Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies/Article 8

by Henry M. Robert

Layout 2

 

Art. VIII. Miscellaneous.

[§§ 42–45.]

42. A Session of an assembly is a meeting^[1] which, though it may last for days, is virtually one meeting, as a session of a convention; or even months, as a session of Congress; it terminates by an “adjournment without day.” The intermediate adjournments from day to day, or the recesses taken during the day, do not destroy the continuity of the meeting—they in reality constitute one session. Any meeting which is not an adjournment of another meeting commences a new session. In the case of a permanent society, having regular meetings every week, month or year, for example, each meeting constitutes a separate session of the society, which session, however, can be prolonged by adjourning to another day.

If a Principal Motion [§ 6] is indefinitely postponed or rejected at one session, while it cannot be introduced again at the same session [see Renewal of a Motion, § 26], it can be at the next, unless it is prohibited by a rule of the assembly.

No one session of the assembly can interfere with the rights of the assembly at any future session,^[2] unless it is expressly so provided in their Constitution, By-Laws, or Rules of Order, all of which are so guarded (by requiring notice of amendments, and at least a two-thirds vote for their adoption) that they are not subject to sudden changes, but may be considered as expressing the deliberate views of the whole society, rather than the opinions or wishes of any particular meeting. Thus, if the presiding officer were ill, it would not be competent for one session of the assembly to elect a chairman to hold office longer than that session, as it cannot control or dictate to the next session of the assembly. By going through the prescribed routine of an election to fill the vacancy, giving whatever notice is required, it could then legally elect a chairman to hold office while the vacancy lasted. So it is improper for an assembly to postpone anything to a day beyond the next succeeding session, and thus attempt to prevent the next session from considering the question. On the other hand, it is not permitted to move a reconsideration [§ 27] of a vote taken at a previous session [though the motion to reconsider can be called up, provided it was made at the last meeting of the previous session]. Committees can be appointed to report at a future session.

Note on Session.—In Congress, and in fact all legislative bodies, the limits of the sessions are clearly defined; but in ordinary societies having a permanent existence, with regular meetings more or less frequent, there appears to be a great deal of confusion upon the subject. Any society is competent to decide what shall constitute one of its sessions, but, where there is no rule on the subject, the common parliamentary law would make each of its regular or special meetings a separate session, as they are regarded in this Manual.

The disadvantages of a rule making a session include all the meetings of an ordinary society, held during a long time, as one year, are very great. [Examine Indefinitely Postpone, § 24, and Renewal of a Motion, § 26.] If members of any society take advantage of the freedom allowed by considering each regular meeting a separate session, and repeatedly renew obnoxious or unprofitable motions, the society can adopt a rule prohibiting the second introduction of any principal question [§ 6] within, say, three or six months after its rejection, or indefinite postponement, or after the society has refused to consider it. But generally it is better to suppress the motion by refusing to consider it [§ 15].

43. A Quorum of an assembly is such a number as is competent to transact its business. Unless there is a special rule on the subject, the quorum of every assembly is a majority of all the members of the assembly. But whenever a society has a permanent existence it is usual to adopt a much smaller number, the quorum being often less than one-twentieth of its members; this becomes a necessity in most large societies, where only a small fraction of the members are ever present at a meeting.^[3]

The Chairman should not take the chair till a quorum is present, except where there is no hope of there being a quorum, and then no business can be transacted, except simply to adjourn. So whenever during the meeting there is found not to be a quorum present, the only thing to be done is to adjourn; though, if no question is raised about it, the debate can be continued, but no vote taken, except to adjourn.

In committee of the whole the quorum is the same as in the assembly; in any other committee the majority is a quorum, unless the assembly order otherwise, and it must wait for a quorum before proceeding to business. If the number afterwards should be reduced below a quorum, business is not interrupted, unless a member calls attention to the fact; but no question can be decided except when a quorum is present. Boards of trustees, managers, directors, etc., are on the same footing as committees, in regard to a quorum. Their power is delegated to them as a body, and what number shall be present, in order that they may act as a board, is to be decided by the society that appoints the board. If no quorum is specified, then a majority constitutes a quorum.

44. Order of Business. It is customary for every society having a permanent existence to adopt an order of business for its meetings. When no rule has been adopted, the following is the order:

(1) Reading the Minutes of the previous meeting (and their approval).

(2) Reports of Standing Committees.

(3) Reports of Select Committees.

(4) Unfinished Business.

(5) New Business.

Boards of managers, trustees, etc., come under the head of standing committees. If a subject has been made a “special order” [§ 13] for the day, it takes precedence of all business except reading the minutes. The “orders of the day” [§ 13], which include business postponed to this meeting, come in with unfinished business.

If it is desired to transact business out of its order, it is necessary to suspend the rules [§ 18], which can only be done by a two-thirds vote; but, as each subject comes up, a majority can at once lay it on the table [§ 19], and thus reach any question which they desire to first dispose of.

