CIVIL DEFENCE ACT, 2002

SCHEDULE 1 Definition of Civil Defence

Definition of Civil Defence

Section 2.

“CHAPTER VI — CIVIL DEFENCE

Article 61 - Definitions and scope

For the purposes of this Protocol

(a) ‘civil defence’ means the performance of some or all of the undermentioned humanitarian tasks intended to protect the civilian population against the dangers, and to help it to recover from the immediate effects, of hostilities or disasters and also to provide the conditions necessary for its survival. These tasks are

(i) warning;

(ii) evacuation;

(iii) management of shelters;

(iv) management of blackout measures;

(v) rescue;

(vi) medical services, including first-aid, and religious assistance;

(vii) fire-fighting;

(viii) detection and marking of danger areas;

(ix) decontamination and similar protective measures;

(x) provision of emergency accommodation and supplies;

(xi) emergency assistance in the restoration and maintenance of order in distressed areas;

(xii) emergency repair of indispensable public utilities;

(xiii) emergency disposal of the dead;

(xiv) assistance in the preservation of objects essential for survival;

(xv) complementary activities necessary to carry out any of the tasks mentioned above, including, but not limited to, planning and organisation.”.

SCHEDULE 2 The Board

SCHEDULE 2

The Board

Section 7.

1. In this Schedule, except where the context otherwise requires, “member” means a member of the Board, including the chairperson.

2. (1) The Board shall, as soon as practicable after its establishment, provide itself with and retain in its possession, a seal.

(2) The seal of the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of—

(a) the chairperson or other member authorised by the Board to act in that behalf, and

(b) an officer of the Board designated for that purpose by the Board.

3. Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of the Board and an instrument purporting to be an instrument made by the Board and to be sealed with its seal (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with paragraph 2(2)(b)) shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without further proof unless the contrary is shown.

4. Subject to paragraph 10, the Minister, when appointing members under section 11 (other than the chairperson) shall specify each member's term of office which shall not exceed 3 years and, subject to this Schedule, membership shall be on the terms that the Minister may determine.

5. A member whose term of office expires or is about to expire with the passage of time is eligible for re-appointment to the Board at the Minister's discretion.

6. A member (other than the chairperson) may resign by letter sent to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect from the date specified in the letter or on receipt of the letter by the Minister, whichever is the later.

7. A member may at any time be removed from membership of the Board by the Minister if, in the Minister's opinion, the member has become incapable through ill-health of performing his or her functions, or has committed stated misbehaviour, or his or her removal appears to the Minister to be necessary for the effective performance by the Board of its functions.

8. A member shall cease to be and shall be disqualified from being a member where the member—

(a) is adjudicated bankrupt,

(b) makes a composition or arrangement with creditors,

(c) on conviction on indictment by a court of competent jurisdiction is sentenced to a term of imprisonment, or

(d) is disqualified or restricted from being a director of any company (within the meaning of the Companies Acts, 1963 to 2001).

9. Subject to this Act, a member shall hold office on the terms and conditions (including terms and conditions relating to remuneration and allowances for expenses) that may be determined by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance.

10. (1) If a member dies, resigns, becomes disqualified or is removed from office, or for any other reason (other than paragraph 4 or 5) ceases to be a member, the Minister may appoint a person to be a member to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned and the person appointed shall be appointed in the same manner as the member who occasioned the casual vacancy.

(2) A person appointed to be a member under this paragraph shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the member who occasioned the casual vacancy.

11. The Board shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for performing its functions but in any case shall meet not less than once in every 3 months.

12. The first meeting of the Board shall be held within one month after the establishment day.

13. At a meeting of the Board—

(a) the chairperson shall, if present, be the chairperson of the meeting, or

(b) if and so long as the chairperson is not present or if the office of chairperson is vacant, the members of the Board who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairperson of the meeting.

14. Every question that is to be decided at a meeting of the Board shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members of the Board present and voting on the question and, in the case of an equal division of votes, the chairperson of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

15. Subject to paragraph 16, the Board may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy among its membership or any deficiency in the appointment of a member that may subsequently be discovered.

16. The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be 5 or such greater number of members as the Board may from time to time determine.

17. Subject to this Act, the Board shall regulate its procedure by rules or otherwise.

SCHEDULE 3 Programmes

SCHEDULE 3

Programmes

Section 8(3).

Programmes relating to the following

(a) the provision of emergency assistance to persons as a consequence of weather-related flooding and other adverse weather conditions;

(b) in respect of environmental matters, the dissemination of information to the public with regard to pollution, in particular, of public water supplies, and the undertaking of conservation projects;

(c) the further development, improvement and maintenance of expertise in river, lake and coastal area search and recovery of persons;

(d) the development of a response capability in respect of accidents involving nuclear plants or material or other chemical, biological or radiological emergency and the relevant education, training and skills;

(e) the training and skills required for the rescue of persons;

(f) the development of a response capability to forest-fires and the relevant education, training and skills;

(g) the provision of assistance at public events and the training and equipment required.

SCHEDULE 4 The Director General

SCHEDULE 4

The Director General

Section 14.

1. The director general shall perform his or her functions subject to any policies that the Board may determine from time to time and shall be accountable to the Board for the efficient and effective management of the Board and for the due performance of his or her functions.

2. The director general may, with the consent of the Board, delegate any of his or her functions to a member of the staff of the Board, except a function that has been delegated to the director general subject to the condition that it shall not be sub-delegated and—

(a) that member of the staff shall be accountable to the director general for the performance of the functions, and

(b) where a function is delegated to a member of the staff of the Board under this paragraph, notwithstanding the delegation, the director general at all times remains accountable to the Board for the performance of the functions so delegated.

3. The director general shall provide to the Board any information (including financial information) in relation to the performance of his or her functions that the Board may from time to time require.

4. The functions of the director general may be performed during his or her absence, or when the position of director general is vacant, by a member of the staff of the Board who may from time to time be designated for that purpose by the Board.