National Assembly of Seychelles Standing Orders

This Statutory Instrument has not yet come into force.

Jurisdiction: Seychelles
Citation: Statutory Instrument 87 of 2009
Primary work: Constitution of the Republic of Seychelles
Date: 1 June 2020
Language: English
Type: Legislation
Download: Download PDF (473.5 KB)

Seychelles

Constitution of the Republic of Seychelles

National Assembly of Seychelles Standing Orders

Statutory Instrument 87 of 2009

Not commenced
[This is the version of this document at 1 June 2020.]

Part I – General

1. Citation

These Orders may be cited as the National Assembly Standing Orders.

2. Procedure in cases not provided for in these Orders

In case of any doubt and for any question of procedure not provided for in these Orders, the Speaker shall decide the point of order or practice, having regard to the Constitution, the practice of the Assembly, and the practices of other Commonwealth Parliaments, in so far as they may be applicable to the National Assembly of Seychelles.

3. Interpretation

In these Orders—"Assembly" means the National Assembly referred to in the Constitution;"Chairperson" means the person presiding over a Committee of the Assembly,"Clerk" means the Clerk to the Assembly;"Constitution" means the Constitution of the Republic of Seychelles;"Leader of Government Business" means the Member so designated, in terms of section 3A (3) of the National Assembly Members' Emoluments Act, by the President;“Leader of the Opposition” means the Member referred to in Article 84 of the Constitution;"Member of public" means any person other than the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, a Member, or an Officer of the Assembly;"Meeting" means a period during which one or more sittings take place, commencing when the Assembly first sits after being summoned for the first time or after an adjournment of more than a month, and ending when the Assembly is adjourned for more than a month, or upon a motion in terms of Order 17, or at the conclusion of a session;"Member" means Member of the Assembly;"Minister" means a Member of the Cabinet for the time being responsible for the matter in question, and in the case of a matter falling within the portfolio responsibility of the President or that of a Minister who for any reason, is unable to attend the Assembly, means the President or such other Minister as the President may nominate for the purpose,"officer" means the Clerk or any other officer or person acting within the precincts of the Assembly under the orders of the Speaker and includes a Police Officer on duty within the precincts of the Assembly;"precincts of the Assembly" means the Chamber in which the Assembly or a Committee thereof sits for the transaction of business, together with the offices, rooms, lobbies, galleries, courtyard, gardens and other places provided for the use of accommodation of Members or officers and any passage connecting such places, and any other places immediately contiguous thereto as may be from time to time be designated by the Speaker;"Sitting" means a period during which the Assembly is sitting continuously without adjournment and includes any period during which the Assembly is in committee;"Session" means the period of time as defined by Article 106 (1) of the Constitution;"The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker" means the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly in terms of the Constitution;

Part II – Presiding officer, members and Clerk of the Assembly

4. Election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker

(1)The Assembly shall:

(a)at the first sitting of the first meeting of a session; and

(b)if the Office of the Speaker becomes vacant at any time before the next dissolution of the Assembly, at its next sitting after the occurrence of the vacancy,

elect from among its Members, a Speaker.

(2)The procedure for the election of a Speaker shall be as follows:—

(a)a Member, addressing the Clerk, may propose as Speaker a Member then present, and move that the Member "do take the Chair of this Assembly as Speaker";

(b)the proposal under sub-paragraph (a) shall require to be seconded, but no debate shall be allowed;

(c)if only one Member be so proposed and seconded, the Member shall be called by the Assembly to the Chair, without question put;

(d)if more than one Member be so proposed and seconded, the Assembly shall proceed to election by ballot;

(e)for the purpose of a ballot, the Clerk shall give to each Member present a ballot paper bearing the names of the candidates and a Member shall vote by placing a cross opposite the name of the candidate of the choice of the Member.

(f)ballot papers shall be folded so as to conceal the vote and shall not be marked in any way by which the Member voting could be identified;

(g)the Clerk or an officer deputed by the Clerk shall collect the ballot papers and the counting of the votes shall be done by the Clerk at the table of the Assembly in the presence of two oldest Members one from each of the two main parties represented in the Assembly, and the result of the ballot shall be declared by the Clerk;

(h)where more than two candidates have been proposed and at the first ballot no candidate obtains more votes than the aggregate votes obtained by the other candidates, the candidate who has obtained the smallest number of votes shall be excluded from the election and balloting shall continue; the candidate obtaining the smallest number of votes at each ballot shall each time be excluded until one candidate obtains more votes than the remaining candidate or the aggregate votes of the remaining candidates, as the case may be;

(i)where at any ballot among three or more candidates two or more obtain the smallest number of votes, determination as to who among these candidates are to be excluded from the next subsequent ballot shall be by lot;

(j)where at any ballot between two candidates the votes are equal, further ballots shall be held until one candidate obtains more votes than the other.

(3)The Assembly shall:—

(a)at the first sitting of the first meeting of a session; and

(b)if the office of the Deputy Speaker becomes vacant at any time before the next dissolution of the Assembly, at its next sitting after the occurrence of the vacancy,

elect from among its Members, a Deputy Speaker.

(4)The procedure for the election of a Deputy Speaker shall be the same as for the election of the Speaker.

5. Office of Speaker and Deputy Speaker becoming vacant

The office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall become vacant—

(a)where the person holding the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker ceases to be a Member of the National Assembly in accordance with the provisions of Article 81 of the Constitution;

(b)where the Assembly passes a resolution supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of the number of Members o f the Assembly requiring the person to vacate the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be;

(c)where, by notice in writing to the Assembly, the Speaker or Deputy Speaker resigns office, and the Clerk receives the notice;

(d)where the person holding the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker is appointed Leader of Government Business or is elected Leader of the Opposition.

6. Officer presiding

The Speaker or in the absence of the Speaker the Deputy Speaker or, in their absence a Member, not being the Leader of Government Business or the Leader of the Opposition, elected by the National Assembly in the manner prescribed by paragraph (2) of the Standing Order 4, shall preside over the deliberations of the Assembly and he or she shall exercise the same authority as the Speaker:Provided that the words "Speaker" in the motion prescribed by subparagraph (a) of paragraph (2) of Standing Order 4 shall be replaced by the words "Speaker for today’s sitting only."

7. Chairperson of Committees of the whole Assembly

The Speaker or, in the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker or in their absence, a Member, not being the Leader of Government Business or the Leader of the Opposition, elected as in Standing Order 4 shall act as Chairperson of the Committee of the whole Assembly:Provided that the word "Speaker" in the motion prescribed by subparagraph (a) of paragraph 2 of Standing Order 4 shall be replaced by the word "Chairperson".

8. Authority of presiding officers during proceedings

(1)The Speaker or, in the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker shall preside at any sitting of the Assembly.

(2)The Speaker or the Deputy Speaker shall preserve order and decorum in the Assembly and shall decide points of order and practice.

(3)In deciding a point of order or practice, the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker shall state reasons for their decision and shall cite any rule of procedure or other applicable authority.

(4)The Speaker or the Deputy Speaker may invite Members to cite relevant rules or procedure or authorities in support of points of order raised by them.

(5)The decision of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker on a point of order shall be final.

9. Leave of absence

(1)Every Member shall attend the sittings of the Assembly unless leave of absence has been given to the Member by the Speaker. The Speaker shall not unreasonably withhold such leave.

(2)Except with the permission of the Speaker, if a Member has absented himself or herself from Seychelles for a continuous period in excess of 30 days or, during a session of the Assembly, for a continuous period in excess of 90 days during which time the Assembly has been summoned to meet and continues to meet, such Member shall cease to be a Member in virtue of the provisions of Article 81 of the Constitution.

(3)Leave of absence may be given by the Speaker to any Member who shows sufficient cause justifying his or her absence or who is away on official or parliamentary duties.

(4)Application for leave of absence shall be in writing unless the Speaker otherwise permits.

(5)In exceptional cases, any Member may inform the Speaker of the Member's absence and the circumstances leading to such absence, and seek the Speaker's retrospective leave of absence.

10. Quorum

(1)The quorum of the Assembly and of a Committee of the whole Assembly shall consist of one half of the number of Members at the time.

(2)If at any time the attention of the Speaker is called by a Member to the absence of a quorum, the Speaker shall count the Assembly. If on the first count a quorum does not appear to be present, the Speaker shall call for a division of the Assembly, and if no quorum be present after the lapse of three minutes, the Speaker or the Chairperson shall announce to the Assembly or Committee, as the case may be, that there is not a quorum present and shall proceed as follows

(a)the Speaker shall adjourn the Assembly without question put until such time on the same day or such other day as he may decide;

(b)if the Assembly is in Committee, the Assembly shall resume, and the Speaker shall adjourn the Assembly as provided in paragraph (a):

Provided that if attention is drawn to the absence of a quorum at the commencement of business, the Speaker or the Chairperson, as the case may be, shall before taking the action described in paragraphs (a) and (b) suspend the sitting for such period of time as the Speaker or the Chairperson may decide.

