An administrator in the constitutional practice of some countries in the Commonwealth is a person who fulfils a role similar to that of a governor or a governor-general.
Temporary administrators
Usually the office of administrator is a temporary appointment, for periods during which the governor is incapacitated, outside the territory, or otherwise unable to perform his or her duties. The process for selecting administrators varies from country to country.
The administrator is usually the Chief Justice of Canada. In the absence of the chief justice the senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada is appointed. Administrators can also be appointed to the Canadian provinces to perform the duties of the lieutenant governor, in which case a justice of a provincial superior court is appointed. In Yukon the position of administrator is a political appointment corresponding roughly to that of "deputy commissioner".
Ceylon
In Ceylon, the officer administering the government in the absence of the Governor General of Ceylon was the Chief Justice of Ceylon. In the absence of the chief justice the acting chief justice would serve in this place.
As a former External Territory of Australia, the head of the territory's administration was called the Administrator of Papua-New Guinea before independence in 1975. The appointment was by the Governor-General of Australia on the advice of the Australian Minister of External Territories. The minister for external territories consulted with the territory's chief minister as part of the appointment process.
Rhodesia
On 11 November 1965, the self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia made a unilateral declaration of independence although it continued to recognise the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, as head of state, with oaths of allegiance to "Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth, Queen of Rhodesia, her heirs and successors". However, the Rhodesian Front government of Ian Smith ceased to recognise the authority of her de jure representative, GovernorSir Humphrey Gibbs. Instead, on 17 November, it appointed the former deputy prime minister, Clifford Dupont, to the post of "acting officer administering the government". Opponents of UDI who considered it an illegal move, such as the independent member of the legislative assembly, Ahrn Palley, refused to recognise Dupont's office, and walked out of the opening of parliament when Dupont came to deliver the Speech from the Throne. On 2 December, Smith wrote a personal letter to the queen, asking her to accept Dupont as the new governor-general. In response, he was told that "Her Majesty is not able to entertain purported advice of this kind, and has therefore been pleased to direct that no action shall be taken upon it". Under the 1965 draft constitution, if the queen did not appoint a governor-general within fourteen days of advice being tendered by the prime minister, a regent was to be appointed. In deference to the Royal Family, however, on 16 December, Smith amended his original plan to appoint a Regent and Dupont was appointed as "officer administering the government". Consequently, legislation passed after UDI was "enacted by His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government, as the representative of the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Rhodesia". Dupont would continue to use the title until 1970. When Rhodesia adopted a republican constitution that year, he became the first President of Rhodesia. The country was renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1979, before it returned to colonial status following the Lancaster House Agreement later that year. In 1980, it achieved internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe.
Permanent administrators
The term administrator is also used for a permanent officer representing the head of state where the appointment of a governor would be inappropriate; it is also used for the representative of a governor.
Australia
In the Northern Territory, the office of Administrator is a permanent appointment, and since the territory was granted self-government in 1978, the office of administrator has become a largely ceremonial appointment, like that of the governor in each state. Unlike the governors, who are appointed by the sovereign on advice of the premier, the administrator is appointed by the governor-general on advice of the prime minister after consultation with the chief minister.
During mandatory times, the high commissioner was deputized by an administrator in case of high commissarial vacancy, and a deputy to the high commissioner when the high commissioner remained in office but temporarily could not fulfill his duties. Both posts were held ex-offico by the chief secretary. The rules for deputizing the analogous office in modern-day Israel, the president, are similar, with an interim president analogous to the administrator and an acting president analogous to the deputy to the high commissioner. However, these posts are held not by the prime minister, whose office is analogous to that of the chief secretary, but by the Speaker of the Knesset.
