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Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund Act [Cap 84]

LAWS OF FIJI

CHAPTER 84

FIJI SERVICEMEN'S AFTER-CARE

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

SECTION
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
3. Establishment of Fund.
4. Purposes for which Fund is to be used.
5. Trustees.
6. Vesting of Fund in the trustees.
7. Further increase of the Fund.
8. Investment of the Fund.
9. Trustees banking account.
10. General powers and duties of trustees.
11. Committee of Management.
12. Incorporation of Committee of Management.
13. Powers and duties of Committee of Management.
14. General meetings of the Committee.
15. Special meetings of the Committee.
16. Notice of meetings.
17. Quorum.
18. Voting.
19. Appointment of secretary to Committee.
20. Secretary's duties.
21. Minutes.
22. Banking Account.
23. Accounts.
24. Protection of trustees and Committee from personal liability.
25. Regulations.

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FIJI SERVICEMEN'S AFTER-CARE FUND

Ordinances Nos. 5 of 1944, 14 of 1944, 37 of 1966,
Order 7th Oct., 1970

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF A FIJI SERVICEMEN'S AFTER-CARE FUND.

[2nd June, 1944.]

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund Act.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-

"Allied Forces" and "Allied Merchant Service" include respectively British Naval, Military and Air Forces and Merchant Services, and the Naval, Military and Air Forces and Merchant Services of any power allied with Her Majesty during the war;

"Committee" and "Managing Committee" mean the Committee of Management incorporated under this Act;
(Amended by 14 of 1944, s. 2.)

"dependants" has the same meaning as is assigned to that term in the War Pensions (1943) Act;
(Cap. 83.)

"the Fund" means the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund established by section 3;

"Trustees" means the trustees for the time being of the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund appointed under section 5;

"the war" means any war to which the War Pensions (1943) Act applies.
(Cap. 83.)

Establishment of Fund

3. There shall be and is hereby established a Fund which shall be known as the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund and shall consist of the sum of forty-five thousand five hundred and eighty-eight pounds and nine pence standing to the credit of an account at the Suva branch of the Bank of New South Wales entitled the Fiji Patriotic Fete Account together with any subscriptions or donations which may hereafter be paid to the Fund, and any income accruing to the Fund from investments made with the Fund moneys.

Purposes for which Fund is to be used

4. The purposes for which the Fund shall be used and applied shall be-

(a) for the aid and care (not being welfare work among persons still in the armed forces) of persons who shall have served at any time during the war in or with the Fiji Naval or Military Forces or any branch of the Allied Forces or in any Allied Merchant Service or any Nursing Service attached to any of the Allied Forces and who, immediately before joining or leaving Fiji or their place of residence, as the case may be, to join the said Forces or Services, were either resident in Fiji or, being resident elsewhere, were domiciled in Fiji; and

(b) for the aid and care of the wives, widows, children and other dependants of such persons, whether or not such persons are still serving with such Forces or Services.

Trustees

5.-(1) The Governor shall upon the coming into operation of this Act appoint three suitable persons to be the original trustees of the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund, and thereafter the Managing Committee may, from time to time when any vacancy shall occur in the number of the trustees, appoint, with the approval of the Minister, any suitable person to be a trustee of the Fund, but so that, subject to subsection (4), the number of trustees in office at any one time shall not exceed three.

(2) Any trustee who is adjudicated bankrupt or who dies or is incapacitated or who is unable or fails for any cause to carry out his duty as a trustee or who communicates in writing to the Minister his wish to resign, shall, upon the happening of any such event, cease to be a trustee.

(3) The Minister may at any time by notice in writing to a trustee and to the chairman of the trustees remove any trustee from office and thereupon such person shall cease to be a trustee with effect from such date as the Minister may specify.

(4) The Managing Committee may, with the approval of the Minister appoint any suitable person to act as a trustee during the continued illness or incapacity or absence from Fiji of any trustee and such person so appointed shall have all the powers, duties and liabilities of the trustee for whom he is appointed to act for so long as the illness, incapacity or absence of the said trustee shall continue or until such trustee shall otherwise cease to be a trustee.

(5) The Minister shall appoint from among the trustees one trustee to be chairman of the trustees. Whenever the chairman is temporarily unable to carry out his duties the Minister may, if he sees fit, appoint a trustee to act as chairman for so long as may be necessary.

