A parliamentary authority is a book of rules for conducting business ( parliamentary procedure) in deliberative assemblies. Several different books have been used by legislative assemblies and by organizations' deliberative bodies.
Application to organizations
A group may create its own parliamentary rules and then adopt an authority to cover meeting procedure not covered in its rules or vice versa. Rules in a parliamentary authority can be superseded by the group's constitution or bylaws or by adopted procedural rules (with a few exceptions). The adopted procedural rules may be called
special rules of order __NOTOC__
A special rule of order is parliamentary procedure term for a rule adopted by the organization that relate to procedure or to the duties of officers within meetings.
Explanation and use
Special rules of order (with a few exceptions) super ...
. The combined rules from all sources is called parliamentary procedure.
Assemblies that do not adopt a parliamentary authority may nonetheless use a parliamentary authority by custom or may consider themselves governed by “common parliamentary law” or the “common law of parliamentary procedure”. A society that has adopted bylaws that do not designate a parliamentary authority may adopt one by the same vote required to adopt
special rules of order __NOTOC__
A special rule of order is parliamentary procedure term for a rule adopted by the organization that relate to procedure or to the duties of officers within meetings.
Explanation and use
Special rules of order (with a few exceptions) super ...
. A
mass meeting
In parliamentary law, a mass meeting is a type of deliberative assembly or popular assembly, which in a publicized or selectively distributed notice known as the call of the meeting - has been announced: (RONR)
*as called to take appropriate a ...
can adopt a parliamentary authority by a
majority vote
A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster The book ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' states, “In matters on which an organization's adopted parliamentary authority is silent, provisions found in other works on parliamentary law may be ''persuasive'' – that is, they may carry weight in the absence of overriding reasons for following a different course – but they are not binding on the body.”
Bourinot's Rules of Order Bourinot's Rules of Order is a Canadian parliamentary authority originally published in 1894 by (the younger) Sir John George Bourinot, Clerk of the House of Commons of Canada under the title ''A Canadian Manual on the Procedure at Meetings of Shar ...
'' (Bourinot), and ''Rules of Order'' (Davis). Bourinot was used in Canada.
''Robert's Rules of Order''
''Robert's Rules of Order'' was first published in 1876 by Henry Martyn Robert. It has been revised several times by the original author and then by his successors. As of its publication in September 2020, the 12th edition of ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' is the current official edition of the body of work known as "Robert's Rules of Order". This body of work is the most popular and well-known parliamentary authority in the United States.
''The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure''
''The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure'' was first published in 1950 by Alice Sturgis and referred to as TSC or Sturgis. A new book, titled ''American Institute of Parliamentarians'' ''Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure'' (AIPSC), was published in 2012. AIPSC is used by many United States medical associations of physicians and
dentist
A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...
Association of Flight Attendants
The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (commonly known as AFA) is a union representing flight attendants in the United States. As of January 2018, AFA represents 50,000 flight attendants at 20 airlines. Since 2004, AFA has been part of the Comm ...
''Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure''
''Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure'', first published in 1948 by
George Demeter
George Demeter (; 1896–1983) is the author of ''Demeter's Manual of Parliamentary Law and Procedure''. The second Wednesday in April has been designated as George Demeter Day in Massachusetts.
Political involvement
Demeter served in the Massachu ...
, is another parliamentary authority in North America. It is often favored by North American labor unions and Hellenic organizations. , Demeter is published by the American Institute of Parliamentarians.
Legislative assemblies
Legislative assemblies in all countries, because of their nature, tend to have specialized of rules that differ from parliamentary procedure used by clubs and organizations.
Parliaments
The UK Parliament follows ''Erskine May's Treatise on the Law, Privileges, Proceedings and Usage of Parliament'' (also known as '' Erskine May: Parliamentary Practice''). There are also the Standing Orders for each House.
The
House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The House of Common ...
follows ''
Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms Beauchesne's Parliamentary Rules and Forms is a Canadian parliamentary authority. The first edition was published in 1922 by Arthur Beauchesne, Clerk of the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 1949.
See also
Standard reference works on Canad ...
''. ''
Bourinot's Rules of Order Bourinot's Rules of Order is a Canadian parliamentary authority originally published in 1894 by (the younger) Sir John George Bourinot, Clerk of the House of Commons of Canada under the title ''A Canadian Manual on the Procedure at Meetings of Shar ...
'' is another book used in Anglophone Canada. In Quebec, the ''Procédure des assemblées délibérantes'' (commonly known as Le Code Morin) are rules of order in French.
The Australian House of Representatives follows ''House of Representatives Practice.'' The
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...
follows ''Odgers' Australian Senate Practice.'' Each Australian state and territory house of Parliament has its own rules. A number of procedural reference works are used by other organisations in Australia.
Legislatures in the United States
The United States Senate follows the Standing Rules of the United States Senate, while the United States House of Representatives follows its own procedures, which include '' Jefferson's Manual''.
Of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States (two for each state except Nebraska, which has a unicameral legislature), '' Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure'' governs parliamentary procedures in 70, ''Jefferson's Manual'' governs 13, and ''Robert's Rules of Order'' governs four.
''Mason's Manual'', originally written in 1935 by constitutional scholar and former California Senate staff member Paul Mason, and since his death revised and published by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), governs legislative procedures in instances where the state constitution, state statutes, and the chamber's rules are silent. According to the NCSL, one of the many reasons that most state legislatures use ''Mason's Manual'' instead of ''Robert's Rules of Order'' is because ''Robert's Rules'' applies best to private organizations and civic groups that do not meet in daily public sessions. ''Mason's Manual'', on the other hand, is geared specifically toward state legislative bodies.
Legislative bodies at the local level, such as a city council or a
county commission
A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...
, function similarly to boards of societies and as such, have used ''Robert's Rules of Order''.
References
Further reading
Non-legislative authorities
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