Act · 2021 Revised Edition
Politeknik Brunei Act
Setting up the national polytechnicOfficial textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
s 1
This Act may be cited as the Politeknik Brunei Act.
s 2Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -
"Board" means the Board of Governors of the Politeknik Brunei constituted in accordance with the Constitution;
"Constitution" means Constitution of the Politeknik Brunei set out in Schedule 1 ;
"Minister" means the Minister of Education;
"Politeknik Brunei" means the Politeknik Brunei established under section 3;
"Senate" means the Senate of Politeknik Brunei constituted in accordance with the Constitution.
s 3Establishment of Politeknik Brunei
There is hereby established a polytechnic to be known as the Politeknik
Brunei which shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and shall by that name be capable of -
suing and being sued;
acquiring, owning, holding and developing of property, both movable and immovable; and
doing and suffering all such other acts or things as bodies corporate may lawfully do or suffer.
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Polifeknik Brunei
The Politeknik Brunei shall have a common seal and such seal may be broken, changed, altered and made anew as the Politeknik Brunei thinks fit.
All deeds, documents and other instruments requiring the seal of the Politeknik Brunei shall be sealed with the common seal of the Politeknik
Brunei.
Every instrument to which the common seal is affixed shall be 0
signed by a member and shall be countersigned by the Director or by some other person duly authorised by the Board for that purpose, and such signing shall be sufficient evidence that the seal was duly and properly affixed and that the seal is the lawful seal of the Politeknik Brunei.
The objects of the Politeknik Brunei are -
to provide instruction and training in engineering, technology, sciences, commerce and other subjects of learning;
to aid by research and other means the advancement of knowledge and its practical application; and
to promote the exchange of knowledge and skills with business and industry.
The Politeknik Brunei may -
provide such facilities for its students as it considers desirable;
institute lectureship and other posts and offices and make appointments thereto and employ such other staff as the Politeknik
Brunei considers necessary;
fix, demand and receive fees and other charges;
provide technical and consultancy services to business and
, . A industry as it considers desirable;
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form or participate in the formation of companies having such objects as may be approved by the Board;
0 solicit and receive donations and contributions from any source or raise funds by all lawful means;
-
-
give W m s and contributions to - any - p e r m or -
organisation; and
do all such things as may be necessary, incidental or conducive to the attainments of all or any of its objects.
The constitutions, functions. powers and duties of the Board and
Senate shall be prescribed by this Act and the Constitution.
The Board shall, subject to the provisions of this Act and the
Constitution, be the supreme governing body of the Politeknik Brunei and shall administer the property and manage the affairs of the Politeknik Brunei.
Subject to the provisions of this Act and the Constitution and to the financial control of the Board, the Senate shall have the regulation of all matters relating to education in the Politeknik Brunei.
No act or resolution of the Board or the Senate shall be invalid by reason only of any vacancy in, or any defect in the qualification or appointment of any member of, any such body.
s 7Protection from personal liability
No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie against any member or any employee of the Politeknik Brunei or other person acting under the direction of the Politeknik Brunei for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in the execution or purported execution of this Act.
s 8Public sewants
All members and employees of the Politeknik Brunei are deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code (Chapter 22).
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Politeknik Brunei
There shall be a School of Business, a School of Information
Communication and Technology, a School of Science and Engineering and a such other schools as may be constituted by the Board on recommendation of the Senate.
There shall be a Head of each School with such powers as may be conferred by the Board.
The Board may, on the recommendation of the Senate, form, a dissolve or reform such schools and any department, centre, unit and other sub-divisions of any school as it may consider desirable.
The Board, the Senate and the Director may establish such committees as they think fit.
Unless otherwise expressly provided, any committee may consist partly of persons who are not members of the Board or the Senate or officers of the Politeknik Brunei, as the case may be.
Subject to the provisions of this Act and the Constitution. the
Board, the Senate and the Director may, with or without restrictions and conditions as they think fit, delegate any of their powers and duties to any committee.
The Director, the Deputy Director, the Assistant Director and the
Registrar and other officers of the Politeknik Brunei shall be appointed by the Board in accordance with the Constitution.
The academic staff of the Politeknik Brunei shall be the Heads of the Schools, lecturers and such other persons as may be designated as members of the academic staff by the Constitution and shall be appointed by the Board on the recommendation of the Director.
The powers and duties of the officers and members of the academic staff, the periods and conditions for and upon which they hold office and their emoluments shall be such as are prescribed by this Act, the
Constitution and the terms of their respective appointments: but the Board
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may assign to any officer, and in the case of any member of the academic staff on the recommendation of the Director, such further power and duties as the Board may think fit.
s 12Constitution of Politeknik Brunei
I J ) Subject to the provisions of this Act, theToliteknik Brunei shaTTbe
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g o v e r n e d ~
the provisions oFt&e Constitution setoutin ScKeme 1.
a
The Minister may, after consulting the Board, amend the
Constitution by order published in the Guzette.
Regulations made under the Constitution is not deemed to be subsidiary legislation.
s 13Examinations
All examinations held by the Politeknik Brunei shall be conducted in such manner as may be prescribed by the Constitution and any regulations made thereunder.
s 14Power to confer diplomas and certificates etc.