Vesting of Fund in the trustees

6. Upon the appointment of trustees the persons authorised to operate the Fiji Patriotic Fete Account at the Suva branch of the Bank of New South Wales, that is to say, T. W. A. Barker, L. A. Lawlor and G. R. Jefferson, shall cause to be transferred to the trustees the said sum of forty-five thousand five hundred and eighty-eight pounds and nine pence standing to the credit of the said account and the trustees shall thereupon stand seised and possessed of the Fund together with all other property real and personal which may hereafter be acquired by or transferred to them for the purposes of the Fund.
(Amended by 37 of 1966, s. 26.)

Further increase of the Fund

7. The trustees may at any time hereafter receive any subscriptions or donations (whether of real or personal estate) and any devises or bequests for the genera] purposes of the Fund.

Investment of the Fund

8. The Fund or such part thereof as is not for the time being required for the purposes of the Fund shall be invested by the trustees in any investment authorised by the law for the time being in force in England or Fiji, and the trustees may vary, sell and transfer the same as may from time to time be necessary for the proper administration of the Fund by the Managing Committee hereinafter mentioned.

Trustees banking account

9. The trustees may for the purposes of the Fund open and keep a banking account, to be called the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund Trustee Account, with some fit bank to be from time to time selected by the trustees. All cheques and orders for the payment of money from such account shall be signed by at least two of the trustees.

General powers and duties of trustees

10. The trustees shall from time to time apply the Fund to paying or discharging all costs, charges and expenses of the trustees of or incidental to the administration of the Fund and subject thereto shall from time to time pay into the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund Committee Account as hereinafter provided such sum or sums as the Committee may require for the purposes of the Fund.

Committee of Management

11.-(1) The Minister shall from time to time as may be necessary appoint suitable persons to be and form a Committee of Management of the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund.

(2) The Committee shall consist of not more than ten persons so appointed as aforesaid.

(3) Three members of the Committee shall retire from office on the thirty-first day of December, 1947, and thereafter on the thirty-first day of December of every third year, but shall be eligible for re-appointment. The members to retire in the years 1947 and 1950 shall, unless the members of the Committee agree amongst themselves, be determined by ballot, and thereafter the members who have been longest in office shall retire.

(4) Subject to subsection (3) the provisions of subsections (2), (3) and (4) of section 5 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the relinquishment of office by members of the Committee, the removal of members of the Committee, and the appointment of persons to act as members of the Committee in case of the temporary absence of members.

(5) The Minister shall appoint from among the members of the Committee one member to be chairman of the Committee. In the absence of the chairman from any meeting of the Committee, the members present at such meeting may elect one of their number to preside, but whenever the chairman is temporarily unable to carry out his duties the Minister may, if he sees fit, appoint a member to act as chairman for so long as may be necessary.

Incorporation of Committee of Management

12.-(1) The Committee of Management appointed under section 11 shall be and is hereby constituted a body corporate under the title "The Committee of Management of the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund" or such other title as the Minister may hereafter declare by notice in the Gazette, and by that name shall have perpetual succession and shall have and may use a common seal of such design as may from time to time be approved by the Minister.

(2) The common seal shall be in the custody of such person and shall be used in such manner as the Minister may from time to time direct by writing under his hand addressed to the chairman of the Committee.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Committee may acquire, purchase, take, hold and enjoy real and personal property of any description and may sell, convey, assign, exchange, surrender, yield up, mortgage, demise, transfer or otherwise howsoever dispose of and deal with any real or personal property vested in the Committee upon such terms as to the Committee seem fit.
(Amended by 37 of 1966, s. 26.)

(4) The Committee may sue and be sued and may take legal proceedings in any court by the name of "The Committee of Management of the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund", and all writs of summons, notices and legal process may be served upon the Committee by service in any lawful manner on the chairman of or the secretary to the Committee. (Section inserted by 14 of 1944, s. 3.)

Powers and duties of Committee of Management

13. The Committee of Management shall apply and administer the Fund generally for the purposes set out in section 4, and particularly, but without limiting the scope of the general intentions there expressed, shall in the discretion of the Committee apply the Fund-

(a) to provide funds for the maintenance and welfare of the persons specified in section 4 or any of them;

(b) to provide such persons or any of them with medical care and surgical appliances;

(c) to provide for the education of the children of such persons or any of them;

(d) to assist such persons or any of them to fit and equip themselves for any profession, trade or calling;

(e) to make loans to persons specified in section 4 or any of them subject to such conditions as the Committee may think fit;
(Inserted by 14 of 1944, s. 4.)

