National Honours and Awards Ordinance, 2021

ST HELENA REVISED EDITION OF THE LAWS, 2017 CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW NATIONAL HONOURS AND AWARDS ORDINANCE, 2021 Ordinance 15 of 2021 In force 5 November 2021 Subsidiary legislation: NATIONAL HONOURS AND AWARDS REGULATIONS, 2021 Page 6 Legal Notice 21 of 2021 __________________________ NATIONAL HONOURS AND AWARDS ORDINANCE ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS PART 1 PRELIMINARY 1. Short title 2. Interpretation PART 2 NATIONAL HONOURS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE 3. National Honours and Awards Committee 4. Duties of Committee 5. Secretary of the Committee 6. Confidentiality of deliberations PART 3 NATIONAL HONOURS AND AWARDS 7. Establishment of Honours and Awards 8. Badge of St Helena 9. Freedom of the City of Jamestown PART 4 NOMINATIONS AND CONFERMENT OF HONOURS AND AWARDS 10. Nominations for honours and awards 11. Conferment of honours and awards 2 PART 5 OFFENCES AND REVOCATION 12. Unauthorised use of insignia 13. Abuse in connection with grant of honour or award 14. Revocation of honour or award PART 6 MISCELLANEOUS 15. Financial provision 16. Regulations 17. Protection of honours and awards by Her Majesty AN ORDINANCE to provide for the granting of national honours and awards; and for connected and incidental purposes. PART 1 PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Ordinance may be cited as the National Honours and Awards Ordinance, 2021. Interpretation 2. In this Ordinance “Committee” means the National Honours and Awards Committee established by section 3. PART 2 NATIONAL HONOURS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE National Honours and Awards Committee 3. (1) There is established a National Honours and Awards Committee for the purpose of this Ordinance, which consists of a Chairperson and four other members appointed by the Governor by notice in the Gazette who must be persons of integrity and high public standing. (2) The Governor or Head of the Governor’s Office shall be the Chairperson of the Committee. (3) The duration of the initial appointment of a member of the Committee is for a period of three years and thereafter a member may be reappointed. Duties of Committee 4. It is the duty of the Committee, with a view to the proper carrying out of the provisions of this Ordinance— 3 (a) to receive and consider nominations for honours and awards; (b) to make investigations as it thinks fit to determine persons upon whom may be conferred the honours and awards under this Ordinance; (c) to prepare a list of recommendations for the conferment of honours and awards; and (d) to undertake any other duty in relation to this Ordinance as may be assigned by the Governor in Council. Secretary of the Committee 5. The Secretary to the Committee must be appointed by the Governor and is responsible for— (a) maintaining records of all honours and awards conferred under this Ordinance; (b) recording the minutes of all meetings of the Committee; (c) arranging for the ceremony at which an honour or award is formally conferred on a person; and (d) performing any other function as the Committee may direct. Confidentiality of deliberations 6. The deliberations of the Committee pertaining to the selection of a recipient of an honour or award are confidential and a member of the Committee who breaches this confidentiality may be removed and is not eligible for reappointment. PART 3 NATIONAL HONOURS AND AWARDS Establishment of Honours and Awards 7. (1) There is established the following— (a) the Badge of St Helena; and (b) the Freedom of the City of Jamestown. (2) Any person, notwithstanding the person’s place of birth or the person’s place of residence may be awarded either the Badge of St Helena or the Freedom of the City of Jamestown, or both. (3) An award may not be made pursuant to this section to a person posthumously. Badge of St Helena 8. (1) The Badge of St Helena may be granted by the Governor, in consultation with the Committee and Executive Council, to a person who, by exceptional and extraordinary service, has contributed to St Helena, including contributions to public life, research, philanthropy, literature and the promotion and support provided to the culture, heritage and development of the Island. (2) Only a person to whom the Badge of St Helena is awarded may wear the Badge of St Helena including on official occasions in St Helena. 4 Freedom of the City of Jamestown 9. (1) Freedom of the City of Jamestown may be awarded by the Governor, in consultation with the Committee and Executive Council, to a person who is considered to be admirable or worthy of distinction and who has made a contribution to St Helena that merits special recognition. (2) The award of Freedom of the City of Jamestown is symbolic and does not confer on the person any status nor does it grant any rights with respect to residency or confer any privileges or duties akin to citizenship. PART 4 NOMINATIONS AND CONFERMENT OF HONOURS AND AWARDS Nominations for honours and awards 10. A person may nominate another person for the bestowal of an honour or award and the nomination must be submitted in writing to the Secretary of the National Honours and Awards Committee for consideration by the Committee. Conferment of honours and awards 11. (1) The Governor may, at a public ceremony, confer the honours and awards referred to in section 7(1). (2) The name of every person upon whom an honour or award has been bestowed must be published in the