Legislature |
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Chambers |
Parliament |
Parliamentary procedure |
Types |
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Legislatures by country |
The clerk, chief clerk, secretary, or secretarygeneral of a legislative chamber is the senior administrative officer responsible for ensuring that its business runs smoothly. This may encompass keeping custody of documents lain before the house, received, or produced; making records of proceedings; allocating office space; enrolling of members, and administering an oath of office. During the first sitting of a newly elected legislature, or when the current presiding officer steps down, they may act as the presiding officer in the election of a new presiding officer such as the speaker or president. The clerk in some cases has a ceremonial role. A clerk may also advise the speaker or members on parliamentary procedure, acting in American parlance as a "parliamentarian".
In the English speaking world, a parliamentary, legislative or congressional clerk is often used to refer to other officials who are involved with administrative operations within a legislature.
In the Westminster system, the clerk is usually an apolitical civil servant, and typically attains the position through promotion and retains it until retirement. In the UK the Clerks of both houses are appointed by letters patent from the Sovereign.
In the United States, while clerks are usually nonpartisan, they are often elected by the assembly members at the beginning of each term. At the federal level, and typically at state level, the lower house has a "(chief) clerk" while the upper house has a "secretary".
Legislature | Clerk of sole or lower house | Clerk of upper house | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Parliament of Australia | Clerk | Clerk | |
Parliament of Canada | Clerk | Clerk | |
— Legislative Assembly of Alberta | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Legislative Assembly of British Columbia | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Legislative Assembly of Manitoba | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Nova Scotia House of Assembly | Chief Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Nunavut Legislative Assembly | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Legislative Assembly of Ontario | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— National Assembly of Quebec | Secretary General | N/A | Unicameral. The post of Secretary General was formerly called Greffier in French. [1] |
— Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Yukon Legislative Assembly | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
Parliament of India | Secretary General | Secretary General | |
Parliament of New Zealand | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral. The Clerk of the upper house was called the Clerk of the Parliaments prior to abolition. [2] |
Parliament of the United Kingdom | Clerk | Clerk | |
— Senedd (Wales) | Chief Executive and Clerk | N/A | Unicameral |
— Tynwald (Isle of Man) | Secretary | Clerk | Bicameral, however when the Houses are sitting together they become the Tynwald Court. The Clerk of Tynwald is ex-officio the Secretary of the House of Keys and the chief administrative officer for the entire Court. [3] |
Legislature | Clerk of sole or lower house | Clerk of upper house | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Inatsisartut | Director | N/A | [4] |
Congress of the Union | Secretary General | Secretary General | |
United States Congress | Clerk | Secretary | Elected every two years. |
— Alabama Legislature | Clerk | Secretary | The deputy to the Clerk of the House is called the Chief Clerk. |
— Alaska Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Arizona State Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Arkansas General Assembly | Chief Clerk | Secretary | The Chief Clerk is appointed by the Speaker and confirmed by the House by simple majority. |
— California State Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | Elected every two years. |
— Colorado General Assembly | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Connecticut General Assembly | Clerk | Clerk | |
— Delaware General Assembly | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Council of the District of Columbia | Secretary | N/A | Federal District. Unicameral. |
— Florida Legislature | Clerk | Secretary | |
— Georgia General Assembly | Clerk | Secretary | |
— Hawaii Legislature | Chief Clerk | Clerk | |
— Idaho Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Illinois General Assembly | Clerk | Secretary | |
— Iowa General Assembly | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Kansas Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | [ citation needed ] |
— Kentucky General Assembly | Chief Clerk | Chief Clerk | |
— Louisiana Legislature | Clerk | Secretary | |
— Maine Legislature | Clerk | Secretary | |
— Maryland General Assembly | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Massachusetts General Court | Clerk | Clerk | |
— Michigan Legislature | Clerk | Secretary | |
— Minnesota Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Mississippi Legislature | Clerk | Secretary | |
— Missouri General Assembly | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Montana Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Nebraska Legislature | Clerk | N/A | Unicameral. The current sole house was the Senate before the House of Representatives was abolished in 1936. |
— Nevada Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— New Hampshire General Court | Clerk | Clerk | |
— New Jersey Legislature | Clerk | Secretary | |
— New Mexico Legislature | Chief Clerk | Chief Clerk | |
— New York Legislature | Clerk | Secretary | |
— North Carolina General Assembly | Clerk | Clerk | |
— North Dakota Legislative Assembly | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Ohio General Assembly | Clerk | Clerk | |
— Oklahoma Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Oregon Legislative Assembly | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Pennsylvania General Assembly | Chief Clerk | Secretary-Parliamentarian | The Secretary-Parliamentarian acts as both the chief administrative officer and parliamentarian of the Senate. [5] The Senate also has a Chief Clerk, who is the chief fiscal officer, and holds other miscellaneous administrative duties. [6] |
— Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico | Clerk | Secretary | Unincorporated territory of the United States. |
— Rhode Island General Assembly | Clerk | Secretary | |
— South Carolina General Assembly | Clerk | Clerk | |
— South Dakota Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Tennessee General Assembly | Chief Clerk | Chief Clerk | |
— Texas Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Utah State Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— Vermont General Assembly | Clerk | Secretary | |
— Virginia General Assembly | Clerk | Clerk | |
— Washington State Legislature | Chief Clerk | Secretary | |
— West Virginia Legislature | Clerk | Clerk | The House Clerk is ex-officio the Keeper of the Rolls of the Legislature. [7] |
— Wisconsin State Legislature | Chief Clerk | Chief Clerk | |
— Wyoming State Legislature | Chief Clerk | Chief Clerk |
Legislature | Clerk of sole or lower house | Clerk of upper house | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
National Assembly of Belarus | Director of the Secretariat | Director of the Secretariat |
Legislature | Clerk of sole or lower house | Clerk of upper house | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
National People's Congress | Secretary General | N/A | Unicameral, however the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress is a permanent body of the Congress which often acts as the national legislature. |
— Legislative Council of Hong Kong | Secretary General | N/A | Unicameral |
— Legislative Assembly of Macau | Secretary General | N/A | Unicameral |
Knesset | Secretary | N/A | Unicameral |
This is a non-exhaustive list of some types of clerks.