(f) to the payment of all reasonable costs, charges and expenses of the Committee of or incidental to the application and administration of the Fund.
(Inserted by 14 of 1944, s. 4.)

General meetings of the Committee

14. The Committee shall hold general meetings at such times and places as the chairman may decide:

Provided that at least two such meetings shall be held in every calendar year and that the interval of time between any two general meetings shall in no case exceed a period of nine months.

Special meetings of the Committee

15. The chairman or any two members of the Committee may at any time require the secretary to summon a special meeting for any cause which seems to him or to them to be sufficient.

Notice of meetings

16. Fourteen clear days' notice shall be given of any general or special meeting of the Committee, but in any case of urgency such shorter notice may be given as the chairman shall deem reasonable in the circumstances.

Quorum

17. Five members present at any meeting of the Committee shall form a quorum; during such time as there may be any vacancy, members of the Committee for the time being, not being less in number than a quorum, may act for all purposes in the administration of the Fund.

Voting

18. Every matter shall be determined by the majority of the members of the Committee present and voting on the question. The chairman shall have a casting vote whether or not he shall have previously voted on the same question.

Appointment of secretary to Committee

19. The Committee may appoint a suitable person to be secretary to the Committee.

Secretary's duties

20. The secretary shall conduct the correspondence and other business relating to the administration of the Fund, shall summon, attend and keep minutes of all meetings of the Committee, shall keep the accounts of the administration of the Fund and prepare and furnish statements of accounts as and when required by the Committee and shall perform such other duties as may reasonably be required of him by the Committee.

Minutes

21. A minute book shall be kept by the secretary on behalf of the Committee. Minutes of the entry into and relinquishment of office of every member of the Committee and of all proceedings of the Committee shall be entered in the minute book and shall be signed by the chairman of the meeting either at the conclusion thereof or at a subsequent meeting after due confirmation.

Banking account

22.-(1) The Managing Committee shall for the purposes of the Fund open and keep a banking account, to be called the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund Committee Account, with some fit bank to be from time to time selected by the Committee.

(2) The trustees shall from time to time, on the order of the Managing Committee signed by two or more members of the Committee and counter-signed by the secretary, pay into such account such sum or sums as may be directed in the said order.

(3) The trustees shall not be in any way responsible for the application of the moneys so paid into such banking account.

(4) All cheques and orders for the payment of money shall be signed by two or more members of the Managing Committee and counter-signed by the secretary.

Accounts

23. Full accounts shall be kept and entered in proper books of account by the trustees and the Committee respectively. Annual statements of accounts for the period ending the thirty-first day of December in every year shall be prepared as early as practicable in the ensuing year and shall be duly audited by an auditor to be appointed by the Minister. Accounts shall be considered and passed by the trustees and the Committee respectively and shall be submitted to the Minister, together with reports by the trustees and by the Committee respectively of their proceedings during the year to which the accounts relate, and the Minister shall thereupon cause such accounts to be published in such manner as he deems fit.

Protection of trustees and Committee from personal liability

24. No act or thing done by any trustee or by any member of the Committee, or by any servant or other person acting under the directions of the Committee, shall, if the act or thing was done bond fide and without negligence for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this Act, subject him personally to any liability, action, claim or demand whatsoever.
(Substituted by 14 of 1944, s. 5)

Regulations

25. The Minister may make regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act for the better carrying into effect of the provisions and objects and intentions of this Act.

Controlled by Office of the Prime Minister

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION

CHAPTER 84

FIJI SERVICEMEN'S AFTER-CARE FUND

SECTION 23.-AUDITOR

Notice; 27th March, 1945
[in force 6th April, 1945]

Appointment by the Governor

The Auditor-General shall be the Auditor to the Trustees and the Committee of Management of the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund.

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SECTION 26.-FIJI SERVICEMEN'S AFTER-CARE FUND REGULATIONS

Regulations: 19th July, 1944
[in force 21st July, 1944]

Made by the Governor in Council

Short title

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund Regulations.

Regional committee

2. The Managing Committee may establish such regional advisory committees as it may deem necessary or expedient for the efficient administration of the Fund, and may define the area within which each such regional committee shall exercise its functions, and may in its discretion abolish any regional committee so established.

