Introduction:
The following Rules have been
drafted by Somalilandlaw.com and include ALL the provisions of the current
Rules of the House which were adopted in January 2006, but also cover other
aspects, such as the position of the political parties in the House, detailed
provisions for the work of the committees, more streamlined procedures for
dealing with draft legislation, procedures for putting into effect the oversight powers of the House and procedures for dealing with all
the main other functions of the House.
The Rules are based on those of
Houses of Representatives in presidential systems of government, and in
particular, those of the Philippines, the US and some South American countries,
but they are also very much grounded on the Somaliland Constitution and customs.
Somalilandlaw.com hopes that even
if none of the proposals are adopted by the House, these draft Rules may help when
issues that are not covered by current Rules arise, as indeed all the
provisions in these draft Rules are based on the powers and duties of the House as set out in the Constitution.
For any comments, please contact ibrahim@somalilandlaw.com
THE
(DRAFT
NEW) RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
Noting that: the legislative powers of the Republic are
vested in the two Houses of Parliament
and that the power to legislate cannot be transferred to anyone outside the
Parliament as set out in Article 38 of the Constitution;
Cognisant of: the
duty of the House of Representatives to
make laws that effectively respond to the needs of our people and fulfil their
aspirations for a just and humane society where every person can enjoy the
blessings of freedom and democracy in a state strengthened by the rule of law
and social justice;
Conscious
of: the pressing need for the revision of all the
old laws and the introduction of new laws that are in accord with the
Constitution of the Republic and the aspirations of the
Aware of: the public trust reposed in the
members of the House of Representatives, who are also accountable to the people
at all times;
Stressing that: the members of the House shall perform their
legislative and other duties with utmost competence, efficiency, effectiveness,
integrity and fidelity to the people’s welfare and the national interest.
Aware of: the need to ensure that the House works and
is organised in a way which will enable to function as an effective legislative
body with proper constitutional oversight of the work of the Executive;
Noting
that: under Article 46(3) of the Constitution, the
House has power to adopt its own Rules and shall establish such committees, as
it deems necessary;
Conscious
that: the previous Standing Rules of the House
which were adopted on 16 June 1997 and subsequently revised in March 1999 are
no longer adequate to meet the demands of a popularly elected House which is based
on a multi-party system and that Revised Standing Rules adopted by the House on
2 January 2006 needs updating so that the House can have a
comprehensive set of Rules which guide all aspects of its work;
HAS HERBY
APPROVED THE FOLLOWING RULES
GENERAL
PROVISIONS
Article 1: The Seat of the House
1.
The seat of the House is the capital city of the country,
Hargeisa.
2.
The Speaker may authorise meetings of the committees or sub-committees
of the House to sit, in the furtherance of their duties, at any place outside
Hargeisa, or, in exceptional circumstances and with the approval of the House
on a simple majority, at any place outside the country.
Article 2: The Seal
The seal of the House is a mature
tree underneath which is a wooden cross-shaped book holder displaying an open
copy of the Quran.
Article 3: Language
In line with Article 6 of the
Constitution, the proceedings and the activities of the House shall be
conducted in the country’s official language, Somali. Arabic shall be the second language and other
languages shall be used, when condidered necessary.
Article 4: The Rules of the House
As set out in Article 46(3) of the
Constitution, the Rules of the House shall be adopted during the first session
of each newly elected House and shall continue to be in force until such time they
are amended by the House or replaced by a newly elected House.
MEMBERSHIP
Article 5: Composition
The House
shall consist of the 82 elected representatives as declared by the Supreme
Court after the General Election.
Article 6:
Loss of membership
1)
Membership of the House shall be lost in accordance
with Article 50 of the Constitution.
These are:
a) The death of the member
or incapacity which makes it impossible for him to fulfil his duties.
b) The voluntary
resignation by the member, which has been accepted by the House.
c) If one of the
pre-requisite conditions of his election is broken; or the member fails to
fulfil his duties.
d) The passing of a final
sentence on the member for a crime which has been proven in a court.
e) The absence, without a
valid excuse, of the member from 20 (twenty) consecutive sittings.
2)
Incapacity as set out in the preceding Clause 1(a) of
this Article may be mental or physical and shall be certified by a committee of
no less than three recognised medical experts.
3)
Issues relating to loss of membership caused, other
than by death, shall be referred to the Permanent Committee of the House which,
having confirmed that the reasons for loss of membership accord with the
provisions of the Constitution, shall report to the House. The Committee shall accord the member and or
his representatives an opportunity to make any submissions and shall make any
such enquiries that they deem necessary.
4)
The House shall consider the report and recommendation
of the Committee and shall reach a decision on a simple majority vote. The
members of the Permanent Committee may participate in the discussion, but will
not be eligible to vote on the final resolution of the House.
5)
If the House confirms the loss of membership, the
Speaker shall issue a declaration and inform promptly the National Electoral
Commission (NEC) which, in accordance with Article 14(2) of the House of
Representatives Elections Law, shall, within two weeks, inform formally the Speaker
and the Supreme Court the name of the appropriate substitute candidate on the
regional list of the party to whom the person who lost his membership of the
House belonged. The Speaker shall then
inform the new member and arrange his swearing- in ceremony within 10 days of
the date of receipt of the NEC confirmation.
6)
In case of death of a member, the Speaker shall inform
the NEC within 10 days of the Speaker’s receipt of the death certificate and
the procedure set out in the preceding Clause of this article shall then be
followed. The Speaker, may, however, refer to the Permanent Committee for
investigation and confirmation in the exceptional circumstance where the death
of a member cannot be easily confirmed, in which case, the procedures set out
in Clauses 3 and 4 of this Article shall be followed, as appropriate, and the
Committee may also, in exceptional cases where the death cannot be established
readily, to consult the Attorney General for a court declaration under Article
309 of the Civil Procedure Code.
Article 7: The Term of Office
1)
Members of the House elected at the General Election
shall serve for a term of five (5) years that begins, as set out in Article
42(1) of the Constitution, from the date the Supreme Court declares the
electoral results in line with Article 59 of the House of Representatives
Elections Law (Law NO: 20-02 /2005).
2)
As set out in Article 51 of the Constitution, no seat
of the House which becomes vacant after six months from the end of the term of
the incumbent House shall be filled.
3)
A substitute candidate who takes up the place of a
member who loses office in accordance with Article 50 of the Constitution,
shall serve for the remainder of the term of office of his replacement
Article 8: The
Powers and Duties of the House
1)
The powers and duties of the House of Representatives are
set out in the Constitution and in any other relevant laws.
2)
The House is the first branch of the Somaliland
Legislature and represents the whole
3)
The main duties are:
a) the
consideration and approval of all draft legislation;
b) the
consideration and approval of all draft legislation laws and regulations
relating to all public bodies, including independent public agencies, publicly
owned corporations and other public organs;
c) the
oversight of the workings of all the branches of the executive, including independent
public agencies, publicly owned corporations and other public;
d) confirmation
of presidential appointments as set out in the constitution and any laws;
e) approval
of the national budget, consideration of the annual accounts and oversight of
the budgetary expenditure as set out in the Constitution and any other law;
f)
decisions relating to finance, taxation and issue of
currency as set out in the Constitution and the law;
g) providing
advice to the government and discussing and commenting on the programmes of the
Government and their implementation;
h) undertaking
any such enquiries or investigation as are relevant to its powers and duties;
i)
representing
the interests of the electorate, as well as those of the nation;
j)
Any other duties and functions assigned to the House
by the Constitution and other laws.
Article 9:
the Duties of the Members
1) In order to fulfill their
duties, Members shall:
a)
prepare, introduce and work for the passage of
legislative measures which address effectively the social, political and
economic needs and concerns of the nation;
b)
participate actively in deliberations of the House and
of the Committees;
c) articulate
faithfully the demands and interests of the nation, their parties, as well as
their constituencies;
d) perform
such other actions as may be lawful and necessary to ensure that the duties of
the House are carried out effectively and efficiently;
e) Participate
fully in any other duties to be undertaken by the members of the House.
2)
Members shall abide by the Rules of the House, the
laws of the land and the provisions of the Constitution.
Article 10: Immunities, Limitations and
Disqualifications
1)
The privileges and immunities of members are set out
in Article 49 of the Constitution.
2)
Any issues relating to the privileges and immunities
of members shall be referred to the Permanent Committee for investigation and
reporting to the Speaker who shall, when appropriate, put to the House, when it
is in session, or to the Standing Committee, when the House is not in session,
for a decision, in line with Article 49(5) and 49(6) of the Constitution.
3)
As set out in Article 48 of the Constitution, a Member
shall not hold any other public office or employment in the Government, or any
public agency or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or
controlled corporations or subsidiaries, during his term without forfeiting his
seat in the House.
4)
A Member shall not also be appointed to any office
created or the emoluments thereof increased during the term of such Member.
5)
During his term of office, a Member shall not appear
personally or act as counsel for the Government, or any instrumentality
thereof, including any a or a public agency or a government-owned or controlled
corporation, or its subsidiaries, or be directly or indirectly financially
interested in any contract with, or in any franchise or special privilege
granted by these public bodies. This
does not extend to any legal aid which may be paid in connection with private
clients that the member any acted for, as counsel.
6)
As set out in Article 48 of the constitution, a Member
shall not use his office for private gain.
He is similarly prohibited from intervening in any matter before any
office of the Government for his pecuniary benefit or where he may be called
upon to act on account of his office.
Article 11:
Salaries and Benefits
1)
In accordance with Article 47 of the Constitution, the
salaries and benefits of Members including expenses, medical care and training
shall be set out in law (which will repeal the Parliamentary Remuneration and
Expenses Law - Law No: 13 of 2000).
2)
Members shall be entitled to salaries and benefits
from beginning of their term of office which is as defined in Rule 7(1) above,
to the end of the term of office which is normally the day before the date when
the Supreme Court declares the results of the election of the incoming House .
3)
Female members shall be entitled to four months
maternity leave starting from the end of the seventh month of the pregnancy.
Members on maternity leave shall enjoy the same benefits and privileges as
other members and are entitled to receive once a month copies of the House
resolutions and minutes.
4)
Any Member barred legally by the Speaker from
attending sessions and/or performing such other functions relating to his
office as a legislator shall be denied salary, other compensation, office space
and other privileges to which Members are entitled as of the date such bar
becomes effective. However, upon the lifting or cessation of such bar, the
salary and other entitlements that were denied shall, forthwith, be restored.
OFFICERS
Article 12: Election of Officers
1)
The officers of the House, the Speaker and the two Deputy
Speakers, shall be elected at the inaugural meeting of the newly elected House in
line with Article 36 of these Rules and whenever there is a vacancy.
2)
A vacancy is created whenever any of the officers dies,
resigns or is permanently incapacitated, or otherwise loses office in
accordance with Article 50 of the Constitution or when the Members vote and
declare any office vacant in accordance with this Rule.
3)
Any 27 members of the House may propose a motion that any
or all the offices of the House be declared vacant. On receipt of the written and signed motion,
the Speaker and the General Secretary shall ensure that the motion is put as
the first item of business in the meeting of the House on the following day.
4)
The motion shall be put to the House at a quorate meeting
and, after listening to speeches from the proposers and opposers of the motion,
the matter shall be put to the vote by show of hand, provided, that in the case
of the office of Speaker, the General Secretary shall call the name of each
member from the roll and record the vote of each Member which shall be cast
without any speech or explanation by each member. The motion shall be carried
if 55 members vote for it.
5)
If the motion which is carried by a vote of 55 members is
proposing that all the three offices be declared vacant, then the meeting shall
promptly move on to the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speakers. In such a case, the voting for the offices
shall be chaired by the oldest member of the House and the actual voting shall
be conducted in accordance with the provisions set out in Article 36(4) - (6) of
these Rules.
6)
To ensure continuity of the work of the House, newly
elected officers shall assume their offices immediately after their election.
7)
Any motion to the effect that an office of the House shall
be made vacant tendered within the last three months of the term of the House
shall require the support of 43 members before
it is put on the agenda of the House and is voted upon.
Article 13: Term of Office
Unless replaced earlier in
accordance with the preceding Article 12, the officers of the House shall hold
office until the end of the term of the House which elected them.
Article 14: Absence or Temporary Incapacity
In case of absence or temporary
incapacity of any of the officers to perform the functions of their office, the
following rules shall apply:
a)The first Deputy
Speaker chosen shall assume the duties and the powers of the Speaker when the
latter is absent or temporarily incapacitated.
b) In the absence of both
the Speaker and the first Deputy Speaker, the second Deputy Speaker shall
assume the duties and the powers of the Speaker.
c)In the extremely
unusual situation where all three officers are absent or incapacitated and the
House has to meet for reasons of an emergency that cannot await the return of
either of the three officers, the Speaker and the Deputies shall designate
beforehand at the beginning of each session a temporary presiding officer who
shall preside over such emergency meeting until such time that one of them
returns to the performance of his duties. In such a meeting no resolutions,
other than those relating to the unusual emergency shall be passed without the
presence of the elected officers.
