10
votes
Accepted
Could a foreign power remove an Australian member of federal parliament by declaring them a citizen?
The law is not settled and will shortly be before the High Court (sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns) but theoretically: yes!
The provision on Disqualification is s44, specifically subsection (i)...
- 227k
8
votes
Accepted
Why adjourn the House of Commons effective in half an hour?
It's the mechanism used to allow for adjournment debates:
An adjournment debate is a way in the Commons of enabling a debate to take place but without a question which the House must then decide.
An ...
- 3,472
8
votes
Accepted
What is the point of a Royal Assent?
Because rituals are important
You might well ask what is the point of the ceremony of the Black Rod:
Black Rod is best known for their part in the ceremonies surrounding the State Opening of ...
- 227k
7
votes
Accepted
Nomenclature for two UK Parliament Acts in the same year
Where the primary part of two acts in the same year would be the same, commonly a secondary phrase is added in brackets indicating the narrow subject of the act to avoid this happening. For example, ...
- 402
6
votes
Accepted
Who actually drafts legislation in all its nitty gritty detail in the U.K.?
Parliamentary draftspeople
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is a group of government lawyers who specialise in drafting legislation. We work closely with departments to translate policy into ...
- 227k
6
votes
Without judicial review, what is the point of the Dutch constitution?
Compliance with the Dutch Constitution is evaluated pre-enactment, rather than post-enactment as indicated below.
The Dutch Constitution prohibits the courts from reviewing the
constitutionality ...
- 240k
5
votes
Accepted
When should a point of order be raised for an error by the chair in calling a vote?
To be valid, a point of order generally needs to be made at the time of the possible Rules violation
Exceptions are where the Rules violation violates the law, where it conflicts with a previously ...
- 227k
5
votes
Could a foreign power remove an Australian member of federal parliament by declaring them a citizen?
I strongly suspect that the answer is that no, this would not work.
The validity of the additional grant of citizenship would be evaluated by an Australian court applying Australian law. One of the ...
- 240k
4
votes
Accepted
Defining the scope over which a vote can be taken
Jurisdiction
the authority of a court or official organization to make decisions and judgments
A body that acts within the scope of its jurisdiction can expect that its actions will be upheld by the ...
- 227k
3
votes
Could a foreign power remove an Australian member of federal parliament by declaring them a citizen?
From an opinion piece published by the public broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation What the High Court citizenship decision says about the health of our democracy
The standard is a ...
- 512
3
votes
Accepted
When do new members get sworn in as congress people?
Ch. 34 of House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House explains that "The general practice for election of Speaker begins with nominations from each party caucus ...
- 217k
3
votes
Can Constitutional Amendments be Challenged?
germany
The German constitution ranks constitutional provisions into the core values protected by the so-called Ewigkeitsgarantie (eternity promise, §79(3)), and others which may be changed by a ...
- 20.5k
3
votes
501(c)(3) Bylaws Question - Does this clause mean a motion to amend bylaws can go forward without quorum?
No
An amendment must happen at a meeting: without a quorum there is no meeting.
- 227k
3
votes
Accepted
Senate nuclear option
Because when the ruling of the chair is appealed, an immediate vote on the appeal must take place and this vote cannot be filibustered. Which means you only need 51 votes to overturn the chair's ...
- 828
2
votes
Can a quorum call in the US Senate "annul" a pro forma session? Would this mean that the Senate would go into recess?
No
The lack of a quorum prevents the Senate from conducting business, however, it is still in session.
- 227k
2
votes
Accepted
Is a bylaw amendment required to adopt Robert's Rules of Order?
If there is no law (or bylaw) about how they run their meetings then they run them however they choose
If they want to adopt a specific Parliamentary procedure then they can do that by custom and ...
- 227k
1
vote
Can Constitutional Amendments be Challenged?
Generally countries can enact anything they want to as long as the process is proper. An amendment that ejected everyone named Bob would be fine as long as it was done through the proper methods. ...
- 7,699
1
vote
Are legislators and legislative drafts people legally one and the same?
canada
These roles are distinct. See e.g. Mikisew Crew First Nation v. Canada (Governor General in Council), 2018 SCC 40 at para. 160. There, the reasons distinguish between all the various actors ...
- 72.7k
1
vote
What is the point of a Royal Assent?
Jurisdiction: united-kingdom
The monarch, in its capacity of granting royal assent, is a component of Parliament. So a "bill passed by the parilament" by definition means a bill which has ...
- 10.3k
1
vote
Could Senators convene congress by objecting to the closing of a pro-forma session?
The Example Caucus would need 50 members - the 50 of them, plus Bob, would be needed for a quorum. (They can compel Bob to attend, so he can't simply leave to deny the quorum.) That's a rather large ...
- 7,283
1
vote
Generic "Judicial" rules of order?
I can't say that I have ever seen a "generic" set of rules for quasi-judicial proceedings made for adoption by NGOs.
I drafted a set once for the University of Michigan's student government, and I ...
- 240k
1
vote
A Specified Percentage Of Quorum Is Required To Carry A Motion
No
Presumably, the 75% of the quorum requirement is an additional requirement for the particular motion over and above the requirement that all motions must be carried by a simple majority of members ...
- 227k
1
vote
A Specified Percentage Of Quorum Is Required To Carry A Motion
It depends on what manual of parlimentary procedure is used by the group if any (see comment). But in general i would take the 25 vote requirement to be a floor, but that a majority of those voting, ...
- 115k
1
vote
Accepted
(In context of Indian parliament) what do the words "demand" and "grant" mean in the phrase "demand for grant"?
A Demand for Grant is a bill (i.e. piece of proposed legislation) seeking approval for estimated expenditures for a particular department or sub-department of a large department of the national or ...
- 240k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible