An ex officio member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ex officio [ broken anchor ] is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right of office'; its use dates back to the Roman Republic.
According to Robert's Rules of Order , the term denotes only how one becomes a member of a body. [1] Accordingly, the rights of an ex officio member are exactly the same as other members unless otherwise stated in regulations or bylaws. [2] It relates to the notion that the position refers to the position the ex officio holds, rather than the individual that holds the position. In some groups, ex officio members may frequently abstain from voting.
Opposite notions are dual mandate, when the same person happens to hold two offices or more, although these offices are not in themselves associated; and personal union, when two states share the same monarch.
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Any ex officio membership (for example, of committees, or of the board) is as defined by the nonprofit association's bylaws or other documents of authority. For example, the bylaws quite often provide that the organization's president will be ex officio a member of all committees, except the nominating committee.
The President of the French Republic and the Catholic Bishop of Urgell are by virtue of office (ex officio) appointed Co-Princes of Andorra.
In Botswana's unicameral National Assembly, the President of Botswana and the Speaker of the National Assembly serve as the chamber's two ex-officio members. [3]
In the Empire of Brazil, some princes became members by right of the Imperial Senate once they turned 25. In the current Constitution of Brazil, the President of the Federal Senate is an ex officio President of the National Congress, even though this office doesn't exist officially.
Judges of the Federal Court are ex officio members of the Federal Court of Appeal, and vice-versa. [4]
According to the Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party, the General Secretary of the Central Committee must be a member of Politburo Standing Committee. [5]
As of 2022 [update] , the Executive Council of Hong Kong is still composed of ex officio members (official members since 1997) and unofficial members (non-official members since 1997). By practice the ex officio members include the secretaries of departments, i.e. the Chief Secretary, the Financial Secretary and the Secretary for Justice. Since 2002 all secretaries of bureaux are also appointed by the Chief Executive to be official members of the Executive Council. But since 2005 the secretaries of bureaux attend only when items on the agenda concern their portfolios.
The Vice-President of India is ex officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. [6]
The Prime Minister of India is ex officio Chairman of NITI Aayog. Other ex officio members of NITI Aayog are the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Railways, and the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. [7]
Former Presidents are ex officio members for life of the Senate.
In Congress, the presiding officers and their deputies, and the majority and minority leaders, are ex officio members of all committees. The chairman on each chamber's committee on rules is the majority leader. The Senate President is the ex officio chairman of the Commission on Appointments, but can only vote on ties. In the Judicial and Bar Council, several positions are due to occupying another office.
In provincial boards, the provincial presidents of the League of Barangays (villages), Sangguniang Kabataan (youth councils) and of the Philippine Councilors League sit as ex officio board members. In city and municipal councils, the city and municipal presidents of the League of Barangays and the youth councils sit as ex officio councilors. In barangays, the youth council chairman is an ex officio member of the barangay council. The ex officio members have the same rights and privileges as the regular members of each legislature. The deputies of local chief executives (vice governors and vice mayors) are ex officio presiding officers of their respective legislatures, but can only vote when there is a tie.
Russian Prime Minister, chairmans of State Duma and Federation Council, Chief of Staff and heads of federal subjects are ex officio members of State Council (an advisory body to the head of state). President of Russia is an ex officio chairman of it, [8] as well as Security Council. [9]
In the House of Lords, the bishops of the five Great Sees of Canterbury, York, London, Durham, and Winchester are ex officio members, and are entitled to vote just as any other Lord Spiritual.
Formerly, anyone holding a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom was ex officio a member of the House of Lords. This entitlement was abolished in 1999. Since then, only the Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain (offices that are themselves hereditary) remain ex officio; another 90 hereditary peers are elected by and from among those eligible.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is ex officio the First Lord of the Treasury.
The Lord President of the Court of Session is by virtue of office appointed as Lord Justice General of Scotland. As such, they are both head of the judiciary of Scotland, president of the Court of Session (the most senior civil court in Scotland), and president of the High Court of Justiciary (the most senior criminal court in Scotland).
The Vice President of the United States, who also serves as President of the Senate, may vote in the Senate on matters decided by a majority vote (as opposed to a three-fifths vote or two-thirds vote), if the votes for passage and rejection are equally divided. [10] Also the leader of the parties in both houses are ex officio members of the House and Senate intelligence committees. Many committee chairs in the House of Representatives are ex officio members of subcommittees.
In most Colorado counties, the county sheriff is elected by the citizens of the county. However, in the City and County of Denver, the mayor of Denver appoints a "Manager of Safety" who oversees the Department of Safety (including the Fire, Police, and Sheriff Departments) and is the ex officio sheriff of the jurisdiction. Similarly, in the City and County of Broomfield, Colorado, near Denver, the police chief (an appointed position) also acts ex officio as the county sheriff. [11]
The Speaker of the New York City Council, and its Majority and Minority Leaders, are all ex officio members of each of its committees. Furthermore, each member of the Council is a non-voting ex officio member of each community board whose boundaries include any of the council member's constituents. [12]
The Rajya Sabha, also known as the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. As of 2023, it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using single transferable votes through open ballots, while the president can appoint 12 members for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social service. The total allowed capacity is 250 according to article 80 of the Indian Constitution. The current potential seating capacity of the Rajya Sabha is 245, after the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Act. The maximum seats of 250 members can be filled up at the discretion and requirements of the house of Rajya Sabha.