Duties of regional committee

3. It shall be the duty of every regional committee-

(a) to investigate to the best of its ability every case referred to it by the Managing Committee and to submit to the Managing Committee with all reasonable despatch a report on each such case together with any recommendation which it may think fit to make thereon;

(b) to bring to the notice of the Managing Committee any case within the limits of its area which it may consider to be deserving of assistance from the Fund notwithstanding that no application for assistance has been lodged in respect of such case.

Members of regional committee

4. A regional committee shall consist of not more than four members, who shall be appointed by the Managing Committee, together with a chairman, who shall be appointed by the Minister.

Term of office

5. The chairman and members of a regional committee shall hold office for three years, but shall be eligible for re-appointment:

Provided that the Minister or Managing Committee, as the case may be, may at any time remove from office the chairman or any member of a regional committee and may appoint some other person to be chairman or member in his place.

Temporary members

6. During the illness, incapacity or absence from Fiji of a chairman or member of a regional committee the Minister or Managing Committee, as the case may be, may appoint any person to act as chairman or member of such committee in his place for so long as the illness, incapacity or absence continues or until such chairman or member otherwise ceases to be a chairman or member of the regional committee.

Applications for assistance Schedule

7. All applications for assistance from the Fund shall be made in one of the Forms set out in the Schedule and shall contain the particulars required by such Form, and shall be addressed to the secretary of the Managing Committee. The applicant shall in every case complete and sign the declaration at the foot of such Form.

Forms to be sent to committee

8. Forms of application, when completed, may either be sent direct to the secretary of the Managing Committee, or may be sent or delivered to a chairman of a regional committee. In the latter case it shall be the duty of such chairman to forward the application to the secretary of the Managing Committee with all reasonable despatch.

Grant of assistance though no application

9. The Managing Committee may consider and grant assistance in any case notwithstanding that no application for assistance has been made in respect of such case.

Proceedings to be confidential

10. All applications for assistance, reports of regional committees and all proceedings of the Managing Committee and regional committees shall be treated as confidential and shall not, except so far as may be necessary for the efficient administration of the Fund, be published or otherwise disclosed to any person not concerned with the administration of the Fund.

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SCHEDULE
(Regulation 7)

(a) FORM OF APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE BY PERSON WHO HIMSELF SERVED IN THE WAR

FIJI SERVICEMEN'S AFTER-CARE FUND

APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE

To the Secretary, No.
Managing Committee,
Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund,
Suva.

Name in full:
Address:
Age: Regimental Number:
Rank: Unit:
War service:
Pension or other allowance:
Married or single:
Number of children under 16 years:
Other dependants:
Profession or trade:
Present employment:
Salary or wages:
Particulars of any property owned:
Particulars of bank account, or other sources of income, if any:
Particulars of any previous assistance from the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund or any other source:
State purpose for which the assistance is required:

REMARKS:

DECLARATION:

I, .............................. residing at ............................., do solemnly declare that the above statements are correct and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing same to be true.

Date: ......................, ........................ 19 .......... Signature: ........................

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(b) FORM OF APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE BY DEPENDANT OF PERSON WHO SERVED IN THE WAR

FIJI SERVICEMEN'S AFTER-CARE FUND

APPLICATION FOR ASSISTANCE

To the Secretary, No.
Managing Committee,
Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund,
Suva.

(i) PARTICULARS OF APPLICANT
Name of applicant in full:
Address: Age:
Pension or other allowances:
Married or single:
Number of children under 16 years:
Profession or trade:
Present employment:
Salary or wages:
Particulars of any property owned:
Particulars of bank account, or other sources of income, if any:
Particulars of any previous assistance from the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund or any other source.
State purpose for which assistance is required:

(ii) PARTICULARS OF SERVICEMAN OF WHOM APPLICANT IS THE DEPENDANT
Name in full:
Present address (if alive): or
Date and place of death:
Age (if alive): Regimental No.:
Rank: Unit:
War service:
Pension or other allowances:
Married or single:
Dependants other than applicant:
Particulars of any previous assistance from the Fiji Servicemen's After-care Fund
or any other source:
If alive-
Profession or trade:
Present employment:
Salary or wages:
Particulars of any property owned:
Particulars of bank account, or other sources of income, if any:

REMARKS:

DECLARATION:

I, ..................................... residing at .............................., do solemnly declare that the above statements are correct and I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing same to be true.

Date: ...........................,19........... Signature: .............................

Controlled by Office of the Prime Minister

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