"Rules of order" redirects here. For the widely-used American manual, see Robert's Rules of Order.
Parliamentary procedures are the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or the will of the majority of the assembly upon these questions.[1]Self-governing organizations follow parliamentary procedure to debate and reach group decisions, usually by vote, with the least possible friction.
In the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and other English-speaking countries, parliamentary procedure is often called chairmanship, chairing, the law of meetings, procedure at meetings, the conduct of meetings, or the standing orders. Erskine May's Parliamentary Practice is used and often referred to as "Erskine May" in the United Kingdom, and influential in other countries that use the Westminster system. In the United States terms used are parliamentary law, parliamentary practice, legislative procedure, rules of order, or Robert's rules of order.[2]
Rules of order consist of rules written by the body itself (often referred to as bylaws), usually supplemented by a published parliamentary authority adopted by the body. Typically, national, state or provincial and other full-scale legislative assemblies have extensive internally written rules of order, whereas non-legislative bodies write and adopt a limited set of specific rules as the need arises.
The term parliamentary procedure gets its name from its use in the parliamentary system of government.[3]
In the 16th and 17th century, the parliaments of England began adopting rules of order.[4] In the 1560s, Sir Thomas Smyth began the process of writing down accepted procedures and published a book about them for the House of Commons in 1583.[4] Early rules included:
One subject should be discussed at a time (adopted 1581)[4][5]
Personal attacks are to be avoided in debate (1604)[4]
Debate must be limited to the merits of the question (1610)[4]
Division of a question into parts to be voted on separately (1640)[4]
Westminster procedures
The Westminster parliamentary procedures are followed in several Commonwealth countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa, as well as in the Republic of Ireland.
The procedures of the Diet of Japan moved away from the British parliamentary model, when in Occupied Japan, there were efforts to align Japanese parliamentary procedures with American congressional practices.[9] In Japan, informal negotiations are more important than formal procedures.[10]
In Italy, written rules govern the Houses of the Parliament. The Constitutional Court judges the limits beyond which these regulations cannot go, exceeding the parliamentary or political function (judgement n. 120 of 2014)[11] and on their bad application when a law is passed.[12]
Parliamentary procedure is based on the principles of allowing the majority to make decisions effectively and efficiently (majority rule), while ensuring fairness towards the minority and giving each member or delegate the right to voice an opinion.[13]Voting determines the will of the assembly. While each assembly may create their own set of rules, these sets tend to be more alike than different. A common practice is to adopt a standard reference book on parliamentary procedure and modify it through special rules of order that supersede the adopted authority.
A parliamentary structure conducts business through motions, which cause actions. Members bring business before the assembly by introducing main motions. "Members use subsidiary motions to alter a main motion, or delay or hasten its consideration."[14] Parliamentary procedure also allows for rules in regards to nomination, voting, debate, disciplinary action, appeals, and the drafting of organization charters, constitutions, and bylaws.
Organizations and civic groups
In the US Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised[15] aspires to be a comprehensive guide, based on the original 1876 version written primarily to help guide voluntary associations in their operations of governance: "New editions have marked the growth of parliamentary procedure as cases occurring in assemblies have pointed to a need for further rules or additional interpretations to go by."[16]Robert's Rules of Order The Modern Edition[17] and The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure[18] aspire to be concise. "This book is a basic reference book but does not claim to be comprehensive. For most organization and for most meetings, it will prove very adequate."[19] "Alice Sturgis believed that confusing or unnecessary motions and terminology should be eliminated. Her goal was to make the process simpler, fairer, and easier to understand, and The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure did just that ..."[20]
In English-speaking Canada, popular authorities include Kerr & King's Procedures for Meeting and Organizations. The Conservative Party of Canada uses Wainberg's Society meetings including rules of order to run its internal affairs.
Legislative assemblies in all countries, because of their nature, tend to have a specialized set of rules that differ from parliamentary procedure used by clubs and organizations.
According to the NCSL,[25] one of the many reasons that most state legislatures use Mason's Manual instead of Robert's Rules of Order is that Robert's Rules applies best to private organizations and civic groups that do not meet in daily public sessions. Mason's Manual, however, is geared specifically toward state legislative bodies.
In the United States, individuals who are proficient in parliamentary procedure are called parliamentarians (in countries with parliamentary governments the term refers to a member of Parliament).
Several organizations offer certification programs for parliamentarians, including the National Association of Parliamentarians and American Institute of Parliamentarians. Agriculture teachers who coach teams in the parliamentary procedure contest of the National FFA Organization (formerly Future Farmers of America) can earn the title Accredited Parliamentarian. Parliamentarians perform an important role in many meetings, including counseling organizations on parliamentary law, holding elections, or writing amendments to the constitution and bylaws of an organization.
^The "functionalist" criterion (set by the Bill, on the initiative of Senator Maritati: Bill n. 1560/XVI) identified – inside parliamentary Institutions – acts of political bodies which, on the one hand, are not linked to the functions (legislative, political address or inspection) but which, on the other hand, are not classified as high-level administration: Buonomo, Giampiero (2014). "Il nodo dell'autodichia da Ponzio a Pilato". Golem Informazione. Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2016-04-11.