Article 15: Resignation, Death,
Permanent Incapacity or Vacancy
1)
In case of resignation, death, or permanent incapacity of
the Speaker, or a vacancy of any such office arising in line with Article 50 of
the Constitution, but not by a motion of the members of the House as set out in
Article 12 above, the first Deputy Speaker shall assume the duties of the
Speaker until a new Speaker is elected within 15 days of the resignation.
2)
If the vacancy relates to any of the offices of Deputy
Speakers, the Speaker shall arrange an election within 15 days.
3)
If a vacancy arises during a recess, the election to fill the
vacancy shall take place at the first sitting of the House after the recess.
4)
The resignation of any of the officers shall be submitted
in writing to the General Secretary and shall be put to the House for
acceptance on a simple majority vote by show of hand.
5)
The election relating to the vacant office of Speaker shall
be chaired by the first Deputy Speaker, unless he is standing for election as
the Speaker, in which case the second Deputy Speaker shall chair the
meeting. If the latter is also standing
for the election, the election meeting shall be chaired by the oldest member of
the House.
6)
When one or both of the Deputy Speakers decide
to stand for election to a vacant Speaker’s post, they shall resign their
office first and their resignation shall be dealt with in line with Clause 3 of
this Article.
THE
SPEAKER
Article 16: Duties and Powers
1)
The Speaker, as the political and administrative head of
the House, and in consultation with the Deputy Speakers, is responsible for the
overall management of the proceedings, activities, resources, facilities and
employees of the House.
2)
The Speaker shall:
a) prepare the agenda for every ordinary and extra-ordinary
session and establish systems and procedures to ensure full and exhaustive
deliberation and swift approval of measures included theren, with the
assistance of the Deputy Speakers, and in consultation with the Majority
Leader, the chairmen of the committees, as well as the Minority Leader and any
other Members of the House as he may choose;
b) inform the House of the start and ending of sessions, and the
order and schedule of business of the House and its Committees;
c) conduct a regular quarterly meeting of all the Chairmen of
the Committees or as often as may be necessary, to discuss priority measures
and to facilitate dialogue, consensus and action on issues and concerns
affecting the House and the performance of its functions;
d) exercise general supervision over all the Committees and, in
furtherance thereof, conduct regular monthly meetings with the Chairmen of the
committees to set legislative targets, to review performance in the attainment
of such targets, to ensure that the priorities of the Committees are attuned to
the legislative agenda of the House, and to discuss and resolve issues and
concerns that affect the operations and performance of the Committees;
e) establish an information management system in the House that
can facilitate access to and dissemination of data and information needed in
legislation, systematise gathering, recording, storage and recall of data and
information relating to activities and proceedings of the House. and sustain a
public information program that disseminates accurate information on the House
in a timely manner;
f) establish
an efficient and effective system to monitor and evaluate the performance of the
House, its Members and its Committees;
g) establish close links
and working mechanisms with the House of Elders of Somaliland which facilitate
action on bills transmitted to each House and the joint meetings as well as any
joint or concurrent resolutions;
h) preside over the meetings of the House and decide on all
questions of order, as well adjournment of meetings unless there are motions to
the contrary;
i) take appropriate measures as he may deem advisable or as the
House may direct to preserve security, order and decorum in the meeting hall,
the galleries, lobbies, chambers, offices, corridors and premises of the House;
j) affix
his signature on all bills, resolutions, and decisions that may be issued by or
upon order of the House;
k) perform
administrative functions attached to his office that include, among others:
i)
appointing the personnel of the House with authority to
delegate this power;
ii) administering the oath
of office to the General Secretary and the Advisers;
ii) suspending, dismissing or, in any manner,
imposing necessary disciplinary measures on House personnel in accordance with the
relevant rules, provided that, the suspension or dismissal of the General
Secretary shall take effect only upon the concurrence of the majority of all
the Members;
iii) consolidating or splitting vacant positions
carrying salaries and wages which may be increased or reduced in the process,
and/or creating new positions provided that the total amount involved shall not
exceed the total amount appropriated for the salaries and wages of the
personnel of the House; and
iv) implementing
merit-based policies and programs on personnel recruitment, training and
development, promotions, incentives and benefits to ensure that the House has a
corps of competent professionals able to provide needed legislative support
services.
l) prepare the annual budget of the House with the assistance of
the Budget & Economy Committee; and
m)
require the
submission of performance reports at the end of every regular session and every
fiscal year from the Committee Chairmen, the General Secretary and, and such
other reports as may be required from all concerned officers of the House.
Article 17: Representation in
International Parliamentary Gatherings and Organisations
1)
The Speaker shall be the permanent representative of the
House and head of any delegation in all international gatherings and
organisations of parliamentarians and legislators, but he may designate any of
his two Deputies, or when appropriate, the Chairman of a Committee, to act as a
representative of the House or head of any such delegation.
2)
The Speaker shall also determine, in consultation with his
Deputies and the Majority and Minority Leaders, who shall constitute the House
delegation to any international conference or forum of parliamentarians or legislators.
Article 18: Right to Vote
The Speaker shall not be compelled
to vote, except in the case of a tie of votes.
THE
DEPUTY SPEAKERS
Article 19: Duties and Powers
1) The duties and powers of the First
Deputy Speaker are:
a) to assume the duties and powers of the
Speaker when the Speaker is absent or temporarily incapacitated, until such
time that the Speaker returns to the performance of his duties; and, in case of
resignation, removal, permanent incapacity or death of the Speaker, until such
time that a new Speaker is elected and qualified;
b)
to preside over the House meetings when, even if present,
the Speaker does not preside;
c)
to recommend to the Speaker appropriate policies,
strategies and programs of action to improve the pace and quality of
legislation and to address effectively issues and concerns of Members on
matters affecting them, their constituencies, and the overall operations and
integrity of the House;
d)
to perform such other duties and functions as may be
assigned and/or delegated by the Speaker.
3)
The duties and powers of the Second Deputy mirror those of
the First Deputy, but shall be exercised only in the absence, temporary
incapacity of both the Speaker and the First Deputy Speaker, until one of them
returns to the performance of his duties, and, in case of resignation, removal,
permanent incapacity or death of both of the Speaker and the Deputy, until such
time that a new Speaker and a new deputy Speaker is elected. The Speaker may,
however, assign any such duties or functions to the Second Deputy, as he
thinks, appropriate.
4)
The Speaker and the two Deputies shall work together as a
team. They shall not be all absent from
a sitting of the House unless they have informed the House of such an eventuality,
at least a day before the meeting.
THE
SECRETARIAT AND PARLIAMENTARY ADVISERS
Article 20: The Secretariat
1) The secretariat of the House consists of
the General Secretary, his deputy, and any section directors and staff, as may
be necessary.
2) The duties and powers of the General
Secretary are:
a)
to prepare the Order of Business for the inaugural session
of the House;
b)
enforce orders and decisions of the House which he is
mandated to enforce;
c)
prepare and distribute the Calendar of Business of the
House;
d)
attend all sessions of the House, call the roll of the
Members and read bills, resolutions, messages, communications, petitions and
other documents which should be reported by him to the House or the reading of
which is required by the House or the Speaker;
e)
to note all questions of order and the decisions thereon;
f) to
keep and to certify the Minutes of each
meeting of the House and of the Committees, which shall be a clear and succinct
account of the business conducted and actions taken by the House or by the
committees;
g)
to provide the House with information on approved bills to
be transmitted to the House of Elders and/or to the President for action;
h)
within three (3) months after the close of a regular
session, to complete the printing of and placing at the House Archives the
Records of the House for each regular session and of the laws and Resolutions
passed and adopted during the same, all properly indexed;
i) within
three (3) months after the close of a regular session, to send printed copies
of the Record of the House to the President of the
j) to
cause to be printed and delivered to each relevant Committee Member, a list of
the reports which each Minister or Head of Government Department is required to
submit to the House;
k)
to procure and retain in the library of the
House and/or in his/her office sufficient copies of books, records and
documents for the use of the Members and the Officers of the House;
l) to certify and affix the seal of the House on all approved
bills, laws, orders, and resolutions;
m)
to affix the seal of the House on all other formal
documents issued by or upon order of the House or the Speaker;
n)
to submit to the Speaker all contracts and agreements and
other documents relating to the House for approval;
o)
to recommend to the Speaker policies and programs on
recruitment of competent professionals and other staff and to appoint support
staff when so authorised by the Speaker;
p)
to appoint the staff of the Secretariat after he has
received the approval of the Speaker in line with Article 52(3) of the
Constitution;
q)
to ensure that the
employees of the House perform their duties competently, efficiently and
effectively, and in furtherance thereof, to impose, when necessary,
disciplinary measures and recommend dismissal of employees to the Speaker in
accordance with the appropriate service rules;
r) to ensure that the employees of the House provide necessary
technical and other support services to the Members,
s) to acquire the necessary facilities and equipment under the
direction of the Speaker;
t) to
act as custodian of the archives, records and property of the House and all
government property within the House premises, and to make an inventory of all
these archives, records and property at the beginning and end of each regular
session;
u)
To prepare and submit to the House, through the Speaker,
at the end of each fiscal year, a comprehensive report on the performance of
the House Secretariat and other Staff and the expenditures incurred in the
operations thereof, and
v)
to perform other duties that may be assigned or ordered by
the House or by the Speaker.
3)
The Secretariat shall assist the General Secretary in the
performance of the above duties.
Article 21: The House Chief Security Officer
As soon as practicable, the
Speaker and the General Secretary shall appoint a Chief Security Officer whose
duties and powers shall be:
a)
to be present in all sessions of the House unless excused
by the Speaker or the Presiding Officer, and through his staff, when required,
in all meetings of the Committees;
b)
to enforce strictly rules relating to admission to the session
hall, the galleries, offices, corridors and premises of the House building;
c)
to ensure that security officers under his supervision
observe proper behaviour and perform faithfully their duties;
d)
to implement orders and serve all processes issued by
authority of the House or by the Speaker;
e)
to be responsible for the security and maintenance of order
in the session hall, galleries, offices, corridors and premises of the House
building during sessions, and during the conduct of meetings of committees and
other proceedings or activities of the House whether the House is in session or
not;
f) to
be responsible for the safety of the Members while in the House premises or, as
the Speaker may direct, in any other place;
g)
to be responsible for the security of the properties of
the House;
h)
to recommend to the Speaker, and to implement upon the
direction of the Speaker, security management systems, policies and programs
that will ensure security and the maintenance of order in the House and its
premises, protect the safety of the Members and employees, visitors and other
persons who are within the premises of the House on official business, and the
preservation of properties, equipment, facilities, documents and records of the
House; and
i) to prepare and submit to the House, through the Speaker and
the General Secretary, at the end of every fiscal year, a performance report
relating to the security and maintenance of order in the House.
Article 22: Legal Adviser and Chief Draftsman
The Speaker shall appoint a Legal Adviser and Chief Draftsman whose
duties are:
a) to advise the Speaker,
the House and all the Committees on the Constitution and on all legal matters;
b) to lead a team of lawyers
and legal draftsman who can assist the House and the Committee in the drafting
of legislation, amendments, resolutions
and other legal documents;
c) together with the General
Secretary, to ensure that all legislation passed by the House is printed correctly and copies are kept at
the House Library;
d) to advise the Speaker and
the Committee Chairmen on any issues relating to the Rules of the House; and
e) to participate, as
appropriate, in any initiatives or
committees aimed at revising or consolidating
Article 23: Other Advisers
The Speaker may also appoint other
advisers, as and when necessary.
Article 24: Salary and other Conditions
1)
The Salary and Remuneration of the General Secretary, the
Secretariat staff, the House Chief Security Officer, the Legal Adviser, any
other advisers, as well as all the other staff of the House shall be set
periodically by the House. The
conditions of employment of all the staff of the House shall be broadly similar
to comparable jobs and grades in the Somaliland civil service, but are set out
in a separate law - the House of Representatives Employees Law – Law No: 15 of 26/2/2000.
2) Any appeals arising out of the grievance
or disciplinary decisions relating to employees of the House and made by the
Speaker shall be dealt by the Permanent Committee of the House.
POLITICAL PARTIES
Article 25: The Majority and the
Minority
1)
The Party or Parties who voted for the winning
candidate for Speaker at the inaugural meeting of the House and at any
subsequent challenging vote for the office of Speaker under Article 12 of these
Rules, shall constitute the majority in the House and they shall elect from
among themselves the Majority Leader who can be changed only by a majority vote
of all the majority members, at any time.
