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Select Committee - Law Dictionary Search Results

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Select Committee

Select Committee, in Parliament of India, an ad hoc committee appointed on a motion specifying names of members adopted by the House for consideration of a particular Bill referred to it; appointed at the first stage of the second reading of Bill in the House; the motion of reference of a Bill to Select Committee may be moved either by the member-in-charge of the Bill or by any other member, Practice and Procedure of Parliament, M.N. Kaul and S.L. Shakdher, 5th Edn., 2001, p. 787....


Select Committee on Bills

Select Committee on Bills, means a Parliamentary Committee composed of member specially named and appointed from time to time to consider, inquire into or deal with Bills, Parliamentary Practice, Erskine May, 22nd Edn., 1997, p. 628....


Parliamentary Committee

Parliamentary Committee, a committee of members of the House of Peers, or of the House of Commons, appointed by either House for the purpose of making inquiries, by the examination of witness or otherwise, into matters which could not be conveniently inquired into by the whole House. Not only any Bill, but any subject that is brought under the consideration of either House, may, if the House thinks proper, be referred to a committee; and when the inquiry is ended, the committee, through their chairman, make a report to the House of the result. All private Bills, such as Bills for railways, canals, roads, or other undertakings, in which the public are concerned, are referred to committees of each House before they are sanctioned by that House. Their reports are not absolutely binding upon the House, but the House seldom reverses their decision.As to the power of such committees to administer oaths to witnesses, see the (English) Parliamentary Witnesses Oaths Act, 1871.As to the powers o...


Chief whip

Chief whip, in the Indian Parliament the chief whip of the Government party in Lok Sabha is the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; he directly responsible to the leader of the House and advisers the Government on Parliamentary business. He ensures quorum in the House and advices the Government on Parliamentary business. He ensures quorum in the House and that adequate number of members of the party are present at the time of voting and sends advance intimation through the familiar system of ordinary one, two and three line whips. He selects the speakers from his party and also the members for select committees etc. In the Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs holds the position of Chief Whip of the Government party. Practice and Procedure of Parliament, M.N. Kaul and S.L. Sakdhar, 5th Edn., 2001, p. 148.The Government whip performs the most important duties, he is officially designated as Parliamentary secretary to the Treasury and his main work is the organizati...


Bill in Parliament

Bill in Parliament, is either (1) public, affecting the countries of England, Scotland, or Ireland generally, or a very important part of them, as London; (2) local and personal, affecting particular areas only, as railway construction bills, water or gas supply bills, etc.; or (3) private, as bills settling estate, divorce bills (rendered generally unnecessary by the (English) Matrimonial Causes Act, 1857), and naturalization bills.All three kinds formerly required the assent of Sovereign, Lords, and Commons, but the assent of the House of Lords can now be dispensed with in the case of bills passed under the provisions of the (English) Parliament Act, 1911; and by the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1913 (3 Geo. 5, c. 3), resolution passed by a Committee of Ways and Means of the House of Commons varying or renewing taxation has for a limited period the same statutory effect as if contained in an Act of Parliament. In the case of local and personal bills and private bills the prom...


Poor Prisoners, Defence of

Poor Prisoners, Defence of. The (English) Poor Prisoners Defence Act, 1930 (20 & 21 Geo. 5, c. 32), repealing the Poor Prisoners' Defence Act, 1903, entitles any person to free legal aid in the preparation and conduct of his defence at the trial and to have solicitor and counsel assigned to him for that purpose, if a certificate, called the 'defence certificate,' is granted by the justices committing him for trial or of the judge or chairman of the court before which he is to be tried, at any time after reading the depositions. The certificate is grantable only 'when it appears to the certifying authority that his means are insufficient to enable him to obtain such aid, and must be granted in respect of any person committeed for trial on a charge of murder, and may be granted when a person committed for trial upon any other charge, if it appears to the authority, having regard to all the circumstances of the case (including the nature of such defence, if any, as may have been set up) t...


Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland. The authority and jurisdiction of the Pope were abolished in 1567, and since then, except for some intervals of first, Presbytery has been the form of Church Government in Scotland. The Church has independent power to legislate and to adjudicate finally in all matters of doctrine, worship, government, and discipline within itself. Its Supreme Court is the General Assembly, which consists of ministers and elders elected by the Presbyteries, Universities, and the Royal Burghs and by the Church in India. Its sittings are attended by a Lord High Commissioner, representing the King, and it is presided over by a Moderator, who is nominated each year by a selection committee. The tenure of ecclesiastical property and endowments was reorganized by the Church of Scotland (Property and Endowments) Act, 1925 (15 & 16 Geo. 5, c. 33), the general effect of which was to transfer all ecclesiastical property and endowments, as well as the responsibility, for their maintenance and c...


Code

Code, a collection or system of laws. The collection of laws and constitutions made by order of the Emperor Justinian is distinguished by the appellation of 'The Code' by way of eminence. See CIVIL LAW.The Code Napoleon, or Civil Code of France, pro-ceeding from the French Revolution, and the administration of Napoleon while First Consul, effected great changes in the laws of that country. Framed in the first instance by a commission of jurists appointed in 1800, this Code, after having passed both the tribunate and the legislative body, was promulgated in 1804 as the 'Code Civil des Francais.' When Napoleon became emperor, the name was changed to that of Code Napoleon, by which it is still often designated, though it is now styled by its original name of Code Civil. A Code de Procedure Civile, a Code de Commerce, Code d'Instruction Criminelle, and Code Penal were afterwards compiled and promulgated under Bonaparte's administration. To these was sub-sequently added a Code Forestier, or...


Custom of the country

Custom of the country, in agriculture, that usage governing the relations of agricultural landlords and tenants which is considered to be incorporated in every farming lease or agreement unless it ibe expressly excluded therefrom. The most important kinds of custom are those by which the tenant on quitting his holding has a right to be compensated for his expenditue on those acts of husbandry of which he cannot obtain thebenefit during the tenancy itself, as where the tenant goes out of Lady-Day, and si either paid in money for the seed and labour which he has expended upon the crop to be reaped in the autumn, or has a right to re-enter to till and gather his 'away-going crop.' See AWAY-GOING CROP.In many parts of England, the custom of the country entitles the tenant to be paid for artificial manures, and in some few, pre-eminently in Lincolnshire, for drainage and buildings; but customs are most variable and difficult to ascertain, and from a comparison of returns procured in 1848 by...


Grenville Act

Grenville Act (English) (10 Geo. 3, c. 16), by which the jurisdiction over parliamentary election petitions was first transferred from the whole House of Commons to select committees; repealed by 9 Geo. 4, c. 22, s. 1. See ELECTION PETITIONS....


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