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Foreign Service Act 2008

Commencement: 29 September 2008

REPUBLIC OF VANUATU

FOREIGN SERVICE ACT
NO. 22 OF 2008

Arrangement of Sections

1 Definition
2 Appointment and selection of head of mission (other than a consul general)
3 Recommendation and advertising of head of mission (other than a consul general) position
4 Duties of head of mission (other than a consul general)
5 Reporting requirement of a head of mission (other than a consul general)
6 Removal and resignation of a head of mission (other than a consul general)
7 Appointment of a consul general
8 Duties of a consul general
9 Reporting requirement of a consul general
10 Removal and resignation of a consul general
11 Appointment of a foreign national as a head of mission or consul general
12 Head of mission a leader
13 Appointment of an honorary consul
14 Duties of an honorary consul
15 Reporting requirement of an honorary consul
16 Removal and resignation from office of an honorary consul
17 Appointment of a special envoy
18 Terms and conditions of employment
19 Secondment to a head of mission position
20 Other staff of mission
21 Transitional arrangement and cessation of office
22 Regulation
23 Commencement

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REPUBLIC OF VANUATU

Assent: 12/06/2008
Commencement: 29/09/2008

FOREIGN SERVICE ACT
NO. 22 OF 2008

An Act to provide for a legal framework for the appointment of head of missions and for related matters.

Be it enacted by the President and Parliament as follows:

1 Definitions

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:

Council means the Council of Ministers;

Director General means the Director General responsible for foreign affairs;

head of mission means a person who is:

(a) issued with a letter of credentials under section 2 to be:

(i) a high commissioner of Vanuatu; or

(ii) an ambassador of Vanuatu; or

(iii) a roving ambassador of Vanuatu; or

(iv) a permanent representative to the United Nations or any other international organization, or

(b) appointed as a consul general under section 7;

honorary consul means a person appointed under section 13 to be an honorary consul;

Minister means the Minister responsible for foreign affairs;

Ministry means the Ministry responsible for foreign affairs;

mission means a high commission, embassy, consulate or permanent mission of the Republic of Vanuatu;

State means any State, country or territory, but does not include Vanuatu.

2 Appointment and selection of head of mission (other than a consul general)

(1) An application for the post of a head of mission is to be made in writing to the Director General. The Director General must make the applications available to the selection panel referred to in subsection (4).

(2) The Council must not recommend to the President a person for appointment, unless the person:

(a) is qualified and capable of carrying out the required duties at the mission; and

(b) has been recommended to the Minister by a selection panel under subsection (9).

(3) The President is to appoint and issue a letter of credence to a person, upon the recommendation of the Council, to be a head of a mission.

(4) The Minister is to appoint the following persons as members of the selection panel:

(a) a representative of the Office of the Prime Minister;

(b) a representative of the civil society;

(c) a representative of the Office of the Leader of Opposition;

(d) the Director General of the Ministry;

(e) the First Political Advisor of the Ministry;

(f) the Secretary of the Public Service Commission.

(5) In making an appointment under paragraph (4)(a), (b) or (c), the Minister must take into consideration the interest of ensuring gender equity.

(6) The quorum for selecting and recommending candidates to the Council is 4 members present at the meeting.

(7) The Minister must nominate another person in accordance with paragraph (4)(a), (b) or (c) to replace a member referred to in these paragraphs at a meeting if the member declares a conflict of interest at the meeting or is absent for any reason approved by the selection panel.

(8) If a member referred to in paragraph (4)(d), (e) or (f) declares a conflict of interest at the meeting or is absent for any reason approved by the selection panel, the next available senior officer under the position of the member is to replace the member at the meeting.

(9) The selection panel must recommend to the Minister all candidates rated suitable by the selection panel, and the Minister must recommend all of those candidates to the Council.

(10) The selection panel must not recommend a person unless the person is a citizen (other than an honorary citizen) of Vanuatu.