11. Language

The proceedings and debates of the Assembly will be in Creole, but a Minister or a Member may address the Assembly in English or French.

12. Duties of the Clerk of the Assembly

(1)The Clerk or any officer deputed by the Clerk shall keep the Record of proceedings of the Assembly and of Committees of the whole Assembly which shall constitute the progress of the Assembly; and shall circulate a copy of the Record to Members before the beginning of the next sitting or as soon as possible after the conclusion of each sitting.

(2)The Record of proceedings shall record the names of Members attending and all decisions of the Assembly or Committees of the whole Assembly, as the case may be.

(3)When decisions are taken in the Assembly or in a Committee of the whole Assembly, the Record of proceedings shall state the number of Members voting for and against the question.

(4)The Clerk shall be responsible, under the direction of the Speaker, for preparing an Order Paper for each sitting of the Assembly or Committee of the whole Assembly showing the business to be placed before the Assembly or Committee at the sitting, together with such other information as the Speaker may direct that it should contain.

(5)The Clerk shall, not less than three clear days before the commencement of any sitting of the Assembly, send to each Member of the Assembly a copy of the Order Paper stating the business to be transacted at the sitting.

(6)The Clerk shall be responsible for the custody of the journals and records, including all papers presented to or laid before the Assembly; and the journals and records shall at ail reasonable time be open to inspection by Members and other persons under such arrangements as may be sanctioned by the Speaker.

(7)The Clerk shall be responsible, under the direction of the Speaker, for the production of an official report of speeches made in the Assembly and in Committees of the whole Assembly and for making copies available to Members.

(8)The Clerk or any officer deputed by the Clerk shall serve as the secretary to any Committee appointed by the Assembly and shall record the proceedings in the Minutes.

13. Procedure for the removal of Speaker or Deputy Speaker

(1)A motion for a resolution for the removal of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker from office shall be moved in the following manner—

(a)seven days’ notice signed by not less than one half of all Members of the Assembly in the case of the Speaker, and one third in the case of the Deputy Speaker, shall be given to the Clerk;

(b)the Clerk shall, within twenty four hours of receipt of the notice, forward it to the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker, as the case may be;

(c)the motion shall be tabled in the Assembly and shall be listed for debate within fourteen days after receipt of the notice by the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker;

(d)in debating the motion under paragraph (c) the Assembly shall constitute itself into a Committee, which shall report its findings to the Assembly for adoption;

(e)the Speaker or the Deputy is entitled to be heard during the debate.

(2)The Speaker or the Deputy Speaker, as the case may be, in respect of whom proceedings for removal have commenced, shall not continue to preside over any proceedings of the Assembly.

(3)If the Assembly passes the motion for the removal of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker by not less than two-thirds of the number of Members of the Assembly, the Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall cease to hold office.

14. Procedure for vote of censure against the Vice-President and Ministers

(1)A Member who is desirous of moving a motion of censure against the Vice-President or a Minister shall notify the Clerk in writing of his or her intention, citing the grounds for the proposed censure motion and giving detailed particulars supporting such grounds.

(2)The Clerk shall, after being satisfied that the notice of motion has been signed by not less than one third of the number of the Members of the Assembly, transmit the notice to the Speaker who shall send a copy thereof to the President.

(3)Seven days after the notice has been received, the Speaker shall cause the motion to be placed on the Order Paper.

(4)On the motion being called, the Member who gave notice under paragraph (1) of this Order shall formally move the motion and lay all supporting documents on the Table and each document so laid shall be endorsed by the Clerk. A copy of each such document shall be forwarded to the President for onward transmission to the Vice-President or Minister concerned, as the case may be.

(5)After the mover has concluded his or her speech and laid all documents in support of the motion, debate thereon shall be postponed and the Speaker shall cause a Committee to be appointed comprising 7 Members to which the motion and the supporting documents shall be referred. Thereupon the Committee shall scrutinise and identify prima facie evidence to the allegations in the motion.

(6)In the exercise of its duties under paragraph (5), the Committee—

(a)may call any person to the Committee for the purpose of examining the person;

(b)may receive supplementary information from any Member of the Assembly or any person called to the Committee;

(c)shall allow the Vice-President or the Minister who is the subject of the motion to defend himself or herself against any allegations made against him or her.

(7)On completion of the proceedings, the Chairperson of the Committee shall report the findings of the Committee to the Assembly.

(8)On receipt of the Committee's report, and notwithstanding the findings of the Committee, the Speaker shall cause the motion to be debated within fourteen days of the receipt of the notice of the motion.

(9)If the Assembly passes the motion of censure by not less than two thirds of the number of Members of the Assembly, the Speaker shall inform the President of the result of the vote within twenty four hours.

Part III – Sessions, meetings and sittings

15. Summoning of sessions

(1)The first meeting of a Session of the Assembly shall be held at such place, and shall begin at such time as the President may, by Proclamation published in the Gazette, appoint.

(2)Subject to paragraph (1) the President may, at any time by Proclamation published in the Gazette, summon a meeting of the National Assembly.

(3)At the dissolution of the Assembly all proceedings then pending shall terminate and lapse.

16. Commencement of meetings

A meeting of the Assembly, other than the first meeting of a session shall, subject to the Constitution, begin on such date as the Speaker may appoint.

17. Conclusion of meetings

(1)Meetings shall be concluded by the adjournment of the Assembly for the conclusion of the meeting.

(2)A motion to determine the day for the conclusion of a meeting shall be moved in the following terms: "That on the adjournment of the Assembly on (this or a later day) the present meeting of the Assembly shall be concluded and the Assembly shall then stand adjourned (until a named day or sine die)".

(3)No amendment to the motion set out in paragraph (2) shall be accepted other than to substitute another day for any day referred to in the motion.

(4)Any business not disposed of by the Assembly on the adjournment at the conclusion of a meeting shall be stood over to the next meeting.

18. Sittings

(1)The Assembly may sit on any day.

(2)The Assembly shall sit on such days as are decided by the Speaker.

19. Times of sittings

(1)Subject to Order 15(1), a sitting of a meeting of the Assembly shall begin at 9.00am.

(2)Subject to this Order and Order 21 (6), at 5.00 p.m. proceedings on any business under consideration shall be interrupted, any motion which has been moved for the adjournment of the Assembly shall lapse, and if the Assembly is in committee, the Speaker shall resume presiding over the Assembly;Provided that if the Speaker or the Chairper, as the case may be, is of opinion that the proceedings on which the Assembly is engaged could be concluded by a deferment of the moment of interruption, the Speaker or Chairperson may defer interrupting the business.

(3)If a division is in progress at 5.00 p.m. or a question is being put from the Chair and a division results immediately thereon, the business shall not be interrupted until the result of the division has been declared.

(4)Except as provided in order 21(6), no further business shall be entered upon after the interruption of business under paragraph (2) of this Order.

(5)Any matter under discussion at 5.00 p.m. and any business not entered upon at that time shall stand over to the next sitting or, if it is the last sitting of a meeting, to the next meeting.

(6)The Speaker in the Assembly, or the Chairperson in a committee of the whole Assembly, may at any time suspend a sitting and will usually do so from 12.00 p.m. until 2.00 p.m.

Part IV – Motions for the adjournment of the Assembly

20. Adjournment of the Assembly

(1)When for any reason it is not desired to formulate a motion in express terms for the purpose of debating a matter or matters, a motion that the Assembly do now adjourn may be moved for the purpose of such a debate.

(2)A motion under this Order may be moved by any Member after the Member has so notified the Speaker.

(3)The Speaker may decline to put the motion to the Assembly if the Speaker considers it an abuse of the Orders of the Assembly.

(4)A motion for the adjournment under this Order may not be moved until motions are entered upon under Order 24(2) and then only between two items of business.

(5)If a motion for the adjournment made under this Order is agreed to, the Assembly shall stand adjourned and any business not entered upon shall stand over in accordance with Order 17(4), but if the motion is not passed or is withdrawn, the Assembly shall proceed to the next item of business.

(6)At the conclusion of the business under Order 24(2), the Speaker shall either adjourn the Assembly without question put, or, if notice has been given of a matter to be raised upon a motion for the adjournment of the Assembly under this Order, the Speaker shall call upon a Member to move "That this Assembly do now adjourn".

(7)On any motion moved under paragraph (6) a Member who has given notice in writing and obtained the leave of the Speaker may raise any matter of administration for which the Government is responsible.

(8)Upon the conclusion of any debate arising under a motion under paragraph (6), the Speaker shall put the question "That this Assembly do now adjourn":Provided that, if that question has not been put at the expiration of one hour after the motion has been moved, the Speaker shall adjourn the Assembly without question being put.

21. Adjournment on specific and important matters

(1)Immediately before motions are to be entered upon under Order 24(2), a Member may ask leave to move the adjournment of the Assembly for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration.

(2)A Member asking leave to move an adjournment of the Assembly under this Order shall, before the commencement of the sitting, hand to the Speaker a written notification of the matter which the Member wishes to discuss.