2)
Those who voted for the losing candidate(s) for
Speaker shall constitute the minority in the House. These Members shall elect
from among themselves the Minority Leader who can be changed only by a majority
vote of all the minority members at any time.
3)
The majority and minority shall elect one Deputy
Majority and Minority Leader.
4)
As the Somaliland Constitution allows only three
Parties, each majority and minority of the House can only consist of one or two
of the Parties.
5)
The Speaker and his Deputies shall hold regular consultation
meetings and with the Majority and Minority Leaders and their deputies so as to
facilitate the business of the House and its committees.
THE
COMMITTEES
Article 26: Types of Committees and their general
functions
1)
The House shall have standing committees, special or ad
hoc committees and joint committees as may be deemed necessary for the
performance of the duties and powers of the House, as set out in Article 46(2)
of the Constitution.
2)
The functions of the various types of Committees are:
a) Standing Committees shall have jurisdiction over the needs,
concerns, issues and interests affecting the general welfare and/or which
require continuing and/or intensive parliamentary or legislative study,
attention and action.
b) Special committees or Ad hoc committees shall address special or urgent needs,
concerns, issues and interests of certain sectors or constituencies requiring
immediate parliamentary or legislative study and action, or such needs,
concerns, issues and interests that may fall within the scope of the
jurisdiction of a standing committee, but which the standing committee
concerned is unable to act upon with the necessary dispatch. Ad hoc committees are normally set up for a
short duration on any subject and shall disband when they report on the matter
on which they have been entrusted to study.
Special and ad hoc committees shall function in accordance with the terms
of reference set for them by the House.
b) Joint committees are those set up with the members
of the House of Elders on any specific subject and may well have the
characteristics of a standing, or special /ad hoc committee.
3)
Without prejudice to any other duties and powers given by
the House to a specific Committee, the main duties and powers of all the
Committees are:
a) to study and act upon all issues including bills
and resolutions referred to them and make recommendations to the House within
the deadlines set for them by the House;
b) to conduct research and studies, hold
consultations with affected sectors and constituencies, and seek the assistance
of experts and professionals from the public or private sectors as may be
needed in the performance of their functions;
c) to establish appropriate systems and
procedures to ensure that constituencies, sectors and groups whose interests
are affected by any measures or issues they are considering are given
sufficient opportunities to be heard;
d) to conduct, upon a majority vote of all
their Members or on referral by the House, hearings and inquiries on issues and concerns
within their respective jurisdictions;
e) to debate and comment on the programme
of work and budget the Government ministries, departments, agencies and other
public bodies and agencies, and to formulate any advice or recommendation.
f) to keep oversight of the work of the
relevant government departments, public agencies and any other publicly owned
corporations, and, in the furtherance of this duty to summon, in line with
Article 53(6) and 53(7) of the Constitution, the appropriate ministers, heads
of departments ore heads of agencies and public corporations so as to seek
explanations about the performance of their duties;
g) without prejudice to any legal
proceedings, to enquire into any credible information indicating malfeasance or
misuse or abuse of public office committed by members of the Executive and
officers and employees of the government and public organisations on its own initiative
or upon order of the House.
5) Each standing committee may create such
working sub-committees as may be necessary for the efficient and effective
performance of its functions, provided that all decisions shall be taken or
endorsed by the Committee.
Article 27: Membership of the
Committees
1)
Members of the committees shall be chosen by the Speaker
and his Deputies in consultation with the Majority and the Minority Leaders. So
far as possible, due regard should be given to the expertise and skills of the
members, as well as the need for wide representation from all the regions. With
the exception of the permanent committee, all the other committees of the House
shall be organised on the basis of proportional representation of the Majority
and the Minority.
2)
Provided that any Committee is functioning properly, no
changes, other than the filling of any vacancies, may be made to the membership
of the Standing Committees during the first year and last year of the term of
the House and any other changes shall not involve the whole membership of a
Committee.
3)
A vacancy in any committee shall be filled in line with
the preceding Clause (1) of this Article provided that the proportional
representation of the Majority and the Minority in the committee is maintained.
4)
Each committee
shall elect its own Chairman and Deputy Chairman at its inaugural meeting, and
those elected shall remain in that capacity until they resign or the majority
and minority leadership of the House changes or the committee votes to elect any
Chairman or Deputy Chairman. Each
committee shall have clerks assigned to them by the Speaker and the General
Secretary
5)
In case of absence or temporary incapacity of the
committee Chairman, the Deputy Chairman shall automatically assume the duties
of the Chairman until such time that the latter returns to the performance of
his duties. In case of absence or temporary incapacity of both the Chairman and
the Deputy Chairman, the Committee shall chose as a temporary Chairman of the
meeting a member of the Committee who is from the Majority group until such
time the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman can assume their duties.
6)
In case of vacancy in the position of committee Chairman
or Deputy Chairman by reason of death, resignation, permanent disability or removal,
the vacancy in the Committee shall first be filled by the Speaker in line with
Clause 1 of this Article and the Committee can then proceed to elect one of its
members to the vacant position of Chairman and Deputy Chairman. In the mean time, the meetings of the
Committee shall be presided, if necessary, in line with the preceding Clause
(4) of the Article.
7)
Committee members shall be entitled to appropriate
allowances deemed necessary for the fulfilment of their duties.
Article 28: The Permanent Committee
1) There shall be a Permanent Committee of
the House consisting of 17 members (including, if possible, a lawyer) who shall
deal with all matters directly and principally relating to:
a) the duties, conduct and discipline, rights,
privileges and immunities, dignity, integrity and reputation of the House and
its Members;
b) all urgent decisions which need to be taken
during the recess periods;
c) all matters relating to the interpretation of
changes in Rules of the House, in consultation with the House Legal Adviser
;
d) any
questions relating to the membership of the House;
e) appeals
relating to the grievance/discipline of staff of the House;
f) any complaints received from the members of
the House;
g) any disputes which are referred to them for
resolution;
h) any matters referred to them by the Speaker;
and
i) any issues which require joint deliberation
with the permanent committee of the House of Elders.
2) When
meeting the Permanent Committee of the House of Elders, the members of the
House Permanent Committee shall be joined by the Speaker and the two Deputies,
and the Chairmen of the other House Standing Committees.
Article 29: Other Standing
Committees
The House shall also have the
following other standing committees, the membership and jurisdiction of which
shall be as follows:
a)
Economy, Finance and
Commerce Committee (7 Members) : All matters relating to economic
development and trade and commerce;
banking and currency, government-owned or controlled banks and financial
institutions, non-government banks and financial institutions, insurance,
securities and securities exchange; domestic and foreign trade; natural and
energy resources including land and sea, and their exploration, conservation,
management and utilisation. All matters directly and principally relating to
the national budget, incomes and expenditures of the central and local
government, as well as independent public bodies or agencies and all matters
directly and principally relating to the fiscal, monetary and financial affairs
of the government and all other public bodies.
b)
Social, Education, and Employment Committee
(7 Members): All matters relating to public health and hygiene, and health
facilities and services; housing shelter, urban and rural planning and development;
the family and the care of the young and the elderly and the disabled. All
matters relating to pre-school, elementary secondary and higher education, as
well as special and vocational education, the preservation and enrichment of
c)
Environment, Livestock,
Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee (7 members): All matters relating
to the care and protection of the environment; livestock and agricultural
development; and the utilisation of natural resources.
d)
Internal Affairs &
Defence (7 members): All matters relating to local government and
communities; policing and public order; disaster
relief and rescue. All matters relating
to national defence and national security and the Armed Forces of the
e)
Foreign Affairs &
International Co-operation (7 Members): All matters relating to the relations
of the
f)
Constitution, Justice & Human Rights Committee (7 members) All
matters relating to the administration of justice, the Judiciary, the practice
of law, prisons and reform. All matters relating to the protection and
enhancement of human rights; the Constitution and enquiries into impeachment
motions and the revision and/or
codification of laws.
Article 30: Special or Ad Hoc Committees
1)
The House may also appoint special or ad hoc committees on
the basis of proportional representation of the majority and the minority, and
shall determine their membership and general jurisdiction. Unless otherwise
provided, the officers and members of these Committees shall be appointed in
the same manner as those of the standing committees, as set out in these Rules,
and they shall exercise the same powers as the standing committees, in the
execution of the separate duties assigned to them.
2)
The House shall appoint two special committees consisting of 5 members each who
shall deal, for a period of two years, with the safeguarding of public property
and with issues of religion and religious endowments.
3)
The planned term of any special or ad hoc committee shall
be set at its formation and any extension of that term shall be put by the
Speaker to the House for approval.
Article 31: Joint Committees
1)
The House may, with the agreement of the House of Elders,
set up joint committees consisting of members of both House to consider any
issues including undertaking enquiries or considering draft legislation.
2)
The composition of the House of Representatives membership
of any joint committee shall reflect the proportions of the majority and the
minority in the House.
3)
The composition, terms of reference, duration and mode of
reporting back of the committee shall be agreed by the House on simple majority
vote.
Article 32: Meetings of the Committees
1)
Standing and special committees may adopt their own procedures
by a majority vote of all their members, but these must not be inconsistent
with the House Rules and should not expand or in any way alter the committee’s
jurisdiction.
2)
The quorum of the meetings of the committees shall be half
of the total members plus one. The
Speaker and the Deputy Speakers, the Majority and Minority Leaders may, when
necessary and they are willing and able to do so, be called upon to keep an
important committee meeting quorate provided that no decisions can be reached
in those meetings. The quorum of the sub-committees shall be set by each
Committee when setting up a sub- committee, and the Committees may designate
such sub-committees to undertake enquiries on behalf of the Committee.
3)
No member of a committee shall participate in committee
deliberations or vote on any matter regarding which he has direct or indirect
business, financial or pecuniary interest.
4)
The decisions of the committees shall, as far as possible,
be reached by consensus, and any voting shall be carried by simple majority.
5)
A Member who is the author of a bill or a resolution
referred to a committee or, if there be several authors, the first author named
in the bill or resolution, shall be considered as a member of such committee of
referral for the purpose and for the duration of the consideration of bill or
resolution, but shall have no vote in the committee.
6)
All committees and subcommittees shall conduct their
meetings, conferences or hearings at such time they may determine in the House
building or, whenever necessary, in any government office or facility. They
may, however, be held in any other place when authorised by the Speaker or when
so authorised by the House.
7)
Committee meetings will normally be open but may be closed
when the matters under discussion relate to national security, conduct of
members, or evidence and testimony which the Committee feels should be heard
confidentially.
8)
All Committees shall hold regular meetings at least twice
a month when the House in session. Other
meetings may be called by the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman or by three
members.
9)
Committee meetings shall not be held, as far as possible
and without the agreement of the Speaker, at the times when the House is
meeting. The committees shall normally
meet on Wednesdays and Thursdays of the week, but may also meet, if necessary
and with the approval of the Speaker, on other days and during recesses.
10)
The committees or sub-committees, through the Committee
Secretariat, shall undertake measures to ensure that public notices and/or
announcements regarding the conduct of any of its meetings or public hearings
are issued at least one day before the meetings, conferences or hearings. All meetings and public hearings shall be
open to the public subject to reasonable regulations in the interest of security,
order, and the safety of persons in attendance.
11)
Special meetings may be called by the chairperson or by
one- third (1/3) of the members, with written notice together with the agenda
of the meeting served on each Member.
12)
Committees may set up working groups to ensure that
matters considered and the corresponding committee reports are carefully
crafted and express the ideas, sentiments and consensus of the Committee.
13)
Committee reports or orders on any bill, resolution,
enquiry or any other matter shall be considered in formal meetings. A committee
report, once approved, must be signed by a majority of the members of the
committee. Once a committee report is approved, the report and the
corresponding measure it covers shall no longer be subject to any change,
amendment or alteration, except to corrections of typographical errors.
14)
If a matter is considered by two committees, a quorum must
be present in each of the committees concerned, and majority of the members
present in each committee, there being such quorum, is required to approve the
committee report.
15)
When a committee submits a report, a member thereof shall
be presumed to have concurred with the report and shall be precluded from
opposing the same during plenary debate at the House unless he has submitted
beforehand his objections and/or dissenting vote with the General Secretary in
writing, and the Speaker has agreed that the member could not have been
considered to have voted for or against the report.
HOUSE OVERSIGHT DUTIES
Article 33: Appearance by
Ministers or Public Heads
1)
In order to fulfil its duties under Article 53(6) and 53(7) of the Constitution, the House or
its Committees may summon to appear before them
Ministers or Deputy Ministers or Heads of the Organs of State as defined
in Article 113 of the Constitution, or Heads of other Public Offices or
agencies, or public officers of Director General or Director level, including
accredited Foreign envoys, or Heads of the Police, the Corrections or the Armed
Forces, or Heads of any public agencies, commissions or corporations, any
governors, mayors or regional or district executive officers to be heard by on any matter pertaining to
their department or work. The request which shall be signed by the Speaker
shall state specifically some of the main questions to be answered and the date
and hour for their appearance. Such appearances shall be scheduled at least
three (3) working days from receipt of the requests.
