Rules of Procedure

(Made Pursuant to Rule 1 of the Consultative Forum Rules issued by the Governor on the 31st day of August 2009)

1. Duties of the Chairman
The Chairman shall:

  1. Preside at all meetings of the Forum.
  2. Cause the Forum to proceed with its business in the order established by the Rules, if a quorum is present.
  3. Preserve order and decorum, particularly as provided in these Rules.
  4. Confine members to questions under consideration.
  5. Speak on points of order, and shall have preference over other members in doing so.
  6. Decide all points of order.
  7. Make determination on any points of procedure which may arise.
  8. Do and perform such other duties as are required by these Rules.

2. Duties of the Clerk

  1. The Clerk shall keep minutes of proceedings of the Forum and of committees of the Forum and shall circulate copies of such minutes to members of the Forum as soon as possible after each meeting of the Forum or of a committee of the Forum.
  2. The minutes shall record the names of the members attending and all recommendations of the Forum to the Governor and shall be signed by the Chairman in the Forum.
  3. The minutes in the case of divisions in the Forum shall include the number voting for and against the matter the subject of such division.
  4. [The Clerk shall prepare from day to day and keep available to members of the Forum an agenda book showing all business appointed for any future day.]
  5. The Clerk shall be responsible for the safe custody of the records, bills and other documents considered by the Forum and these shall be open to inspection by members of the Forum and others under such arrangements as may be sanctioned by the Chairman.
  6. The Clerk shall be responsible for preparing for each meeting an agenda containing the business for that meeting and shall circulate to each member the agenda so prepared in respect of each meeting of the Forum. Items for inclusion on the agenda should be submitted at least seven working days before the meeting and the Clerk shall circulate to each member the agenda as approved by the Chairman not less than five working days before the meeting.
  7. The Clerk shall execute such other functions and duties as may be assigned by the Governor or the Chairman, and may assist members in the carrying out of their functions.

3. Quorum

  1. A quorum of the Forum shall consist of 9 members including the member presiding.
  2. If at the time of meeting a quorum is not present the Chairman shall not take the chair of the Forum.
  3. If after 15 minutes a quorum is still not present the Clerk shall summon members to the meeting.
  4. When once a meeting has commenced and a quorum is therefore present, a quorum shall not be necessary thereafter for any business of the Council other than a division.

4. Order of Business

The business of each meeting shall be transacted in the following order after prayers: Bills or other proposals for legislation referred by the Governor Policy or proposed policy of the Government referred by the Governor Other matters brought before the Forum by one of its members

5. Messages from the Governor
A message from the Governor may be brought up at any time during a meeting. .

6. Questions and/or Explanations arising out of matter debated in the Forum

  1. Questions arising out of any matter debated before the Forum may be answered by any of the ex officio members namely the Chief Executive, the Attorney General or the Permanent Secretary Finance. The Chief Executive may require any public officer to attend to assist with any such answer or explanation.
  2. Members of the Forum may submit questions for written responses on any matter. Such questions:
    1. must not publish any name or statement not strictly necessary to render a question intelligible.
    2. must not contain any adverse statement, which the member who asks the question is not prepared to authenticate and substantiate it.
    3. shall not contain any argument, inference, imputation, epithet, or tendentious, ironical or offensive expression.
      shall not be asked which deals with matters the subject of formal criminal of civil investigations or proceedings or reflecting on the decision of a court of law or likely to prejudice a case under trial.
      shall not seek information about any matter, which is of its nature confidential.
      may not ask for an expression of opinion, for the interpretation of any law or the solution of a hypothetical proposition.
    4. may not be asked which reflects on the character or conduct of any person.
    5. requiring information set out in accessible documents or ordinary works of reference may not be asked.
    6. may not ask whether statements in the press or of private individuals or unofficial bodies are accurate.
  3. If the Chairman is of the opinion that any written question is out of order he or she shall so inform the member, specifying the rule which it infringes.

7. Notice of Questions
Notice of a written question shall be given by a member by handing a notice with the question to be asked to the Clerk or by leaving it at his office at any time during normal working hours or by sending it to the Clerk by e-mail and such notice shall, except when sent via e-mail, be signed by the member giving it. The Chief Executive shall determine which Department or authority shall be responsible for providing an answer and thereafter the response shall be sent to the Member who submitted the same with a copy to the Clerk for noting that the answer has been supplied.

8. Rules of Debate

  1. A member must confine his or her speech to the subject under discussion and may not introduce irrelevant matter.
  2. Reference may not be made to any matter on which a judicial decision is pending or in respect of which a formal civil or criminal investigation is under way.
  3. It shall be out of order to reflect on any vote of the Forum or attempt to reconsider any specific matter upon which the Forum has come to a conclusion during the current meeting.
  4. It shall be out of order to use offensive and insulting language about members of the Forum and no improper motive may be imputed to another member.
  5. Reference may not be made in debate to the character or conduct of any person.
  6. A member of the Forum who desires to speak must rise in his or her place and if the Chairman calls upon him or her, address the Chairman.
  7. If two or more members rise at the same time the Chairman shall call upon the member who first catches his or her eye.
  8. The Chairman may also express his or her views on any matter the subject of a debate and may vote accordingly.
  9. A member may not speak more than once on any proposition except to offer explanation of some material part of his or her speech which has been misunderstood. Where the Chairman requires a member to withdraw a statement, he or she may also require the statement to be expunged from the records of the Forum.

9. Response
Where a member has brought a matter before the Forum, he or she may have an opportunity to respond after other members have spoken. No member may speak after a response has been delivered except an ex-officio member may conclude a debate on any motion which is critical of the Government.