(3)Such a motion by a Member may not be made unless:—

(a)the Speaker is satisfied that the matter is specific and important and should have urgent consideration, and

(b)the leave of the Assembly is given; or

(c)if it is not given, at least one half of the Members present support the request.

(4)If the Speaker is satisfied that the motion may properly be made, and the leave of the Assembly on that behalf is granted, the motion shall stand over until such hour as the Speaker may appoint on the same day or the next day when proceedings shall be interrupted after three hours and any proceedings on which the Assembly is engaged shall stand postponed until the motion for the adjournment is disposed of.

(6)Any proceeding postponed under this Order shall not be interrupted at five o'clock and may be resumed and proceeded with at or after that hour for a period of not more than three hours.

(7)Not more than one such motion for the adjournment shall be made at the same sitting; and not more than one matter shall be discussed on that motion.

Part V – Motions for adjournment of debates

22. Adjournment of debate or proceedings in Committee

(1)A Member who wishes to postpone to some future occasion further debate on a question which has been proposed from the Chair may claim to move to "That the debate be now adjourned", or, in Committee of the whole Assembly, "That the Chairperson do report progress and ask leave to sit again."

(2)The debate on the motion shall be confined to the matter of the motion.

(3)If the Speaker or Chairperson shall be of the opinion that the motion is an abuse of the proceedings of the Assembly or Committee, as the case may be, the Speaker or Chairperson may decline to propose it.

(4)When such a motion has been negatived, the debate on the question before the Assembly or the Committee shall be continued and no further motion shall be moved during the same debate.

(5)Such a motion shall be made only by a Member who, having been called by the Speaker, is for the time being holding the floor and Members who have already contributed to the debate under such consideration are not allowed to move such a motion.

(6)It shall not be in order to move an amendment to a motion under the provisions of this Order.

23. Closure of debate

(1)After a question has been proposed, a Member may claim to move "That the question be now put", and, unless it shall appear to the Speaker that such a motion is an abuse of these Standing Orders or an infringement of the rights of a minority, the question "That the question be now put" be put forthwith and decided without amendment or debate.

(2)When a motion "That the question be now put" has been carried, and the question consequent thereon has been decided, a Member may claim that such other question be put as may be requisite to bring to a decision any question also proposed and, provided that the assent of the Speaker is not withheld, such questions shall be put forthwith and decided without amendment or debate.

Part VI – Order of business

24. Order of business

(1)At the first sitting of the first meeting of the Assembly in a new session:—

(a)the Clerk shall read the Proclamation by the President summoning the Assembly to the meeting;

(b)the Speaker shall cause the Oath of Allegiance to be made and subscribed by all Members;

(c)the Speaker shall announce to the Assembly whether the President intends to address the Assembly on that day and if so at what time;

(d)if the President intends to address the Assembly the sitting shall stand suspended until the time appointed for the President to do so;

(e)at the conclusion of the President's address the sitting shall stand suspended or adjourned as the Speaker may direct until such time or to such day as may be specified by the Speaker.

(2)The business for a sitting shall be transacted in the following order:

(a)National Anthem;

(b)Moment of Reflection,

(c)Administration of Oath of Allegiance,

(d)Communications from the President

(e)Communications from the Chair,

(f)Presentation of papers,

(g)Questions of which notice has been given,

(h)Questions without notice,

(i)Statements by Ministers,

(j)Personal explanations,

(k)Matters of Privilege,

(l)Motions for the adjournment of the Assembly under Order 21,

(m)Any motion, bill, or other business which, in the opinion of the Speaker, should precede the remaining business of the day,

(n)Motions of which notice has been given,

(o)Bills,

Part VII – Oath and communications

25. National Anthem

A sitting of the National Assembly shall begin with the National Anthem.

26. Oath of Allegiance

The Oath of Allegiance shall be administered by the Clerk to Members in prescribed form and no Member shall sit, speak or vote until the Member has taken the Oath of allegiance.

27. Message from the President

(1)A message from the President shall be read, at the first convenient sitting of the Assembly after it is received by the Speaker, by the President or a Minister designated by the President.

(2)The Message from the President on the State of the Nation shall be read at the first annual sitting of the Assembly after it is received by the Speaker, by the President or a Minister designated by the President.

(3)Notwithstanding the provisions of Order 24, the Message from the President on the State of the Nation shall be followed by a response from the Leader of the Opposition and by a general debate without question put.

Part VIII – Papers

28. Presentation of papers

(1)Papers may be presented to the Assembly during a sitting by the Clerk laying them on the Table.

(2)A record of every paper presented to the Assembly shall be entered in the Record of proceedings of the Assembly.

(3)Copies of all subsidiary legislation made under the authority of any law and published in the Gazette since the last meeting of the Assembly shall be laid on the Table by the Clerk.

(4)Any person shall be entitled at all convenient times on application to the Clerk to read and, if they so desire, to take extracts from or copies of all papers laid upon the Table.

29. Debates on papers

(1)Subject to any written law, at any time after the presentation of any paper under Order 28, a Member may give notice of a motion that the Assembly resolve itself into a committee of the whole Assembly to consider the paper and debate upon that motion shall be confined to the general principles set forth in the paper.

(2)If a motion under paragraph (1) is agreed to, the Assembly shall resolve itself into the Committee and debate in committee may extend to all the details of the paper which shall be discussed paragraph by paragraph unless otherwise decided by the Chairperson having regard to the Assembly but no question shall be put on, nor any amendment proposed to, any part of the paper; and at the conclusion of the debate no question shall be put save that the Member who moved the motion do report to the Assembly that the Committee has considered the paper.

(3)As soon as the Member has reported that the Committee has considered the paper, a motion may be made forthwith, or on a later day after notice, that the Assembly agrees with the proposals contained in the paper.

Part IX – Questions to ministeers and Members

30. Scope of questions

(1)questions may be put to a Minister relating to any subject, Ministry or department for which the Minister is responsible.

(2)Ministers shall attend sittings of the Assembly to answer questions asked of them.

(3)questions relating to matters which are under the control of a statutory body must be restricted to those matters for which the Minister is responsible.

(4)The proper object of a question is to obtain information on a matter of fact within the responsibility of a Minister or to press for action.

(5)questions may also be put to other Members, relating to a Bill, motion or other public matter connected with the business of the Assembly for which such Members are responsible.

(6)When a question has been refused or amended, and the Member concerned wishes to make representation to the Speaker on the matter, these must be made privately to the Speaker and not raised by way of a point of order in the Assembly.

31. Questions with and without notice

(1)Notice of questions shall be given in writing by a Member to the Clerk and shall be received by the Clerk not less than ten clear days before the meeting of the Assembly.

(2)All questions of which notice has not been received by the Clerk within paragraph (1) but which, in the opinion of the Speaker, are of an urgent character and relate to matters of public importance may be asked at the conclusion of question time, provided that the Speaker is satisfied that the Minister has been given enough time to prepare an answer.

(3)Subject to paragraph (2), the Leader of the Opposition shall be accorded the privilege to put to a Minister a private notice question by sending it in writing to the Clerk at least six hours before question time.

(4)Subject to paragraph (2), the Leader of the Opposition shall be accorded the privilege to put to a Minister a private notice question by sending it in writing to the Clerk at least six hours before question time.

(5)Notice of questions, including private notice questions, shall not be entertained on the following sitting days—

(a)on the opening of a session when the Speech of the President is delivered;

(b)when the Minister responsible for Finance delivers the Budget speech;

(c)on any day fixed for the consideration of an Appropriation Bill or a Supplementary Appropriation Bill.

32. Content of questions

(1)The right to ask a question shall be subject to the following general rules as to the interpretation of which the Speaker shall be the sole judge—

(a)not more than one subject matter shall be referred to in any question and the Speaker shall have the power to reject any question which the Speaker considers to be of excessive length;

(b)a question shall not include the names of persons or any statements of fact unless they be strictly necessary to render the question intelligible;

(c)a question shall not contain statements which the Member who asks the question is not prepared to substantiate;

(d)a question shall not contain arguments, inferences, opinions, amputations, epithets, ironical or offensive expressions or be based upon hypothetical circumstances;

(e)a question shall not refer to an answers given to any questions during the last twelve months;

(f)a question shall not refer to proceedings in a Committee of the Assembly which have not been reported to the Assembly;

(g)a question shall not seek information about any matter which is of its nature secret;

(h)a question shall not reflect on the decision of a court of law and no question shall be asked on any matter which is sub judice;

(i)a question shall not be asked for the purpose of obtaining an expression of opinion, the solution of an abstract legal case or the answer to a hypothetical proposition;

(j)a question shall not be asked as to whether statements in the Press or of private individuals or bodies of persons are accurate;

(k)a question shall not be asked as to the character or conduct of any person except in the official or public capacity;

(l)a question shall not be asked reflecting on the character or conduct of any person whose conduct can only be challenged on a substantive motion;

(m)a question shall not be asked making or implying a charge of a personal character which the Member asking the question is not prepared to substantiate;

(n)a question shall not be asked seeking for information set forth in an accessible document or ordinary works of reference;

(o)a question fully answered shall not be asked again during the same session.

