Template Standing Orders

Part 1 - Principles for Conduct of Meetings

All members shall be given the equal opportunity to speak. The Chairman shall endeavour to conduct the meeting in a free-flowing fashion. The members shall endeavour to be courteous to each other. The meeting may agree to structure discussion in a way appropriate to the issues, however this shall not prejudice the right of members to request the application of standing orders to ensure procedural fairness. These general principles do not affect the interpretation of any of the subsequent standing orders.

Part 2 – Standing Orders

Quorum

1. If a quorum is not present half an hour after the commencement time of the meeting appearing in the notice of the meeting sent to members, the meeting shall be terminated.

2. Meetings shall commence promptly at the time set out on the notice paper, or when a quorum is present, and shall continue until all business shown in the agenda has been dealt with or the meeting adjourns, or is otherwise closed pursuant to other provisions in the Standing Orders.

Application of Standing Orders

3. The Chairman of each meeting shall arrange the provision of a copy of the Standing Orders and the Divisional Constitution at each meeting.

4. A member may move, at any time when another member does not have the floor, a motion to suspend any Standing Order(s) on grounds of necessity.  The member proposing to move such a motion shall first state the ambit of the suspension and move that it is a matter of necessity that such motion be forthwith considered.  He shall be allowed 3 minutes to explain the necessity.  The question shall then be put by the Chairman forthwith.

Order of Business

5. The agenda shall be gone through in the order in which it is set out, unless altered by resolution of the meeting.

6(a) Subject to any provisions contained in this Constitution that requires notice to be given prior to its consideration or precludes the consideration of any other business, the agenda for any meeting shall include, or shall be deemed to include, the item "any other business".  However, under such an agenda item no motion proposing an amendment addition or deletion to the party platform at a Policy Convention shall be permitted.

(b) Any motion dealing with matter for which notice is required may not be moved in "any other business".

Motions to be Moved & Seconded

7. All motions (other than procedural motions) and amendments to motions, shall be submitted to the Chairman in writing.

8. All motions shall be duly proposed and seconded.  A motion lacking a mover or seconder shall immediately lapse.

9. When a motion is reached and there is no person present prepared to propose the motion, the motion shall be deferred until after all other motions on the agenda.  The Chairman will then call for a proposer of the motion.  If there is no such proposer, the motion shall be deemed to have lapsed.

10. Any members seconding a motion shall be entitled to speak to the motion at any time in the debate.

Objections

11. The Chairman, after calling the motion, shall then ask if there is any objection to the motion and, if no member objects, the motion shall be declared carried.  If there is an objection, the Chairman shall call on the mover and the seconder to speak to the motion.

Speaking Time Limits

12. The proposer of the original motion shall be allowed 8 minutes to introduce the motion and 5 minutes to reply to the debate.  Other speakers shall be limited to 5 minutes.  The meeting may, by resolution, extend the time during which any speaker may be allowed to continue.

13. Where, on a written agenda, a report to the meeting is to be considered, a period not exceeding 15 minutes shall be allowed for the asking of questions.

14. Unless otherwise resolved, each member shall have the right to speak:

(a) once on any motion, before the Chair,
(b) once on any amendment
(c) if the proposer of the motion, in reply to wind up the debate.

15. Not more than 30 minutes shall be allowed for the discussion of any subject (unless extended by the consent of the meeting) and, when such time has expired, the motion shall be put.

Questions

16. No questions may be asked of any speaker who has participated in a debate, except for the mover and seconder of the motion being debated.  Such questions shall only be asked immediately after the mover and seconder have first spoken and question time for each shall be limited to 5 minutes.

Minimum Debate Requirements

17. When a motion or amendment has been moved and seconded, no further speech in support of such motion or amendment shall be heard until after someone has spoken in opposition.

Amendments to Motions

18. Any member may move to amend a motion before the Chair.  A proposed amendment shall be consistent with the subject matter of the original motion and will be deemed “out-of-order” if it negates the general intent of the original motion.  Such amendment shall be seconded and, if not seconded, shall lapse.

19. When an amendment is before the Chair, no further amendments shall be decided until the first amendment has been disposed of.

20. Debate on all amendments shall take place during the discussion on the original motion and before the mover of a motion replies.

