Presiding officer of a legislative body
Speakers and presiding officers from various
Commonwealth
nations meet for a Commonwealth Speakers and Presiding Officers Conference in
Wellington
, New Zealand, 1984
Marshal's chair in the
Sejm
, lower chamber of the
Polish Parliament
The
speaker
of a
deliberative assembly
, especially a
legislative body
, is its
presiding officer
, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in
England
.
[1]
[2]
Usage
[
edit
]
The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of
Thomas de Hungerford
in the
Parliament of England
.
[3]
[4]
The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the powers to discipline members who break the procedures of the
chamber or house
. The speaker often also represents the body in person, as the voice of the body in ceremonial and some other situations.
[5]
A speaker usually presides the lower house. Different styles are employed to refer to those who preside upper houses or Senates.
By convention, speakers are normally addressed in Parliament as 'Mister Speaker' if a man, or 'Madam Speaker' if a woman. In other cultures, other styles are used, mainly being equivalents of English "chairman" or "
president
". Many bodies also have a speaker
pro tempore
(or deputy speaker), designated to fill in when the speaker is not available.
The speaker is commonly supported by a 'speaker's office'.
Examples of speakers include:
Armenia
[
edit
]
The
president of the National Assembly of Armenia
is the speaker of the house in the
National Assembly
of
Armenia
. The formation of this position was established on 1 August 1918.
[6]
Australia
[
edit
]
The
speaker of the House of Representatives
is the presiding officer of the
Australian House of Representatives
, the lower house of the
Parliament of Australia
. The
president of the Senate
is the presiding officer of the
Australian Senate
, the upper house of the Parliament.
Brazil
[
edit
]
Federal
[
edit
]
The
Federal Constitution
determines that both houses of the
National Congress
, in the first session after taking office, must elect their "Mesas Diretoras" (Presiding Boards), consisting each of a president, two vice presidents, four secretaries and alternates to serve two-year terms, with no reappointment to the same position in the immediately subsequent election. In addition to voting as senator or federal deputy at their respective houses, both presidents also hold the casting vote in case of a tie, but the large number of legislators (81 in the Federal Senate and 513 in the Chamber of Deputies, as of 2023) makes this attribution rarely used.
The
president of the Federal Senate
is the presiding officer of the
Federal Senate
, the upper house. The
president of the Chamber of Deputies
is the presiding officer of the
Chamber of Deputies
, the lower house. The Constitution also determines that the president of the Federal Senate presides over the Board of the National Congress in the joint sessions of both houses, the Common Regulations of the National Congress refer to the president of the Federal Senate on these occasions as "President of the National Congress".
[7]
States
[
edit
]
Following the Brazilian political tradition, the legislative assemblies of the
states
(
Legislative Chamber
in the case of the
Federal District
), all unicameral, adopt rules identical to those of the National Congress, electing a Presiding Board among the state deputies for two-year terms on the first session after taking office.
Canada
[
edit
]
Federal
[
edit
]
In
Canada
, the
speaker of the House of Commons
(
President de la Chambre des communes
) is the individual elected to preside over the House of Commons, the elected
lower house
.
[8]
The speaker is a
member of parliament
(MP) and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs. The speaker's role in presiding over the House of Commons is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in other countries that use the
Westminster system
. The speaker does not vote except in the case of a tie. By convention, if required to vote, the speaker will vote in favour of continuing debate on a matter, but will not ultimately vote for a measure to be approved.
The
speaker of the Senate
(
president du Senat
) is the presiding officer of the
Senate
, the appointed
upper house
. The speaker represents the Senate at official functions, rules on questions of parliamentary procedure and parliamentary privilege, and presides over debates and voting in the "Red Chamber". The speaker of the Senate is appointed by the
governor general
from amongst sitting senators upon the advice of the prime minister. The speaker has a vote on all matters. In the event of a tie, the matter fails.