(p)a question cannot be asked on a matter within the jurisdiction of the Speaker.

(2)If the Speaker is of the opinion that any question of which a Member has given notice to the Clerk is an abuse of the right of questioning, or infringes any of the provisions of this or any other Orders, the Speaker may direct;

(a)that the Member concerned be informed that the question is inadmissible for reasons stated; or

(b)that the question be entered on the Order Paper with such alterations as the Speaker may direct.

33. Manner of asking and answering questions

(1)When a question for oral answer on the Order Paper is reached, the Speaker shall call upon the Member in whose name the question stands and the Member so called shall then ask the question by reading it out from the Order Paper or if the Speaker so directs by reference to its number on the Order Paper, and the Minister or Member shall then reply.

(2)At the discretion of the Speaker supplementary questions may be asked by Members for the purpose of elucidating any matter of fact regarding which an answer has been given, but the Speaker shall disallow any supplementary question which introduces matters not arising from the original question or which infringes any of the provisions of Order 32.

(3)A Member who desires a written answer to a question shall mark the notices of the question with an asterisk; and that question shall be entered on the Order Paper and the answer shall be sent to the Member who asked it and to the Clerk who shall cause such answer to be circulated to Members and to be in the official report.

(4)No question shall be taken in the Assembly later than one hour and a half after the beginning of question time but the Speaker may, in the Speaker's discretion, extend question time.

(5)If a question is not reached, it shall be the subject of a written answer.

(6)The number of questions which may be put down in the name of a Member for oral answer at any meeting shall not exceed four.

(7)A question may be withdrawn by the Member asking it at any time before an answer is given, either by notice in writing to the Clerk, or by the Member at question time when the Member's name is called by withdrawing it orally.

(8)A question shall not be made the pretext for a debate.

Part X – Statements, personal explanations and privilege

34. Statements by Ministers

A Minister may make a statement to the Assembly on behalf of the Government on any matter for which the Government is responsible and the statements may not be debated but, at the discretion of the Speaker, questions may be asked by Members for the purpose of elucidating any matter of fact with which the statement deals.

35. Personal explanations by Members

(1)With the prior leave of the Speaker, any Member may make a personal explanation although there be no question before the Assembly and the explanation may not be debated and no controversial matter may be included in any explanation.

(2)The precise contents of the proposed explanation must be submitted in advance to the Speaker to ensure that they are appropriate. The Member granted the privilege of making such a statement shall not depart from the text approved by the Speaker.

(3)Notwithstanding the arrangement mentioned in Standing Order 24 (2) and paragraph (1) of this Order, the Speaker may, at any time, allow a Member to offer an explanation.

36. Matter of privilege

(1)A Member who wishes to raise a matter which the Member believes affects the privileges of the Assembly shall do so at the first available sitting of the Assembly by so informing the Speaker and stating the matter it is proposed to be raised.

(2)When called by the Speaker, the Member shall briefly state the grounds on which the Member believes that the matter raised affects the privileges of the Assembly.

(3)The Speaker shall then state whether the matter may or may not affect the privileges of the Assembly.

(4)A Member may then move a motion relating to that matter of privilege which shall take precedence over other business.

(5)Matters of privilege shall be raised as provided for in Order 24(2):Provided that' if during a sitting of the Assembly a matter suddenly arises which appears to involve the privileges of the Assembly, the proceedings may be interrupted, unless a division is in progress, in order that the matter may be raised and disposed of.

Part XI – Motions and amendments to motions

37. Contents of motions

(1)Subject to the Constitution and these Orders, any Member may propose any matter for debate in the Assembly by way of motion, that is, a self contained proposal submitted for the approval of the Assembly and drafted in such a way as to be capable of expressing a decision of the Assembly.

(2)A notice of motion which, in the opinion of the Speaker, amounts to an attempt to reconsider a specific question upon which the Assembly has decided during the last twelve months shall be disallowed by the Speaker unless it be a notice of a motion to rescind such a previous decision of the Assembly.

38. Notice of motions

(1)Unless otherwise provided by these Orders or with the prior permission of the Speaker on grounds of public urgency, no motion shall be moved at a meeting unless notice thereof has been given at least ten clear days before that meeting.

(2)A Member shall give notice of a motion by handing a copy thereof fairly written and signed by that Member to the Clerk.

(3)The Speaker may disallow a notice of motion which, in the Speaker's opinion, contains unbecoming expressions, or which infringes the rules of debate. Any such notice may be amended by the Speaker with the consent of the Member who gave the notice and may thereupon appear on the Order Paper.

(4)All motions of which notice has been given in accordance with this Order, including those which the Speaker rules to be out of order, shall be circulated to all Members.

(5)Motions whose contents are cognate may be debated together unless a dissentient view is expressed.

(6)The following motions may be moved without notice:—

(a)a motion moved by a Member for the adjournment of the Assembly or the conclusion of a meeting;

(b)a motion moved by a Member to vary the time or date of a sitting;

(c)a motion for the suspension of any of these Orders;

(d)a motion to recommit a Bill in whole or in part;

(e)a motion to withdraw a Bill;

(f)subject to the provisions of these Orders governing financial procedure and the procedure on Bills, a motion moved when the Assembly is in committee;

(g)a motion for the suspension of a Member;

(h)a motion relating to a matter of privilege;

(i)a motion to adjourn a debate, or in committee to report progress and ask leave to sit again.

(7)A Member may amend a notice of motion standing in the name of that Member if that amendment does not, in the opinion of the Speaker, materially alter the scope of, or any principles embodied in, the original motion, and any such amendment shall be deemed to have been made at the time the original notice of motion was given.

39. Manner of debating motions

(1)A Member called upon by the Speaker to move a motion shall state the terms of the motion and after making other remarks formally move the motion.

(2)Every motion (including an amendment to a motion), except a motion made in committee, must be seconded.

(3)If a motion is not seconded, the Clerk shall make a note in the Records of proceedings to the effect that as the motion was not seconded the Speaker was unable to propose the question thereon.

(4)A motion may be seconded by a Member without speaking to the motion; in that event the Member's right to speak to the motion later shall be reserved.

(5)When a motion has been moved and seconded, the question thereon shall be proposed to the Assembly by the Speaker, and debate may then take place on that question.

(6)Any motion appearing on the Order Paper and not moved when the Member in whose name it stands is called upon by the Speaker at the proper time to move it shall be deemed to be withdrawn unless that Member gives, or has given, notice of the Member’s intention to defer it.

(7)When no more Members wish to speak on a motion, the Speaker shall put the question on the motion to the Assembly for its decision.

(8)A question when put from the chair may be amended—

(a)by deleting certain words in order to insert or add other words;

(b)by deleting certain words, or

(c)by inserting or adding other words.

40. Amendments to motions

(1)Any amendment to a motion shall be put in writing by the mover and delivered to the Clerk at least forty eight hours before moving it;Provided that the Speaker may, in cases of simple amendment, waive this requirement.

(2)Every amendment shall be relevant to the motion which it seeks to amend and shall not raise any question which, in the opinion of the Speaker, should be raised by a motion for the purpose after notice given.

(3)An amendment shall not be moves if a substantially identical amendment has already been disposed of.

(4)No amendment shall be permitted if, in the opinion of the Speaker, it represents a direct negative of the question proposed.

41. Manner of debating amendments to motions

(1)Any amendments to the motion which a Member wishes to propose in accordance with these Orders may be moved at any time after the question upon the motion has been proposed and before it has been put.

(2)When two or more amendments are proposed to be moved to the same motion, the Speaker shall call upon the movers in the order in which their amendments relate to the text of the motion, or in cases of doubt, in such order as the Speaker shall decide.

(3)When every such amendment has been disposed of, the Speaker shall either again propose the question upon the motion, or the motion as amended, as the case may be, and, after any further debate that may arise thereon, shall put the question.

(4)Where the mover of an amendment directly addresses the motion, the mover loses the right to speak again on the main motion after the amendment has been disposed of.

42. Method of dealing with amendments

(1)Upon any amendment to delete any of the words of a motion, the question to be proposed by the Speaker shall be " That the following words ____________ be deleted from the motion".

(2)Upon any amendment to insert words in, or add words at the end of, a motion, the question to be proposed by the Speaker shall be "That the following words____________ be inserted (or added)".

(3)Upon an amendment to delete words and insert or add other words instead, the question to be proposed by the Speaker shall be "That the following words________ be deleted from the question and that the following words____________ be there inserted (or added)".

43. Amendments to amendments

(1)An amendment to an amendment may be moved to at any time after the question upon the original amendment has been proposed and before it has been put.

(2)Order 42 shall apply to amendments to amendments.

(3)When every amendment to an amendment has been disposed of, the Speaker shall either again propose the question upon the original amendment or propose the question on the original amendment as amended, as the case may be.

