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A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the British (former) colonies. However, it has also been used as designation in other (non-Commonwealth) nations. A member of a legislative council is commonly referred to as an MLC.
In the United States, a legislative council has a different connotation, and means a council within a legislature which supervises nonpartisan support staff.
In the British Empire, the authority under which legislative councils have been constituted has varied: some under the royal prerogative, others by acts of parliament, and some by commission and royal instructions. [1] Particularly, unicameral or the upper house in a bicameral legislature (where traditionally many members were appointed by Governors, rather than elected) were given the designation "legislative council".
Country | Body | Type | Established | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Brunei Darussalam | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1959 | Suspended in 1984, reconvened in 2004 |
Hong Kong | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1843 | Established under the British Hong Kong era; Provisional Legislative Council 1997–98 |
Isle of Man | Legislative Council | Upper House | ||
Palestine | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1996 | |
Saint Helena | Legislative Council | Unicameral |
In India, the Vidhan Parishad is another name for the Legislative Council in those states with bicameral legislatures.
Country | Region | Body | Type | Established | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | New South Wales | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1824 | Unicameral until 1856 |
Australia | South Australia | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1840 | Unicameral until 1857 |
Australia | Tasmania | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1825 | Unicameral until 1856 |
Australia | Victoria | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1851 | Unicameral until 1856 |
Australia | Western Australia | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1832 | Unicameral until 1890 |
India | Andhra Pradesh | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1958 | Abolished between 1985 and 2007 |
India | Bihar | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1912 | Unicameral until 1920 |
India | Karnataka | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1956 | |
India | Maharashtra | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1960 | |
India | Telangana | Legislative Council | Upper House | 2014 | |
India | Uttar Pradesh | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1935 | |
Venezuela | Zulia | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1864 |
Country | Body | Type | Established | Disestablished | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aden | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1947 [2] | ||
Antigua and Barbuda | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under instructions to the governor | ||
Bahamas | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1841 [3] | Letters patent | |
Barbados | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under instructions to the governor | ||
Basutoland | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1960 [4] | Established under instructions to the governor | |
Bechuanaland Protectorate | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1961 | 1965 | |
Bermuda | Legislative Council | Bicameral | 1612 | 1980 | Originally a single thirteen-member Council combined Executive (cabinet) and Legislative functions. Established under Royal Charters to the London Company in 1606, 1609, and 1612, and to the Somers Isles Company in 1615, transmitted via the Governor. Elected lower House of Assembly held first session in 1620, with Council becoming upper house. The Council split in 1888 into an Executive Council and a Legislative Council. Colonial legislature was updated to the Westminster system in 1968. Executive Council was renamed the Cabinet in 1973, and is now formed from Members of the majority party in the House of Assembly. Legislative Council was renamed the Senate of Bermuda in 1980, and is now composed of five Members recommended by the Premier, three by the Leader of the Opposition, and three by the Governor acting in his own discretion, all appointed by the Governor. [5] |
British Columbia | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1867 | 1871 | |
British Guiana | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1928 | 1961 | Established by an act of parliament; abolished between 1953 and 1954. |
British Honduras | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1853 [3] | Established under instructions to the governor | |
British India | Imperial Legislative Council | Bicameral | 1861 | 1947 | Unicameral until 1920 |
British Virgin Islands | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1867 [3] | 2007 | |
Burma | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1897 | 1936 | |
Ceylon | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1833 | 1931 | Established under the prerogative |
Cyprus | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under the prerogative | ||
Dominica | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1832 [3] | Established by an act of parliament | |
Falkland Islands | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1845 | 2009 | Established under the British Settlements Act, 1843 |
Fiji | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under the prerogative | ||
Gambia | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1843 [3] | Established under the British Settlements Act, 1843 | |
Gibraltar | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1950 | 1969 | |
Gold Coast | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under the British Settlements Act, 1843 | ||
Jamaica | Legislative Council | 1866 [3] | |||
Kenya | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1907 | 1963 | Established under the British Settlements Act, 1843 |
Lower Canada | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1791 | 1841 | |
Malaya | Federal Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1948 | 1957 | |
Malta | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under the prerogative | ||
Manchukuo | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1934 | 1945 | Puppet state of the Empire of Japan |
Mandatory Palestine | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1922 | 1923 | |
Mauritius | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under the prerogative | ||
Montserrat | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 2011 | Established under instructions to the governor | |
New Zealand | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1841 | 1950 | Unicameral until 1853 |
Newfoundland | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1833 | 1934 | |
Nigeria | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under the prerogative | ||
Northern Rhodesia | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1843 | ||
Nyasaland | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1907 | Established under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1843 | |
Papua New Guinea | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1951 | 1963 | |
Portuguese Guinea | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1963 | 1972 | Became the Legislative Assembly |
Portuguese West Africa | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1922 | 1972 | Abolished between 1926 and 1955 |
Province of Canada | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1841 | 1867 | |
Romania | Legislative Council | Consultative | 1923 | 1948 | Established under Article 76 of the 1923 Constitution and retained under Article 72 of the 1938 Constitution |
St Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1832 [3] | Established under instructions to the governor | |
St Lucia | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1832 | 1967 [6] | Established under the prerogative |
