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Relations between overseas territories and the House of Commons |
| Relations between legislative councils and the House of Commons. |
4. - (1) Within six months of the first day of meeting of a Parliament following a general election in the United Kingdom the Secretary of State shall lay before the House of Commons draft regulations setting out proposed bilateral arrangements for the exchange of information and facilitation of dialogue between Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom and members of the parliaments or legislative councils of the overseas territories.
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(2) Draft regulations under subsection (1) shall be subject to approval by affirmative resolution of the House of Commons before they are made and once made shall remain in force for the remainder of that Parliament unless amended or superseded by further regulations.
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(3) The Secretary of State shall consult the parliament or legislative council of each overseas territory before including it within the provisions of draft regulations made under subsection (1).
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| Right of the Chief Ministers to petition the House of Commons. |
5. - (1) The Chief Minister of an overseas territory shall have the right on application to the Speaker to petition at the bar of the House of Commons.
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(2) The parliament or legislative council of an overseas territory may resolve that the right under subsection (1) may be exercised by a person appointed by them for that purpose.
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General |
| Interpretation. |
6. In this Act "overseas territory" means a territory listed in Schedule 6 to the British Nationality Act 1981.
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| Short title and commencement. |
7. - (1) This Act may be cited as the Representation of Overseas Territories Act 2000.
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(2) This Act shall come into force when the Secretary of State has made a statement to the effect that in his view the provisions of the Act are compatible with the Convention rights.
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(3) In this section "Convention rights" has the meaning given in the Human Rights Act 1998.
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