Internal Procedures Act 2014

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Empire of Adammia

Ruling Council

Act 20

Internal Procedures Act 2014

This Act of Council replaces the original Internal Procedures Act 2013 with the intent of reforming the internal procedures of the Ruling Council and implementing proper parliamentary procedure.

Section 1

  • a) The Internal Procedures Act 2013 (Act 1) is hereby repealed in its entirety.

Section 2

  • a) The course of discussion during meetings of the Ruling Council is guided by the Agenda, a list of items.
  • b) The Agenda is compiled by the Chair or Vice-Chair (referred to herein as the Chair) who will be leading the meeting prior to starting the meeting, incorporating their own items and items which have been requested to be included by other members of the Council. Requests for items on the Agenda must be obeyed.
  • c) An item on the Agenda may be either a legislative item or a non-legislative item. A legislative item is for a specific Act of Council or an Amendment to an Act of Council which has been written prior to the meeting. Non-legislative items cover all other issues.

Section 3

  • a) All members of the Ruling Council are expected to follow parliamentary procedure, outlined in this Act, when Council is in order. Members who break the rules shall be warned by the Chair no more than twice. Continued rule-breaking after this shall result in the member being fined up to £5, which shall be directed to HM Imperial Treasury. Yet more rule-breaking shall result in the member being suspended from the meeting by the Chair.
  • b) Only one person may speak in Council at once, this being the member who currently has the floor, known as the speaker. The only exceptions are as follows: The Chair may interrupt the speaker, and any member may interrupt the speaker to make one of two points: A Point of Personal Privilege or a Point of Order.
  • c) When the floor is open, any member may address Council by either raising their hand or by rising from their seat. When the Chair recognises the member who wishes to speak by stating so, that member is granted the floor.
  • d) When a member has the floor, they may speak about the current topic, or make a Point or a Motion. Points are handled by the Chair, and Motions are voted on by the Council. After a Point has been resolved by the Chair or after a Motion has been proposed, the speaker loses the floor and it becomes open again.
  • e) If no Point or Motion is made, when the speaker has finished they must yield the floor, either to the Chair, thus making the floor open, or to another member. If the floor is yielded to another member, that member may accept or refuse the floor. The floor may not be yielded to another member multiple times in a row.
  • f) All Council members shall treat other members with respect, and shall not refer to other members in an offensive manner. Members who do not follow this may be asked to withdraw their statements by the Chair, in addition to the usual penalties for being out of order.
  • g) Within the Council, members shall be referred to as follows: Dukes and Duchesses of provinces shall be referred to as “His/Her Grace the Duke/Duchess of [Province]”; Councilors shall be referred to as “The Honourable Councilor for [Province]”; and Delegates shall be referred to as “The Honourable Delegate of the Colonies/of Abroad Citizens”. The Chair shall be referred to as “His/Her Majesty”, “His/Her Imperial Majesty” or “Sire/Ma'am” if it is the Monarch; the Vice-Chairs, if chairing the Council, shall be referred to by their respective highest-ranking styles.

Section 4

  • a) Points take precedence over Motions. The Points which can be made by a member are as follows, in descending order of priority:
  • b) A Point of Personal Privilege is a request to leave the current meeting of Council. The Chair should always grant it.
  • c) A Point of Order can be made if a member believes that a rule is not being followed.
  • d) A Point of Information is a question of a factual nature. The Chair may freely consult government officials in order to resolve a Point of Information.
  • e) A Point of Parliamentary Enquiry is a question to ask how an aspect of parliamentary procedure works, which is covered in this Act.