2)
When any of the officials listed in Clause (1) above
wishes to appear before the House or any of its Committees on any matter
pertaining to his department or work, he may notify the House through the
Speaker, who may set the date and hour for his appearance.
3)
The officials may produce some of the answers in writing,
but the questions of the members shall not be limited to the written questions
and may cover other related matters. The
questions and answers shall be recorded in the House Minutes or in the
Committee minutes, as appropriate.
4) The appearance of the official shall be
conducted in a closed sitting when the security of the State or the public
interest require and the Speakers so confirms.
Article 34: Written Questions & Answers
1) To fulfil their duties under Article
53(7) of the Constitution, members of the House may submit to the Speaker in
triplicate written questions to be put to the public officials listed in
Article 30(1) of these Rules who shall reply in writing to the General
Secretary of the House within one calendar month of the date of the question
being transmitted to them. Questions may
be withdrawn by the member at any time in writing and addressed to the General
Secretary. Questions of an urgent nature or those relating to current issues
shall be given priority.
2) Questions shall be based on facts and
asked to obtain information or press for action in relation to the duties of
the relevant Ministers or Officials. No question shall:
a)contain arguments;
b)
suggest its own answer;
c) include offensive or “unparliamentary” language or
expressions;
d)
pertain to matters which are being dealt with by a
court of law and are hence sub judice;
e) include names or statements other than what is strictly
necessary to make the question intelligible;
f) relate
to matters directly under the responsibility of another department head or
official;
g)
refer to a matter which is still being considered by a
committee of the House;
h)
repeat a question previously asked and answered
i)
should not be excessively long or
j)
require an answer which can only be provided through
incurring considerable expenditure.
4)
If the questions do not conform to the above standards,
the General Secretary shall return them to the Member concerned and the latter
may modify or restate the questions to make them conform to the standards or
appeal the action of the General Secretary to the Speaker whose decision shall
be final.
5)
When an official is appearing in front of the House or its
Committee, the Speaker may decide that some of the relevant written questions
asked under this article may instead be put to the official at his appearance,
in which case, the relevant official shall be informed at least a week before
the date of appearance.
6)
Ministers and all Heads of Departments and officials shall
accord House written questions priority and shall ensure that the written
replies are returned to the General Secretary within the time limit of calendar
month from date of delivery of the question to their Head Office. Written
answers should relate directly to the questions asked and should be concise and
clear responsive and conform, as far as possible, to the standards set for
questions set out in Clause (2) of this Article.
7)
The General Secretary shall submit to the House every two
months a progress report on the written questions and answers and highlight
those Ministers and other public officials who have not replied within time or
have given unclear or equivocal replies, and the Speaker shall recommend to the
House what further action to take in each case.
This may include, but is not limited to writing a letter asking for
explanation, passing a resolution about the Minister or public officer’s lack
of co-operation or summoning of the relevant Minister or public officers to
appear in front of the House or a Committee to answer the questions.
Article 35: Formal request for information or documents
1)
The House may pass on a simple majority a formal
resolution requesting that the President, or directing that a Minister or any
of the public officials listed in Article 33(1) of these Rules, furnishes
information or documents relating to any issue other than a matter which is
being considered by a court of law.
2)
The House may refer the resolution to a Committee for
consideration and reporting back prior to it is adoption and, when it is
passed, must always refer the resolution to a Committee for following up the
resolution, studying the response and reporting back to the House on the
quantity and quality of the information or documents.
3)
If the the President or a Minister considers any
information or documents be secret or strictly
confidential, The Speaker shall make suitable arrangements for the information
and documents to be considered initially by him and his deputies or by a standing or
special or joint committee, and then recommendations for any further action can
be submitted to the House.
4)
On receipt of the Committee report and recommendation, the
House shall proceed to consider what further action, if any, to take in respect
of the information and documents provided.
THE HOUSE
SESSIONS AND SITTINGS
CONVENING
THE HOUSE
Article 36 : Inaugural Meeting
1)
The first meeting of the House after a general election
shall be called in accordance with Article 44 of the Constitution.
2)
The meeting shall be quorate on the attendance of two
thirds of the total members of the House and shall be opened by the Chairman of
Supreme Court.
3)
As set out in Article 44(3) of the Constitution, Members
shall take their oath of office collectively or individually before the
Chairman of the Supreme Court at this first meeting of the House.
4) After the oath is
administered by the Chairman of the Supreme Court, the oldest member of the
House shall take the Chair and shall call the House members to order and
proceed immediately without any delay to the election of the Speaker and two
Deputy Speakers shall be designated as first and second Deputy Speakers in
order of precedence. No other business, whatsoever, may be conducted by the
temporary Chairman, nor any speech given by him and the nominations and voting
shall be conducted promptly and without any interruptions.
5) Nominations for the
three offices of Speaker and two Deputy Speakers shall be sought by the
temporary Chairman of the meeting and recorded by the General Secretary.
Nominations for the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speakers shall be made by the
three political parties only and there will only be a maximum of three
candidates for each office. It is
incumbent upon each political party to select its nominees within in its party
in an open and democratic manner before the inaugural meeting of the House.
6) For the election of the
Speaker, the General Secretary shall call the name of each member from the roll
and record on a tabulated form the vote of each Member which shall be cast
without any speech or explanation by each member. The election offices of Deputy Speakers shall
be carried out by show of hands. In all cases, the candidate with the largest
number of votes (simple majority) shall be declared the winner.
7) On conclusion of the
election, the elected Speaker shall assume his office and chair the remainder
of the meeting.
Article
37: Sessions of the House
1) As set out in Article
46 of the Constitution, the House shall hold every year 3 (three) ordinary
sessions which shall last 28 (twenty eight) weeks in total. The sessions shall be separated by a period
of no less than 4 (four) weeks and no more than 8 (eight) weeks.
2) The time table for the
sessions for each calendar year shall be proposed by the Speaker, after
consultation with the deputy speakers and discussions with the House party leaders,
and shall be approved by House on a simple majority.
3) The President shall
deliver the State of the Nation speech at the start of the first session of
each year. The speech shall cover the
political situation, the Government’s programme, the economy, and the financial
and security situations.
4) To mark the end of any
session, the Speaker shall put to the House a motion ending the session. Such a motion may be approved on a simple
majority. If the motion to end the session is defeated, the Speaker shall re-submit
the motion again on a daily basis until it is passed or an extra-ordinary
session is requested in line with the Clause 5 of this Article and passed on a
simple majority.
5) An extra-ordinary
session of the House of Representatives may be held:
a. on request of the
President;
b. on convening by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives; (or)
c. on request, in writing,
of 1/3 (one third) of the members of the House.
6) A motion to end an
extra-ordinary session may be proposed by the Speaker or by one third of the
members of the House and may be approved on a simple majority vote.
7) On conclusion of the
business which necessitated the convening of an extra-ordinary session, the
Speaker shall put to the House a motion ending the session and allowing the
House to return to its planned timetable of ordinary sessions. Such a motion may be approved on a simple
majority.
Article 38: Commencement of Daily
Sittings
1) Unless otherwise stated by the Speaker, the
daily sittings of the House shall commence at xxx o’clock in the morning on
Saturdays through to Tuesdays. Upon written notification to the General
Secretary by the concerned Committee Chairman, Members who are attending an
essential committee meeting while the House is sitting as authorised by the Speaker in accordance with Article 39 hereof, shall be deemed present at the sitting
for the purposes of the attendance record.
2) If the Speaker and the Deputy Speakers are
all absent at the scheduled start of a meeting of the House, and the General
Secretary confirms that none of them will be available on that day as they have
given a notice in line with Article 19(4) of these Rules, the meeting shall be
considered adjourned until the following day.
If the same problem arises again on the following day, the House shall
convene at the planned hour and the General Secretary, on confirming that the
House is quorate, shall ask that the members choose a Chairman for the meeting.
If any of the House officers (the Speaker or any of the Deputies) arrives
during the meeting, there shall be a short immediate recess, after which the
meeting shall be chaired by the officer.
3) In the unlikely situation that the Speaker
and the Deputy Speakers are all absent at the start of a scheduled meeting of
the House, and the General Secretary confirms that none of them will be
available on that day and in addition no notice in line with Article 19(4) of
these Rules has been given, the meeting shall convene and, if quorate, shall be
conducted in line with the preceding clause (2) of this Article.
Article 39: Attendance
1) Every Member shall be
present at all the sittings of the House unless prevented from doing so by
sickness or other unavoidable circumstances duly reported to the House through
the General Secretary. Members must sign the attendance register every day when
the House is sitting. Any member who signs the register but fails to attend,
without any excuse, the sitting of the House on that day shall be considered as
being absent for the day.
2) Members who are
planning to be absent from the sittings because of work, medical, travel or
other commitments must obtain the prior written permission of the Speaker. The
number of members who can be permitted planned absence from the House at any
sitting should not, as far as possible, exceed 15.
3) relating to If the
Government or the House of Elders require some members of the House for
official business, a written request setting out the nature and duration of the
tasks to be undertaken shall be submitted to the Speaker. Any necessary expenditure for such duties
shall be met by the requesting body.
4) Any member who does not
attend twenty (20) consecutive sittings without a valid excuse shall lose his
membership of the House in accordance with Article 50 of the Constitution. In such a case, the loss of office shall be
dealt with in accordance with Article 4 of these Rules.
5) Absence without excuse
from less than 20 consecutive sittings shall be dealt with as follows:
b)
All absence without excuse shall be noted in the Minutes.
The second day absence shall lead to a notice from the Speaker which shall affixed
to the House notice board.
c)If the member does not
return on the fifth day, he shall lose his salary during his absence, until the
end of the session.
d)
The Speaker shall inform the House at the end of each
session the names of the Members who have been disciplined for non-attendance.
5)
If a member was absent without an excuse for a total of 56
days in any one year period, he shall be considered as having failed to fulfil
his duties in line with Article 50 of the Constitution and the matter shall be
dealt with in accordance with Article 4 of these Rules.
Article 40: Daily Order and Schedule of Business
1) The daily Order of Business on which the
Schedule (agenda) shall be based is as follows:
a. Opening Recital of the
Quran.
b. Roll call.
c. Approval
of the Minutes of the previous sitting.
d. First
e. Unfinished Business from the last sitting: This is business being
considered by the House at the time of its last adjournment. Its consideration
shall be resumed until it is disposed of. The Unfinished Business at the end of
a session shall be resumed at the commencement of the next session as if no
recess has taken place. At the end of the term of a The House, all Unfinished
Business is cancelled.
f. Business for the Day: These
are bills, resolutions and other measures set in the Calendar for the Day. They
shall be considered, as far as practicable, in the order in which they are
listed in the Calendar and after the business mentioned in the preceding
paragraph.
g. Any Business for a Certain Date/Day: Any business which is
usually done on a specific day of the week or month or date.
h. Committee Reports.
i. Bills and Resolutions for Final (Second) Reading: Bills and
Resolutions shall be submitted for a final vote after printed copies thereof in
final form have been distributed to the Members at least three (3) days prior
to the final vote thereon, except when the Speaker has confirmed them as being
urgent or the Government has assigned them as being urgent under Article 77(3)
of the Constitution.
j. Written Questions & Answers (tabled) and any reports
k. Unassigned Business.
l. Short suspension of the meeting for any prayer times during the
day/evening.
m. Final Prayers (Ducada
Khaatinka).
2) The Schedule (agenda)
for every day shall be brought to the attention of the members at, the latest,
the start of business of the day before. This does not preclude the consideration of
any other urgent business or matters arising out of the discussions on the day.
3) Any member may propose
in writing to the Speaker before the relevant meeting that the Schedule
(agenda) be amended, in which case the motion shall be put to the meeting and
may be approved on a simple majority vote.
4) Members who wish to
speak about the items on the Schedule (agenda) must inform the General
Secretary before the start of the sitting.
Article 41: Call to Order
1) The Speaker shall open the sitting by
calling the House to order. The start of every sitting shall be marked by a
recital of the Quran.
2) The full names of Members present shall
be called upon every roll call. When two or more Members have the same three
names, their nick names or party affiliations shall also be called in addition
to their full names.
Article 42: Quorum
1) As set out in Article 45(2) of the
Constitution, a majority of all the Members of the House, with the exception of
the seats that have been declared vacant and have not been filled yet, shall constitute
a quorum. The House shall not transact business without a quorum.
2) A Member who questions the existence of a
quorum shall not leave the Meeting Hall until the question is resolved or acted
upon.
4)
For the avoidance of doubt, abstentions from voting do not
affect the quorum.
