SO 2017-11 On Parliamentary Commissions and Committees

 
 
 
Article I: Introduction
In order to allow this Parliament to conduct its affairs in a more knowledgeable manner, we move to provide the framework for the establishment of Parliamentary Commissions and Committees.
 
Article II: Legal and Constitutional Status
1. These Committees and Commissions are to be considered as departments of Parliament.
2. The Speaker of Parliament is defined as the Prime Minister, who chairs Parliament.
 
Article III: Parliamentary Commissions
1. Parliamentary Commissions may only be established by a Motion of Parliament.
a. Once a motion receives three sponsor on the Drafting Table, it will be moved directly to the Voting Chamber for vote.
2. Their mission, which must be one of the purposes defined in Clause 3 of this Article, must be clearly stated in the aforesaid Act of Parliament.
3. Duties of the Parliamentary Commissions include:
a. Advising the Speaker and Parliament on issues related to their assigned mission, .
b. Acting in the name of the Speaker and Parliament if authorized and requested to do so by Parliament or its Speaker in domains limited to those specified in Sections E and J of Article II of the Constitution, in addition to Subsection 1 of Section 2 of Article IV of the Constitution, and any other non-Constitutional duties of Parliament.
4. Parliament must appoint or ratify the members of each Parliamentary Commission by an Act of Parliament.
a. Any citizen of the Union may be a member of a Parliamentary Commission so long as there is not a compromising conflict of interest.
 
Article IV: Parliamentary Committees
Section A: Establishment and General Functions
1. Parliament may establish Parliamentary Committees by amending this Act.
2. Parliamentary Committees must review, comment on, and advise Parliament on bills if the Speaker of Parliament or any one Member of Parliament calls on them to do so during Debate.
a. The Speaker of Parliament must extend debate time to its maximum in order for the members of the relevant Committee to fulfill their duties.
3. Parliamentary Committees will also oversee the functioning of Parliament.
 
Section B: Composition
1. The Chairs of each committee are nominated by the Speaker of the Parliament at the beginning of each term of Parliament.
2. The Chairs will then nominate two supplementary members of the Committee from the Members of Parliament, with the composition of each committee being subject to ratification by an Act of Parliament.
 
Section C: List of Parliamentary Committees
The following Parliamentary Committees are established by this Act:
1. The Rules Committee will hereby be responsible for analyzing the application and practicality of the Parliamentary Procedure Orders defined in SO#2016-3 (“Parliamentary Procedure Orders”) and proposing Acts of Parliament (if deemed necessary by the committee) to amend the aforementioned Act to be debated and voted on by the Parliament at the beginning of the following term of Parliament.
2. The Development Committee will hereby report on how a bill will affect regional activity.
3. The Management Committee will hereby report on how a bill will affect the organization and functions of government.
 
Article V: Conclusion
We, the Parliament of the Union, do hereby enact these provisions as law.
 
Date, 2017
Abdoa, Senator
Libertarian Democracy, Senator

Debate will last until Friday February 17, 2017.

To recap what was said in Drafting, I added III.1.a to make the process of establishing a Commission faster, but I still have reservations about this: debating the merits of having the said Commission might be useful, especially if Constitutional powers are being delegated to it. I also edited III.3.b to specify which Constitutional powers can be delegated.

And just to remind everyone, Commissions and Committees are completely separate entities with different functions and compositions. Commissions are composed of ordinary citizens, whereas Committees are composed only of Senators.

I am concerned a little about Article III, Clause 1, Subclause A now that I think about it. Could this potentially be in violation of SO#2016-3 ("Parliamentary Procedure Orders") or even the Constitution? While it is certainly not specifically outlawed, it doesn't exactly reconcile with the spirit of those Laws. Parliament is supposed to formally debate bills. And we really have no precedent for completely skipping the debate altogether.

Yes. We should get Nassau's feedback (it was his proposition), but I am having qualms about it now, as I said earlier. Lets reserve judgement a bit now though.

Debate extended until Sunday February 19, 2017, in order to allow Nassau-Windsor the opportunity to respond to certain questions by members of parliament.

Also, I, Abdoa, do hereby provisionally propose the following amendment (amendment 1) to the bill:
To strike clause III.1.a. from the bill in its entirety.

Debate closed. Please go vote in the Voting Chamber on the amendment to the bill. Voting on the bill itself will commence once the amendment has been voted on.