44. Withdrawal of motions and amendments

(1)A notice of motion or amendment may be withdrawn at any time before it is moved if the Member in whose name it stands gives instructions to this effect to the Clerk.

(2)After the question on a motion or amendment has been proposed from the Chair, the motion or amendment shall be deemed to have been put in the possession of the Assembly and may only be withdrawn with the leave of the Assembly.

(3)A motion or amendment to which an amendment has been moved may not be withdrawn until that amendment has been disposed of.

(4)A motion or amendment which has been withdrawn may be proposed again on notice.

Part XII – Enforcement of debate

45. Point of Order

(1)A Member who fails to observe these Orders may be immediately called to order by the Speaker or the Chairperson, or by a Member raising a point of order and the Member raising the point of order shall direct attention to the point the Member desires to bring to notice and submit it to the Speaker or the Chairperson for decision.

(2)The Speaker shall either rule on the point of order forthwith or may suspend the sitting in order to give further consideration to the point before making a ruling; in either case the Member who was speaking at the time the point of order was raised may, as soon as the Speaker has ruled on the point of order, continue speaking.

46. Decision of Speaker final

(1)The Speaker shall be responsible for the observance of these Orders in the precincts of the Assembly and in committee and the decision of the Speaker on a point of order shall be final.

(2)A Member infringing any of these Orders shall immediately be called to order by the Speaker and a Member may call the attention of the Speaker to such an infringement.

47. Irrelevance, tedious repetition and gross disorderly conduct

(1)After having called the attention of the Assembly to the conduct of a Member who persists in irrelevance or tedious repetition in debate, the Speaker may direct the Member to discontinue speaking.

(2)The Speaker shall order a Member whose conduct is grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the Assembly for such period as the Speaker deems appropriate and not more than the remainder of that day's sitting; and an officer shall act on any order received from the Chair to ensure compliance with this Order.

48. Naming and suspension of Members

(1)If on any occasion the Speaker is of the opinion that the powers conferred under Order 47 are inadequate to deal with the offence, the Speaker may name the Member.

(2)Whenever a Member has been named by the Speaker immediately after the commission of the offence of disregarding the authority of the Chair or of contravening any Orders of the Assembly by persistently and wilfully obstructing or otherwise, then—

(a)if the offence has been committed in the Assembly, the Speaker or the person presiding shall forthwith put the question on a motion being made, no amendment, adjournment or debate being allowed, "That such Member (naming the Member) be suspended from the service of the Assembly", and

(b)if the offence has been committed in a committee of the whole Assembly, the Chairperson shall forthwith suspend the proceedings and report the circumstances to the Assembly; and the Speaker shall thereupon, on motion being made, put the same question without amendment, adjournment or debate as if the offence had been committed in the Assembly.

(3)If any Member is suspended under this Order, the suspension on the first occasion shall continue for one sitting, on the second occasion for two consecutive sittings, and on the third or any subsequent occasion for four consecutive sittings.

(4)On receiving from a Member so suspended a written expression of regret the Speaker shall lay it before the Assembly and it shall be entered in the Record of proceedings and on a motion being made for the discharge of the Order of suspension the question thereon shall be decided without amendment or debate and if the question is agreed to, the Order shall be discharged and the Member shall be readmitted to the Assembly.

(5)Where several Members present have jointly disregarded the authority of the Chair, the Speaker may name them jointly.

(6)Nothing in this Order shall deprive the Assembly of the power of proceeding against any Member in accordance with any written law for the time being in force.

49. Refusal to obey directions of the Speaker

(1)If any Member, or Members acting jointly, who have been suspended under Order 48, shall refuse to obey the directions of the Speaker when ordered so to do, the Speaker shall call the attention of the Assembly to the fact that recourse to force is necessary in order to compel obedience to the directions and the Member or Members named by the Speaker as having refused the directions shall thereupon, and without further question put, be suspended from the service of the Assembly for twelve consecutive sittings:Provided that any such period of suspension shall come to an end when the Assembly is dissolved.

50. Members suspended to withdraw from the precincts

A Member who is ordered to withdraw from the Assembly under Order 47, or who is suspended from the service of the Assembly under Order 48, shall forthwith withdraw from the precincts during the period of the suspension.

51. Grave disorder in the Assembly or Committee of the whole assembly

(1)If grave disorder arises in the Assembly, the Speaker may adjourn the Assembly without question put or suspend the sitting for any period.

(2)If grave disorder arises in a Committee of the whole Assembly, the Assembly shall resume without question put.

Part XIII – Rules of debate

52. Time and manner of speaking

(1)A Member desiring to speak shall raise a hand and if called upon by the Speaker shall address the Member's observations to the Chair.

(2)If two or more Members wish to speak at the same time, the Speaker shall select one Member and call on the Member to speak.

(3)The mover of any motion or amendment may speak in support thereof, but no further debate shall be allowed nor shall any question thereon be put to the Assembly until the motion or amendment be duly seconded.

(4)No Member shall speak more than once to any question except—

(a)in Committee;

(b)in explanation as provided in paragraphs (5) and (6) of this Order;

(c)in the case of the mover of a substantive motion in the Assembly, in reply not being a motion for the adjournment of the Assembly moved under paragraph (7) of Order 20;

(d)with the pleasure of the Assembly, no dissentient view being expressed:

Provided that any Member may second a motion or amendment without prejudice to the Member's right to speak at a later period of the debate.

(5)A Member who has spoken to the main question may speak again when a new question, such as a proposed amendment, has been put by the Chair.

(6)A Member who has spoken to a question may again be heard to offer an explanation to some material part of the Member's speech which has been misunderstood but the Member must not introduce any new matter.

(7)When the Speaker speaks during proceedings in the Assembly or in committee of the whole Assembly, every Member shall be seated and silent so that the Speaker may be heard without interruption.

(8)No Member shall speak to any question after it has been put by the Speaker, that is, after the votes for and against have been collected.

(9)Subject to paragraph (6) and unless these Standing Orders otherwise provide, a Member shall be entitled to speak to any question in the Assembly for not more than thirty minutes, or to address a Committee of the whole Assembly for not more than fifteen minutes at any one time.

(10)The mover of an original motion shall be entitled to not more than one hour for the mover's opening speech and thirty minutes for the mover's reply, but the Speaker may at the Speaker's discretion extend this time by fifteen minutes.

(11)The ruling of the Speaker as to time shall be final.

(12)The discretion of the Speaker or the person presiding in calling Members to speak cannot be challenged.

53. Behaviour of Members in the Assembly

(1)Members shall rise in their places upon the arrival of the Speaker in the Chamber.

(2)Members shall refrain from moving around and any Member or Officer proceeding to enter the Chamber shall stand still in the gangway until the Speaker has taken his seat.

(3)Members shall bow to the Chair before leaving or resuming their seat.

(4)Members shall not pass between the Chair and any Member who is speaking or between the Chair and the Table.

(5)Except when moving to and from their seat or speaking, Members in the Chamber shall be seated.

(6)When the Speaker leaves the Chair, Members shall stand in their places in silence.

(7)Members shall not read newspapers, books, letters or other documents unless they are directly connected with the business of the Assembly.

(8)Members shall not use mobile phones to make or receive calls in the Chamber, or any electronic equipment, save with the leave of the Speaker.

(9)

(a)Members shall endeavour not to smoke or use tobacco products.

(b)The Speaker may designate areas outside the National Assembly Building for those Members who wish to smoke.

(10)Members, while in the Assembly and visitors to the Assembly, shall be dressed in such manner as to show proper respect for the Assembly, and in accordance with directions given from time to time by the Speaker.

54. Content of speeches

(1)A Member shall confine his or her observations to the subject under discussion and may not introduce matters not relevant thereto.

(2)A Member shall not refer to matters which are sub judice.

(3)A Member shall not refer to any proceedings of a Committee of the Assembly, until such proceedings have been presented to the Assembly by a report from the Committee.

(4)The name of the President shall not be used disrespectfully in debate.

(5)The conduct of the President, Vice-President, Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Ministers, Leader of Government Business, Leader of the Opposition, Members or Judges of Superior Courts and Magistrates and all Constitutional appointees and their families, shall not be referred to except upon a motion moved for that purpose.

(6)It shall be out of order to introduce arguments on any question upon which the Assembly has taken a decision during the last twelve months except upon a motion to rescind that decision with the permission of the Speaker.

(7)A Member shall not—

(a)use offensive words or expressions;

(b)use unbecoming or offensive language against any Member;

(c)use the right of free speech for the purpose of obstructing the business of the Assembly;

(d)impute improper motives to or make a personal charge against any Member except upon a motion calling in question the conduct of the Member.

55. Anticipation

(1)It shall be out of order to anticipate a Bill which has been published in the Gazette by debate upon a motion or an amendment thereto, or by raising the subject matter of the Bill upon a motion for the adjournment of the Assembly.

(2)It shall be out of order during a debate on any other motion, including a motion for the adjournment of the Assembly, or on an amendment thereto, to anticipate debate on a motion of which notice has been given.