Article 43: House Sittings Open to the Public
1) The House sittings shall be open to the
public, but may be closed on the request of the Speaker or of 11 members and approval
by the House or when the House decides that the matters to be discussed relate to:
a) issues of national security, or
b) conflict between the members of the House
or between the two Houses or between the House and the Government, or
c) matters concerning the conduct of
members on which the Permanent g Committee has reported on and the Speaker is
of the opinion that the House should discuss and reach a resolution thereof.
2) At the start of a closed sitting, the
Speaker shall direct that the galleries and hallways to be cleared and the
doors closed. Only the General Secretary, the Legal Adviser, the Chief Security
Officer and other persons specifically authorised by the Speaker shall be
admitted to the closed sitting. They shall preserve the secrecy of everything
read or discussed in the sitting.
3) When, by request of the House,
confidential documents or papers marked as such are transmitted to it by the
President or a Minister or Head of a public body, which require consideration
in a closed sitting, their existence or contents shall not be revealed without
leave of the House.
Article 44: Motion to Adjourn
At any time after the roll call is
completed, a motion to adjourn shall be in order and, if approved by a majority
of those present, all proceedings for the day shall be vacated.
Article 45: Suspension and
Adjournment of Sittings
1)
The sittings of the House shall not be adjourned except by
direction of the House, but the Speaker, in his discretion, may declare a
suspension or a rise of a short interval at any time, and in particular, during
prayer times.
2)
The exact times of the
opening, suspension and adjournment of a sitting shall be entered in the Minutes.
Article 46: Approval of the Minutes
The Minutes of the last sitting
shall be submitted to the House for approval.
Prior to approval, the Minutes shall be read in full unless copies
thereof have been distributed to the Members. The Minutes for the last day of a
regular or special session shall be approved at any sitting in the following
session.
PRIVILEGE
HALF HOUR
Article 47: Tuesday Privilege Half Hour
1)
In every Tuesday sitting, as part of the agenda item “Any
Business for a Certain Date/Day”, there shall be, without extension, a
Privilege Half Hour in which any Member may speak on any matter of general
interest, for no more than fifteen minutes, and no formal motions or proposals
shall be made.
2)
Members who desire to make use of this privilege must
apply in writing to the General Secretary with brief details of the topic. At
the beginning of each week, the Speaker shall draw up through lots the two (2) members
who succeed in getting a slot for the following week and their names shall be
added to the Schedule (agenda).
3)
If in any specific Tuesday, emergency business has not
allowed the holding of the Privilege Half Hour or there is a national holiday,
then the Speaker shall assign a Privilege Half Hour on another day.
MOTIONS AND DEBATES
Article 48: Motions
1) All motions, other those that arise during a
debate, which will be considered in line with Articles 51 and 52 of these
Rules, shall be submitted in writing to the General Secretary and shall be
considered as an addition or amendment to the Schedule (Agenda) in line with
Article 40(3) of these Rules. Such
motions require the signatures of eleven (11) members.
2) Motions must not be in conflict with the
Constitution and the Rules of the House and must not include “unparliamentary”
or unacceptable language.
3) The
Speaker shall state the motion or, if in writing, shall cause it to be read by
the General Secretary before the House accepts to debate it. A motion may be
withdrawn any time before its approval.
4) All motions shall be
entered in the Minutes together with the names of the Members making.
Article 49: Precedence of Motions
During A Debate
1) When a question is under debate or
before the House, no motion shall be entertained except the following, which shall
take precedence in the following order:
a) Motion to Adjourn the sitting.
b) Motion to Raise a Point of Order: A Point
of Order is a privileged question that raises a violation of the rules in
relation to the matter under discussion on the floor. A motion to read any part
of the Rules is equivalent to a Point of Order and takes precedence over any
motion other than to adjourn.
c) Motion to Raise a Question of Privilege:
Questions of privilege are those affecting the duties, conduct, rights,
privileges, dignity, integrity or reputation of the House or of its Members,
individually or collectively. A Member
shall seek the permission of the Speaker before raising such an issue
e) Motion to Postpone to a certain day or
indefinitely: After a motion to postpone to any certain day or to postpone
indefinitely is lost, such motion shall not again be allowed on the same day.
f) Motion to Amend.
2) The first four (4) motions shall be
decided without debate, while the last one (1) motion may be decided after a debate
subject to the five-minute rule.
3) No motion shall cover any more than one
subject matter and no proposition on a subject matter different from that under
consideration shall be allowed under the guise of amendment.
4) When
any matter is under consideration, a motion to amend and a further motion to
amend the amending motion shall be in order. When an amendment is rejected by
the proponent of the original motion, the proponent of the amendment may appeal
to the body. The proponent of the original motion and the proponent of the
amendment may explain their positions, on appeal, subject to the five-minute
rule. It shall also be in order to move for amendment by substitution, but said
motion shall not be voted upon until the text of the original matter is
perfected. Any amendment may be withdrawn before a vote is had thereon.
5) Amendment(s) to the title of a bill or
resolution shall be in order only after amendment(s) to the text have been
completed. Amendment(s) to the title shall be decided without debate.
Article 50: Opening and Closing of Debates
1.
The Member introducing a Committee report or proposing
a resolution, with leave of the speaker,
may open and close the debate.
2.
Unless otherwise varied by the Speaker at the start of a
debate, a motion to close the debate on any matter at the floor of the House
shall be in order after three (3) speeches for and three (3) against, or after
only two (2) speeches for and none against are entered.
3.
When a matter under consideration has been sufficiently
discussed by a Member who has the floor and there are several Members who have
signified their intention to speak on the same matter but have not been able to
do so, the Speaker may order, on his own motion or upon the motion of a Member,
that the Member having the floor desist from speaking further so that other
Members may not be deprived of their opportunity to speak.
DECORUM AND
DISCIPLINE
Article 51: Rising to Speak
1)
When a Member, whose name is not called by the Speaker, desires
to speak, he shall rise and respectfully address the Chair “Mr. Speaker” (Mudane Gudoomiye). No member may speak at
the floor unless called upon by the speaker.
2) The Chair may recognise a Member who
rises to speak. When two or more Members rise at the same time, the Chair shall
recognise the Member who spoke first, but, as far as practicable, members of
the majority and minority shall be allowed to speak alternately on the floor.
3) No Member shall speak for more than the
time set by the Speaker in any debate on any question or more than once on any
question without leave of the House.
4) Members who put their name down in
writing to the General Secretary that they wish to speak on a specific agenda
item before the meeting may be called by Speaker in preference to other who
rise, and as far as practicable, members of the majority and minority shall be
called to speak alternately on the floor.
Article 52: Decorum and Conduct
1) The Member who has been
given the floor by the Speaker shall confine himself to the question under debate,
avoid personal attacks and refrain from indecorous words, acts or conduct. The
Speaker, or as the House may direct, may declare statements, remarks or words “unparliamentary”
(eray aan Golaha ku habooneyn), and order that these be stricken off the
record. If a Member is called to order
by another for words spoken in a debate, the latter shall indicate the words
objected to. The General Secretary shall note and read aloud said words and the
Speaker shall make a determination. If a member fails to refrain from making
the “unparliamentary” language, he may be asked to leave the sitting and shall
do so immediately.
2) If a member proceeds to
speak without the Speaker’s approval or fails to follow the direction of the
Speaker or interferes with the conduct of the meeting the Speaker may, after
warning him about the consequences of his conduct, ask him to leave the
sitting. Failure on the part of the
member to leave the sitting promptly could lead to disciplinary action
3) If the Speaker
considers the misconduct of a member to be more serious, he may refer the
matter to the Permanent Committee for further action.
4) No Member shall stand
or be near the General Secretary’s desk during roll call or counting of votes,
pass between the Chair and another Member who has the floor; or use cellular
phones or any other similar devices in the meeting hall. While the Speaker is
addressing the House or putting a question, no Member shall walk out of or walk
across the meeting hall.
5) Smoking, chewing qat,
or consuming food inside the meeting
hall is prohibited.
6) If disorder breaks at
the sitting, the Speaker shall adjourn the meeting and, in exceptional cases,
where the Speaker considers it necessary to summon the assistance of the
security staff, he shall, after warning the members, do so after warning the
members.
Article 53: Discipline for Misconduct
1)
Misconduct includes non-compliance with Speaker’s or
Committee Chairmen’s instructions at meetings, infringements of the Rules of
the House or the Constitution,
unparliamentary conduct, non-compliance with any ethical standards
agreed upon by the House and allegations of criminal conduct.
2)
The Speaker has the power to give a verbal or written
warning to a member, or to order his expulsion from a meeting or in to suspend
a member from sitting with or without pay for a maximum of 3 days.
3)
The Permanent Committee of the House may on the referral
of the Speaker or on its won motion punish discipline members for serious misconduct. The Committee shall give any member charged
with serious misconduct an opportunity to explain his actions, and, depending
on the seriousness of the allegations, the member shall have a right to be accompanied by a legal
representative or any else of his own choice at the Committee hearing.
4)
The House may, on the recommendation of the Permanent
Committee, decide on a simple majority vote of its members, to censure or
reprimand a member who has committed serious misconduct or to suspend him with
or without pay for a specified period not exceeding sixty (60) days.
5)
In cases falling under Article 79 of the Constitution and
involving allegations of serious criminal wrongdoing, the Permanent Committee
shall recommend to the House whether the member’s privilege be withdrawn and
the House shall decide on a vote of two thirds of its total membership. If the
House so decide, the member shall be suspended forthwith without pay and if he
does not resign, the Permanent Committee, on conclusion of the criminal
proceedings at the High Court of Justice, shall report the matter to the House
for a final decision about the member under Article 50 of the House. Any vote on this decision shall be on the
basis of a two third’s majority of the House.
VOTING
Article 54: Voting Procedure
1)
When the House decides to put a
matter to a vote, the Speaker shall confirm that the House is quorate and shall
rise and state in clear, precise and simple language the proposition that is being
put to a vote. Every Member present at the meeting shall vote on the question
put to the vote unless he excuses himself formally on account of personal or
pecuniary interest in the matter. Any such declaration shall be recorded by the
General Secretary.
2)
Members may vote for or against a
question or abstain. Except where otherwise
stated in these Rules, voting may be conducted by secret ballot or by show of
hand.
3)
A secret ballot shall be held on issues relating to
national security or on the written request of eleven (11) members or on the
proposal of the Speaker endorsed by a simple majority vote of the House. When a secret ballot is being held, the
Speaker and the General Secretary shall provide a ballot box and appropriate
ballots which shall be distributed to the members present and voting. Records of the number of ballot papers
issued, the names of the members present and voting and the names of the
members who cast their vote shall be kept by the General Secretary. The ballot papers shall be counted by the
Secretariat staff in the presence of 2 members from each party chosen by the
majority and minority leaders of the House.
4)
A vote by show of hands shall start with a count of all
the members present, and followed by counts of those voting for the question,
those against the question and finally those who abstain. The counting shall be
recorded by the General Secretary or his staff.
5)
Voting shall not be interrupted, and
members may not leave the meeting during the vote.
6)
After the count of a vote by secret
ballot or by show of hand is completed, the Speaker shall rise and announce the
result. In case of a tie, the Speaker shall cast his vote.
7)
If the Speaker believes that the
counting of the vote was not done properly, he may order that the voting be
repeated and that, if necessary the count be undertaken by one nominated teller
from each side of the question being voted upon.
8)
Unless otherwise stated in the
Constitution or these Rules, questions put to vote shall be carried on the
basis of a simple majority of those voting for or against the question.
SUSPENSION
OF SPECIFIC RULES
Article 55: Procedure for
Exceptional Suspension of the Rules
1) In exceptional circumstances, the Speaker
may propose the suspension of a specific rule or rules to facilitate the urgent
consideration of a specific item on the schedule (agenda) only. The Speaker shall explain clearly the reasons
why the suspension of the rule or rules is necessary and any such suspension
may be approved if supported by a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the Members
present at the sitting and shall be valid for that sitting only.
2) When a motion to suspend a rule is
pending, only one (1) motion to adjourn may be entertained. If the latter is
lost, no similar motion shall be entertained until the vote is taken on the
motion to suspend the rules.
3) A motion to suspend a rule or rules for the passage of a bill or a
resolution may be debated for a maximum period of one (1) hour, which shall be
divided equally between those in favour and those against the motion.
4) If the House votes to suspend the rules,
it shall, forthwith, proceed to consider the bill or resolution, which can only
be approved by a two thirds (2/3) vote of the Members present.
DRAFT
LEGISLATION
Article 56: Submission of Draft Legislation
1)
In line with Article 74 of the Constitution, all bills (which include all draft law 0r regulations)
may forwarded to the General Secretary of
the House of Representatives by the Council of Government (the President
and his ministers) or by eleven (11) members of the House of Representatives
or, except for financial bills, by, at least, five thousand electors.