Gazette. (3) The honours and awards granted under this Ordinance may be made at a date to be determined by the Governor. PART 5 OFFENCES AND REVOCATION Unauthorised use of insignia 12. A person commits an offence if the person— (a) without lawful authority to use or wear a Badge supplied or authorised in connection with an honour or award under this Ordinance, or use or wear any insignia, medal or badge so nearly resembling such Badge as to be calculated to deceive; or (b) falsely represents a person who is or has been entitled to use or wear such Badge. Penalty: A fine of £1,000. Abuse in connection with grant of honour or award 13. (1) A person who accepts, obtains, agrees to accept or attempts to obtain from another person, whether for the person or for any other person, any gift, money or valuable consideration as an inducement or reward for procuring, or assisting or endeavouring to procure, the grant of an honour or award under this Ordinance to any person, or otherwise in connection with the grant, commits an offence. 5 Penalty: A fine of £2,000. (2) A person who gives or offers, or agrees or proposes to give or offer, to another person any gift, money or valuable consideration as an inducement or reward for procuring, or assisting or endeavouring to procure, the grant of an honour or award under this Ordinance, or otherwise in connection with the grant, commits an offence. Penalty: A fine of £2,000. Revocation of honour or award 14. The Governor, after consultation with the Executive Council and the Committee, may revoke an honour or award granted to a person under this Ordinance if the person— (a) is convicted of an offence; or (b) engages in any act or behaviour not conducive to the reputation or international standing of St Helena or which brings the honours system into disrepute. PART 6 MISCELLANEOUS Financial provision 15. All expenditure incurred in relation to or in connection with the conferment of honours and awards must be paid from the Consolidated Fund. Regulations 16. The Governor in Council may make regulations necessary or convenient for the purpose of this Ordinance, and without limiting that power, the regulations may specifically prescribe— (a) the insignia and regalia of the Badge of St Helena; (b) the eligibility of conferment of an honour or award; (c) the investitures in relation to an honour or award; (d) the rights or privileges appurtenant to the conferment of an honour or award. Protection of honours and awards by Her Majesty 17. Nothing in this Ordinance has the effect of establishing, or may be construed as establishing, a system for the grant of honours or awards by or on behalf of Her Majesty, nor does this Ordinance in any way affect the prerogative of Her Majesty in respect of honours and awards. __________________________ 6 NATIONAL HONOURS AND AWARDS ORDINANCE, 2021 NATIONAL HONOURS AND AWARDS REGULATIONS, 2021 (Section 16) Citation 1. These Regulations may be cited as the National Honours and Awards Regulations 2021. Design of Badge of St Helena 2. (1) The Badge shall be of silver gilt and shall bear on the obverse the St Helena Badge of Arms with the words ‘Badge of St Helena’. (2) The reverse shall depict an outline map of St Helena with a puzzle board overlay with two hands directly beneath the map, connecting two puzzle pieces together. The reverse shall also, around its circumference, bear map coordinates for Jamestown, Diana’s Peak and Prince Andrew School. (3) The ribbon shall be of yellow watered silk with two thin light blue lines down the sides. Criteria for awarding Badge of St Helena 3. (1) The Badge of St Helena may be awarded to individuals who make a significant contribution to St Helena by supporting or enhancing social, cultural, economic, environmental improvement or the understanding of St Helena internationally. (2) A contribution considered for an award must be of direct relevance to St Helena and could be either a significant single action or a notable involvement up to the present time over an extended period. (3) A contribution under consideration for an award may also contribute towards achieving one or more of St Helena’s national goals or strategic objectives and contributions may include, but are not limited to— (a) innovation; (b) ventures leading to a novel or original improvements to St Helena; (c) charitable giving; (d) community engagement and acts of kindness or compassion that enhance inclusivity and generally improve the quality of life; (e) actions that promote culture, arts, literature or music and positively raise awareness about St Helena as a place to visit, live, work, do business and raise children. Criteria for award of Freedom of the City of Jamestown 4. (1) For purposes of section 9 of the Ordinance, in determining whether Freedom of the City of Jamestown is to be awarded to an individual, the Committee must have regard to the positive contribution made by the individual to St Helena, including any significant investment made by that individual or positively raising awareness of St Helena as a place to visit, live, work, invest and raise children. 7 (2) The Freedom of the City of Jamestown award must be in the best interests of St Helena and the betterment of its people. (3) Freedom of the City of Jamestown will be established by the award of a Certificate. Eligibility for award not affected by conviction 5. A person who has been convicted of an offence is not disqualified from being eligible under these Regulations for an award. ______________________________