(11) A person appointed and issued with a letter of credentials under subsection (3) is to hold office for a period of 3 years. However, the period can be extended only once by the President on the recommendation of the Council for another period not exceeding 3 years.

(12) The appointment of a person and the letter of credentials issued by the President to a person is to be published in the Official Gazette.

3 Recommendation and advertising of head of mission (other than a consul general) position

(1) A recommendation made by the selection panel under subsection 2(9) must be made on merit following a fair and transparent selection process.

(2) In making a recommendation under subsection 2(9), the selection panel must have regard to the person’s qualifications, experience and suitability for the position concerned.

(3) All vacancies must be advertised in such a way that informs and seeks applications from people throughout Vanuatu.

4 Duties of head of mission (other than a consul general)

Except as otherwise instructed by the Minister, a head of mission is to have:

(a) the management and direction of the mission, its resources and activities; and

(b) the coordination of the official activities of the various departments and agencies of the Government of Vanuatu; and

(c) such other duties as may be assigned to him or her by the Minister or the Director General,

in the country or portion of the country or at the international organization to which he or she is appointed.

5 Reporting requirement of a head of mission (other than a consul general)

(1) A head of mission must report in writing to the Minister on a quarterly basis on the performance of his or her duties.

(2) The Minister may require a head of mission to report orally or in writing to him or her from time to time on any specific matter of importance to Vanuatu.

(3) A head of mission is required to meet relevant government officials in Vanuatu, once in a year, for debriefing purposes.

6 Removal and resignation of a head of mission (other than a consul general)

(1) The President may, on the recommendation of the Council, remove from office a head of mission if he or she:

(a) ceases to be a citizen of Vanuatu (other than a person appointed under section 11 of this Act); or

(b) becomes bankrupt inside or outside Vanuatu; or

(d) is incapacitated by an illness; or

(e) is not complying with his or her performance agreement with the Minister; or

(f) has acted in a manner contrary to any lawful instruction of the Minister; or

(g) brings into disrepute the integrity and reputation of Vanuatu; or

(h) acts contrary to the Government’s foreign policy.

(2) If a head of mission is removed under a paragraph of subsection (1), the next senior staff of the mission is to act as the head of mission until such time as the President appoints and issues a letter of credence to a person to be the head of mission for that mission under section 2.

(3) A head of mission may resign at any time by giving 3 months notice in writing to the President.

7 Appointment of a consul general

(1) The Minister may, with the prior approval of the Council, appoint a consul general.

(2) A person is not to be appointed as a consul general unless:

(a) the person is qualified and capable of carrying out the duties of a consul general; and

(b) the person is a citizen of Vanuatu (other than a person appointed under section 11 of this Act).

(3) The provisions of subsections 2(4) to (10) apply to the appointment of a consul general.

(4) A person is to be appointed to hold office as a consul general for a period of three years and may be reappointed for a period not exceeding 3 years.

(5) An appointment made under this section is to be published in the Official Gazette.

8 Duties of a consul general

The consul general is to have such duties as may be assigned to him or her by the Minister or the Director General.

9 Reporting requirement of a consul general

(1) A consul general must report in writing to the Minister on a quarterly basis on the performance of his or her duties.

(2) The Minister may require a consul general to report orally or in writing to him or her from time to time on any specific matter of importance to Vanuatu.

10 Removal and resignation of a consul general

(1) The Minister may, with the prior approval of the Council, remove from office a consul general if he or she:

(a) ceases to be a citizen of Vanuatu (other than a person appointed under section 11 of this Act); or

(b) becomes bankrupt inside or outside Vanuatu; or

(d) is incapacitated by an illness; or

(e) is not complying with his or her performance agreement with the Minister; or

(f) has acted in a manner contrary to any lawful instruction of the Minister; or

(g) brings into disrepute the integrity and reputation of Vanuatu; or

(h) acts contrary to the Government’s foreign policy.

(2) A consul general may resign at any time by giving 3 months notice in writing to the Minister.