2)
The General Secretary shall ensure that the bills are
signed by their proposers and that the bill addresses predominantly only one
(1) main subject matter that shall be expressed in the title and that it
includes a brief explanatory note explaining the main purpose of the bill and
its main provisions. If a bill includes
more than one subject matter or the explanatory note is missing, the General
Secretary shall, on consulting the Speaker, inform the proposers immediately so
that they can make appropriate changes or amendments, or, if necessary, turn
the bill into two or more separate bills.
3)
The General Secretary shall assign a number to each bill
and shall refer it to the Speaker, who, together with the shall then determine how the bill shall be
dealt with and the appropriate committee, be it a standing committee or a
special/ad hoc committee, that its should be referred to
4)
Financial bills and any others bills considered by the
President to be urgent shall be priority in line with Article 77(3) of the
Constitution. Bills relating to security and maintenance of the peace shall
also be accorded a priority.
5)
Unless the Speaker decides otherwise and the House agrees, all bills
shall go through:
e)
a first introductory reading at the House in when the
purposes and main provisions of the bill are explained, and the bill is then
referred to an appropriate committee for scrutiny and advice;
f) consideration
by the committee including consultations with any relevant interested
organisations;
g)
a report back to
the House followed immediately by a second reading in which the bill shall be
debated in length; and
h)
a final vote on the bill.
Article 57: Urgent Bills
On a motion proposed by the Speaker,
the House may declare urgent a bill and consider it in accordance with a fixed
timetable. The timetable, prepared by the Speaker, shall fix the date when the
bill must be reported by the committee concerned, the number of hours or days
to be allotted to the consideration of the bill on Second Reading, and the date
and hour the debate must be concluded and final vote taken.
Article 58: First
1) When the House is in session, the
Speaker shall ensure that all bills which have been assigned a number are
submitted to the House for a First Reading.
This shall involve the reading of the number, title and author of the
bill and the short explanatory note.
Unless the Speaker proposes a motion under Article 57 or a suspension of
the Rules under Article 55, all bills shall, on their First Reading be referred
to an appropriate committee.
2) Bills
may only be referred to only one (1) committee. Whenever a bill covers subject
matters that relate to the jurisdiction of more than one committee, it shall be
referred to the committee within whose jurisdiction the subject matter directly
and principally relates to.
3) If a bill entails appropriations of
public funds or contains tax or revenue proposals, it shall also be referred to
the Economy Finance and Commerce Committee, for comments, and the assigned
committee for the bill shall add these comments to its report.
4) The Business and Rules committee may
decide to refer to a joint committee of both Houses major consolidation bills
which have been prepared by special committees or commissions set up to update
Somaliland legislation.
Article
59: Committee Stage
1) A committee to which a bill is referred
may, through its Chairman, request another committee, through its Chairman, for
comments on a bill pending before it, and subject to the consent of the latter,
await such comments within a period mutually agreed upon before preparing the
committee report on the bill.
2) If a committee to which a bill is
referred, makes a written request for a change of referral of such bill, the Speaker, and the Speaker shall decide on the issue within seven (7)
days from receipt of the request, and shall inform the requesting committee and
the House of its decision. The bill may then be transferred to another standing
committee, but if a special or ad hoc committee has to deal with it, the matter
has to be considered by the House.
3) If a Committee fails to report on its
progress on the bill on a monthly basis and there are concerns from members
about the consideration of the bill, members may sign a motion kept by the
General Secretary that the Committee be discharged from the consideration of a
bill referred to it, and if the signatures reach more than one third of the
House, the motion shall be included in
the schedule of the House and reported to the next meeting of the House.
4) If a motion to discharge is adopted by
the House on a simple majority, a member may move a motion to proceed to the
immediate consideration of such bill; and if such motion is approved, the bill
shall be considered immediately for a second and final reading.
5) If a motion to discharge is lost, it
shall not be in order to entertain any other motion to discharge the same
committee or any other committee from the consideration of the same bill or any
other bill with substantially the same subject matter for a period of one year.
Article
60: Committee Report
1) In considering the bill, the Committee
shall, as it thinks appropriate, undertake any research or enquiries that it
deems necessary and shall use any of its powers set out in Article 26 of these Rules.
2) A Committee shall submit to the Speaker
(and through him the Speaker ) within the first days (7) days of each month, a
report on the status of bills referred to them.
3) A Committee may decide to approve a bill
with or without amendments. If it has
been referred similar bills, it may endorse a bill containing parts of some or
all of the bills as well as additional amendments. After its consideration and
enquiries, it may also consider alternative proposals.
4) When a Committee completes its report on
a bill, it shall forward the bill and its report and recommendations, together
with other supporting documents and information materials, to the Speaker who
shall inform the House.
Article 61: Second
1) The Committee’s Report and amendments on
the bill shall be put on the Schedule of the House for a second and final
reading. The bill and amendments shall
be circulated to the members at the latest 3 days before the date set for the
second and final reading. Short bills may be read in full at the meeting and
not circulated prior to the meeting.
2) The Chairman of the Committee (or his
nominee from the Committee) shall introduce and explain the Committee’s
report. Members may then debate the bill
and the Committee’s amendments and then propose and debate any other amendments. Unless otherwise directed by the Speaker, member’s
speeches in these debates shall be confined to a maximum of 5 minutes each. The proposed amendments shall be voted upon
article by article, with the Committee being voted upon first, and then the
whole Bill shall be voted upon.
3) Any Bill rejected by the House can only
be reintroduced at the House after a period of 45 days from the date of
rejection.
Article 62: Bills Approved by the
House
6)
Unless a bill approved by the House is one which
originated from the House of Elders or a financial bill, as defined by Article
54 of the Constitution, it shall be certified by the Speaker and the General Secretary shall forward it, in line with
Article 78(1) and Article 77(1) of the Constitution, to
the office of the Speaker of the House of Elders, for consideration by
the House of Elders.
7)
The General Secretary shall note the date when
bills are forwarded to the Elders and, keeping track of all the bills passed on
to the House of Elders, shall inform the House of the progress of such bills at
the House of Elders.
8)
If the House of Elders proposes amendments, or rejects bill,
it can refer the bill back to House of Representatives, but only once and
within 30 days from the date of referral (Articles 61(2), 77(1), 77(2) and
78(1) of the Constitution). Bills
rejected by the House of Elders on a point of principle and by a two thirds
majority of the House have to be considered separately by the Representatives
when the referred back.
9)
On receipt of the returned bill and the written reasons,
the Speaker shall decide whether these should be referred back to the
appropriate committee for further deliberation and, if so, shall ask the
committee to report back within a tight time limit. Any bill rejected by the Elders on a point of
principle and/or by a two thirds majority shall be referred to the appropriate
committee for detailed consideration.
10)
The bill shall then be put to the House for further
consideration. If the House accepts all
the amendments proposed by the Elders, the Bill shall then forwarded to the
President for his signature.
11)
If, however, the House rejects the amendment/s, it is open
to the House to vote on a resolution to return the bill to the House of Elders,
and if that is passed on a simple majority,
the bill shall be sent back to the Elders at the beginning of its next
session. A bill previously rejected by
the Elders on a point of principle and by a two thirds majority of that House can
only be sent back to the Elders if the Representatives votes to do so by a two
thirds vote of its members. Anything
less than that vote means that the bill will lapse (Article 78(5) of the
Constitution).
12)
At their next session, if the House of Elders does not
approve of the returned bill or fail to respond to the House of Representatives,
the latter shall pass to the President for his signature. However, if the
Elders respond to the Representatives and the response relates to the tight time
table of 0ne month set under Article 78(1)(b) of the Constitution, then it is
open to the House of Representatives to wait for a reasonable period set by the
House Business and Rules Committee. If
the response is another rejection of the bill, no second formal referral of a
bill is allowed by the Constitution and the House shall decide finally whether
there is any need for any further delay after the month and if the decision is
that there is not, then the House can resolve that the bill be forwarded to the
President.
Article 63: Bills Forwarded by the
House of Elders
1)
The House may also receive for its considerations
non-financial bills passed by the House of Elders and must consider them in
line with Article 77(1), 77(2) and 78(2) of the Constitution. These bills are primarily those relating to
religion, traditions and security may only be introduced at the House of Elders
by members of the House of Elders or more (Article 61(1) and 61(6)).
2)
The General Secretary and the Speaker shall deal with such
bill in the same manner as set out in Article 55 (2), 55 (3) and 55 (5) of
these Rules.
3)
If, after the second reading, the House votes to approve
the bill, then the Speaker shall certify the bill and pass it on to the
President for his signature, and also inform the Chairman of the House of
Elders of the decision of the House.
4)
If, however, the bill is rejected by the House, the
Speaker shall inform the Chairman of the House of Elders of the decision of the
House and the bill shall lapse in accordance Article 78(2) (b) of the
Constitution.
5)
If the House decides to amend the bill, it may refer it
back to the House of Elders with the details of the amendments (Article 77(2)
of the Constitution).
6)
If the Elders accept the amendments, then the bill shall
be passed on to the President for his signature. As the amendments are not a rejection of the
whole bill, then it may be open to the Elders to respond (not refer back) to
the amendments, in which case, a rejection of the response by the
Representatives will mark the end of the bill, and only a total acceptance of
the response by the Representatives will stop the bill from lapsing, as under
Article 77(2) each House can refer back a bill to the other once only. This practical option may be considered where
there is a major difference of opinion on the amendments between the two Houses.
Article 64: President’s signature
1)
All bills passed by both Houses or financial bills passed
by the House of Representatives shall be printed and the General Secretary and
his staff shall ensure that it contains all the provisions and amendments approved by both Houses.
2)
All the bills shall then be passed forwarded to the
President for his signature. The General
Secretary shall record the dates of transmission of bills to the President and,
through regular liaison with the President’s office, the dates when action is
taken by the President about the bill; and shall keep the Speaker informed of
the progress of all the bills waiting for presidential signature.
3)
If the President accepts a bill passed by both Houses (or
a financial bill passed by the House of Representatives), he shall sign it and
issue it in the Official Minutes within 21 days of the date the bill was
forwarded to his office (Articles 75, 77(5) and 78(3) of the Constitution).
4)
The President may propose amendments to a bill within 21
days, in which case he shall inform the speaker of the House of Representatives
his reasons within the 21 day period (Article 78(3) of the Constitution).
5)
If the President fails to sign a bill forwarded to him by the
House of Representatives within the 21 day period or fails to refer it back to
House of Representatives, then the bill shall henceforth become law (Article
77(6) of the Constitution), and the House shall issue a resolution confirming
that the law shall come into force on the date of the resolution or on such
other date agreed upon by the House considers.
6)
On receipt of the amendments proposed by the President
under Clause (3), the Speaker shall decide whether these should be referred
back to the appropriate committee for further deliberation and, if so, shall
ask the committee to report back within a tight time limit.
7)
The bill and the amendments shall then be put to the House
for further consideration. If the House
accepts all the amendments proposed by the President, the amended Bill shall
then be returned to the President for his signature.
8)
If the House is not satisfied with the amendments and reasons
given by the President, the House will need to pass the bill again on a vote of
a two thirds majority of its members, or more, for the bill to be returned
without amendments to the President must sign it (Article 78(4). If there is no such majority, the bill shall
lapse.
9)
Any bill approved by both Houses of Parliament on a two
thirds majority or more shall not be referred back to the House of
Representatives by the President who
shall thereby sign it.
10)
If the President considers that the bill passed by two
thirds majority or more of both Houses contains an Article or Articles of the
Constitution, he shall inform the Speaker (and the Chairman of the Elders) and ask
the Attorney General to refer it to the
FINANCIAL BILLS &
THE BUDGET
Article 65:
Financial Bills and the Budget
1) As set out in Article
54 of the Constitution, legislation relating to the following financial matters shall be dealt with
exclusively by the House of Representatives:
a)
The imposition of taxes, duties and other schemes for
raising revenue.
b)
The establishment of a Somaliland Income Fund or other
Funds which are earmarked for specific issues. The management, collection and
disbursement of these Funds shall be determined by law.
c)
The printing of currency, and the issue of bonds, other
certificates and securities.
d)
The regulation of the economic and the financial systems.
2)
All financial bills, other than the Resolution on the
budget, shall be dealt with in the same way as other bills, but they shall be
given a higher priority than the other business of the House.
3)
The President or the Finance Minister shall forward to the
House each year the proposed budget for the following financial year by no
later than ___________ of every year.
4)
After the first reading at the House, the budget shall be
referred to the Economy Finance and Commerce Committee which shall make such
enquiries and research (including hearings or consultations with experts or any
other relevant groups) into the proposals as it deems necessary.