10. Time Limits of Speeches and Debates
In a debate on a matter whether referred by the Governor or brought before the Forum by one of its members, a member may speak for not more than 10 minutes.
The Chairman may at any time extend the time so that a member may be permitted to speak longer than 10 minutes on a matter of national importance before the Forum.

11. Interruptions

  1. A member may not interrupt another member during his or her speech except in the following circumstances:
    (a) by rising to a point of order when a member speaking shall resume his or her seat and the member interrupting shall simply direct attention to the point of order, which he or she desires to bring to notice and submit it to the Chairman for decision.
    (b) to elucidate some matter raised by the member in the course of his or her speech if the member speaking is willing to give way and resume his or her seat and the member wishing to interrupt is called by the Chairman.
  2. When a member rises on a point of order or a point of elucidation and any statement then made by him or her is ruled not to be a point of order or a point of elucidation the Chairman may require such statement and any comment thereon by any other member to be expunged from the record of the Forum.

12. Behaviour of Members not speaking
A member while present during a debate:
must at all times conduct himself with dignity and decorum
must not pass between the Chairman and any member who is speaking
must maintain silence except when called to speak by the Chairman.

13. Scope and Duration of Debate
Debate on any bill or any amendment thereto must be relevant to such bill or amendment, and with the consent of the majority of the Forum present, the Chairman may fix the total time to be allocated on any business whether referred by the Governor or brought before the Forum by any one of its members.

14. Closure of Debate
After a question has been proposed, a member rising in his or her place may claim to move “that the question be now put” upon which the question shall be put forthwith and decided without amendment or debate.

15. Chair to be heard in silence
When the Chairman rises during a debate any member who is then speaking or offering to speak must resume his or her seat and the Forum must be silent so that the Chairman may be heard without interruption.

16. Decision of the Chair Final
The Chairman in the Forum shall be responsible for the observance of the Rules of Order of the Forum and his or her decision upon any point of order shall not be open to appeal and shall not be reviewed by the Forum.

17. Voting

  1. All questions proposed for decision in the Forum shall be decided by the majority of members present and voting.
  2. The Chairman may vote on any question. At the conclusion of a debate upon any question the Chairman shall put that question for the decision of the Forum. A question is full put when the Chairman has collected the votes of the “ayes” and of the “noes”. No further debate may thereafter take place upon that question.
  3. The Chairman shall declare the result whereupon he or she may, in his or her discretion, entertain a call for a division by any member.
  4. If the Chairman entertains the call for a division, the question shall again be put by the Chairman and all members then present and seated (including the Chairman) shall be entitled to vote by secret ballot.
  5. In a division the Clerk shall submit to each member a ballot in the order of the sitting of each member, and shall collect each ballot in a box and thereafter count each ballot for, against or abstentions, and report the result to the Chairman, who shall declare the result accordingly. The Clerk shall ensure that how any individual member voted on any issue shall remain secret.
  6. The Clerk shall enter in the minutes of proceedings a record of the result of the vote, with the numbers in each category (i.e. ayes, noes, abstentions).
  7. If a member states that he or she voted in error he or she may claim to have his or her vote altered if the request is made before the Chairman has declared the result of the division. The Chairman may, in such circumstances, and in his or her discretion, allow the vote to be retaken, and any previous ballots shall be set aside by the Clerk and destroyed.

18. Committees
The Forum may form informal committees to assist the Forum in evaluating any matter engaging the Forum’s attention.

19. Procedure of Committees

  1. A committee shall report its opinion and observations to the Chairman.
  2. The names of the members present at each meeting shall be entered upon the minutes of proceedings and minutes of the committee.
  3. Unless a quorum is fixed by the Forum, a committee shall fix its quorum.
  4. A committee shall not sit while the Forum is meeting but a committee may sit when the Forum is adjourned or its meeting is suspended.
  5. If the person appointed to chair meetings of a committee is absent from a meeting the committee shall elect one of its members to act in the place of the person appointed to chair the committee.
  6. A committee shall have the services of the Clerk to the Forum.
  7. A committee may not without the consent of the Forum delegate any of the functions for the discharge of which it was appointed.

20. Reports from Committees

  1. A committee shall have leave to make a special report relating to its functions and proceedings on any matter which it may think fit to bring to the notice of the Forum.
  2. A report or special report together with the minutes of proceedings of a committee shall be presented to the Forum by the person appointed to chair meetings the committee or another member of the committee elected in his or her absence.
  3. A member of the committee may thereafter move that the report be adopted.

21. Absence of Members
Any member who is unable to attend a meeting of the Forum shall acquaint the Chairman as early as possible of his or her inability to attend. The Chairman may draw any persistent absence of any member to the attention of the Governor.

22. Admission of the Public

  1. The public shall be admitted to debates of the Forum or to the precincts of the Forum’s meeting place.
  2. The Chairman may order the withdrawal of members of the public from the meeting place of the Forum or the precincts of the Forum’s meeting place and they must withdraw as directed if in the opinion of the Chairman such persons’ presence is disruptive to the proceedings of the Forum.
  3. Members of the public must be silent during debates and must at all times conduct themselves in a fit and proper manner.

23. The Press
The Chairman may grant a general permission to the representatives of any newspaper or other journal or broadcasting or television station to attend meetings of the Forum in his or her discretion. If the newspaper or other journal or broadcasting or television station publishes a report of the proceedings of the Forum which, in the opinion of the Chairman, is unfair or inaccurate, such permission may be revoked.

24. Notice of meetings
No advance notice of the calling of a meeting shall be required when the date and time have been decided at an earlier meeting of the Forum. Subject to rule 1, the Clerk shall notify each member as far in advance as possible, and in any case not less than fourteen days in advance, of the calling of any meeting unless shorter notification times is required in accordance with Rule 8 of the Consultative Forum Rules.

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