The Politeknik Brunei shall have power to award diplomas and certificates and such other academic distinctions as may be specified in regulations made under the Constitution.
The Minister of Finance shall cause to be paid to the Politeknik
Brunei such moneys as may be approved by the Government from time to time as grants-in-aid to the Politeknik Brunei.
All moneys paid to the Politeknik Brunei under subsection (1)
shall be applied or expended by the Politeknik Brunei for all or any of the purposes of the Politeknik Brunei.
s 16Power of investment
Subject to any general or special directions as the Minister may issue, the Politeknik Brunei may -
invest its moneys in such manner as it thinks fit; and
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Politeknik Brunei
engage in any financial activity or participate in any financial arrangement for the purpose of managing or hedging against any financial risk that arises or is likely to arise from such investment.
a
The Politeknik Brunei shall keep proper accounts and records of its transactions and affairs and shall do all things necessary to ensure that all payments out of its moneys are correctly made and properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in the custody of, the Politeknik Brunei and over the expenditure incurred by it.
The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the close of each financial year, cause financial statements in respect of that year to be prepared and submitted to the auditor of the Politeknik Brunei.
The accounts and financial statements of the Politeknik Brunei shall be audited annually by -
the Auditor General; or
any person who has been authorised to perform the duties required by the Companies Act (Chapter 39) to be performed by an auditor, who shall be appointed annually by the Board:
Provided that where the accounts of the Politeknik Brunei have been audited by a person appointed under sub-paragraph (b), they may be verified by the Auditor General before they are presented to the Minister of Finance pursuant to section 20(1).
The auditor shall in his report state -
whether the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Politeknik Brunei;
whether proper accounting and other records have been kept, including records of all assets of the Politeknik Brunei whether purchased, donated or otherwise;
whether receipts, expenditure and investment of moneys and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Politeknik Brunei during
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the financial year were in accordance with the provisions of this Act;
and
such other matter arising from the audit as he considers necessary.
s 19
The auditor or any person authorised by him shall be entitled at all reasonable time to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating, directly or indirectly, to the financial transactions of the Politeknik
Brunei.
The auditor or a person authorised by him may make copies of, or make extracts from, any such accounting and other records.
The auditor or any person authorised by him may require any person to furnish him with such information which that person possesses or has access to as the auditor or any duly authorised person considers necessary for the purposes of the functions of the auditor under this Act.
Any person who refuses or fails without any reasonable cause to allow the auditor access to any accounting and other records of the
Politeknik Brunei in his custody or power or to give any information possessed by him as and when required or who otherwise hinder, obstructs or delays the auditor in the performance of his duties or the exercise of his powers under this Act is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding $100 for every day or part thereof during which the offence continues after conviction.
As soon as the accounts of the Politeknik Brunei and the financial statements have been audited in accordance with this Act, a copy of the audited accounts and financial statements signed by the Chairman, together with a copy of the report made by the auditor, shall be presented to the
Minister of Finance.
Where the Auditor General is not appointed to be the auditor, a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor General at the same time as they are submitted to the Board.
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Politeknik Brunei
The Minister shall cause a copy of the audited financial statements and of the auditor's report to be presented to His Majesty the Sultan and
Yang Di-Pertuan.
•
s 21Annual report
The Politeknik Brunei shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year. submit to the Minister an annual report on the activities of the
Politeknik Brunei during the preceding financial year, and the Minister shall cause a copy of every such annual report to be presented to His Majesty the
Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan.
Where any immovable property, not being State land. is needed for the purposes of the Politeknik Brunei, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang
Di-Pertuan may direct the acquisition of such property, and in such a case such property may be acquired in accordance with the provisions of any written law relating to the acquisition of land for a public purpose and any declaration required under any such written law that such property is so needed may be made notwithstanding that compensation is to be paid out of the funds of the Politeknik Brunei, and such declaration shall have effect as if it were a declaration that such land is needed for a public purpose made in accordance with such written law.
Expenses and compensation in respect of any immovable property acquired under subsection (1) shall be paid by the Politeknik Brunei or from funds to be provided by the Government to the Politeknik Brunei for such purpose.
All State land granted or immovable property acquired under this section shall vest in the Politeknik Brunei, and an entry to that effect in the appropriate register shall be made by the relevant registering authority.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Societies Act
(Chapter 203), the provisions of that Act shall have effect in relation to the
Politeknik Brunei student's association and its constituent bodies.
The Minister of Home Affairs may, by order published in the
Gazette, exempt the Politeknik Brunei students' association and any of its
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constituent bodies from all or any of the provisions of the Societies Act
(Chapter 203) subject to such conditions as may be specified in this Act.
s 24Transfer of property and staff to Politeknik Brunei
The provisions of Schedule 2 shall have effect for the purpose of the transfer to the Politeknik Brunei of property and employees of-the
Government andErPother trGiSitionaI purposes specified inTiipScheciule.
.)
s 25Exemption of stamp duty
His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan may by order exempt from the provisions of section 3 of the Stamp Act (Chapter 34) any instrument executed by the Board on behalf of the Politeknik Brunei.
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Politeknik Brunei