Rules of the House of Lords

RULE I THE KING

Approval of the Journal 1. The King shall take the Chair on every legislative day precisely at the hour to which the House last adjourned and immediately call the House to order. Having examined and approved the Schedule of the last day’s proceedings, the King shall announce to the House approval thereof. The King’s approval of the Schedule shall be deemed agreed. Preservation of order 2. The King shall preserve order and decorum and, in case of disturbance or disorderly conduct in the House, may expel the disturbance from the house. Control of Capitol facilities 3. Except as otherwise provided by rule or law, the King shall have general control of the House of Lords. Signature of documents 4. The King shall sign all acts and joint resolutions passed by the Houses and all writs, warrants, and subpoenas of, or issued by order of, the House. The King may sign enrolled bills and joint resolutions when the House is in session. Questions of order 5. The King shall decide all questions of order, subject to appeal by a Member, Delegate, or Commissioner. On such an appeal a Member, Delegate, or Commissioner may not speak more than once without permission of the House. Form of a question 6. The King shall rise to put a question but may state it sitting. The King shall put a question in this form: ‘‘Those in favour (of the question), say ‘Aye.’’’; and after the affirmative voice is expressed, ‘‘Those opposed, say ‘No.’’’. After a vote by voice under this clause, the King may use such voting procedures as may be invoked. Discretion to vote 7. The King is required to vote in ordinary legislative proceedings and when such vote would be decisive or when the House is engaged in voting by ballot. King pro tempore 8. (a) The King may appoint a Member to perform the duties of the Chair. Except as specified in paragraph (b) In the case of illness, the King may appoint a Member to perform the duties of the Chair for a period not exceeding 5 meetings, subject to the approval of the House.

Designation of travel 10. The King must approve a Member, Delegate, Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House travel on the business of the House, whether the House is meeting, has recessed, or has adjourned. Committee appointment 11. The King shall appoint all select, joint, and conference committees ordered by the House. At any time after an original appointment, the King may remove Ministers, Delegates, or the Commissioner from, or appoint additional Ministers, Delegates, or the Commissioner to, a select or conference committee. In appointing Ministers, Delegates, or the Commissioner to conference committees Recess and convening authorities 12. (a) To suspend the business of the House for a short time when no question is pending before the House, the King may declare a recess subject to the call of the Chair. (b) To suspend the business of the House when notified of an imminent threat to its safety, the King may declare an emergency recess subject to the call of the King.

RULE II HOUSE OF LORDS

Use and admittance 1. The House shall be used only for the legislative business of the House and for caucus and conference meetings of its Ministers, except when the House agrees to take part in any ceremonies to be observed therein. Only the following persons shall be admitted to the House of Lords (1) Ministers of the House, Ministers- elect, and contestants in election cases during the pendency of their cases on the floor. (2) The Delegates and the Resident Commissioner. (3) King and Royal Family of the Kingdom of Australand (4) Justices of the Supreme Court. (5) Elected officers and minority employees nominated as elected officers of the House. (6) The Parliamentarian. (7) Staff of committees when business from their committee is under consideration. (8) Not more than one person from the staff of a Minister or King when that Minister or King has an amendment under consideration (12) Heads of departments. (13) Foreign Ministers. (14) Governors of Colonies.

RULE III RECORDS OF THE HOUSE

Archiving 1. (a) At the end of each session, the chair of each committee shall transfer to the Minister of Records any noncurrent records of such committee, including the subcommittees thereof. (b) At the end of each session, each Minister shall transfer to the Clerk any noncurrent records made or acquired during the duties of such Minister. 2. The Minister of Records shall deliver the records transferred together with any other noncurrent records of the House, to the National Archives and Records Department. Records so delivered are the permanent property of the House and remain subject to this rule and any order of the House.