Provinces
[
edit
]
At the provincial level, the presiding officer of the provincial legislatures is called the "speaker" (
president
) in all provinces except
Quebec
, where the term "president" is used. The presiding officer fulfills the same role as the speaker of the House of Commons.
Chile
[
edit
]
The
president of the Chamber of Deputies
is the highest authority of the
Chamber of Deputies
. The
president of the Senate
is the highest authority of the
Senate of Chile
.
China (mainland)
[
edit
]
In the
People's Republic of China
, the
chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
is the presiding officer of the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
, which is considered China's top legislative body. As stipulated in Article 84 of the
Constitution of China
, should both the
president
and
vice-president
become incapacitated, and the National People's Congress is unable to elect a timely replacement, the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee will act as president.
Hong Kong
[
edit
]
The
president of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong
is the speaker of the
Legislative Council
and is elected by and from its members. The president presides over the Council meetings and is empowered to enforce the Rules of Procedures solely.
While members of the Legislative Council may be Hong Kong residents who are not Chinese citizens, the president can only be selected from people with Chinese nationality who do not have a right of abode in foreign countries.
Italy
[
edit
]
Parliamentarism in
Italy
is centred on the presidents of the two Houses, vested in defence of the members and of the assembly as a whole;
[note 1]
so "the Speaker invites the representative of the Government not to deviate from the rules of parliamentary behaviour".
[10]
Now constitutional community highlights changes also in this role.
[11]
The president of the Senate also acts as deputy president of the republic "in all cases in which the president cannot perform them".
[12]
New Zealand
[
edit
]
In
New Zealand
, the
speaker of the House of Representatives
is the presiding officer of the
New Zealand House of Representatives
,
[13]
the only chamber of the
New Zealand Parliament
.
[14]
Precedent set by other
Westminster-style parliaments
means that
members of Parliament
must always address the speaker.
[15]
Singapore
[
edit
]
In
Singapore
, the
speaker of the Parliament of Singapore
is the
head officer
of the
country's legislature
. By recent tradition, the
prime minister
nominates a person, who may or may not be an elected
member of parliament
(MP), for the role. The person's name is then proposed and seconded by the MPs, before being elected as speaker.
[16]
The
Constitution
states that Parliament has the freedom to decide how to elect its speaker.
[17]
While the speaker does not have to be an elected MP, they must possess the qualifications to stand for election as an MP as provided for in the Constitution.
[18]
The speaker also cannot be a cabinet minister or parliamentary secretary,
[19]
and must resign from those positions prior to being elected as speaker.
The speaker is one of the few public sector roles which allow its office-holder to automatically qualify as a candidate in the
Singapore presidential elections
.
[20]
Spain
[
edit
]
The
president of the Congress of Deputies
is the speaker of the
Congress of Deputies
, the lower house of the
Cortes Generales
(the Spanish parliament). The president is elected among the members of the Congress and is, after the
king
and the
prime minister
, the highest authority in the
Kingdom of Spain
.
The
president of the Senate
is the speaker of the Spanish upper house called
Senate
.
Taiwan
[
edit
]
The
Legislative Yuan
is the highest legislative body of
Taiwan
. The president of the Legislative Yuan presides over its meetings and is elected by the legislators from among themselves. Until 1993, the
president
of the
Control Yuan
was elected by and from the members like the speaker of many other parliamentary bodies.
United Kingdom
[
edit
]
Ths Speaker's Chair in the UK House of Commons (19th century photograph)
In the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
, the
Speaker
is the individual elected to preside over the elected
House of Commons
. The speaker is a
member of Parliament
(MP) and is elected at the beginning of each new parliament by fellow MPs.
The
Lord Speaker
is the presiding officer of the
House of Lords
. The presiding officer of the House of Lords was until recently the
Lord Chancellor
, who was also a member of the government (a cabinet member) and the head of the judicial branch. The Lord Chancellor did not have the same authority to discipline members of the Lords that the speaker of the Commons has in that house. The Lord Speaker is elected by the
members of the House of Lords
and is expected to be politically impartial.
