Dominica: Government Structure

Dominica is a parliamentary republic with a non-executive presidency, combining a ceremonial head of state with a prime minister who holds the working authority of government. The president is elected by the House of Assembly for a five-year term, while the prime minister is drawn from the elected members who command majority support in the House, a structure that keeps day-to-day governance firmly in the hands of Parliament.

Legislative power rests with a unicameral House of Assembly of thirty members, plus a Speaker and Attorney-General, made up of twenty-one directly elected representatives and nine senators. Five of the senators are appointed on the advice of the prime minister and four on the advice of the leader of the opposition, giving the minority a formal, if limited, voice in the chamber. Elections must be held at least every five years under universal adult suffrage, and the country has long operated under a two-party system in which independent or third-party candidates have found it difficult to win seats.

The judiciary operates independently of the executive and legislature, with local matters handled by magistrate and jury courts and higher appeals routed through the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, which includes both a High Court and a Court of Appeal. As a member of the Eastern Caribbean judicial system, Dominica also retains the option of a final appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, a link shared with several other Commonwealth Caribbean nations.