(3)In determining whether a debate is out of order on the grounds of anticipation, regard shall be had to the probability of the matter anticipated being brought before the Assembly within a reasonable time.

56. Interruptions

(1)A Member shall not interrupt another Member who is speaking except—

(a)to raise a point of order;

(b)to call attention to the absence of a quorum;

(c)to move the closure under Order 23;

(d)to correct a misapprehension or elucidate an explanation, provided that the Member speaking is willing to give way and that the Member wishing to interrupt is called by the Chair.

Part XIV – Voting

57. Collection of votes

(1)When the Speaker puts a question to the Assembly or to the Committee for its decision, the Speaker shall first call upon those Members who are in favour of the question to raise one hand and the Clerk shall count the Members who have so raised their hands.

(2)The Speaker shall then call upon those Members who are against and the Clerk shall count the Members who have so raised their hands.

(3)The Speaker shall then announce the result of the vote.

(4)If a Member does challenge the Speaker's statement by claiming a division, the Speaker shall order the Assembly or the Committee to proceed to a division if the Speaker considers that there is reasonable doubt as to the outcome of the vote in question.

58. Divisions

(1)When a division has been ordered, the Clerk shall ring the division bell for two minutes, unless all Members are sooner present.

(2)At the end of that time the Clerk shall call out the names of Members in alphabetical order and each Member shall vote by saying 'Yes' or 'No' and a Member who abstains from voting shall so state.

(3)When the Clerk has reported to the Speaker the numbers voting for the Yeses and for the Noes respectively, the Speaker shall declare the result of the division.

(4)A Member may at any time before the Speaker has declared the result of a division request to change a vote previously expressed or withdraw a decision to abstain previously made by the Member on the ground that the vote was given erroneously.

(5)In case of confusion or error occurring during the course of a division concerning the numbers or names recorded, which cannot otherwise be corrected, the Speaker shall direct the Assembly or the Committee to proceed to another division.

59. Voting by Members

(1)A Member may vote in a division although the Member did not hear the question put.

(2)No Member shall be obliged to vote.

60. Equality of votes

The person presiding at a meeting of the National Assembly shall not vote on any question to be decided by the Assembly but, in the event of an equality of votes on any question the person shall have a casting vote.

Part XV – Legislation

61. Presentation and publication of Bills

(1)The Vice-President or any Minister or subject to Order 63 any Member may at any time give notice of intention to present a Bill.

(2)A Bill shall be presented to the Assembly by a draft thereof being sent to the Clerk by the Vice-President, the Minister or Member desiring to introduce it, together with an explanatory statement of the object of and reasons for the Bill, which in the case of a Government Bill shall be signed by or on behalf of the Attorney General or the Vice-President or a Minister and in the case of a Bill presented by a Member, the Member.

(3)A copy of the Bill, together with the explanatory statement, shall be sent by the Clerk to every Member.

(4)The Vice-President or the Minister or the Member presenting the Bill shall be known throughout the subsequent proceedings as the Minister or Member in charge of the Bill.

(5)Every Bill presented to the Assembly, together with the explanatory statement, shall be published in the Official Gazette.

(6)If a certificate of the President is laid on the Table by a Minister declaring that a Government Bill is so urgent or of such nature as not to permit compliance with any or all of the provisions of this Part relating to the publication of Bills, those provisions shall, upon a motion by a Member, be dispensed with in respect of that Bill and shall stand suspended without question put.

62. Procedures on Member's Bill

(1)The Clerk shall be responsible for the printing of every Bill which a Member has given notice of intention to present after leave to proceed is granted by the Speaker.

(2)Before a Member gives notice of intention to present a Bill under Order 61, the Member shall apply to the Speaker for leave to bring a Bill.

(3)A Member applying for leave to bring a Bill shall at the same time deliver to the Clerk a certified true copy of the full text of the Bill proposed to be introduced.

(4)Before allowing leave to bring a Bill, the Speaker must be satisfied that—

(a)the Bill accords with the requirements of the law;

(b)the Bill is divided into successive clauses consecutively numbered;

(c)to every clause there is annexed in the margin a short indication of its contents;

(d)the Bill does not contain anything foreign to what the title of the Bill imports.

(5)In the case of a Bill involving expenditure of public money, the Speaker shall transmit a copy of the full text of the Bill to the Minister charged with responsibility for Finance.

(6)It shall be the duty of the Minister charged with responsibility for Finance to inform the Speaker, before leave is granted, whether the recommendation of the President in accordance with Order 73 to such a Bill is required by law.

(7)If the Speaker has been informed that such recommendation is required, the Speaker shall, before deciding to allow leave require a Minister to signify to the Speaker, whether or not such recommendation be forthcoming, and if such recommendation be not forthcoming, the Speaker shall not grant leave to publish the Bill.

(8)Where leave to proceed on a Member's Bill is granted, a copy of the Bill must be lodged with the Clerk within three months after such leave is granted and the Clerk shall arrange for the printing of the Bill.

63. First reading

(1)The short title of every Bill presented and published in accordance with Orders 61 and 62 shall be placed on the Order Paper for first reading by the Clerk.

(2)No debate shall be allowed on the first reading of the Bill; and upon the Clerk reading the short title, the Bill shall be deemed to be read the first time, ordered to be read a second time and so recorded in the Record of Proceedings.

64. Second reading

(1)No Bill shall be set down on the Order Paper for the second reading earlier than seven clear days from the first reading.

(2)On the order for the second reading of a Bill being read, a motion may be made "That the Bill be now read a second time" and a debate may arise covering the general merits and principles of the Bill.

(3)To the question "That the Bill be now read a second time", an amendment may be moved to leave out the words after 'that' and add words stating the object and motive on which opposition to the Bill is based, such words being relevant to the general principles of the Bill and not its details.

(4)If such an amendment to the Bill is negatived, the Bill shall be deemed to be read a second time.

65. Committal of Bills

When a Bill has been read a second time it shall stand committed to a Committee of the whole Assembly.

66. Functions and powers of Bills Committee

(1)The committee to which a Bill is committed shall not discuss the general merits and principles of the Bill but only its details.

(2)The committee shall have power to make amendment to the Bill provided that they are relevant to the subject matter of the Bill; if any such amendments are not within the title of the Bill, it shall amend the title accordingly and shall report the same specially to the Assembly.

67. Amendments of Bills

(1)Any proposed amendment to a Bill shall be put in writing by the mover and delivered to the Clerk at least seventy two hours before moving it:Provided that the Chairperson may relax this provision in favour of simple amendments or emergency Bills.

(2)The following provisions shall apply to the content of amendments proposed to Bills—

(a)an amendment shall be relevant to the subject matter of the clause to which it relates;

(b)an amendment shall not be inconsistent with any clause already agreed to or with any previous decision of the committee;

(c)an amendment must not be such as to make the clause which it proposes to amend unintelligible or ungrammatical;

(d)if an amendment refers to, or is not intelligible without, a subsequent amendment, notice of the subsequent amendment shall be given before or when the first amendment is moved so as to make the series of amendments intelligible as a whole;

(e)the Chairperson may refuse to allow an amendment to be moved which, in the Chairperson's opinion, is frivolous or meaningless.

(3)The Chairperson may at any time during the debate on a proposed amendment withdraw it from the consideration of the Committee if in the opinion of the Chairperson the debate has shown that the amendment violates this Order.

68. Procedures in Committee of the whole Assembly

(1)Unless the Committee decides to consider the Bill in any other order, the Chairperson shall call the number of each clause in succession, and if no amendment is proposed thereto, or when all the proposed amendments have been disposed of, the Chairperson shall propose the question "That the clause (or the clause as amended) stand part of the Bill" and when all Members who wish to speak thereon have spoken, the Chairperson shall put the question to the Committee for its decision:Provided that in order to save time, the Chairperson may, if no Member objects or has given notice of any amendment to any clause affected, call the numbers of more than one clause or of groups of clauses and propose the question "That the clause (or groups of clauses) stand part of the Bill".

(2)In order to save time and repetition of arguments the Chairperson may allow a single discussion to cover a series of interdependent amendments.

(3)Orders 41, 42 and 43 shall apply to debate on amendment to Bills with the substitution of the word 'clause' for the word 'motion' and of the word 'Chairperson' for the word 'Speaker' throughout.

(4)Consideration of a clause may be postponed, unless a decision has already been taken on an amendment thereto; postponed clauses shall be considered after the remaining clauses of the Bill have been considered.

(5)New clauses shall be considered either after the clauses of the Bill have been disposed of and before consideration of any schedule to the Bill or at the appropriate place in the Bill as the Chairperson may determine.

(6)The Chairperson shall call upon the Member in whose name the new clause stands, and when the Member has moved the clause, the Clerk shall read the marginal note of the clause whereupon the clause shall be deemed to have been read a first time and thereafter the Chairperson shall propose the question that the clause be read a second time on which question debate may take place and when that question has been agreed to, amendments may be proposed to the new clause, and when they have been disposed of, the question shall be proposed 'That the clause (or the clause as amended) be added to the Bill".