11 Appointment of a foreign national as a head of mission or consul general

(1) Subject to subsection (3), the Minister may with the prior approval of the Council appoint, a foreign national to be a head of mission or consul general for the Republic of Vanuatu.

(2) The provisions of subsections 2(4) to (9) apply to the appointment of a foreign national as a head of mission or consul general.

(3) A foreign national may only be appointed under this section in the following circumstances:

(a) if it is in the best interest of the Government that a head of mission or consul general be appointed for a particular jurisdiction; and

(b) due to budgetary constraints the Government is not able to fund these missions in that particular jurisdiction.

12 Head of mission a leader

A head of mission is a leader for the purposes of the Leadership Code Act [CAP 240].

13 Appointment of an honorary consul

(1) The Minister with the prior approval of the Council, is to appoint a person to be an honorary consul for Vanuatu in a State.

(2) A person is not to be appointed as an honorary consul unless:

(a) the person is qualified and capable of carrying out the duties of an honorary consul; and

(b) the Minister has received an agreement for the mission from the receiving State; and

(c) the person has no record of criminal conviction.

(3) A person is to be appointed as an honorary consul for a period not exceeding 3 years and may be reappointed.

(4) An appointment made under this section is to be published in the Official Gazette.

14 Duties of an honorary consul

(1) An honorary consul is to represent Vanuatu and promote awareness of Vanuatu in a State and is to perform such other duties as are prescribed by the regulations.

(2) In carrying out his or her duties, the honorary consul is to liaise with other relevant authorities in Vanuatu through the Ministry.

15 Reporting requirement of an honorary consul

(1) An honorary consul must report in writing to the Minister on a quarterly basis on the performance of his or her duties.

(2) The Minister may require an honorary consul to report orally and in writing to him or her from time to time on any specific matter of importance to Vanuatu.

(3) An honorary consul is required to meet relevant government officials in Vanuatu once in a year.

16 Removal and resignation from office of an honorary consul

(1) The Minister may with the prior approval of the Council, remove from office an honorary consul. The Minister must provide the honorary consul with 1 month notice in writing of his or her intention to remove the person from that office.

(2) An honorary consul may resign at any time by giving 1 month notice in writing to the Minister.

17 Appointment of a special envoy

(1) The Minister may with the prior approval of the Council, appoint in writing a special envoy of the Republic of Vanuatu to represent the Minister or the Government of Vanuatu on specific matters in another jurisdiction.

(2) An appointment ceases to have effect on the date on which the Minister with the prior approval of the Council specifies in writing.

18 Terms and Conditions of employment

The Minister is to determine, subject to the prior approval of the Council, by Order, the terms and conditions of appointment of a head of mission, an honorary consul, a special envoy and other staff of the mission.

19 Secondment to a head of mission position

(1) A senior officer of a Government Ministry, Department or Agency may be seconded to a head of mission position by the President on the recommendation of the Council.

(2) Any recommendation by the Council must be made on merit.

(3) A secondment must not exceed 3 years.

20 Other staff of Mission

(1) An officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs or another relevant Government Department or Agency may be seconded to a mission by the relevant Director General, the Public Service Commission or the relevant authority (as the case may be), on the recommendation of the Director General.

(2) Any recommendation made by the Director General must be made on merit.

(3) A secondment is not to exceed 3 years.

(4) A head of mission is to appoint persons as members of the local staff of the overseas mission concerned on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Public Service Commission.

21 Transitional arrangement and cessation of office

(1) This section applies to any person who was a head of mission or an honorary consul immediately before the commencement of this Act.

(2) On and after that commencement, the person is to continue:

• (a) on the same terms and conditions; and
  
• (b) in the same position.
  

(3) A person who is not a citizen of Vanuatu and who is a head of mission or an honorary consul in a State immediately before the commencement of this Act, ceases to hold office on the commencement of this Act.

22 Regulation

The Minister may make regulations prescribing matters:

(b) necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.

23 Commencement

This Act commences on the date on which it is published in the Gazette.