The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
10
WQ.78/2019
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE
CHAIRMAN OF THE PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE
BY SENATOR S.Y. MÉZEC
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 12th FEBRUARY 2019
Question
Will the Chairman of PPC explain what assessment, if any, his Committee has made of –
- the role conventions' play in the rules of the States Assembly; and
- how conventions are recorded as being applicable in the States, who adjudicates on them and how Members can seek to change them?
Answer
PPC has not undertaken any work on the role conventions play in relation to the States Assembly.
In a parliamentary context, conventions are widely-held views about how things are done. They are not codified, are less prescriptive than the law or standing orders, and may be departed from if it is generally thought desirable to do so. Conventions may also evolve over time and may sometimes be codified and become formal rules. Examples of conventions in the States Assembly include such matters as the manner by which Members indicate that they wish to speak; the way in which committees can create informal sub- committees; and the tradition that the Lieutenant-Governor only speaks twice in the Assembly during his period in office.
Member who wish to change the established practices of the States Assembly may attempt to do so by bringing a proposition for debate in the Assembly.
Members may be interested in the report of the UK Joint Committee on Conventions, which was published in 2006. It dealt with the conventions governing the relationship between the House of Commons and House of Lords and includes further information about the advantages and disadvantages of formalising conventions so that they become formal rules.