Speaker - Law Dictionary Search Results
Home Dictionary Name: speakerSpeaker of the House of Lords
Speaker of the House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor, by virtue of his office, becomes, on the delivery of the seal to him by the sovereign, Speaker of the House of Lords. He is usually, but not necessarily, a peer, and unlike the Speaker of the House of Commons is under no obligation to preserve an impartial attitude, since he is a member of the Government for the time being. There has always been a Deputy Speaker, and formerly there were two or more, but since the year 1815 there has been only one. The chairman in committees generally fills the office. In the absence of the Lord Chancellor and of the Deputy Speaker, it is competent to the House to appoint any noble lord to take the woolsack. The Speaker is the organ or mouthpiece of the House, and it therefore is his duty to represent their lordship in their collective capacity, when holding intercourse with other public bodies or with individuals. He has not a casting vote upon divisions, for should the numbers prove equal, the non-co...
Speaker
Speaker, is the guardian of the privileges of the House. His function is to regulate debate and enforce the observance of the rules which govern its conduct. He is also representative of the House in the external relations. The quality most essential to the Speaker is strict impartiality. He is also vested with wide discretionary powers. His rulings constitute precedents which guide the future Speaker. Great privilege is attached to this office, his authority is recognized and respected by members on all sides of the House, Office of the Speaker in the Parliaments of Commonwealth, Wilding and Philip Laundy, p. 703.Speaker, is the principal Presiding Officer of the Lower House of Parliament, Webster American Dictionary, p. 1398...
Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the House of Commons. This great officer is the organ or spokesman of the Commons; in modern times he is more occupied in presiding over the deliberations of the House than in delivering speeches on their behalf. The principal duties of the Speaker are the following:-To preside, as Chairman of the House, at its debates when not in committee; to give a casting vote, when the votes are equal, which according to practice he gives in favour of a motion or bill (he has no original vote); to read to the sovereign petitions or addresses from the Commons, and to deliver in the royal presence, whether at the palace or in the House of Lords, such speeches as are usually made on behalf of the Commons; to reprimand persons who have incurred the displeasure of the House; to issue warrants of committal or release for breaches of privilege; and to communicate in writing with any parties, when so instructed by the House. In the case of Bills introduced under the provisions of the (English) ...
speaker
speaker often cap : the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly [Speaker of the House of Representatives] ...
Adjournment Motion
Adjournment Motion, means a motion for discussing 'a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration'. Wilding and Laundry, the Office of the Speaker in Parliament of Commonwealth, p. 247. 'Adjourn motion' is a motion which can be moved by any member of the House and is in the nature of emergency motion of censure upon the government. Wilding and Laundry -- The Office of the Speaker in Parliament of Commonwealth, p. 9.The object is to draw the attention of the Govern-ment to a matter of urgent public importance so as to criticize the decision of Government in an urgent matter in regard to which a motion or resolution with proper notice will be too late. Kaul and Shakdher -- Practice and Procedure of Parliament, 5th Edn., 2001, p. 496.If the Speaker gives his consent after satisfying himself that the matter to be raised is definite urgent and of public importance and holds that the matter proposed to be discussed is in order, he shall call the member concerned who sh...
Chairman
Chairman, 'Chairman' according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary means a person chosen to preside over meetings, e.g., one who presides over the meetings of the Board of Directors. In Black's Law Dictionary, 6th Ed., p. 230, the same expression is defined as a name given to a Presiding Officer of an assembly, public meeting, convention, deliberative or legislative body, board of directors, committee, etc. Similar meanings have been attributed to that expression in Ballentine's Law Dictionary, 3rd Ed., pp. 189-190, Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged, 2nd Ed., p. 299, and Aiyer's Judicial Dictionary, 11th Ed., p. 238. The function of the Chairman would, therefore, be to preside over meetings, preserve order, conduct the business of the day, ensure that precise decisions are taken and correctly recorded and do all that is necessary for smooth transaction of business. The nature and duties of this office may vary depending on the nature of business to be transacted but b...
Defection
Defection, entails disqualification of a member of an Indian Legislature, Constitution of India, Art. 102, 10th Sch.Disqualification, does not apply in case of a merger of his party with another political party but not in case of a split in the original party, Constitution of India, 10th Sch., paras 4 & 5.Speaker, Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, Chairman, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Speaker and Deputy Speaker of a State Legislative Assembly and Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Legislative councils of State are exempted from disqualification as long as he holds that office and does not join any other party, Law of Elections, P.D.T. Achary, 2004, p. 190.Decision on questions, as to disqualification on ground of defection shall be of the Speaker of the Chairman, as the case may be, of the House to which the member belongs, the question of disqualification of the Speaker or the Chairman shall be decided by a member to be elected by that House, no Court has any jurisdiction in the matter of...
Bar of the House
Bar of the House, in the Lok Sabha, the Bar consists of a wooden Bar placed between two pillars near the door which opens into the Central aisle facing the Speaker and which connects the benches on either side of the aisle. Before an offender is brought to the Bar of the House, the Speaker makes an announcement about it in the House and emphasizes the solemnity of the occasion and asks the members to keep total silence in order to maintain the dignity and authority of Parliament and to emphasise the significance of the reprimand. Thereafter he orders the watch and ward officer to bring the offender in. He is brought in and he stands at the Bar. The Speaker then reads out to reprimand after which he makes the offender to withdraw Lok Sabha Debates, Vol. Lvii, 1961, p. 5501.In the House of Lords, the bar is a wooden barrier which excludes persons who are not peers. Parliamentary Dictionary, L.A. Abraham & S.C. Hawtrey, 1956, p. 24.Bar of the House, in the House of Commons, the Bar consis...
Closure
Closure. See CLOTURE. Means the permanent closing down of a place of employment or part thereof. [The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (14 of 1947), s. 2 (cc)]Closure, in the House of Commons a member may rise in his place and move 'That the question be now put'. That question must be put forthwith, without amendment or debate, unless it appears to the chair that the motion is an abuse of the Rules of the House or an infringement of the rights of minority, Parliamentary Practice, Erskine May, 22nd Edn., 1997, p. 407.Means closing, closed condition, Concise Oxford Dictionary, H.W. Fowler & F.G. Fowler, p. 226.In Indian Parliament in order to bring a debate to a close, a member may rise and move 'That the question be now put'. The acceptance of a closure motion lies within the sole discretion of the Speaker. Before he accepts it, he considers whether the question before the House has received adequate debate or not, whether or not the views of opposition have been adequately expressed befor...
Expunction of remarks
Expunction of remarks, in Parliament, deletion of defamatory, indecent, unparliamentary or undignified words, phrases or expressions from the proceedings of the House by an order of the Speaker, Handbook of Members of Lok Sabha Secretariat, 13th Edn., 1999, p. 71.Is an act of striking out, erasion, deletion or cancellation, Webster American Dictionary, p. 410.In British Parliament, if a member uses disorderly, offensive or unparliamentary words in a debate, immediate notice is taken if such words. If a member desires that such words be noted, he has to repeat those words exactly as they were spoken. If the Speaker or Chairman is of the view that the words spoken were disorderly or after ascertaining sense of the House directs the clerk to take down such words, he asks the member to withdraw them. If the member refuses to do so or does not offer apology Speaker repeats his call and if the member does not respond to it, Speaker takes action in pursuance of S.O. 43, Practice and Procedure...
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