(7)Schedules shall be disposed of in the same way as clauses and any new schedule shall be considered after the schedules to the Bill have been disposed of and shall be treated in the same way as a new clause.

(8)When every clause and schedule and proposed new clause or new schedule has been dealt with, the preamble, if there is one, shall be considered and the question put "That the preamble stand part of the Bill".

(9)If any amendment to the title of the Bill is made necessary by an amendment to the Bill, it shall be made at the conclusion of the aforementioned proceedings, but no question shall be put that the title (as amended) stands part of the Bill nor shall any question be put upon the enacting formula.

(10)A Committee having started to consider a Bill shall proceed with its consideration, but, during such consideration the Leader of Government Business or Member in charge may, or any other Member, subject to the discretion of the Chairperson may move a motion "That the Committee do not proceed further with the vote."

(11)If the motion is moved, the Chairperson of the committee shall then report the Bill to the Assembly, as so far amended or without amendment as the case may be, and the Bill shall be ordered to lie on the Table without question put.

69. Report of Bill from Committee

As soon as the Committee has completed consideration of the Bill committed to it, the Assembly shall resume and the Chairperson of the Committee shall report it to the Assembly.

70. Recommittal of Bills

(1)If the Minister or Member in charge of a Bill desires to delete or amend any provision contained in the Bill as reported from a Committee or to introduce any new provision therein, the Leader of Government Business or Member may, at any time before the third reading of the Bill is moved, move that the Bill be recommitted, either wholly or in respect only of some particular part or parts of the Bill or some proposed new clause or new schedule.

(2)When the motion for the recommittal is agreed to, the Assembly shall resolve itself into committee either immediately or on a later date to consider the business so recommitted.

(3)When the whole Bill has been recommitted, the Committee shall go through the Bill as provided for in Order 68.

(4)When the Bill has been recommitted in respect only of some particular part or parts or of some proposed new clause or new schedule, the Committee shall consider the matter so recommitted and any amendments which may be moved thereto.

(5)At the conclusion of the proceedings in Committee on a Bill recommitted under this Order, the Assembly shall resume and the Chairperson of the Committee shall then report it to the Assembly and thereafter may either name a future day for the third reading of the Bill or move that it be read a third time forthwith.

71. Third reading

(1)On the third reading of the Bill, the Leader of Government Business or Member in charge shall move "That the Bill be now read a third time", no amendment to this motion may be moved and the debate shall be confined to the contents of the Bill.

(2)With the permission of the Speaker, amendments for the correction of errors or oversights may be made to the Bill before the question for the third reading is put from the Chair, but no amendments affecting the principles that have already been determined shall be moved.

(3)When a Bill has been read a third time it shall be deemed to have been passed and five clean printed copies thereof certified correct by the Clerk, shall as soon as possible, be submitted to the President for the President's assent.

72. Withdrawal of Bill

The Leader of Government Business or Member in charge of a Bill may, at the beginning of the proceedings on a Bill at a Sitting, move that the Bill be withdrawn.

Part XVI – Financial procedure

73. Financial restriction on Bills, motions and amendments

Except on the recommendation of the President signified by a Minister, neither the Assembly nor a committee shall—

(a)proceed upon any Bill (including any amendment to a Bill) which, in the opinion of the person presiding or the Attorney General provides for imposing or increasing any tax, for imposing or increasing any charge on the revenue or other funds of Seychelles or for altering any such charge otherwise than by reducing it, or for compounding or remitting any debt due to the Government of Seychelles;

(b)proceed upon any motion including any amendment to a motion the effect of which, in the opinion of the person presiding or the Attorney General, is that provision would be made for purposes aforesaid;

(c)receive any petition that, in the opinion of the person presiding or the Attorney General, requests provision be made for any of these purposes.

74. Presentations of the Appropriation Bill and the estimates

(1)Any Bill containing the estimated financial requirements for expenditure in all services of the Government for a current or succeeding financial year shall be known as the Appropriation Bill.

(2)The estimates shall be appended to the Appropriation Bill on its publication to the Assembly. The estimates of revenue and expenditure on the basis of which the Bill has been drafted, and a copy of the Bill and the estimates shall be sent to every Member seven days before the meeting at which it is to be considered.

(3)Except as provided in this Part, the procedure set out in Part XV governing legislation shall apply to Appropriation Bills.

75. Second reading of Appropriation Bill

(1)Before the motion for the second reading of an Appropriation Bill is moved, the Minister in charge of the Bill shall state the financial and economic policy of the Government.

(2)Upon the conclusion of the speech of the Minister in charge of the Bill the debate upon the motion for second reading shall be adjourned to such day and time as the Speaker shall appoint.

(3)The debate upon the motion for second reading shall be confined to such policy and to the general principles of Government administration as indicated by the Bill and Estimates.

76. Consideration of Appropriation Bill

(1)When the Appropriation Bill has been read a second time it shall stand committed to a Committee of the whole Assembly.

(2)The Speaker shall allot such number of days as the Speaker thinks fit for discussion of the estimates in Committee and the Speaker may, if the Speaker thinks fit, increase the number of allotted days.

(3)Consideration of all clauses of the Bill shall be postponed pending consideration of the schedule.

(4)The Speaker shall fix the time on any other day at which the consideration of any head of expenditure shall, if not previously disposed of, be concluded. If the time so fixed is reached before the head concerned is disposed of, the Chairperson shall forthwith put every question necessary to dispose of that head.

(5)The Speaker may, if the Speaker thinks fit, allot the time to be allowed for discussion of any amendment to any head of expenditure and shall take such time into account in fixing the time on any allotted day at which consideration of the head shall be concluded under paragraph (4) of this Order. If the time so allowed has expired before the amendment is disposed of, the Chairperson shall forthwith dispose of such amendment.

(6)On consideration of the schedule of the Bill, the Chairperson shall call the number and title of each head of expenditure in turn and shall propose the question "That the sum of SR__________ for head__________ stand part of the schedule", and, if no amendment is proposed, debate may take place upon that question, such debate being confined to the policy of the service for which the money is to be provided including the revenue and funds for which the service is responsible but shall not refer to the details of any item or subhead in the Estimates.

(7)Notice of any amendment to be moved in Committee under this Order shall be given to the Clerk three days before the meeting at which the Appropriation Bill is to be considered:Provided that the Speaker may authorise the Clerk to receive an amendment of which less notice has been given which authorisation shall not be unreasonably withheld.

(8)An amendment to a head of expenditure to increase the sum allotted thereto whether in respect of any item or sub-head or of the head itself may be proposed only by a Minister, who shall signify to the Committee the recommendation of the President to the increase.

(9)An amendment of the provision allotted to a head in the schedule shall be specifically related to the sub-head, and if the latter is sub-divided, to the item to which the amendment refers.

(10)An amendment to increase a head, in respect of any item or subhead, shall take precedence over one to reduce the head in the same respect, and if it is carried no amendment to reduce the head in that respect shall be called.

(11)All amendments to a head shall be placed upon the Order Paper and considered in the order in which the sub-heads and items to which they refer appear in the Estimates. If there are two or more amendments to reduce a head in respect of the same sub-head or item, they shall take precedence in accordance with the size of the reductions proposed and if one such amendment is carried, none of the others shall be proposed.

(12)Debate on every amendment shall be confined to the sub-head or item to which it relates. After such an amendment has been disposed of, no amendment to or debate on any previous sub-head or item shall be permitted.

(13)When all amendments to a head have been disposed of, the Chairperson shall again propose the question set out in paragraph (6) of this Order or shall propose the schedule, as the case may require and debate on either question shall be subject to paragraph (6).

(14)When the schedule, with or without amendment, has been disposed of, the committee shall consider the clauses and other parts of the Bill in accordance with Order 68 but all questions shall be decided without debate.

77. No debate on third reading

(1)The question on the third reading of the Appropriation Bill shall be decided without debate.

(2)Upon an Order being made for the Appropriation Bill to be read a third time, the Clerk shall read the short title only.

78. Supplementary Appropriation Bill

A Supplementary Appropriation Bill, presented during the financial year to which it relates, shall be dealt with in accordance with Order 74 to 77:Provided that debate on the second reading shall be confined to the policies of the services, and in the Committee to the sub-heads and items, for which the supplementary appropriation is to be made.

Part XVII – Committees of the whole Assembly

79. Resolution of the Assembly to a Committee

(1)Whenever in any matter, other than matters considered under procedure on a Bill or financial procedure, a Member desires that the matter be considered in a Committee of the whole Assembly, the Member may move, without notice, that the Assembly shall immediately or on a future sitting day resolve itself into a Committee of the whole Assembly to consider the matter.

(2)When a matter stands committed to a Committee of the whole Assembly, the Assembly shall resolve itself into Committee without question put.

80. Powers of a Committee

(1)A Committee of the whole Assembly shall not consider any matter other than a matter which has been referred to it or which it is required by these Orders to consider.

