Belize National Coast Guard Service (Amendment) Act, 2016 (No. 3 of 2016)

BELIZE: BELIZE NATIONAL COAST GUARD SERVICE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2016 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 1. Short title. 2. Amendment of provisions of principal Act to change name. 3. Amendment of section 2. 4. Repeal and replacement of section 4. 5. Amendment of section 10. 6. Amendment of section 11. 7. Amendment of First Schedule. No. 3] Belize Coast Guard 7 No. 3 of 2016 I assent, (SIR COLVILLE N. YOUNG) Governor-General 26th February, 2016 AN ACT to amend the Belize National Coast Guard Service Act, Chapter 131.01 of the Substantive Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2011; to provide for the change of name of the Belize National Coast Guard Service to the Belize Coast Guard, and the clarification of the duties and functions of the Coast Guard; to bring the Act into conformity with the Constitution of Belize by providing that powers of appointment and other wise, in relation to members of the Coast Guard are exercisable by the Security Services Commission; and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. (Gazetted 27th February, 2016). BE IT ENACTED, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives and Senate of Belize and by the authority of the same, as follows: 1. This Act may be cited as the BELIZE NATIONAL COAST GUARD SERVICE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2016. Short title. 8 Belize Coast Guard [No. 3 Amendment of provisions of principal Act to change name. CAP. 131.01. and shall be read and construed as one with the Belize National Coast Guard Service Act, which is hereafter referred to as the principal Act. 2. The principal Act is amended as follows: (a) in the long title, sections 1, 3 and 8(1), the First Schedule and Second Schedule by deleting the words “National Coast Guard Service” wherever they appear and substituting therefor in each case the words “Coast Guard”; (b) other than in relation to section 2 and the amendments referred to in paragraph (a), by deleting the words “Coast Guard Service” wherever they appear and substituting therefor in each case the words “Coast Guard” 3. The principal Act is amended in section 2 as follows: (a) by deleting the definition of “Coast Guard Service” and substituting therefor the following, ““Coast Guard” means the Coast Guard established under section 3;” (b) in the definition of “Commandant”, by deleting all the words appearing after the words “this Act”; (c) by inserting in the appropriate alphabetical sequence the following definition, ““maritime areas of Belize” means the internal waters, the territorial sea, and the exclusive economic zone within the meaning of the Maritime Areas Act;” Amendment of section 2. CAP. 11. No. 3] Belize Coast Guard 9 4. The principal Act is amended by repealing section 4 and substituting therefor the following: “4.– (1) The Coast Guard shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, primarily be employed as a military service organization, being the naval force for the defence of Belize and protection of its sovereignty and territorial integrity and rights in relation to the maritime areas of Belize. (2) Subject to subsection (4), the Coast Guard and each member thereof shall, without derogating from the investigatory, prosecutorial or law enforcement powers of the Commissioner of Police, also have, exercise and enjoy – (a) all the powers, authorities, privileges and immunities of the police under section 4 of the Police Act, and when acting as such shall be deemed to be police for the purposes of that section; (b) the powers of arrest, apprehension and detention conferred upon authorised persons under section 18 of the Maritime Areas Act; (c) the prescribed powers of arrest, investigation, inspection and detention specified in section 19 of the Maritime Areas Act. (3) The powers conferred by subsections (1) and (2) shall be for the purpose of the enforcement of Belize’s maritime laws, maritime security, maritime safety and marine resource protection in relation to the maritime areas of Belize, and in particular the enforcement, or assistance in the enforcement of the provisions of any law relating to, (a) customs and revenue collection; (b) immigration and nationality; Repeal and replacement of section 4. Duties, powers and functions of Coast Guard. CAP. 11. CAP. 11. 10 Belize Coast Guard [No. 3 (c) quarantine; (d) ports and harbours; (e) fisheries protection; (f) marine resources & environmental protection; (g) safety of navigation including inland waterways and aids to navigation; (h) marine pollution; (i) Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR); (j) port security; (k) recreational boating safety; (l) Port State Control; (m) Port Safety; (n) maritime crime and violence; (o) drug trafficking; (p) arms or ammunition trafficking; (q) human smuggling or human trafficking; (r) transnational criminal activity; (s) maritime terrorism; (t) maintaining territorial integrity and sovereignty of Belize sea spaces; No. 3] Belize Coast Guard 11 (u) naval defence of Belize; (v) enforcement of all maritime conventions that the State is party to including, but not limited to those such as or, as the case may be, relating to the following: (i) Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS); (ii) Maritime Pollution (MARPOL); (iii) Oil Spill Prevention Response and Cooperation (OPRC); (iv) the International Load Lines Convention (ILA); (v) United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); (vi) Standards of Training Certificate and Watch Keeping for Seafarers (STCW); (vii) the International Safety Management Code (ISM Code); (viii) the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS Code); (ix) the Tonnage Convention. (4) In performing its functions under subsections (2) and (3) in relation to any matter, where the Coast Guard is not the department with responsibility for that matter, the Coast Guard and its members shall act in consultation and coordination with the responsible department, except in a case of emergency, as determined 12 Belize Coast Guard [No. 3 Amendment of section 10. by the Commandant or other officer who at the time is in command of the Coast Guard.” 5. The principal Act is amended in section 10 as follows, (a) in subsection (1) by deleting the words “ Governor General, acting in accordance with the advice of the”; (b) by deleting subsection (2) and substituting therefor the following – “ (2) A commission may be granted either (a) for a specific period of time or for an indefinite period of time, (b) as a short term commission of three years, or (c) after the initial commission, as a Permanent Regular Commission.”; (c) in subsection (3), by deleting the word “Governor General” and substituting the words “Security Services Commission”; and (d) in subsection (4), by deleting the words “Governor-General acting in accordance with the advice of the”. 6. The principal Act is amended in section 11 as follows, (a) in subsection (1), by deleting the words “Governor-General may, in accordance with the advice of the Security Services Commission”, and substituting the words “Security Services Commission may”; and Amendment of section 11. No. 3] Belize Coast Guard 13 (b) in subsection (2), by deleting the words “Governor General may, acting in accordance with the advice of the Security Services Commission”, and substituting the words “Security Services Commission may”. 7. The principal Act is amended in the First Schedule by deleting the word “Governor-General” wherever it occurs and substituting the words “Chairman of the Security Services Commission”. Amendment of First Schedule. Printed in Belize by the Government Printer #1 Power Lane, Belmopan, Belize, C.A.