RULE IV ORGANIZATION OF COMMITTEES

Committees and their legislative jurisdictions 1. There shall be in the House the following standing committees, each of which shall have the jurisdiction and related functions assigned. All bills, resolutions, and other matters relating to subjects within the jurisdiction of the standing committees listed in this clause shall be referred to those committees. Committee on Armed Services. Ammunition depots; forts; arsenals; and Army, Navy, and Air Force reservations and establishments. (2) Common defence generally. (3) Conservation, development, and use of naval petroleum and oil shale reserves. (4) The Department of Defence generally, including the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, generally. (5) Interoceanic canals generally, including measures relating to the maintenance, operation, and administration of interoceanic canals. (6) Merchant Marine Academy and State Maritime Academies. (7) Military applications of nuclear energy. (8) Tactical intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the Department of Defence. (9) National security aspects of merchant marine, including financial assistance for the construction and operation of vessels, maintenance of the U.S. shipbuilding and ship repair industrial base, cabotage, cargo preference, and merchant marine officers and seamen as these matters relate to the national security. (10) Pay, promotion, retirement, and other benefits and privileges of Ministers of the armed forces. (11) Scientific research and development in support of the armed services. (12) Selective service. (13) Size and composition of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force. (14) Soldiers’ and sailors’ homes. (15) Strategic and critical materials necessary for the common defence. (16) Cemeteries administered by the Department of Defence. Committee on Ethics. The Code of Official Conduct. (h) Committee on Financial Services. (1) Banks and banking, including deposit insurance and Federal monetary policy. (2) Economic stabilization, defence production, renegotiation, and control of the price of commodities, rents, and services. (3) Financial aid to commerce and industry. (4) Insurance generally. (5) International finance. (6) International financial and monetary organizations. (7) Money and credit, including currency and the issuance of notes and redemption thereof; gold and silver, including the coinage there of; valuation and revaluation of the dollar. (8) Public and private housing. (9) Securities and exchanges. (10) Urban development. Committee on House Administration. (1)​ ​Appropriations from accounts for committee salaries and expenses (2) Auditing and settling of all accounts described in subparagraph. (3) Raising, reporting, and use of campaign contributions for candidates for office of Representative, of Delegate, and of Resident Commissioner. (4) Election of the Prime Minister, Ministers; corrupt practices; contested elections; credentials and qualifications; and Federal elections generally. (5) Services to the House, including the House Restaurant, parking facilities, and administration of the House Office Buildings. Committee on the Judiciary. (1) The judiciary and judicial proceedings, civil and criminal. (2) Administrative practice and procedure. (3) Apportionment of Representatives. (4) Bankruptcy, mutiny, espionage, and counterfeiting. (5) Civil liberties. (6) Constitutional amendments. (7) Criminal law enforcement and criminalization. (8) Federal courts and judges, and local courts in the Territories and possessions. (9) Immigration policy and non- border enforcement. (10) Interstate compacts generally. (11) Claims against the Kingdom of Australand. (12) Meetings of the House; attendance of Ministers; and their acceptance of incompatible offices. (13) National penitentiaries. (14) Patents, the Patent and Trademark Office, copyrights, and trademarks. (15) King succession. (16) Protection of trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies. (17) Revision and codification of the Statutes of the Kingdom of Australand. (18) State and territorial boundary lines. (19) Subversive activities affecting the internal security of the Kingdom of Australand.Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. (1)​ ​Australand civil service, including intergovernmental personnel; and the status of officers and employees of the Kingdom of Australand, including their compensation, classification, and retirement. (2) Municipal affairs of the Cremorne Palace in general. (3) Federal paperwork reduction. (4) Government management and accounting measures generally. (5) Holidays and celebrations. (6) Overall economy, efficiency, and management of government operations and activities, including Federal procurement. (7) National archives. (8) Population and demography generally, including the Census. (9) Postal service generally, including transportation of the mails. (10) Public information and records. (11) Relationship of the Federal Government to the States and municipalities generally. (12) Reorganizations in the executive branch of the Government. Committee on Rules. Rules and joint rules (other than those relating to the Code of Official Conduct) and the order of business of the House. (2) Recesses and final adjournments of the House.

