Powers and Duties of Standing Committees

(1) All proposed legislation, messages, petitions, reports, motions and other matters relating to the subjects hereinafter mentioned under the title of each Standing Committee shall be referred by the House to such Committee for examination, Belize Constitution 75 consideration and report to the House, and the Committee shall, as far as practicable, make such report within sixty days1. Finance and Economic Development Committee– (a) Taxation and fiscal matters; (b) Banking, currency and insurance; (c) Customs, excise, imports and exports; (d) Exchange control; (e) Salaries, pensions and provident funds; (f) Public debt and public loans; (g) Economic development; (h) Any other subjects assigned under the Constitution to the Minister responsible for Finance or the Minister responsible for Budget Planning and Management and Economic Development in their capacity as such Ministers. Utilities, Transport and Communications (a) Public Utilities; (b) Transport; (c) Communications; (d) Any other subjects assigned under the Constitution to the Minister responsible for 76 Belize Constitution Utilities, Transport and Communications. 3. Health and Human Development Committee, including Rural Development and Culture– (a) All subjects assigned under the Constitution to the Minister responsible for Health; (b) All subjects assigned under the Constitution to the Ministers responsible for Human Development, Women, Youth, Rural Development and Culture. 4. Education, Sports and Housing Committee– (a) All subjects assigned under the Constitution to the Minister responsible for Education and Sports; (b) All subjects assigned under the Constitution to the Minister responsible for Housing in his capacity as such Minister. 5. Constitution and Foreign Affairs Privileges, Standing Orders, House and Regulations Committee– (a) (b) Civil liabilities and administration of justice; (c) Legal affairs; (d) Relations of Belize with the Commonwealth countries and foreign countries; (e) International conferences; Belize Constitution 77 (f) Foreign representation; (g) Subject to Standing Order No. 29 (5), all matters which appear to affect the powers or privileges of the House; (h) Standing Orders of the House and such other matters relating thereto as may be referred to the Committee by the House; (i) Order of Business of the House; (j) Recesses and adjournments of the House; (k) All matters relating to the remuneration and allowances and the comfort and convenience of Members of the House; (l) Employment of officers and other persons by (m) All such orders, rules, regulations and by-laws which are required by any law to be laid before This Committee shall bring to the attention of the House any order, rule, regulation or by-law– (a) which involves the expenditure of public moneys or imposes or fixes fees for licences or for services; (b) which cannot be challenged in the Courts on the ground that it is ultra vires, or is only temporarily so challengeable; 78 Belize Constitution (c) the making of which appears to constitute an unusual or unexpected use of the powers conferred by the law under which it was made; (d) which purports to have retroactive effect although the law under which it was made does not in terms give the Minister such a (e) the publication or the laying before the House of which appears to have been unduly delayed; or (f) the purport or form of which appears to require elucidation. 6. Works Committee– (a) Public works; (b) All other matters assigned under the Constitution to the Minister responsible for Works. 7. Public Service, Labour, Industry and Trade Committee. (a) Public Service; (b) Labour matters; (c) Trade, Industry and Commerce; (d) Home affairs; (e) Local Government; (f) Any other subjects assigned under the Constitution to the Minister responsible for Belize Constitution 79 Industry and Commerce, Public Service and Labour. 8. Natural Resources and Environment CommitteeAll matters assigned under the Constitution to the Minister responsible for Natural Resources and the Environment. 9. National Security and Immigration CommitteeAll matters assigned under the Constitution to the Minister responsible for National Security and Immigration. 10. Agriculture and Fisheries Committee– (a) All matters assigned under the Constitution to the Minister responsible for Agriculture and Fisheries; (b) Cooperatives. 11. Public Accounts CommitteeThe Public Accounts Committee shall have the duty of examining, considering and reporting on– (a) the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by the National Assembly to meet the public expenditure of the country; (b) such other accounts as may be referred to the Committee by the House or under any Law; and (c) the report of the Auditor General on any such accounts. 80 Belize Constitution 12. Tourism, Archaeology and Information Committee– (a) Archaeology; (b) Salvaging of Wrecks; (c) All matters related to Tourism; (d) Information and Broadcasting. CAP. 5. 13. Ombudsman Reports Committee. (a) Reports by the Ombudsman made under the Ombudsman Act; (b) Any other matters incidental to or connected with (a) above. (2)Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1) of this Order, the Standing Committees established in that paragraph shall have the power, in respect of all matters assigned to them, other than proposed legislation, to hold meetings on their own initiative without having the matter referred to them by the House, and for that purpose, a meeting shall be duly called if a requisition under the hand of the Chairman, or, if the Chairman is unable for any reason to do so, under the hands of any two members of the Committee, is sent to the other members of the Committee. Paragraph 2 of this Order shall apply to a meeting held pursuant to this paragraph. (3) The Standing Committees set out in paragraph (1) this order shall also have the power to oversee the expenditure, administration and policy of government departments and their associated public bodies, falling within the subjects assigned to the respective Standing Committees, and in exercise of this power the Standing Committees may, subject to paragraph (3) belowBelize Constitution 81 (a) send for persons, papers and records and specialists advisers, where necessary, to elucidate matters of complexity within the Committee’s terms of reference; (b) communicate to any other such Committee its evidence and any other documents relating to matters of common interest; (c) meet concurrently with any such Committee for the purposes of deliberating, taking evidence, or considering draft reports; and (d) sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the House, adjourn from place to place, and report from time to time. (4) Where a Minister of Government is requested to attend the Committee he shall comply with such request unless prevented from doing so on good and reasonable grounds, in which case he shall arrange for his Permanent Secretary or other senior public officer to attend on his behalf. (5) Unless the House otherwise orders, all Members nominated to a Committee appointed under this order shall continue to be members of that Committee for the remainder of the National Assembly.