The Rules of the Proceedings and the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly
The Rules of the Proceedings and the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly are the rules that regulates and governs the internal business of the House.
The Legal Authority for the House to set its own Rules for its Proceedings is given to the Legislative Assembly under Clause 62 of the Constitution. The Legislative Assembly Act (Cap. 4) under section 18 further gives the House powers also to determine the 'provisions" for the members during their term in office. Hence, in 1991 when the Legislative Assembly selected the Standing Committee on Legislation to review the Standing Orders, the Standing Committee made the decision that these 2 authorities made it necessary to separate the rules accordingly into the "Rules of Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly" and the "Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly" but still publish under one volume.
The last time that the Rules of Proceedings and the Standing Orders were reviewed was in 2004, when the the Assembly selected the Standing Committee on Legislation to partake the job. As part of its review, the Committee sought the assistance of the Clerk of the New Zealand Parliament, Mr. David McGee QC (pictured below). Amongst the recommendations from the Clerk was increasing the number of Standing Committees from 2 to 5, the introduction of "Question Time" and the re-structuring of parliaments employment system for its officers. The committee also recommended that a Sub-Committee chaired by HRH Prince Tu'ipelehake be established and delegated the task of putting these changes into the Rules of Proceedings. Also included in this committee is the former People's No. 2 Representative of Vava'u, Dr. 'Etuate Lavulavu.
The Rules of Proceedings and the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly [PDF 318kb]