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.
The Great Council of Chiefs is a Fijian constitutional body. It previously existed from 1876 to March 2012 and was re-established in May 2023.
The Government of India is the federal executive authority of the Republic of India, a federal republic located in South Asia, consisting of 28 states and eight union territories. The government is led by the prime minister who exercises the most executive power and selects all the other ministers. The country has been governed by a NDA-led government since 2014. The prime minister and their senior ministers belong to the Union Council of Ministers—its executive decision-making committee being the cabinet.
The vice president of India is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in the order of precedence and first in the line of succession to the presidency. The vice president is also the ex officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
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.
Elections in the Philippines are of several types. The president, vice-president, and the senators are elected for a six-year term, while the members of the House of Representatives, governors, vice-governors, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, mayors, vice-mayors, members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod/members of the Sangguniang Bayan, barangay officials, and the members of the Sangguniang Kabataan are elected to serve for a three-year term.
The Planning Commission was an institution in the Government of India which formulated India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions.
The Council of Rotuma is a municipal body on the island of Rotuma, a Fijian dependency. Owing to the unique character of Rotuma, the powers of this council are greater than those of other municipal bodies in Fiji and in some ways it approximates a legislative body, though it is in every way subordinate to the Parliament of Fiji.
The Commission on Appointments is a constitutional body which confirms or rejects certain political appointments made by the President of the Philippines. The current commission was created by the 1987 Constitution.
This is a brief description of the lawmaking procedure in India.
The National Security Council (NSC) of India is an executive government body tasked with advising the prime Minister of India on matters of national security and foreign policy. It was established by the former prime minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 19 November 1998, with Brajesh Mishra as the first National Security Advisor.
The National Statistical Commission (NSC) of India is an autonomous body which formed on 12 July 2006 under the recommendation of Rangarajan commission. The NSC is currently headed by Prof. Rajeeva Laxman Karandikar who was appointed as Chairperson of the Commission on 30 Nov 2022 for a period of three years. Prof A. Ganesh Kumar, Prof. Mukesh Mohania Shri Asit Kumar Sandhu and Prof. Debasis Kundu are other members of the Commission. Shri B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, ex. CEO of NITI Aayog is the ex-officio Member and Dr. Saurabh Garg is Secretary to the Commission. The Chairperson of the Commission enjoys the status of a Minister of State and the Members of the Commission have the status equivalent to the Secretary to the Government of India. The Chairperson and the Members also enjoy a relative security of tenure as once they assume office, they can be removed only by the President after the Supreme Court of India has on inquiry held in accordance with the procedure Article 145 of the Constitution of India reported that they ought to be removed.
The Judicial and Bar Council of the Philippines is a constitutionally-created body that recommends appointees for vacancies that may arise in the composition of the Supreme Court, other lower courts, and the Legal Education Board, and in the offices of the Ombudsman, Deputy Ombudsman and the Special Prosecutor.
The president of the National Assembly is the presiding officer (speaker) of the National Assembly of Thailand. Since 1992, the office has been an ex officio position occupied by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Thailand. The president is therefore an MP, usually from the majority party in the House of Representatives. The president is elected at the beginning of a House session immediately after an election, there are no term limits for the office. In the aftermath of the coup d'état in 2014, the function of legislative assembly was turned over to the junta-controlled National Legislative Assembly, which Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, President of the National Legislative Assembly, occupied the ex officio position of President of the National Assembly until the election of Wan Muhamad Noor Matha as Speaker of the House in 2023.
The 15th Congress of the Philippines, composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives, met from July 26, 2010, until June 6, 2013, during the first three years of Benigno Aquino III's presidency. The convening of the 15th Congress followed the 2010 general elections, which replaced half of the Senate membership and the entire membership of the House of Representatives.
The Zamboanga City Council is Zamboanga City's Sangguniang Panlungsod or local legislature.
The NITI Aayog serves as the apex public policy think tank of the Government of the Republic of India, and the nodal agency tasked with catalyzing economic development, and fostering cooperative federalism and moving away from bargaining federalism through the involvement of State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach. Its initiatives include "15-year road map", "7-year vision, strategy, and action plan", AMRUT, Digital India, Atal Innovation Mission, Medical Education Reform, agriculture reforms, Indices Measuring States’ Performance in Health, Education and Water Management, Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Rationalization of Centrally Sponsored Schemes, Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Skill Development, Task Forces on Agriculture and up of Poverty, and Transforming India Lecture Series.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance (SCOF) is a department related standing committee (DRSC) constituted by the Parliament of India comprising selected members of parliament for the purpose of legislative oversight on the policies and decision making of the following four ministries:
Ministry of Planning is a ministry in India. The minister responsible is the Hon'ble Prime Minister of the Republic of India. The ministry's institutional capacity is exercised through the central agency: NITI Aayog.
2 are Ex-officios being the President and The Speaker.