5)
The Committee shall give particular attention to:
a) the
basic recommendations and budgetary policies of the President in the
presentation of the Budget; and
b) the fiscal, financial, and economic assumptions used as bases in
arriving at total estimated expenditures and receipts.
5) In
its hearings, the Committee shall receive testimony from the Minister of
Finance and his senior staff and any such other economic and financial advisers
and other persons as the committee may desire. The Committee shall report to the House with
its full comments and the proposed resolution for the House to consider.
6) The House shall consider the matter at its second reading and
vote on the budget and the Resolution in line with Article 55 of the
Constitution.
7) The
House shall then forward the budget and its resolution to the President.
8) The
Committee shall:
a)
receive regularly from the
Minister of Finance periodic revenue and expenditure estimates, and shall study
on a continuing basis the yearly budget and report to the House from time to
time its recommendations for any modifications that the President may request;
b) review on a continuing basis the conduct by the Ministry of
Finance Office of its functions and duties;
c) hold
hearings and receive testimony from members, House of Elders members, ministers
and heads of public agencies , the central bank, the general public, and
national organisations as it considers desirable in developing resolutions on
the budget for each fiscal year;
d) make
all reports required of it by any financial laws;
e) study
on a continuing basis proposals designed to improve and facilitate the budget
process, and report to the House from time to time the results of such studies,
together with its recommendations; and
f) request and evaluate continuing studies of tax expenditures,
devise methods of coordinating tax expenditures, policies, and programs with
direct budget outlays, and report the results of such studies to the House on a
recurring basis.
9) The
Committee shall receive the Annual Accounts and the Auditor General report on
the Accounts within six months of the end of the financial year (Article 55(6)
of the Constitution) and shall hold any necessary enquiries or hearings and
consider any representations from the Minister of Finance and from the Auditor
General. The Committee shall report to
the House with its recommendations on the Annual audited accounts.
10) The budgets and the annual accounts of any public agencies or
publicly owned companies (as defined in Article 55(5) of the Constitution)
which, under their laws, must submit their budget and accounts to the House
shall be dealt with in accordance with this Article.
11) Until new laws are promulgated, the House expects full compliance
with all the old laws and rules relating to financial regulation, such as the
Financial Rules & Regulations of the State, Law No: 87/1996; Accounting
Procedures of the state; Store Regulations and Procurement Procedures and any
other relevant legislation.
RESOLUTIONS
Article 66: Procedure for
Resolutions
Resolutions shall be subject to
the same procedure as bills regarding introduction, reference to the
appropriate committee, and consideration, and, in the same way as bills, the Speaker
may propose that a resolution be dealt
with urgently under Article 55 or Article 57.
1)
A proposal to impeach the President or the
Vice-President under Article 96 of the Constitution for high treason or
contravention of the Constitution may be made by a motion signed by at least
one third of the members of the House and submitted in writing, with details of
the charges (Articles of Impeachment), to the Speaker.
2)
The Speaker shall submit the motion to the
House within 3 working days of receipt of the motion. The House may either decide on a simple
majority to refer the motion to the Constitution, Justice and Human Rights Committee for further investigation and
enquiries into the allegations or it may proceed to endorse one or more of the
Articles of Impeachment in the motion on a qualified absolute majority vote
(half of the membership of the House plus one).
3)
If the House decides to refer the motion to
the Committee, the Committee shall undertake whatever enquiries it deems
necessary into the charges mentioned in the motion and shall report its
findings on the articles of Impeachment to the House on a re-determined date
set by the House which shall be no more than within 10 days from the date of
the referral. The House shall then
consider the impeachment motion and the report of the Committee and may endorse
one or all the Article of Impeachment in the motion on a qualified absolute
majority vote (half of the membership of the House plus one).
4)
After endorsing one or all of the Articles
in an impeachment motion, the House shall, in line with Article 96(2) of the
Constitution, appoint a Special Committee of ten members of the House who shall
prosecute the charges in front of the House of Elders and an independent
counsel who can assist the Committee.
Article 68:
Motion to impeach a Minister/Deputy Minister
1)
A proposal that a Minister or a Deputy
Minister be impeached under Article 96 of the Constitution for high treason or
contravention of the Constitution may be made by a motion signed by at least
twelve members of the House and submitted in writing to the Speaker. The Speaker shall refer the motion to the Constitution
Justice and Human Rights Committee which shall undertake such enquiries it deems
necessary into the charges mentioned in the motion and shall report its
findings to the House on a re-determined date set by the House, which shall be
no more than within 20 days from the date of the referral. The House shall then consider the impeachment
motion and the report of the Committee and if it does endorse one or all of the
charges in the motion on a simple majority, the Speaker shall forward the
resolution and all the supporting reports to the Attorney General for further
action under Article 96(4) of the Constitution.
2)
The two members who are elected by the House
to serve at the High Court of Justice shall not be involved in the
deliberations of the House relating to the impeachable allegations against
Ministers and Deputy Ministers, which are set out in the preceding Clause (5)
of this Article. They shall, in the same
way, not be involved in the House deliberations relating to the prosecution of
alleged crimes committed by members, which are covered by Article 79 of the
Constitution.
PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS
Article 69: Confirmation of Appointments
1) Under Article 53(1), 94(2), 105(1) and
114(1) of the Constitution, the following presidential appointments are subject
to confirmation by the House:
a) All Ministers & Deputy Ministers.
b) The Chairman of the Supreme Court (to be
considered at a joint meeting).
c) The
Attorney General.
d) The
Governor of the Central Bank.
e) The
Chairman and members of the Civil Service Agency.
f) The
Auditor General
Various
Laws (such as the Election Law) state that members of Commissions or committees
may be appointed by the President subject to confirmation by the House of
Representatives.
2) As Article 95 of the Constitution
provides transitional arrangements for departing Ministers or Deputy Ministers,
the House expects that nominees will not take up office until the House
confirms their appointments. Similar considerations apply to the nomination of
the Chairman of the Supreme Court, which cannot be confirmed until the two
Houses first approve the dismissal of the incumbent Chairman (Article 105(3) of
the Constitution).
3) As for other nominees set out in Article
114 of the Constitution, the House would prefer that nominees should not take
over office before their confirmation by the House, but if the President uses
Article 114(3), the House would expect an explanation and strict compliance
with the three month time limit deadline between appointment and confirmation.
4) On receipt of a nomination of a
presidential appointment, of any kind, for confirmation by the House, the
Speaker shall forward promptly the nomination and all the relevant papers to
the Committee of the House that has oversight of the work or Ministry of the
nominee and shall request that the Committee completes its enquires and reports
back to the House within a set time limit. Each nomination must include details
of the appointee’s qualifications, experience, health and reasons why he is
considered to be suitable for the post.
5) The Committee shall undertake whatever
enquires in feels appropriate into the suitability of the nominee for the post.
This may include holding hearings attended by the nominee and listening to any
submissions made by members of the civil society and experts.
6) The Committee shall report its recommendation
to the House, and the House shall consider each nominee separately and vote
whether or not to confirm the appointment. As set out in Article 94(2) of the
Constitution, the voting on appointments of ministers and deputy ministers
shall be by show of hand and on the basis of a simple majority. All other
appointments shall also be voted upon in the same way.
7) In the case of the appointment of the
Chairman of the Supreme Court, the Committee shall work with the corresponding
Committee in the House of Elders and shall report its recommendation to the
House members in writing before the joint meeting of both Houses where the vote
shall be conducted on the basis of a simple majority.
8) Unless otherwise ordered by the House,
the General Secretary shall furnish to the press, and to the public upon
request, the names of nominees confirmed or rejected on the day on which a
final vote had been taken on the nomination, and the President shall informed
accordingly.
9) When a nomination is rejected by the
House, the same nominee cannot be re-submitted for consideration by the House
again for the same position during the same session. The decisions of the House
are final and no motion on the part of a member of the House to reconsider the
vote on any nomination may be laid.
10) Nominations neither confirmed nor rejected during the session at
which they are made shall be acted upon at following session unless the
President withdraws the nomination.
Article 70: Presidential Messages
and Memorandums from Ministers or other Heads
1) Any written Messages from the President
of the
2) The Speaker shall decide which
communications from Ministers or Heads of public bodies or individuals shall be
reported to the House or referred to the relevant Committees.
AGREEMENTS & TREATIES
Article
71: Governmental Agreements (Heshiisyada dawliga ah)
1) Under Article 53 of the
Constitution the House has exclusive jurisdiction to ratify governmental
agreements or treaties including those relating to political, economic or
security issues and those which involve new financial burdens which have not
been covered in the budget or may require new legislation.
2) For the avoidance of
doubt, the House shall set out in a resolution examples of the all the
agreements or treaties which must be submitted to it for ratification.
2) When such an agreement or
treaty is passed on to the House by the President, it shall have a first
reading at the House and no motion in respect to it shall be in order, except
to refer it to a Committee, to print it in confidence for the use of the House,
and/or to consider the treaty in closed meetings. Any aspects of the
agreement/treaty touching on the budget shall be referred to the Economy
Finance and Commerce Committee.
2) The
appropriate Committee to which the agreement/treaty is referred shall undertake
whatever enquiries or hearings it considers necessary, and shall report back to
the House with its comments and recommendations. A resolution about the
ratification or otherwise of the agreement/treaty shall then be voted upon by
the House on the basis of a simple majority.
3) If no final decision is reached
about an agreement/treaty during a session, the House shall resume its
consideration in the following session, but all proceedings on
agreements/treaties shall terminate if the term of the House comes to an
end. The President may then re-submit
the agreement/treaty to the new House.
4) Requests for ratification
of regional or treaties international shall be dealt with jointly by both
Houses under Article 72 of these Rules.
JOINT
MEETINGS WITH THE ELDERS
Article 72: Joint meetings
1) Under Article 38(6) of
the Constitution, the two Houses of Parliament shall hold joint meetings when
they are considering the following issues:
a) the receipt of the
Report of the President on the opening of the two Houses;
b) the debates on the
c) the Resolution on and
declaration of a state of war when the
d) the debates on natural
disasters;
e) the debates relating to
emergency laws;
f) the confirmation of the
appointment of the Chairman of the Supreme Court; (and)
g) any other matters
considered by the two Houses as meriting joint sittings.
2) The two Houses may hold
joint meetings:
a) when they wish to discuss political
issues that face the nation;
a)
on
request of the Government;
b)
on
the proposal of either House subject to a vote on a simple majority of that
House and agreement of the other House;
c)
when
the two Houses want to put joint questions to the Government or are seeking
situation reports or evidence from the Government; or
d)
when
there is a need to settle some any differences of opinion arising between the
two Houses on a specific matter.
3)
Agendas
for the joint meetings shall be concluded through discussions between the
Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Elders and
shall be submitted to each House for approval.
4)
Joint
meetings of two Houses shall be presided upon by the Chairman of the House of
Elders or in his absence by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. In the absence of both, the next in line for
presiding joint meeting is the first Deputy Chairman of the House of Elders
and, in his absence, as well, it will be the first Deputy of the House of
Representatives and so on through the other two deputies of two Houses.
5) The
two Houses shall agree on Rules governing the conduct of joint meetings. Unless
the Constitution states otherwise, the decisions and resolutions of the joint
meetings shall be carried on a simple majority vote of those present.
ASSISTING
THE PUBLIC
Article 73: Members Representing Individuals
1) In responding to requests
for assistance from individuals, a Member of the House has the right to assist
petitioners before the Government or its departments, or independent public
agencies and other public offices
2) At the request of a
petitioner, a Member of the House may communicate with a Minister or
independent government official or agency on any matter to
(a) request information or a
status report;
(b) urge prompt consideration;
(c) arrange for interviews or
appointments;
(d) express judgments;
(e) call
for reconsideration of an administrative response which the Member believes is
not reasonable and may not have been taken in line with the law, regulations or
considerations of public policy ; or
(f) make other legitimate representations on
behalf of the individual.
3) The decision to provide
assistance to individuals may not be made on the basis of contributions or
services, or promises of contributions or services, to the Member's political
campaigns or to other organisations in which the Member has a
political, personal, or financial interest.
4) Any Member can assist an
individual under this Article regardless of the regional residence of the
individual.
5) Nothing in this rule
shall be construed to limit the authority of Members, to perform legislative,
including committee, responsibilities.
6) The Permanent Committee,
on the proposal of the Speaker, may issue advice and guidance to Members in
relation to their work in assisting the public under this Article or their role
in connection with petitions under the following Article 74 of the Rules.
Article 74:
Petitions
1)
Any Member of the House may forward to the General
Secretary of the House a petition on specific issues signed by members of the
public who wish to bring an issue to the attention of the House. The member is
not expected to endorse the petition but is simply facilitating its submission
to the House.