St Vincent | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established by an act of parliament | ||
Seychelles | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1962 | 1970 | Established under the prerogative |
Sierra Leone | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under the British Settlements Act, 1843 | ||
Solomon Islands | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1960 | 1970 | |
Southern Rhodesia | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1898 | 1923 | Established under the prerogative |
Straits Settlements | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1866 | Established by an act of parliament | |
Singapore | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1946 | 1953 | |
Swaziland | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1964 | 1967 | Established in the Constitution of 1964 |
Trinidad and Tobago | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1925 | 1961 | Established under the prerogative |
Tanganyika | Legislative Council | Unicameral | Established under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1843 | ||
Turks and Caicos Islands | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 2006 | ||
Uganda | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1920 | 1962 | Established under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1843 |
Upper Canada | Legislative Council | Upper House | 1791 | 1841 | |
Zaire | Legislative Council | Unicameral | 1972 | 1990 |
In American English, the term "legislative council" has acquired a slightly different meaning since the 1930s. It refers to a joint committee with members from both houses of the state legislature, which supervises a staff of attorneys, accountants, and researchers charged with providing strictly nonpartisan support services to the legislature or to particular committees. [7] The concept of the legislative council was first developed in Kansas and was implemented by the Kansas Legislature in 1933. [7] [8] Eventually, a majority of U.S. states adopted legislative councils, but under a variety of names. [7] Between 1933 and 1959, at least 32 states had legislative councils. [8]
Kansas still uses a legislative council, although it was converted into the Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council in 1971. Legislative councils operating under that name exist in the states of Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin. Several states use the term "commission" for the same thing, including New Jersey and Nevada.
A few states, like California, have a "legislative counsel", not "council", who is appointed by a vote of the entire legislature and is thus responsible to the body as a whole rather than a "council" within it.
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter during battle, from the Latin congressus.
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate, so-called as an assembly of the senior and therefore considered wiser and more experienced members of the society or ruling class. However the Roman Senate was not the ancestor or predecessor of modern parliamentarism in any sense, because the Roman senate was not a de jure legislative body.
British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.
Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single group. As of 2022, roughly 40% of world's national legislatures are bicameral, while unicameralism represents 60% nationally and much more at the subnational level.
Unicameralism is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly 60% of all national legislatures and an even greater share of subnational legislatures.
Legislative assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its houses.
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Tricameralism is the practice of having three legislative or parliamentary chambers. It is contrasted with unicameralism and bicameralism, each of which is far more common.
A Landtag is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non-federal matters.
The parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia.
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by the Crown within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local council. In some cases, this council was split into two: an executive council and a legislative council, and the executive council was similar to the Privy Council that advises the monarch. Members of executive councils were appointed by the governors, and British citizens resident in Crown colonies either had no representation in local government, or limited representation in a lower house. In several Crown colonies, this limited representation grew over time. As the House of Commons of the British Parliament has never included seats for any of the colonies, there was no direct representation in the sovereign government for British subjects or citizens residing in Crown colonies.
The territorial evolution of the British Empire is considered to have begun with the foundation of the English colonial empire in the late 16th century. Since then, many territories around the world have been under the control of the United Kingdom or its predecessor states. When the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed in 1707 by the union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England, the latter country's colonial possessions passed to the new state. Similarly, when Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland in 1801 to form the United Kingdom, control over its colonial possessions passed to the latter state. Collectively, these territories are referred to as the British Empire. When much of Ireland gained independence in 1922 as the Irish Free State, the other territories of the empire remained under the control of the United Kingdom.
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature is bicameral, comprising two houses: the Vidhan Sabha and the Vidhan Parishad.
In the United States, state governments are institutional units exercising functions of government at a level below that of the federal government. Each U.S. state's government holds legislative, executive, and judicial authority over a defined geographic territory. The United States comprises 50 states: 9 of the Thirteen Colonies that were already part of the United States at the time the Constitution took effect in 1789, 4 that ratified the Constitution after its commencement, plus 37 that have been admitted since by Congress as authorized under Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution.
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often called a "Senate". In some countries, the House of Representatives is the sole chamber of a unicameral legislature.
The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members, all of whom are democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system. The presiding officer of the Assembly is the Speaker. The term of the Assembly is five years, unless dissolved earlier.
The Nebraska Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the smallest state legislature of any U.S. state. A total of 25 members is required for a majority; however, in order to overcome a filibuster, a two-thirds vote of all members is required, which takes 33 votes.
The Governor's Council, also known as the Privy Council and Council of State, was the upper house of the legislature of the Colony of Virginia. It also served as an advisory body to the royal governor and as the highest judicial body in the colony. Beginning in the 1630s, its 12 members were appointed by the British sovereign. After Virginia declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776, members were appointed by the General Assembly, and most of their powers were redistributed to the newly formed Senate of Virginia and the state's judiciary. The Council was formally abolished after delegates to the 1850 Virginia constitutional convention voted to enact what became known as the "Reform Constitution," which vested many of its remaining functions in the popularly elected offices of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General.