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terms in respect to the judiciary as against the other arms
of the state.

Held: “The principle of Separation of Powers was implicit
in the Constitution, and Parliament had no power to
transfer from the Judiciary to the Review Board, the
majority of whose members were not qualified to exercise
judicial powers, a discretion to determine the severity of
punishment to be inflicted on an individual member of a
class of offenders, and accordingly, the provisions of ss.8
and 22 of the Gun Court Act were contrary to the
constitution and void and the sentences passed on the
defendant unlawful.”

Law: Astaphan v. Controller of Customs 1966 (Court of
Appeal of Dominica)

Section 6 of the Dominica protects individuals from
compulsory acquisition of his property without
constitutional authority. The appellant was required to
pay sums in excess of estimated duties on goods being
cleared from customs.

Separation of powers
Issue: Whether Legislature of Dominica delegated or
transferred its legislative power of taxation to the
Executive by authorities to demand a tax or duty under
s.27(4)of the Customs (Control and Management) Act

Held: Section 27 (4) inconsistent with basic principle of
separation of powers and therefore unconstitutional and
void to that extent. It further sums that in nature of a
penalty this was a judicial power or discretion which could
not legislatively be transferred to the Executive.

Clear application of each of two laws 2 marks each [4 marks]
Partial application 1 mark
Clear explanation of each case or example 2 marks each
[4 marks]
Application and Conclusion
 Therefore a judge of the Child Court must be appointed
by the Judicial Legal Services Commission and not the
Minister of Justice.
 Section 15 of the Child Court Act is unconstitutional
because it vests the power of appointment of a High
Court Judge in the Ministry of Justice, a member of the
Executive and Legislature rather than to the independent
Judicial Legal Services Commission.

Application and Conclusion [2 marks]
Coherence [3 marks]

[15 marks]