Name | Notes |
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Calendar clerk | Responsible for the planning and upkeep of the legislative calendar. |
Clerk assistant | Sometimes used as the title for the deputy of the Clerk of the House. The Second clerk assistant is sometimes the title used for their deputy. |
Committee clerk | Responsible for the administrative operations of a parliamentary committee. The most senior committee clerk is sometimes known as the Clerk of Committees. |
Journal clerk | Responsible for the upkeep of the house's journal. The most senior journal clerk is sometimes known as the Clerk of the Journals. |
Reading clerk | Usually responsible for the oral reading of bills, motions and amendments in the United States. The Reading Clerk in the House of Lords is responsible for reading letters patents and writs of summons of newly created peers, as well as commissions granting Royal Assent, as well as recording daily attendance. [8] |
Luxembourg is a parliamentary representative democratic monarchy, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and the multi-party system. Executive power is under the constitution of 1868, as amended, exercised by the government, by the grand duke and the Council of Government (cabinet), which consists of a prime minister and several other ministers. Usually, the prime minister is the leader of the political party or coalition of parties having the most seats in parliament. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Parliamentary procedures are the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Their object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or the will of the majority of the assembly upon these questions. Self-governing organizations follow parliamentary procedure to debate and reach group decisions, usually by vote, with the least possible friction.
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology or the will of their donors or constituents. Whips are the party's "enforcers". They work to ensure that their fellow political party legislators attend voting sessions and vote according to their party's official policy. Members who vote against party policy may "lose the whip", being effectively expelled from the party.
The president of the Senate is the presiding officer of the Australian Senate, the upper house of the Parliament of Australia. The counterpart in the lower house is the speaker of the House of Representatives. The office of the presidency of the senate was established in 1901 by section 17 of the Constitution of Australia. The primary responsibilities of the office is to oversee senate debates, determine which senators may speak, maintain order and the parliamentary code of conduct during sessions and uphold all rules and orders of the senate. The current president is Sue Lines, who was elected on 26 July 2022.
The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England.
In New Zealand, the speaker of the House of Representatives, commonly known as the speaker of the House, is the presiding officer and highest authority of the New Zealand House of Representatives. The individual who holds the position is elected by members of the House from among their number in the first session after each general election. They hold one of the highest-ranking offices in New Zealand. The current Speaker is Gerry Brownlee, who was elected on 5 December 2023.
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no term limits. The House meets at the State Capitol in Austin.
The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the supreme legislative body of Sri Lanka. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the island. It is modeled after the British Parliament.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. The House of Representatives convenes at the Massachusetts State House in Boston, the state capital of Massachusetts.
The secretary of the Senate is an officer of the United States Senate. The secretary supervises an extensive array of offices and services to expedite the day-to-day operations of that body. The office is somewhat analogous to that of the clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock.
A parliamentary authority is a book of rules for conducting business in deliberative assemblies. Several different books have been used by legislative assemblies and by organizations' deliberative bodies.
The parliamentarian of the United States House of Representatives manages, supervises, and administers the Office of the Parliamentarian, which is responsible for advising the House's presiding officers, members, and staff on procedural questions under the U.S. Constitution and House rules and precedents, as well as for preparing, compiling, and publishing the precedents of the House.
Deliberative assemblies – bodies that use parliamentary procedure to arrive at decisions – use several methods of voting on motions. The regular methods of voting in such bodies are a voice vote, a rising vote, and a show of hands. Additional forms of voting include a recorded vote and balloting.
Joseph Allan Beek was the longest-serving Secretary of the Senate in California history (1919–68). The Secretary of the California State Senate is a nonpartisan officer of the Senate who advises the presiding officer and Senators on parliamentary procedures and is the chief recordkeeper of the Senate. The Secretary is elected by majority vote of the Senators for each two-year session.
In the United States, a parliamentarian is an expert on parliamentary procedure who advises organizations and deliberative assemblies. This sense of the term "parliamentarian" is distinct from the usage in parliamentary republics and monarchies as a synonym for member of parliament.
The Senate was the upper chamber of the parliament of Ceylon established in 1947 by the Soulbury Commission. The Senate was appointed and indirectly elected rather than directly elected. It was housed in the old Legislative Council building in Colombo Fort and met for the first time on 12 November 1947. The Senate was abolished on 2 October 1971 by the eighth amendment to the Soulbury Constitution, prior to the adoption of the new Republican Constitution of Sri Lanka on 22 May 1972. In 2010 there were proposals to reintroduce the Senate.
An election for the president of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong took place on 19 February 1993 for members to among themselves elect the first President after abolishing the practice for the governor to preside. Deputy President John Joseph Swaine was unopposed and became the first elected president.
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