the fact that a country is specified in subsection (2) (a) above shall be conclusive proof before that court or persons that that country is a Commonwealth country, and the fact that a country is not so specified shall be conclusive proof that that country is not a Commonwealth country. (5) All existing law, whether a rule of law, a provision of an Act or of any other enactment, that applies in relation to a Commonwealth country shall, on that Commonwealth country becoming a republic, continue to have the same effect, until the National Assembly or some other authority having power to alter that law otherwise provides, as if the Commonwealth country had not become a republic.