RULE V MOTIONS AND AMENDMENTS

Motions 1. Every motion entertained by the King shall be reduced to writing on the demand of a Minister or Prime Minister and, unless it is withdrawn the same day, shall be entered on the Journal with the name of the Minister offering it. A dilatory motion may not be entertained by the King. Withdrawal 2. When a motion is entertained, the King shall state it or cause it to be read aloud by Himself before it is debated. The motion then shall be in the possession of the House but may be withdrawn at any time before a decision or amendment thereon. Question of consideration 3. When a motion or proposition is entertained, the question, ‘‘Will the House now consider it?’’ may not be put unless demanded by a Minister or King. ​Precedence of motions 4. (a)​ ​When a question is under debate, only the following motions may be entertained (which shall have precedence in the following order): (1) To adjourn. (2) To lay on the table. (3) For the previous question. (4) To postpone to a day certain. (5) To refer. (6) To amend. (7) To postpone indefinitely. (b) A motion to adjourn, to lay on the table, or for the previous question shall be decided without debate. A motion to postpone to a day certain, to refer, or to postpone indefinitely, being decided, may not be allowed again on the same day at the same stage of the question. (c)(1) It shall be in order at any time for the King, in the discretion of the King, to entertain a motion— (A) that the King be authorized to declare a recess; or (B) that when the House adjourns it stand adjourned to a day and time certain. (2) Either motion shall be of equal privilege with the motion to adjourn and shall be decided without debate. Amendments 5. When an amendable proposition is under consideration, a motion to amend and a motion to amend that amendment shall be in order, and it also shall be in order to offer a further amendment by way of substitute for the original motion to amend, to which one amendment may be offered but which may not be voted on until the original amendment is perfected. An amendment may be withdrawn in the House at any time before a decision or amendment thereon. An amendment to the title of a bill or resolution shall not be in order until after its passage or adoption and shall be decided without debate. Readings 6. Bills and joint resolutions are subject to readings as follows: (a) A first reading is in full when the bill or joint resolution is first considered. (b) (c) A third reading precedes passage when the King states the question: ‘‘Shall the bill [or joint resolution] be engrossed [when applicable] and read a Second time?’’ If that question is decided in the affirmative, then the bill or joint resolution shall be read the final time by title and then the question shall be put on its passage.

RULE VI DECORUM AND DEBATE

Decorum 1. A Minister or King who desires to speak or deliver a matter to the House shall rise his hand and respectfully address the King and, on being recognized, may address the House from any place on the floor. When invited by the Chair, a Minister or King may speak from the Clerk’s desk. (b) Remarks in debate shall be confined to the question under debate, avoiding personality. Recognition 2. When two or more Minister or King raises their hands at once, the King shall name the Minister or King who is first to speak. A Minister or King may not occupy more than one hour in debate on a question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole House on the state of their department except as otherwise provided in this rule. Managing debate 3. (a) The Minister or King who calls up a measure may open and close debate thereon. When general debate extends beyond one day, that Minister or King shall be entitled to one hour to close without regard to the time used in opening. (b) Except as provided in paragraph (a), a Minister or King may not speak more than once to the same question without leave of the House. (c) A manager of a measure who opposes an amendment thereto is entitled to close controlled debate thereon. Call to order 4. If a Minister or King, in speaking or otherwise, transgresses the Rules of the House, the King shall, or a Minister or King may, call to order the offending Minister or King, who shall immediately stop unless permitted on motion of another Minister or King to explain. (b) The King shall decide the validity of a call to order. The House, if appealed to, shall decide the question without debate. If the decision is in favour of the Minister or King called to order, the Minister or King shall be at liberty to proceed, but not otherwise. If the case requires it, an offending Minister or King shall be liable to censure or such other punishment as the House may consider proper. A Minister or King may not be held to answer a call to order and may not be subject to the censure of the House therefor, if further debate or other business has intervened. Comportment 5. When the King is putting a question or addressing the House, a Minister may not walk out of or across the room. When a Minister is speaking, a Minister may not pass between the person speaking and the Chair. During the session of the House, a Minister may not wear a hat or remain by the Chair during the call of the roll or the counting of ballots. A person on the floor of the House may not smoke or use a mobile electronic device that impairs decorum. The King is charged with the strict enforcement of this clause. Parliamentary Record 8. The Parliamentary Record shall be a substantially verbatim account of remarks made during the proceedings of the House, subject only to technical, grammatical, and typographical corrections authorized by the Minister or King making the remarks. (b) Unparliamentary remarks may be deleted only by permission or order of the House. (c) This clause establishes a standard of conduct. Secret sessions 9. When confidential communications are received from the King, or when the King or a Minister informs the House that such individual has communications that such individual believes ought to be kept secret for the present, the House shall be cleared of all persons except the Members and King of the House for the reading of such communications, and debates and proceedings thereon, unless otherwise ordered by the House.

RULE VII CODE OF OFFICIAL CONDUCT

There is hereby established by and for the House the following code of conduct, to be known as the ‘‘Code of Official Conduct’’: 1. A Ministers of the House shall always behave in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House. 2. A Ministers of the House shall adhere to the spirit and the letter of the Rules of the House and to the rules of duly constituted committees thereof. 3. A Ministers of the House may not accept gifts. 5. A Ministers of the House may not accept an honorarium for a speech, a writing for publication, or other similar activity.