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A-CH/SC/119 47
PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE (11th Meeting)
24th April 2009
(Business conducted by telephone and electronic mail) PART A
All members were present, with the exception of Deputy J.A. Martin, from whom apologies had been received.
Connétable J. Gallichan of St. Mary, Chairman Senator B.I. Le Marquand
Deputy J.B. Fox
Deputy C.H. Egré
Deputy M. Tadier
Deputy M.R. Higgins
In attendance -
Miss A-C. Heuston, Clerk to the Privileges and Procedures Committee Note: The Minutes of this meeting comprise Part A only.
Oral questions. A1. The Committee, with reference to its Minute No. A4 of 27th March 2009, 450/2/1(13) considered a draft comment in connexion with the proposition entitled Oral
questions with notice: extension to 2 hours', lodged au Greffe' on 20th March 2009 by the Deputy of St. Martin (P.40/2009 refers).
The Committee recalled that a further proposition in relation to oral questions had been lodged au Greffe' on 15th April 2009 by Deputy M. Tadier entitled Oral Questions with notice: abolition of time limit' (P.59/2009 refers).
Having considered the draft comment in connexion with the proposition of the Deputy of St. Martin, the Committee agreed that reference should be made to the amount of time spent by States members and officers to establish the answer to an oral question, which could be lost should the question remain unanswered. The Committee also agreed to amend the draft comment to advise that any increase in time for questions through the extension of the time limit by half an hour, or its removal, could result in significant resource implications for departments, a matter which would need to be addressed separately.
The Committee accordingly approved the revised comment and requested that it be presented to the States at the earliest opportunity.
Deputies M.R. Higgins and M. Tadier requested that their dissent from the Committee's decision be recorded on the basis of the inclusion in the comment of the sentence regarding resource implications.
The Committee Clerk was directed to take the necessary action.
Arrest and A2. The Committee considered a proposed amendment to the proposition entitled detention of Arrest and detention of Senator Stuart Syvret and associated matters', lodged au Senator Stuart Greffe' by Deputy G.P. Southern on 16th April 2009 (P.60/2009 refers). Deputies M. Syvret and Tadier and M.R. Higgins were not present for the consideration of this item. associated
matters. The Committee noted that the proposition requested the Privileges and Procedures (P.60/2009) Committee to make an urgent statement explaining the extent of the protection 1240/26(4) offered to States members, and their constituents, by parliamentary privilege.
The Committee considered that, as preliminary research in this regard was already underway, it was unlikely that much could be gained from such a statement. The Committee noted that it had already begun to fully examine work undertaken by other jurisdictions in relation to privilege and to examine the procedures currently in place elsewhere. The Committee therefore agreed to present an amendment to the proposition requesting that it be asked to undertake a review and report on its findings to the States Assembly, rather than make an urgent statement.
The Committee accordingly approved the amendment to the proposition entitled Arrest and detention of Senator Stuart Syvret and associated matters' and requested that it be lodged au Greffe' at the earliest opportunity.
The Committee Clerk was requested to take the necessary action.