Standing Orders of the Royal Senate, 27 B.A.

[sergisala 2804]

STANDING ORDERS OF THE ROYAL SENATE

The Rules of the Senate of Balian

 

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A bill passed in the 1st Royal Senate,

enacted on the 12th of Godfrey's Triumph, 27 of Balian’s Age

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

In accordance with The Righteous Mantle Edict (18, B.A.), the Senate of Balian does hereby present the rules regarding the internal functioning of the Royal Senate. The purpose of these Standing Orders is to provide the necessary guidelines for Senators to perform their duties in a diligent and orderly manner, to protect free speech and safekeep the necessary decorum that a legislative chamber deserves. 

 

SECTION I:

Roles and Absentee Voting

 

1. The meetings of the Senate shall be presided by the Minister of Balian, who shall be elected by a majority vote of the Senate, and who shall act as its Chair, schedule the Senate meetings, conduct the chamber’s debate diligently, and hold the honorary rank of “President of the Senate” on an ex officio basis.

   1. The Minister of Balian may temporarily delegate the presidency of the Senate in his absence to another Senator, who shall hold the honorary rank of “Vice-Minister” of Balian.

   2. The Minister of Balian may employ administrative assistants that are not senators for the proper discharge of his ministerial duties. 

      1. The Minister of Balian may appoint one of his administrative assistants to the honorary rank of “Clerk of the Senate”, who shall lead the other administrative assistants, under the orders of the Minister.

   3. The Minister of Balian may be addressed as “Mister President”, “Mister Minister” or “Your Excellency”.

2. When decreed by the Minister, no quorum shall be required for the Senate to be in order.

   1. In this circumstance, the Minister shall open a twenty-four saints hours period in which Senators shall be allowed to send a bird with their vote for every specific matter to the Minister before announcing the result of the vote.

3. Bills and Motions may be introduced in the Senate by one of its members.

   1. While not a requirement, a Senator may choose to have his bill or motion co-sponsored by another Senator before presenting it to the chamber.

 

SECTION II:

Fashion and Decorum

 

1. Senators shall be required to wear special clothes that identify them as Senators of Balian during the Senate’s meetings when explicitly required by the Minister.

2. None shall be permitted, either member or observer, to wear arms or armor into the chamber.

3. The public shall be allowed to observe the Senate meetings, unless explicitly disallowed by the Minister or the Senate.

   1. The public must remain silent and not disturb the Senate meetings in any circumstances.

   2. In the scenario that observers from the public persist in disturbing the order of the chamber during a meeting, they may be removed by the Minister.

 

SECTION III:

Points

 

1. POINT OF ORDER

1. Tool to point out a discrepancy in procedure or another Senator's actions.
   1. It may interrupt a Senator's speech.

 

2. POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE

1. Tool to express personal discomfort that interferes with his ability to participate in debate: the Minister will work to alleviate this situation.

 

3. POINT OF INQUIRY

1. Tool to ask the Minister to clarify a statement made, a vote up for consideration, or any other step of parliamentary procedure.
   1. It may not interrupt a Senator's speech.
   2. Ex: "Point of Parliamentary Inquiry. Mister President, are we voting on Bill 1 or 2"?

 

SECTION IV:

Debate and Caucusing

 

1. MODERATED DEBATE

1. The moderated caucus allows the Minister to call on Senators at their discretion in accordance with the current Standing Orders.
2. The moderated caucus is the default caucus of the chamber.
3. Senators should reamain in their seats during a moderated caucus and maintain decorum, as during a formal debate.
4. Ex: "Motion for a moderated caucus."

 

2. UNMODERATED DEBATE

1. A motion for an unmoderated caucus, which requires a simple majority to pass, allows the suspension of the rules and of formal debate contained in the current Standing Orders at any time.
2. During unmoderated debate Senators may discuss topics freely.
3. Senators making the motion must specify a total time for the proposed caucus, not to exceed 20 saints minutes.
4. The Minister reserves the right to rule such a motion out of order.
5. Ex: "Motion for a ten saint minute unmoderated caucus."
6. If the situation gets out of hand in the chamber, as in the case of disruptive continued shouting, or even fighting, the Minister will reserve the right to temporarily moderate debate.

 

SECTION V:

Yields

 

1. “I YIELD MY TIME TO THE MINISTER / PRESIDENT.”

   1. Remaining time is unused

2. I YIELD MY TIME TO QUESTIONS."

   1. the Minister will call on a Senator to ask the speaker a question.

   2. The Senator can only respond for the amount of time unused.

   3. There will be no back-and-forth dialogue between Senators.

3. “I YIELD MY TIME TO ____.”

   1. If a Senator yields the remainder of their time to another member, that Senator must accept the yield for it to be valid.

      1. Otherwise, it will be defaulted to the Minister.

   2. The Senator yielded to cannot make another yield.

 

SECTION VI:

Addressing Senators

 

1. Members of the Senate should refrain from addressing each other directly or naming other members, instead addressing the Minister and referring to each other indirectly by their rank or office.

   1. For example, addressing another member of the chamber would entail: “The Right Honorable Senator [Surname], ...” or for the Chair for example, “The Right Honorable President [surname], …; or Mister/Madam President, ...”