Section 5

  • a) Some Motions should be debated whereas others should not. If a Motion is to be debated, speakers shall be allowed to discuss the Motion prior to it being voted on. The Motions which can be put forward are as follows, in descending order of priority:
  • b) A Motion to Adjourn, if passed, shall cause the current meeting of Council to end. It is debatable.
  • c) A Motion to Advance the Agenda, if passed, shall cause the Council to move on to the next item on the Agenda, regardless of the status of the current item. It is not debatable.
  • d) A Motion to Return to a Previous Item, if passed, shall cause the Council to return to an item which was previously abandoned. If the item is a legislative item where the legislation involved has already been voted on, this Motion is not in order. It is not debatable.
  • e) A Motion to Begin Caucus, if passed, shall begin a caucus for a set period of time. During this time, parliamentary order is suspended and informal discussion may be carried out. Members may leave their seats and freely walk around during caucus. Caucus may be used as a temporary break from the Council's proceedings. It is not debatable.
  • f) An Objection to Consideration, if passed, shall cause any legislation currently being debated to be abandoned. If the current item is legislative, this has the same effect as a Motion to Advance the Agenda. It is debatable.
  • g) A Motion to Introduce an Act, if passed, shall introduce the specified Act to the floor to be debated and voted on. It is not debatable.
  • h) A Motion to Introduce an Amendment, if passed, shall introduce the specified Amendment to an Act of Council to the floor to be debated and voted on. However, if there is already an Act on the floor, only Amendments to that current Act are permitted. It is not debatable.
  • i) A Motion to Pass an Act, if passed, grants the authority designated under the Supreme Directive to consider an Act of Council accepted by the Council by vote, and thus put it forward for Imperial Consent. It may only be used on an Act currently on the floor. It is debatable.
  • j) A Motion to Pass an Amendment, if passed, shall amend the Act currently on the floor according the content to the Amendment, if there is one. If there is not an Act currently on the floor, the passed Amendment, applying to a previously passed Act, shall be put forward for Imperial Consent which, if given, shall have the effect of replacing the original Act with a new Act which is modified according to the text of the Amendment, and has the above Motion to Pass an Act and Imperial Consent applied.
  • k) Further Motions exist for all the powers granted to the Ruling Council by the Supreme Directive, Imperial Decrees and Acts of Council, and if passed have the effect of exercising those powers. They are all debatable unless declared otherwise.
  • l) A Motion to Suspend a Member, if passed, shall force the specified member of the Council to leave the current meeting. It is debatable.
  • m) A Motion to Add/Remove an Item from the Agenda, if passed, will modify the agenda accordingly. It is debatable.

Section 6

  • a) Votes on all motions within the Council are collected as follows: After the speaker or the Chair makes the motion by declaring it to the Council, the Chair shall ask, “All in favour?”, and those in support shall raise their hands. The Chair shall then ask, “All opposed?”, and those opposed shall raise their hands. Alternatively, those in favour may say “Aye”, and those in favour may say “Nay”.
  • b) A motion passes when those voting in support make up more than 50% of the members present, except for Motions to Pass an Act and to Pass an Amendment, which, in accordance with the Supreme Directive, require more than 50% support of all the Ruling Council members in total (If, during a meeting, there are not enough members present voting in support for this 50% support to be reached, but it could still be reached if all members were present, the legislation may be put on hold and votes can be collected from the missing members after the meeting, which can pass the legislation if enough support is found then).

Section 7

  • a) The Chair may open meetings of the Council with the following address, or some deviation thereof: “As [title] of the Empire of Adammia, I, [name], do hereby call this, the [nth] meeting of the Ruling Council into effect, on today the [date].”
  • b) After officially opening a meeting, the Chair shall call the Council to order. The Chair shall then read the Agenda.
  • c) After reading the Agenda, the floor will be opened to motions to add or remove items from the Agenda. No other discussion may be held at this point.
  • d) Once any revisions to the Agenda have been made, the Chair shall open the first point on the Agenda. The Council should work through each point on the Agenda, though it may skip forward or move backwards, and may vote to adjourn early. If every point on the Agenda has been discussed and closed, the Chair may unilaterally adjourn the meeting.

Section 8

  • a) Citizens of Adammia may observe meetings of the Ruling Council. Observers may be given the floor to speak on an issue and make points, but they cannot vote or make motions.

Written by HIM Emperor Adam I

PASSED
8 in favour
4 not present

Signed,
Imperator Adammiae I

15th November 2014 17:02
XV.XI.MMXIV
CCXVII.II.ADAMVS I

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