ABSTRACT
Dismissal at pleasure was, at the time of colonial domination, a firm principle of British constitutional law which was applicable in the then British Empire. But, there are still traces in the public service of present day independent States. The Privy Council undoubtedly performed a useful service in this case in relegating the doctrine of dismissal at pleasure to the rubbish heap of constitutional irrationality and obsolescence. It is hardly necessary to remind readers that the Caribbean territories were Colonies of Britain up to the second half of the 20th century and that, until that time, the civil service was manned especially in the smallest territories at the highest levels by expatriate British officers recruited by the then Colonial Office. In general, the regulations, as they affected local civil servants, were draconian. A public officer was forbidden, for instance, from serving as an editor of a newspaper and a magazine, or from taking part in managing them directly or indirectly.