2)
The General Secretary will only accept any petition which
meet the following conditions:
a)
It must be in writing, legible, concise (no more than ten
lines) and written in courteous language.
b)
It must relate to an issue that the House may be able to
comment on or pass a resolution or a law about it.
c)
It must broadly who the petition is from ( a residents of
village, a group etc) .
d)
It must say briefly what the petitioners are concerned
about.
e)
It must state what the petitioners expect the House to do.
f) It must have the full names (three names), place of residence
and signature (or mark) of each petitioner.
g)
Every signature must be on a page which contains at the
top the petition.
3)
A standard blank petition form shall be available at the
Secretariat of the House.
4)
The General Secretary shall acknowledge receipt of the
petition and shall make a short summary of the contents of each petition, the
number of signatures and action requested, which shall be considered by the Speaker.
Petitions relating to on-going legislation or matters under consideration by a
Committee may be referred to that Committee.
5)
If the Speaker decides to refer a petition to the House
for discussion, the Member who forwarded it shall introduce it and the debate
shall be confined to ten minutes unless the Speaker rules otherwise.
DISSOLUTION
PROPOSALS
Article 75: Procedures for
dissolution
1)
As set out in Article 56(7) of the Constitution, no
proposal to dissolve the House can be made during its first term of office or
during the last year of the President’s tern of office.
2)
Any proposal to dissolve the House in line with Article
56(2) of the Constitution and during periods which are outside those mentioned
in Clause 1 of this Article, must be supported by no less than one third
of the members of the House and must submitted in writing to the Speaker. The Speaker shall refer the proposal to
theHouse Business &Speaker who shall verify the veracity and the reasons
for the motion, and shall report their findings to a specially convened meeting
of the House, which must be held within 14 days of the submission of the
written motion to the Speaker. The motion will lapse if, at the beginning of
this meeting, less than one third of the House supports it. If however, the
motion is still supported by a third or more of the total members of the House,
the motion shall be put to a vote and shall pass if it approved by a two thirds
of the total members of the House.
3)
If the House passes the motion, the Speaker shall send
certified copies of the Resolution to the Supreme Court and to the
President. The Court shall then issue a
ruling in line with Article 56(1) of the Constitution and the House shall be
dissolved on a date set out in a Presidential Decree which shall also state the
date of the election of the new House, as stipulated in Article 56(5) of the
Constitution. If the election cannot be
held, the term of the House shall continue until such time the election can
take place (Article 56(6) of the Constitution).
4)
The House shall, as far as possible, continue to conduct
its business until the date of the dissolution set out in the Presidential
Decree.
5)
If the President proposes formally to the Supreme Court to
conduct a national referendum under Article 56(4) of the Constitution to dissolve
the House, the Speaker shall call a meeting of the House to discuss the
President’s proposal and reasons for dissolution. If the House agrees with the proposal and
follows the steps set out in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article, then there will
be no need for a referendum. If, however, the House rejects the proposal on a
simple majority vote, it shall empower the permanent committee of the House to
oppose the proposal and to campaign for its rejection at the referendum. If the national referendum does not approve
of the proposed dissolution on a simple majority, the term of the House shall
continue.
PROPOSALS
TO AMEND THE FLAG, EMBLEM OR NATIONAL ANTHEM
Article 76: Proposals to Change the Flag
1) On receipt of a proposal to change the
Flag, the emblem or the national anthem made by no less than 11 members of the
House, the Speaker shall refer the matter to the Permanent Committee of the
House, which shall consult widely with all sections of the public, the
Government, local authorities and the House of Elders Permanent Committee about
the change, and if necessary, hold competitions for the best designs. On conclusions of the consultation, the
Committee shall make a short list and shall report their conclusions and
recommendations to the House. The report
shall contain descriptions of the proposed new flag, emblem or anthem.
2) The proposals of the Committee shall be
debated by the House and decisions made on the basis of an absolute majority of
the House (half of the total members plus one).
3) If the proposals are approved by the
House, the relevant changes shall be inserted in place of the current wording
in Clauses (1) and (2) of Article 6 of the Constitution.
PROPOSALS
TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION
Article 77: Amending the Constitution
1)
As set out in Article 127 of the Constitution, no proposal
to amend the Constitution shall be made if it includes a provision which is in
conflict with the principles of Islamic Sharia; the unity/integrity of the
country; democratic principles and the multi-party system and fundamental
rights and freedoms.
2)
On receipt of a reasoned and signed proposal to amend the
Constitution made by no less than a third of the House, the Speaker shall refer
the matter to the Constitution, Laws and Justice Committee who shall consult
widely on the proposal and shall then submit its report and recommendation to
the House.
3)
The House shall consider the proposal as well as the
report and recommendations of the Committee and shall resolve on a vote of the
majority of its total membership whether or not the proposed amendments are
necessary.
4)
If the House resolves that the amendments are not
necessary, then the proposals shall not be re-introduced during the following
12 months.
5)
If, however, the House resolves that the amendments are necessary,
then the Speaker shall inform the House of Elders, and the amendments shall be
considered again by both Houses of Parliament within two months of the
resolution of the House. The amendments
shall pass, if both Houses approve them, separately, on a vote of two thirds
majority of their respective total members – Articles 126(3) and 126(4) of the
Constitution.
6)
The same proposals shall not be re-introduced at the House
again during the following 12 months if either of the two Houses fails to approve
the amendment with the necessary two third majority.
CODE OF
CONDUCT
Article 78: Code of Conduct
The House is committed to
achieving the highest standards of public service and shall, on the recommendation of the Speaker
and the Permanent Committee, adopt a Code of conduct, which shall become an annexe
to these Rules. Allegations relating to
non-compliance with the Code shall be dealt with by the Permanent Committee in
line with Article 53 of these Rules. The Permanent Committee shall keep the Code of
Conduct under regular review and shall make any proposals for changes to the
House.
PAPERS, MINUTESS
AND RECORDS
Article 79: Delivery of Papers to
Archives
1) All papers and records
relating to the completed business of the House shall be delivered to, kept by
and preserved in the Archives and/or Library of the House. All pending matters
and proceedings shall terminate upon the expiration of the term of the House
and the records pertaining thereto filed in the Archives within two months of
the end of the term of the House.
2) Minutes of the meetings
of the House and its committees, resolutions and laws passed shall, as far as
possible, be bound and kept in a format (both hard and electronic) in which
they can be retrieved.
3) The minutes and other records
of the House shall, as far as possible, be open to the public.
4) The financial records
of he House shall be available for audit by the Auditor General in line with
the relevant laws.
MEETING HALL,
SEATS AND ROOMS
Article 80: Use of the Meeting
Hall
The meeting hall of the House shall
be used only for sittings, group or party caucuses and meetings of the Members,
except when the House or the Speaker directs otherwise.
Article 81: Assignment of Seats
and Rooms
1) Seats in the meeting hall shall be assigned
in accordance with the instructions of the Speaker.
2) The Chief Security Officer shall not
permit persons other than Members and authorised House staff to enter or stay
within the space designated in the meeting hall for Members and House staff
needed therein while the House is in session. Fifteen (15) minutes before a
meeting, the security staff shall clear the space of all other persons who
should not be there under the instructions of the Speaker and the General
Secretary and it shall be so kept until the adjournment of the meeting.
2) Subject to availability, rooms may be
assigned by the Speaker to the Deputy Speakers, the Majority Leader, the
Minority Leader, and the any other remaining House Political Party Leader(s) in
the House building or in any other offices used by the House. Any other rooms available shall be assigned
strictly by lot to the Members. The General Secretary shall schedule the date
and designate the place for the drawing of lots for room assignments and shall
ensure that all Members are given due notice at least seven (7) days before the
scheduled date.
PRECEDENTS
Article 82: Rulings as Precedents
Rulings by the Speaker on
questions raised by Members and decisions of the Permanent Committee and the
House on disciplinary matters may form
part of the parliamentary practice of the House, but such practices shall be
supplementary to these Rules and can only be used to fill any deficiencies in
the Rules.
AMENDMENTS
Article 83: Amendments
Any provisions of these Rules, with
the exception of those which are also
embodied in the Constitution, may be amended by a majority vote of all the
Members of the House after the proposed amendments have been considered and
reported on by the Permanent Committee.
IMPLEMENTATION
Article 84: Implementation
These Rules shall come into force
on the date of their adoption by the House and shall continue to be in force
until they are amended or superseded by new Rules issued under 46(3) of the
Constitution.
Adopted: _____________________
Speaker: _____________________
General Secretary: _____________________
ANNEXE 1: CODE OF CONDUCT
(Appendix
1: Code of Conduct (based on the
1. Purpose of the Code
The purpose of the
Code of Conduct is to assist Members in the discharge of their obligations to
the House, their constituents and the public at large.
2. Public duty
1. By virtue of the oath,
taken by all Members when they are elected to the House, Members have a duty to
be faithful and bear true allegiance to the the
2. Members have a duty to
uphold the law and to act on all occasions in accordance with the public trust
placed in them.
3. Members have a general
duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole; and a special duty to
their constituents.
3. Personal conduct
1. Members shall observe
the general principles of conduct identified by the Committee on Standards in
Public Life (The Nolan Principles) as applying to holders of public office:-
"Selflessness
Holders of public office should take decisions solely in terms of the public
interest. They should not do so in order to gain financial or other material
benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends.
Integrity
Holders of public office should not place themselves under any financial or
other obligation to outside individuals or organisations that might influence
them in the performance of their official duties.
Objectivity
In carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding
contracts, or recommending individuals for rewards and benefits, holders of
public office should make choices on merit.
Accountability
Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the
public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their
office.
Openness
Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions
and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and
restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.
Honesty
Holders of public office have a duty to declare any private interests relating
to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts arising in a
way that protects the public interest.
Leadership
Holders of public office should promote and support these principles by
leadership and example."
2. Members shall base their conduct on a
consideration of the public interest, avoid conflict between personal interest
and the public interest and resolve any conflict between the two, at once, and
in favour of the public interest.
3. Members shall, at all
times, conduct themselves in a manner which will tend to maintain and
strengthen the public's trust and confidence in the integrity of the House and
never undertake any action which would bring the House of Commons, or its
Members generally, into disrepute.
4. The acceptance by a
Member of a bribe to influence his or her conduct as a Member, including any
fee, compensation or reward in connection with the promotion of, or opposition
to, any Bill, Motion, or other matter submitted, or intended to be submitted to
the House, or to any Committee of the House, is contrary to the Rules of the
House.
5. Members shall fulfil conscientiously the requirements
of the House in respect of the registration of interests in the Register of
Members' Interests and shall always draw attention to any relevant interest in
any proceeding of the House or its Committees, or in any communications with
Ministers, Government Departments or Executive Agencies. (This will involve the setting up of Rules for registering members’
interests)
6. In any activities with,
or on behalf of, an organisation with which a Member has a financial
relationship, including activities which may not be a matter of public record
such as informal meetings and functions, he or she must always bear in mind the
need to be open and frank with Ministers, Members and officials.
7. No Member shall act as a paid advocate in any
proceeding of the House.
8. No improper use shall be made of any payment
or allowance made to Members for public purposes and the administrative rules
which apply to such payments and allowances must be strictly observed.
9. Members must bear in
mind that information which they receive in confidence in the course of their
parliamentary duties should be used only in connection with those duties, and
that such information must never be used for the purpose of financial gain.
ANNEXE 2: CODE OF CONDUCT
This
brief Code is based on an Australian
example, which are similar to the
Ethical Principles for Members
of the House
The
following principles are intended to provide a framework of reference for
Members in the discharge of their responsibilities. They outline the minimum
standards of behaviour which the people have a right to expect of their elected
representatives. It is by adherence to such principles that Members of
Parliament can maintain and strengthen the public's trust and confidence in the
integrity of the Parliamentary institution and uphold the dignity of public
office.
The Principles
1.
Loyalty to the Nation and Regard for its Laws
Members and must be loyal to
2.
Diligence and Economy
Members
must exercise due diligence, and in performing their official duties to the
best of their ability, apply public resources economically and only for the
purposes for which they are intended.
3.
Respect for the Dignity and Privacy of Others
Members must have due regard for the rights and
obligations of all the people of
4.
Integrity
Members
must at all times act honestly, strive to maintain the public trust placed in
them, and advance the common good of the people of Somaliland.
5. Primacy
of the Public Interest
Members
must base their conduct on a consideration of the public interest, avoid
conflict between personal interest and the requirements of public duty, and
resolve any conflict, real or apparent, quickly and in favour of the public
interest.
6. Proper Exercise of Influence
Members must exercise the influence gained from their
public office only to advance the public interest. They must not obtain
improperly any property or benefit, whether for themselves or another, or
affect improperly any process undertaken by officials or members of the public.
7.
Personal Conduct
Members
must ensure that their personal conduct is consistent with the dignity and
integrity of the Parliament.