Adjournment debate

Last updated

In the Westminster system, an adjournment debate is a debate on the motion, "That this House do now adjourn." In practice, this is a way of enabling the House to have a debate on a subject without considering a substantive motion. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Types of debate

There are generally two types of adjournment debate: those proposed by the government, which are used from time to time to permit general debates on topical subjects (e.g. flooding and coastal defenses, regional affairs or International Women's Day); and the half-hour adjournment at the end of each day's sitting. [1] The half-hour adjournment is an opportunity for a backbench Member of Parliament to raise a subject of their choosing, of which advance notice has been given, with the appropriate government minister. [1] Normally, only the member raising the debate and the minister who is replying speak in the half-hour adjournment. [1] It is not uncommon for the chamber otherwise to be empty.

The convention is that any subject may be raised on a motion for the adjournment, since any matter of national or local importance may offer a good reason for the House to continue sitting (i.e. the House should not adjourn until it has considered the topic in hand). [1]

It is not usual for the House to vote on the adjournment motion; it is either agreed to without a vote, or it lapses once the allotted time has expired. On rare occasions, however, where the debate concerns a matter on which there are strong differences of opinion (such as the prospect of going to war), backbench members may engineer a vote. It was a vote on a motion for the adjournment which brought down British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government during World War II – the so-called Norway Debate. [4] Though Chamberlain won the vote (with the Government voting 'Aye', their opponents 'No'), his government's majority was considerably reduced to the point that his credibility was fatally undermined and he felt obliged to resign two days later. [4]

In the House of Commons of Canada, coming as it does at the end of the sitting day, the adjournment debate is colloquially known as the "late show." [5]

Related Research Articles

House of Commons of the United Kingdom Lower house in the Parliament of the United Kingdom

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster located in London, England.

Cloture Parliamentary procedure forcing a quick end to a debate

Cloture, closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. Clôture is French for "the act of terminating something". It was introduced into the Parliament of the United Kingdom by William Ewart Gladstone to overcome the obstructionism of the Irish Parliamentary Party and was made permanent in 1887. It was subsequently adopted by the United States Senate and other legislatures. The name cloture remains in the United States; in Commonwealth countries it is usually closure or, informally, guillotine; in the United Kingdom closure and guillotine are distinct motions.

House of Commons of Canada Lower house of the Canadian Parliament

The House of Commons of Canada is the lower chamber of the bicameral Parliament of Canada, which also comprises the sovereign and the Senate of Canada. The House of Commons currently meets in a temporary Commons chamber in the West Block of the parliament buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, while the Centre Block, which houses the traditional Commons chamber, undergoes a ten-year renovation.

A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers, which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be cancelled in exceptional circumstances. Question time originated in the Westminster system of the United Kingdom, and occurs in other countries, mostly Commonwealth countries, who use the system.

A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out a bill" and is characterized as a form of obstruction in a legislature or other decision-making body.

Backbencher Parliamentarian who neither holds ministerial office nor shadows a minister

In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the "rank and file".

Lok Sabha Lower house of the Parliament of India

The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past-the-post system to represent their respective constituencies, and they hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the President on the advice of the council of ministers. The house meets in the Lok Sabha Chambers of the Sansad Bhavan, New Delhi.

Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom) Presiding Officer of the House of Commons

The speaker of the House of Commons is the chief officer and highest authority of the House of Commons, the lower house and primary chamber of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The current speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, was elected Speaker on 4 November 2019, following the retirement of John Bercow. Hoyle began his first full parliamentary term in the role on 17 December 2019, having unanimously been re-elected after the 2019 general election.

New Zealand House of Representatives Sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament

The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes laws, provides ministers to form Cabinet, and supervises the work of government. It is also responsible for adopting the state's budgets and approving the state's accounts.

The Norway Debate, sometimes called the Narvik Debate, was a momentous debate in the British House of Commons during the Second World War from 7 to 9 May 1940. It has been called the most far-reaching parliamentary debate of the twentieth century. At the end of the second day, there was a division of the House for the members to hold a vote of no confidence which was won by the government, but with a drastically reduced majority. That led, on 10 May, to Neville Chamberlain's resignation as prime minister and the replacement of his war ministry by a broadly based coalition government which, under Winston Churchill, governed the United Kingdom until after the end of the war in Europe in May 1945.

<i>Civil Marriage Act</i> 2005 Canadian law legalizing same-sex marriage

The Civil Marriage Act is a federal statute legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada. At the time it became law, same-sex marriage had already been legalized by court decisions in all Canadian jurisdictions except Alberta, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

Parliament of Singapore Legislature of Singapore

The Parliament of Singapore and the president jointly make up the legislature of Singapore. Largely based from the Westminster system, the Parliament is unicameral and is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) and Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) who are appointed. Following the 2020 general election, 93 MPs and two NCMPs were elected to the 14th Parliament. Nine NMPs will usually be appointed by the president.

In the United Kingdom, confidence motions are a means of testing the support of the government (executive) in a legislative body, and for the legislature to remove the government from office. A confidence motion may take the form of either a vote of confidence, usually put forward by the government, or a vote of no confidence, usually proposed by the opposition. When such a motion is put to a vote in the legislature, if a vote of confidence is defeated, or a vote of no confidence is passed, then the incumbent government must resign, or call a general election.

Prorogation is the end of a parliamentary session in the Parliament of Canada and the parliaments of its provinces and territories. It differs from a recess or adjournment, which do not end a session; and differs from a complete dissolution of parliament, which ends both the session and the entire parliament, requiring an election for the House of Commons in the bicameral federal parliament and the singular legislative chamber of the unicameral provincial parliaments.

Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Sarawak

The Sarawak State Legislative Assembly is the legislative chamber of the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Sarawak; the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak forms the other part of the legislature. The Assembly is modelled after the traditions of the Westminster parliamentary system, which originates from the practices of the British Parliament. The executive branch of government is drawn from the elected members of the Assembly. The State Legislative Assembly sits at the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building located in Petra Jaya in Kuching, the state capital.

The Backbench Business Committee of the British House of Commons was created on 15 June 2010 through the adoption of a new standing order. It was created soon after 2010 general election, but had been proposed during the previous Parliament by the Wright Committee on Reform of the House of Commons in its report of 12 November 2009.

A take-note debate is a type of debate that allows members of a parliament to debate a matter of public policy, without making any decision. When the members of the house have concluded the debate, the house moves on to other business, without a vote being taken. It is found in some parliaments based on the Westminster parliamentary system.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Adjournment debates". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  2. ↑ "Adjournment Debate". www.aph.gov.au. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  3. ↑ "Debates and adjournment debates | OIREACHTAS BRIEF". www.oireachtasbrief.ie. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  4. 1 2 Jefferys, Kevin (2015-09-10). Finest and Darkest Hours. Atlantic Books Ltd. ISBN   9781782398691.
  5. ↑ "Adjournment Proceedings (Late Show)". www.parl.gc.ca. Canada House of Commons. Retrieved 2016-02-25.

See also

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.