RULES OF ORDER | Aldurian Parliament

[Alduria]

This post currently serves as a placeholder for the future Rules of Order for the Parliament of Alduria.

The most updated version of the rules is to be posted below this post.
 

--------------------------------------------------------------

[Speaker Rejo]

Standing Orders of the Parliament of Alduria

I. Parliament and its Members

1. Parliament shall consist of such members as shall be validly elected under the Aldurian Constitution and who have taken the Oath of Office; their membership shall continue until dissolution, death, resignation or ineligibility;

2. All members of Parliament shall have the right to speak in debates, cast their vote on questions posed to Parliament, submit legislation to Parliament, and all other rights of the Office delegated to it in the Constitution;

3. Parliament shall meet at the Palace of Parliament in Punta Santiago unless otherwise ordered, due to extraordinary circumstances.

II. The Speaker

1. The Speaker of Parliament shall be the Presiding Officer. They shall be charged with the implementation of these Rules of Order, the administration of discipline, and the smooth conduct of the business of Parliament;

2. The Speaker shall be impartial with their rulings, but need not resign their party affiliation upon assumption of the office. The Speaker may vote in proceedings but shall not participate in debate while Presiding over Parliament.

3. The Speaker shall be elected on the first day of the sitting of Parliament in proceedings presided over by the President or their designee. In order to be elected Speaker, an individual must obtain a plurality of votes. In the event of a tie, a further election occurs with all candidates who received the highest number of votes. In the event a Speaker shall not be elected after a total of 3 ballots, the President shall cast the deciding vote.

4. The Speaker may be removed by a motion of no confidence supported by a majority of Parliament;

5. The Speaker may designate members of the Parliament as deputy speakers who shall preside over Parliament in times of their absence.

6. In the event that the office of Speaker shall fall vacant during Parliament, a new election for the office of Speaker shall be held presided by the outgoing Speaker, or otherwise the most senior Deputy Speaker who is not nominated for the Office of Speaker, or otherwise the Prime Minister.

III. Parliamentary Parties; Government and Opposition

1. The members of Parliament may organize in groups referred to as Parliamentary Parties; unless otherwise noted it shall be assumed that the members elected as candidates for a particular party organisation shall together constitute a new Parliamentary Party;

2. Parliamentary Parties shall regulate their own membership giving notice to the Speaker of mutations therein;

3. Parliamentary Parties shall regulate their own procedures where no rules are prescribed by these Rules of Order for their conduct;

4. Each Parliamentary Party will be represented by a Leader selected from amongst its members, or a designate announced in advance to the Speaker by these individuals in procedural matters and debates on matters of general policy.

5. The government shall be represented in all the matters referenced in Section III.4 by the Prime Minister;

6. The parties supporting and giving rise to the government shall be referred to as the "government parties"; they shall be represented jointly by the Prime Minister;

7. The largest parliamentary party that is not a government party shall be referred to as the Official Opposition; its leader shall be the Leader of the Opposition.

IV. Submission and Consideration of Legislation

1. Legislation may be introduced by any member in the form prescribed by the law; they shall be placed in the Parliament’s Hopper to await debate;

2. Legislation shall be brought to debate as Government Business at the earliest possible opportunity at the request of the Prime Minister or a designated member of the Government charged with Government Business in Parliament;

3. Each week, up to two legislative items may be brought forward at the request of the Government, with up to one additional legislative being allotted to a Private Members bill (or other legislative item) that has been endorsed by at least 35% of the Members of Parliament to be placed by the floor as determined by the Speaker;

4. Twice per session, the Prime Minister shall designate a week to be “Opposition Week”. The Official Opposition party shall be allocated 2 bills (or other legislative item) to present to Parliament, and the 2nd largest party of Parliament not in Government shall be allocated 1. The Government shall not introduce a bill during this week unless leave is given by an Opposition Party or by unanimous consent. In the even the Official Opposition only introduces one or fewer bills, the 2nd largest party may present 2 bills.

5. After a bill has been proposed by a member, the Speaker shall allow the proposer or their designee address Parliament on the merits of the bill. The Speaker shall provide 24 hours for the proposer or their designee to make this initial address. Once this address has been made or 24 hours have passed without such an address, the bill shall proceed to general debate.

6. Once the bill has been opened to general debate, it is in order for members to speak on the bill and to offer amendments. 

7. No less than 48 hours shall be allotted to general debate on a bill presented to Parliament under the standard procedures.

8. No less than 24 hours shall be allotted to debate on amendments of any kind to a bill or resolution that was presented before Parliament, as well as debates on motions that come before Parliament.

9. Debate must be germane to the matter pending before Parliament. When Parliament is debating an amendment, all debate must be focused on the amendment. Any speeches not conforming to these guidelines will not be deemed “substantive” for the purpose of calculating time.

10. After the minimum time for debate on a measure has passed, the Speaker will allow debate to continue until at least 12 hours has passed since the last substantive speech has been made on the pending matter.
        
10A: The Speaker may, at their discretion, extend debate past the 12 hour period during certain special situations such as holiday weekends, periods where several members are on vacation, technical issues, etc.