 

SECTION VII:

Opening the Meeting

 

1. At the start of each meeting, the Minister will order the Clerk of the Senate to call the roll for all the Senators present in the chamber and note down their attendance, which shall be informed to the Chair.

2. If a quorum is reached, the Minister will officially call the session of the Senate in order.

   1. If a quorum is not reached, the Minister may hold the meeting anyway by opening the twenty-four saints hours absentee voting in accordance with Section 1.

3. After such, the Minister will set the agenda or order of business of which bills, motions or other matters are to be presented for discussion and vote on the floor of the Senate, in accordance to the matters brought beforehand by the Senators of Balian.

   1. Whereas, bills will be any piece of legislation. All legislation must be submitted to the Chair in writing prior to the beginning of a meeting of the Senate.

   2. Whereas, motions will be any verbal or written resolutions of the Senate that while not being legislation effectively express the political views of the Senate regarding a specific matter.

   3. Both bills and motions shall be discussed and subsequently voted when introduced by a Senator.

4. The Minister shall then follow in order every matter contained in the agenda or order of business. All matters of the agenda or order of business, unless otherwise determined by the Minister or the Senate, shall proceed as follows:

   1. The Minister calls the Senator who introduced a matter to speak and present his initiative before the floor of the Senate.

   2. Senators may then raise their hand indicating the Minister of their intention of taking the floor.

   3. The Minister calls each of those Senators to take the floor, in order, to deliver their opinion regarding the senator’s initiative to the chamber.

   4. The Senator who introduced the initiative takes the floor to reply to each of the Senators who took the floor, in order.

   5. the Minister may then move to unmoderated debate, allowing all Senators to freely speak to debate about the Senator’s initiative.

   6. Upon the completion of the unmoderated debate, the Minister then orders the Clerk to call the roll and each Senator called shall answer the Clerk with “Aye”, “No”, or “Abstain”.

   7. The Clerk then informs the Chair of the vote’s result.

   8. The Minister announces the result to the chamber.

5. In the scenario that the matter adopted by a vote of the Senate is a piece of legislation, the text of the bill shall then be sent to the Crown for royal assent.

   1. The Crown may then grant royal assent and publish the bill or withhold royal assent and return the bill to the chamber for further discussion.

 

SECTION VIII

Summons and Confirmations of Government Officials

 

All the summons and confirmation hearings of government officials, be it of the executive or the judicial branch, unless expressly determined by the Minister or the Senate, shall proceed as follows:

1. The Minister shall call the nominee or the summoned minister to stand before the floor of the Senate to introduce himself and state his or her merits.

2. Senators may then raise their hand indicating the Minister their intention to take the floor.

3. The Minister calls each of those Senators to take the floor, in order to deliver their opinion regarding the nominee or candidate to the chamber and ask the nominee or candidate any questions they see fit.

4. The nominee or candidate takes the floor to reply to each of the Senators who took the floor, in order.

5. The Minister may then move to unmoderated debate, allowing all Senators to freely speak to debate about the Senator’s initiative.

6. Upon the completion of the unmoderated debate, the Minister then orders the Clerk to call the roll and each Senator called shall answer the Clerk with “Aye”, “No”, or “Abstain”.

7. The Clerk then informs the Minister of the vote’s result.

8. the Minister then announces the result to the chamber.

9. Upon the completion of the debate:

   1. In the scenario that the Senate is holding a summons hearing, the Minister shall thank the summoned minister for his attendance and move to the next matter of the agenda or order of business. The result of the vote shall be informed to the Crown.

   2. In the scenario that Senate is holding a confirmation hearing, the Minister shall then order the Clerk to call the roll and each Senator called shall answer the Clerk with “Aye”, “No”, or “Abstain”, upon which the Clerk will inform the Minister of the vote’s result, who shall announce it to the chamber and inform the Crown of the vote’s result.

 

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Introduced by Senator Galbraith.

 

ISSUED AND PROCLAIMED,

John I, by the Grace of God, King of Balian, Viscount of Eflen, Baron of Brucca, Lord of Atrus and Monterosa, Prince of the Holy Orenian Empire, Protector of the Heartlanders, etcetera.

[KamikazeReaper 402]

Cesar reads the new missives " but if theres an election going right now, how can the senate pass anything? even if this is some sort of backlog how can something this simple take years to reach the public?"

[TeawithFrisket 2659]

“I wonder who passed such document…as there isn’t a senate”

 

the senator candidate Samuel Kristian Vuiller asked with a frustrated voice

[sergisala 2804]

5 minutes ago, ScarletFrisket said:

“I wonder who passed such document…as there isn’t a senate”

 

the senator candidate Samuel Kristian Vuiller asked with a frustrated voice

A balianite bureaucrat approaches the senator candidate "Read the title... it says: A bill passed in the 1st Royal Senate"

 

6 minutes ago, KamikazeReaper said:

Cesar reads the new missives " but if theres an election going right now, how can the senate pass anything? even if this is some sort of backlog how can something this simple take years to reach the public?"

 

"Indeed, it is part of the legislative collection that was passed by the 1st session of the Royal Senate. The Censory is currently publishing all the bills that were passed by the chamber and were merely pending their publication." said a balianite bureaucrat from the Censory "As for the delay, I am afraid it is due to the fact that the Censory does not have many employees nowadays working on this matter."