Powers and Responsibilities of the Chairman

21. The Chairman may conduct the meeting in an informal fashion, subject to the concurrence of the meeting.

22. When the Chairman rises to speak, any member on his feet shall resume his seat.

23. A member desiring to speak shall rise in his place and address the Chair.  If two or more members desire to address the Chair at the same time, the Chairman shall call upon the member who, in his opinion, was the first to rise.

24. The Chairman shall vacate the Chair to participate in the debate on any particular subject, and shall appoint a member of Management Committee at the meeting as Chairman pro temp. The Chairman shall vacate the Chair if they have a conflict of interest.

25. The Chairman may call upon any person who is responsible for noise or disturbance to withdraw from the meeting. In the event of intractable noise or disturbance, the Chairman may adjourn the meeting.

Personal Explanation

26. Any member may at any time make a personal explanation, although there may be no question before the Chair or if he has already spoken to a motion before the Chair, to explain himself in regard to some matter in which he has been quoted or misunderstood but in such case, he shall not introduce any new matter nor interrupt any member addressing the Chair.

Point of Order

27. Any member during a debate may raise a point of order and the speaker called to order shall sit down.  The member rising to order shall state concisely, within two minutes, the point of order.  The Chairman shall give his ruling without further discussion and, subject to that ruling, the person speaking when the point of order was raised shall be allowed to proceed.

Dissent in the Chairman

28. A member may move a motion of dissent in the ruling of the Chairman.  Should the motion be seconded, the member moving the motion shall have 2 minutes to state the reasons for dissent.  The Chairman shall then state within 2 minutes the reason why he made the ruling.  The motion shall then be put without further debate.

Moving “The Motion be Now Put”

29. A member of the meeting may move at any stage that "the motion be now put".  However, it shall not be in order to move that "the motion be now put" until at least two people, in addition to the proposer and seconder, shall have had an opportunity to speak on the question.

30. It shall not be in order to move that "the motion be not put".

Withdrawing or Adjourning Motions

31. Once accepted by the Chair, a motion shall be withdrawn only by leave of the meeting, but may be adjourned from time to time.

32. A member my at any stage of the debate, unless some other member has the floor, move the adjournment of the debate.  The Chairman shall, if the motion is seconded, put the motion with discussion.

Counting the Votes

33. In submitting the motion before the Chair to the meeting, the Chairman shall state the motion in clear and audible tones.  The motion shall be decided by showing of hands.  The Chairman shall declare the motion carried or lost and in the absence of a demand for a recount, the Chairman's declaration shall be final and conclusive and shall be recorded in the minutes.

34. Unless otherwise provided for in this Constitution, a motion shall be deemed carried if a majority of those voting vote in favour of it.

35. On an equality of votes for any motion, the Chairman shall have a casting vote. The Chairman shall only make a casting vote, and not have a deliberative vote.

Recounts and Divisions

36. Any member may require a recount.  The Chairman shall then again call for showing of hands for and against the motion.  The Chairman shall then declare the result of the further vote and such a declaration shall be final and conclusive and shall be recorded by the Secretary of the meeting, along with the number of ayes and noes, in the minutes, unless a division is considered desirable by the Chairman or is demanded by 10 members present

37. If a division is validly called for, the meeting shall appoint tellers for the ayes and the noes as well as a Returning Officer, and the meeting shall then divide.  On the report of the Returning Officer, the Chairman shall declare the result which shall be final and conclusive and recorded in the minutes, along with the number of ayes and noes.

Close of Meeting

38. Any member may at any time, when another member does not have the floor, move the adjournment of the meeting.  Such motion shall thereupon supersede the business before the Chair and shall immediately be put to the meeting.  If it be carried, the meeting shall stand adjourned to a time and place to be decided at the meeting.  If the motion be lost the meeting shall continue with the business before the Chair at the time the motion for adjournment was proposed.

39. No new business may be introduced after 10pm, unless the meeting expressly resolves otherwise prior to 10pm.

40. Where, at an ordinary meeting or Policy Convention, there remain agenda items not dealt with by the meeting, those agenda items shall be placed on the agenda of the next ordinary meeting or Policy Convention, as the case may be.

Rescinding Motions at Subsequent Meetings

41. No resolution dealt with at a meeting shall be again debated at the same meeting.  If it is desired that any motion carried by a meeting be rescinded, notice of motion for such recession shall be given with the notice of meeting and agenda for the meeting at which it is proposed to introduce such motion pursuant to the provision of this Constitution.