11. After the conclusion of debate, the bill, amendment, or other legislative item proceeds to a vote.

V: Amendments

1. Amendments to legislation shall be in order from any member of Parliament when a bill has reached the general debate stage.

2. Any amendments that are introduced to a bill must be germane to the topic of the bill. The Speaker shall determine whether or not a proposed amendment is germane if challenged by a Point of Order.

3. Second Degree Amendments are in order when an amendment has been offered for the purposes of amending a proposed amendment. When offered, the Second Degree amendment takes precedence for consideration, followed by the original amendment. Second Degree amendments must be germane to the legislation.

4. Amendments to second degree amendments shall not be in order.

5. Any member may offer an amendment of a clerical nature to correct spelling, grammar, or formatting. Such an amendment does not require a vote and is automatically adopted so long as it does not make any substantive changes to the bill. A member may challenge whether or not an amendment is clerical in nature by making a point of order that an amendment is not clerical in nature. If the Speaker rules that an amendment is not clerical in nature, it shall follow the normal amendment process.

6. The author of a piece of legislation may, at their discretion, accept an amendment as “friendly”. If accepted as friendly, the amendment shall be automatically incorporated into the bill draft without any intervening debate or vote on the amendment.

VI. Voting Procedures

1. Whenever a vote comes before the Parliament, the Speaker shall put the question to the members, and ask for all members to cast their votes on the particular question.

2. Members may vote “AYE”, “YES”, ‘SI”, “OUI”, “NO”, “NAY”, “NON”, “PRESENT”, or “ABSTAIN”. Votes that do not subscribe to this format will be disregarded by the Speaker.

3. Members may change their vote at any time prior to the conclusion of the vote.

4. The Speaker will allot 24 hours for any vote. The Speaker may extend the time at their discretion up to 72 hours in the event a vote falls on a holiday, when many members are absent, when there are technical difficulties, or other special circumstances.

4A. In the event that members of all parties have voted in a division, the Speaker may, at their discretion, end the division early.

5. At the conclusion of the vote, the Speaker will tally the votes cast and announce the full result to the house. 

6. In order to pass, a question generally requires a simple majority vote in favor of the question, unless another threshold is established by law or the Standing Orders. In the event of a tie, the question fails.

7. For unanimous consent requests, the Speaker should inquire of Parliament “Is there any objection to the Honorable Member’s request?” The Speaker will then give members 24 hours to voice any objections. If there are no objections voiced in 24 hours, the unanimous consent request is agreed to. If one or more members object, the request is denied.

8. Legislative items that are not bills (ie, Resolutions, Motions, etc.) immediately come into force once adopted by Parliament and require no Presidential action.

VII: Motions

1. The Speaker may entertain the following motions made by a member of Parliament, in order of precedence:
    
2. Point of Order: A member may make a point of order if they believe that a standing order has been violated by a member of Parliament. A Point of Order is not debatable, but a member may briefly state what rule(s) they believe have been violated and ask for a ruling from the Speaker. 

2A: The Speaker must then rule whether or not the point of order is well taken (agreed) or not well taken. If a point of order is well taken, then the Speaker must take the appropriate action to bring Parliament back in order.

2B: The Speaker’s ruling on a point of order may be appealed to the Parliamentarian whose ruling on the matter is final.

3. Parliamentary Inquiry: A member may make a parliamentary inquiry to ask the Speaker for advice or clarification on a matter related to the rules of Parliament. 

4. Table: A motion to table may be offered on a bill, amendment, resolution, or any motion of lower precedence to indefinitely postpone its consideration before Parliament if passed by a majority vote.

5. Suspend the Rules: A motion to suspend the rules may be offered to suspend the Standing Orders and proceed with a specified action. This motion requires a 2/3rds majority to pass.

6. Take from the table: A motion to take from the table is in order for any bill, amendment, resolution, or motion that was previously tabled by a vote of Parliament. It requires a majority vote to pass.

7. Reconsider: A motion to reconsider in order for a bill, amendment, resolution, or motion that was previously rejected by a vote of Parliament. A motion to reconsider is only in order if made by a member who voted against the item previously, and only if that item was considered during the current session of Parliament. A motion to reconsider may only be made once on a particular item during a session of Parliament.

8. Motion of No Confidence: A motion of No Confidence shall be considered a privileged resolution which shall take precedence over any other matter before Parliament. Such a motion may not be tabled, and is governed under a special set of rules. A majority is required in favor in order for the motion to pass.

8A: A Motion of No Confidence is debatable and not amendable, and the timing of the debate shall follow the same rules as a bill offered before Parliament. Any Motion of No Confidence shall be considered as a unique item in the subsequent Parliamentary docket and will not count against either Government or Private Member’s business.

8B. If a No Confidence motion is tabled by a the Leader of the Opposition, the motion shall be brought before Parliament for its consideration within 48 hours, even if it is outside of a normal docket.

8C: If a No Confidence motion passes, the Government shall be obligated to advise the President dissolve Parliament within 10 days of the successful passage of the motion, and no further motion of no confidence may be considered for the life of that Parliament.