The order of business, in considering any report or proposition containing several paragraphs^[4] or sections, is as follows:

The whole paper should be read entirely through by the clerk; then the Chairman should read it, or have it read, by paragraphs,^[5] pausing at the end of each, and asking, “Are there any amendments proposed to this paragraph?” If none are offered, he says, “No amendments being offered to this paragraph, the next will be read.” He then reads the next, and proceeds thus to the last paragraph, when he states that the whole report or all of the resolutions have been read and are open to amendment. He finally puts the question on agreeing to or adopting the whole paper as amended. If there is a preamble it should be read after the last paragraph; but if all the resolutions fail, the preamble goes with them, and is not, therefore, read.

If the paper has been reported back by a committee with amendments, the clerk reads only the amendments, and the Chairman then reads the first and puts it to the question, and so on till all the amendments are adopted or rejected, admitting amendments to the committee’s amendments, but no others. When through with the committee’s amendments, the Chairman pauses for any other amendments to be proposed by the assembly; and when these are voted on he puts the question on agreeing to or adopting the paper as amended. Where the resolutions have been just read by the member presenting them, the reading by the clerk is usually dispensed with without the formality of a vote. By “suspending the rules” [§ 18], or by general consent, a report can be at once adopted without following any of the above routine.

45. Amendments of Rules of Order. These rules can be amended at any regular meeting of the assembly, by a two-thirds vote of the members present, provided the amendment was submitted in writing at the previous regular meeting. And no amendment to Constitutions or By-Laws shall be permitted, without at least equal notice and a two-thirds vote.^[6]

1. In this Manual the term Meeting is used to denote an assembling together of the members of a deliberative assembly for any length of time, during which there is no separation of the members by adjournment. An adjournment to meet again at some other time, even the same day, terminates the meeting, but not the session, which latter includes all the adjourned meetings. The next meeting, in this case, would be an ‘‘adjourned meeting’’ of the same session.

   A ‘‘meeting” of an assembly is terminated by a temporary adjournment; a “session’’ of an assembly ends with an adjournment without day, and may consist of many meetings. Sometimes a recess is taken for a few minutes, and this does not terminate the “meeting.”

   In ordinary practice a meeting is closed by moving simply ‘‘to adjourn;” the society meet again at the time provided either by their rules or by a resolution of the society. If they do not meet till the time for the next regular meeting, as provided in the By-Laws, then the adjournment closed the session, and was in effect an adjournment without day. If, however, they had previously fixed the time for the next meeting, either by a direct vote or by adopting a programme of exercises covering several meetings, or even days, in either case the adjournmer.t is in effect to a certain day, and does not close the session. When an assembly has meetings for several days consecutively, they all constitute one session.

2. Any one session can adopt a rule or resolution of a permanent nature, and it continues in force until at some future sessionit is rescinded. But these Standing Rules [§ 49], as they are termed, do not interfere with future sessions, because at any moment a majority can suspend or rescind them, or adopt new ones.
3. While a quorum is competent to transact any business, it is usually not expedient to transact important business unless there is a fair attendance at the meeting, or else previous notice of such action has been given. In the English Parliament, the House of Lords, consisting of about four hundred and fifty members, can proceed to business if three members are present; and the House of Commons, with about six hundred and fifty members, requires only forty members for a quorum. The U. S. Constitution [Art. I, Sec. 5] provides that a majority of each House of Congress shall constitute a quorum to do business.
4. By “paragraphs” is meant in this rule the separate divisions of the proposition, and they may be Articles, Sections or Paragraphs.
5. No vote should be taken on the adoption of the several paragraphs,—one vote being taken finally on the adoption of the whole paper. By not adopting separately the different paragraphs, it is in order, after they have all been amended, to go back and amend any of them stilt further. In committee a similar paper would be treated the same way [see § 28]. In § 48 (b) an illustration is given of the practical application of this section.

   If each paragraph or section is adopted separately, it is improper afterwards to vote on the adoption of the whole report, as this would be voting to adopt what has been already adopted in detail. So too it is out of order to go back and amend a paragraph that has been adopted, until after it has been reconsidered.

6. Constitutions, By-Laws and Rules of Order should always prohibit their being amended by less than a two-thirds vote, and without previous notice of the amendment being given. The object of this notice is to inform the society that the subject-matter of the amendment will be up for consideration and action at a certain time. It is not to be inferred that notice is required to amend this amendment; if this were the case it would almost be impossible to properly amend By-Laws, etc. But this last amendment must be germane to the original amendment: no other amendment is in order or can delay action on the original amendment. In many cases the By-Laws provide that an amendment must be read at a certain number of regular meetings before being acted upon: the first reading is by the clerk when it is first proposed, and after the last reading it is up for action: so that if it has to be read at three regular meetings, in a society with regular weekly meetings, action on an amendment would be delayed for only two weeks after it was first proposed.

   A motion that conflicts with the Constitution, By-Laws, Rules of Order or Standing Rules, is out of order. [See note to § 49 for the distinctions between these various kinds of rules.] If the By-Laws should contain rules that it may be desirable to occasionally suspend, then they should state how they can be suspended. If there is no such provision, it is impossible to suspend any rule except such as simply relate to the transaction of business, if a single member objects [§ 18]. Under such circumstances the English parliamentary law would not permit any rule to be suspended.