(2)A Committee may not adjourn its own sitting or the consideration of any matter to a further sitting, but the Member in charge of the business under consideration may by motion, to be decided without amendment or debate, be directed, notwithstanding that all matters referred to the Committee have not yet been considered, to report progress to the Assembly and ask leave to sit again.

81. Procedure in Committee

The Constitution and, save as it is otherwise specifically provided in these Orders, these Orders shall apply in Committee as they apply in the Assembly.

82. Report from the Committee

(1)When all the matters referred to a Committee have been considered the Assembly shall resume without question put and the Member in charge of such matters shall report to the Assembly.

(2)Every report to the Assembly made by the Committee of the whole Assembly may by motion be agreed to or disagreed to by the Assembly or recommitted to the Committee, or postponed for further consideration.

83. Select Committees on Bills

(1)The Assembly may, at any time, upon a motion made after notice given, appoint a select Committee to consider a Bill and report thereon to the Assembly. A select Committee shall consist of such number of Members as may be decided by the Assembly, and as far as practicable, reflect the strength of the political parties and independent Members in the Assembly.

(2)A select Committee to which a Bill shall have been referred shall present a report to the Assembly explaining its recommendations, and if the recommendations involve any amendment, a reprint of the Bill shall be attached to the report with all amendments printed in italics and all deletions clearly indicated, and a copy of the Bill so amended shall be distributed to every Member of the Assembly.

(3)The report of the select Committee upon a Bill shall be presented to the Assembly by the Chairperson of the Committee and the report shall be set down for consideration by the Assembly on a day appointed by the Speaker.

(4)Consideration of a Bill reported from the select Committee shall take place upon a motion "That the report from the select Committee be approved".

(5)Upon consideration of a Bill reported from a select Committee, the Assembly shall consider only amendments, if any, made by the Committee, but may further amend those amendments.

(6)Upon consideration of a Bill reported from a select Committee, a motion may be made by any Member that the Bill be recommitted to the select Committee with reference to particular amendments by the select Committee.

(7)Upon consideration of a Bill reported from a select Committee, a motion may be made by any Member that the Bill be recommitted to a Committee of the whole Assembly.

(8)As soon as the Committee has completed consideration of the Bill committed to it, the Assembly shall resume, and the Member in charge of the Bill shall report it to the Assembly.

84. Select Committees to consider matters other than Bills

Select Committees may be appointed by the Assembly in accordance with the rules of procedure for the considering of matters other than Bills.

Part XVIII – Standing Sessional Committees

85. Standing Orders Committee

(1)The Standing Orders Committee shall consist of seven Members appointed by the Assembly from among its Members at the commencement of each session.

(2)In addition to any other functions conferred upon it by the Assembly, it shall be the duty of the Standing Orders Committee to consider all proposals concerning the rules of procedure of the Assembly and to report to the Assembly thereon.

(3)The Committee shall elect its own Chairperson.

86. Finance and Public Accounts Committee

(1)The Finance and Public Accounts Committee of the Assembly shall consist of seven Members appointed by the Assembly from among its Members at the commencement of each session.

(2)The functions of the Committee shall be—

(a)to consider the accounts referred to in article 158(3) of the Constitution in conjunction with the Auditor General's report;

(b)to report to the Assembly on any excess of authorised expenditure; and

(c)to propose any measures it considers necessary to ensure that the funds of the Government are properly and economically spent.

(3)The Committee shall have the power to send for persons and records, to take evidence, and to report from time to time.

(4)The Committee shall elect its own Chairperson and if the Chairperson is unable to be present at any meeting, the Committee shall elect another Chairperson for that day.

Part XIX – Members' financial interests

87. Members financial interests

(1)Apart from the provision of law requiring a Member to disclose the extent of any direct pecuniary interest, a Member shall not vote on any subject in which he has a direct personal pecuniary interest.

(2)A motion to disallow a Member's vote on the ground of personal pecuniary interest may be moved as soon as the number of the Members voting on the question shall have been declared.

(3)The Speaker or Chairperson shall have the discretion whether or not to propose the question upon such a motion, and in exercising such discretion shall have regard to the subject matter of the question upon which the division was taken and to the consideration whether the interest therein of the Member whose vote is challenged is direct and pecuniary and belongs separately to the Member and is not an interest in common with the rest of the citizens of Seychelles or whether the vote of the Member was given on a matter of state policy.

(4)If the question for disallowing a Member's vote is agreed to, the Speaker or Chairperson shall direct the Clerk to correct the numbers voting in the division accordingly.

Part XX – Admission of Press and Public

88. Admission of Press

(1)The Speaker may grant a general permission to the representatives of any journal, newspaper or broadcasting organisation to attend the meetings of the Assembly, and such a permission may be granted under such rules as the Assembly may make from time to time for that purpose.

(2)The representative of any journal, newspaper or broadcasting organisation when attending sittings of the Assembly shall sit in the area allotted for the Press and shall under no conditions engage any Member in conversation during sittings.

89. Admission of the Public

Members of the Public may be present in the Assembly Chamber in the places set apart for them whilst the Assembly or a Committee of the whole Assembly sits.

90. Power to remove members of the Public

Any officer of the Assembly may remove or cause to be removed any member of the Public from any part of the Assembly appropriated to the Members only, and also any member of the Public who, having been admitted into any other part of the Assembly while the Assembly or any Committee of the whole Assembly is sitting, smokes, uses a camera, mobile phone, a tape recorder or any apparatus or is in possession of any firearm or offensive weapon:

Provided that an officer of the Assembly may not remove or cause to be removed any member of the Public where the Speaker in the Speaker's discretion has permitted the use of a camera, mobile phone or a tape recorder in the Assembly or in the precincts of the Assembly.

Part XXI – Miscellaneous

91. Suspension of Standing Orders

(1)Any of these Orders may, with the leave of the Speaker, be suspended by the Assembly wholly or in part, for a specified purpose upon motion made by a Member.

(2)The terms of a motion for the suspension of a Standing Order shall include a statement of the purpose of the proposed suspension and no amendment shall be moved to such a motion.

(3)The suspension of any Standing Order shall be limited in its operation to the particular purpose for which the suspension was sought.

92. Amendment of the Standing Orders

(1)Unless the Speaker otherwise directs, not less than twelve days' notice of a motion to amend these Orders shall be given, and the notice shall be accompanied by a draft of the proposed amendments.

(2)The motion shall be set down for the earliest sitting after the expiry of the period of notice.

(3)When the motion is reached, the mover shall move the motion, and after it has been seconded, the question shall be put forthwith that the motion be referred to the Standing Orders Committee and if that question is agreed to no further proceedings shall be taken on that motion until the Standing Orders Committee has reported thereon.

93. Employment of Members in professional capacity

A Member of the Assembly shall not appear before the Assembly or any Committee thereof as advocate or counsel for any party, or in any capacity for which he is to receive a fee or reward.

94. Institution of Proceedings under Act No. 15 of 1975

(1)No prosecution for any of the offences provided for in the House of Assembly (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act 1975 shall be instituted except by the Attorney General and in accordance with the following paragraphs of this Order. For the purpose of this Order, any reference in this Order to the House of Assembly (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act, 1975 shall include a reference to any Act that replaces it.

(2)Any Member may either at the commencement of business or at any other convenient time, but as soon as possible after their occurrence, report to the Assembly circumstances which, in the view of the Member, constitute any such offence; no debate shall be allowed on such report.

(3)The Speaker may, either at the same sitting or any subsequent sitting and after such investigation as the Speaker may consider necessary, declare to the Assembly that the circumstances reported to the Assembly, in the view of the Speaker, amount to one of the offences provided for in the House of Assembly (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act 1975, specifying which amounts to, or as the case may be, does not amount to any such offence and no debate shall be allowed on the declaration of the Speaker.

(4)Where the Speaker declares that the circumstances reported to the Assembly, in the view of the Speaker, amount to a specified offence provided in the House of Assembly (Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act 1975, the Speaker shall thereupon put the question on a motion being made (no amendment, adjournment on debate being allowed) that the matter of the offence specified in the Speaker's declaration be referred to the Attorney General.

(5)If the motion is carried, proceedings may be instituted by the Attorney General in accordance with the resolution of the Assembly.

(6)Where the Speaker declares that, in the Speaker’s view, the circumstances reported to the Assembly do not amount to an offence provided for in the House of Assembly (Privileges Immunities and Powers) Act 1975, the matter shall lapse.

95. General Authority of the Speaker

(1)The Speaker shall have the power to regulate the conduct of business of the Assembly in all matters not provided for in these Orders.

(2)The Speaker shall be responsible for the management of the precincts of the Assembly and the general administration of the Assembly Chamber.

(3)The Speaker shall as far as is practicable consult with the Leader of the Government Business and the Leader of the Opposition, or their designated representatives in matters concerning the order of business of the Assembly.

96. Revocation of S.I. No. 49 of 1994

The National Assembly Standing Orders, 1994 are hereby revoked.

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History of this document

01 June 2020 this version

Consolidation