8D: Motions of No Confidence may be offered more than once during the life of Parliament, but no fewer than 30 days must pass between each motion.

9. Adjourn: Parliament may vote to adjourn for a period not to exceed four weeks. When moved, the mover must specify how long the adjournment is to last. The motion is debatable and follows the same debate and voting rules as any other motion. While adjourned, Parliament is not in session and no legislation, bills, motions, or speeches may be considered unless an order to recall Parliament from adjournment is made by the Speaker or the President for some urgent reason, after consultation with the Government.

10. Ordering the Previous Question: The Motion Ordering the Previous Question may be used to end debate, but only after at least 72 hours have passed for debates. If the motion is adopted by a majority of Parliament, all further debate and consideration concludes and the pending item is placed to an immediate vote without delay. This mechanism is in place to prevent filibustering. 

11. Unanimous Consent to Pass a Bill/Resolution/Motion outside of a Docket: Once per docket period, the leader of a political party may move to pass a bill, resolution, or motion by unanimous consent, even if it is not on the docket for that week. Once the request is recognized by the Speaker, 24 hours will be allotted for any objection. If any deputy objects, the bill is not passed by consent and must go through the normal docket process in order to be considered again.

VIII: Questions to the Government & Government Statements

1. Members of the Government shall attend Parliament for questioning when so required; a permanent thread for questions for the Prime Minister and a general thread for questions to any Minister shall be set up for this purpose. 

2. A member of the Government shall respond to a pending question within 72 hours, unless that member is on a published Leave of Absence, in which case they shall respond within 72 hours of their return.

3. The Speaker may rule questions out of order that are off-topic, argumentative, or repetitive
 
4. Should no answer be provided within the set time period, the Speaker, acting at their discretion or on a point of order, may call upon the member to answer urgently; repeated failure to attend questions may result in disciplinary action against the member.

5. A member of the Government may, after receiving the consent of the Speaker, give a special statement to Parliament. Such a statement shall be made on the floor of Parliament and that member shall be subject to any questions Parliament may have for a period of no less than 72 hours, subject to reasonable extensions at the discretion of the Speaker.

6. The President of the Republic may, from time to time, address Parliament by means of messages which are read for him by the Speaker or other Parliamentary officer. Such statements are not subject to the statement procedures outlined for the Government above.

IX: Discipline

1. All members of Parliament enjoy privilege from any sort of criminal or civil action as a result of any speech they give on the floor of Parliament, but are still subject to discipline from Parliament itself.

2. The Speaker shall have primary responsibility in maintaining order in the Chamber, and has the power to warn, reprimand, and suspend members.

3. A member may be suspended from Parliament for no more than 24 hours by the Speaker for a grievous breach of the rules to which they have not offered apology (or, in the case of unparliamentary remarks, have not withdrawn the remark when asked by the Speaker) through the Speaker “naming” an Honourable Member. A “named” member is suspended from Parliament for 24 hours and can not participate in any Parliamentary action during that time. The decision to “name” a member may be appealed to the Parliamentarian.

4. Parliament may take disciplinary action against any member of Parliament through a majority vote. Parliament may impose a written warning, reprimand, censure, suspension, or expulsion.

4A. In the event Parliament proposes a suspension, a length of time must be agreed upon not to exceed the life of the Parliament.

4B. A member expelled from Parliament may not retake a seat in Parliament except through a vote of a majority of Parliament.

5. Parliament may give its assent to delegate its powers of self-discipline to a committee of no fewer than 5 members of Parliament to consider the matter and render an appropriate sentence.

6. A sentence of censure, suspension, or expulsion must be voted upon by the whole of Parliament, even if the sentence was recommended in committee. Censure requires a majority vote of Parliament, while suspension or expulsion requires a 2/3rds vote.

6A. When the whole of Parliament votes on a disciplinary matter against a member, that member may not participate in the vote. If they cast a vote in a division concerning their discipline, the Speaker must ignore the vote and consider it void when tallying.

7. The Speaker shall have the power to remove any observer in the Parliament forum who is not a citizen or Member of Parliament on their own authority in the event of disorder.

X: Amendments to the Standing Orders

1. The Standing Orders may be amended at any time through a resolution receiving the support of a simple majority of members.

2. Once a resolution to amend the Standing Orders is passed, it immediately comes into effect and does not require any further assent.

3. Acts of Parliament take precedence over the Standing Orders. In the event there is a conflict between the Standing Orders and an Act of Parliament, the Act of Parliament shall prevail.

Schedule of Terms:

1. “The Speaker” shall refer to the Presiding Officer of Parliament who shall ordinarily be the Speaker, but who may extraordinarily be a Member of Parliament designed to serve as a Speaker pro Tempore by the Speaker.

2. “Unparliamentary Language” refers to any word or remark made with the intent to impugn the integrity of another member of Parliament or the Government (i.e., implying that a member/minister/the government lied). 

3. “Members” shall refer to the Members of Parliament individually who have been lawfully elected and have taken the Oath of Office during the life of that Parliamentary session and who have not been suspended or expelled by an appropriate vote of Parliament.

4. “Parliamentarian” shall refer to the Head Administrator, or other admin assigned to Parliament.