Devolved parliaments
[
edit
]
The
presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament
is the president, presiding officer and speaker of the
Scottish Parliament
.
The
llywydd of the Senedd
is the speaker of the
Senedd
, the Welsh parliament.
The
speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly
presides over the
Northern Ireland Assembly
.
United States
[
edit
]
Federal
[
edit
]
Both chambers of the
United States Congress
have a presiding officer defined by the
United States Constitution
. The
speaker of the United States House of Representatives
presides over the lower house of
Congress
, the
House of Representatives
. The speaker, elected by the entire House, is the top-ranking officer of the legislative branch of the federal government. Unlike in Commonwealth realms, the position is partisan, and the speaker often plays an important part in running the House and advancing a political platform;
Joseph Gurney Cannon
, speaker from 1903 to 1911, is an extreme example.
The
vice president of the United States
, as provided by the
United States Constitution
formally presides over the upper house, the
Senate
. In practice, however, the vice president does not regularly appear in Congress owing to responsibilities in the executive branch and the fact that the vice president may only vote to break a tie, something that rarely occurs due to the
filibuster
preventing tie votes from occurring in practice. In the vice president's absence, the presiding role is delegated to the most
senior
member of the majority party, who is the
president pro tempore of the United States Senate
. Since the Senate's rules give little power to its non-member presider (who may be of the minority party), the task of presiding over daily business is typically rotated among junior members of the majority party.
States
[
edit
]
In the forty-nine
states
that have a
bicameral
legislature, the highest leadership position in the
lower house
is usually called the "Speaker" and the upper house is usually the "President of the (State) Senate". In Nebraska?the only state with a
unicameral
legislature?the senators elect one senator to serve as "
Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature
", who presides over legislative sessions in the absence of the
Lieutenant Governor
but retains the powers typical of other legislative speakers. In Tennessee, the senators elect a "Speaker of the Senate" who presides over the
Tennessee Senate
and serves as lieutenant governor.
Similar posts
[
edit
]
The presiding officer for an
upper house
of a bicameral legislature usually has a different title such as Chairman or President of the senate When the upper house is called a
senate
, but they have the same duties.
Australia
,
Chile
, the
United States
and many other countries have upper houses with presiding officers titled "president". In several American republics, the vice president of the country serves as the president of the upper house. This pattern is not universal, however. Some upper houses, including those of
Canada
, have a speaker.
The
presiding officer of the National Assembly for Wales
,
presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament
, and
presiding officer of the Northern Ireland Assembly
fulfill the same role as the speaker.
List of current speakers
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Generic
[
edit
]
Specific
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Mancini and Galeotti believed that "in the enclosure of the House the exercise of presidential power should not be limits or obstacles whatsoever".
[9]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Stubbs, William (1903).
The Constitutional History of England in Its Origin and Development
. Clarendon Press.
- ^
"History of the Speakership"
,
UK Parliament
, 2021
, retrieved
10 Aug
2023
- ^
Journal of the House of Commons: January 1559
Archived
2007-09-27 at the
Wayback Machine
; 1559; accessed August 2015
- ^
Lee Vol 28, pp. 257,258.
- ^
"7 things you may not know about Speakers of Parliament"
.
Inter-Parliamentary Union
.
Archived
from the original on 2022-03-20
. Retrieved
2022-05-04
.
- ^
Ghazanchyan, Siranush (2 August 2021).
"Alen Simonyan elected President of the National Assembly"
.
Public Radio of Armenia
.
Archived
from the original on 18 August 2022
. Retrieved
9 November
2022
.
- ^
Under the old republican constitutions, the
Vice President of the Republic
was, cumulatively, President of the Federal Senate (and of the National Congress). However, the Senators could elect a substitute President in the event of a vacancy of the Vice Presidency.
- ^
McElligott, William (2020-05-04).
A Portrait of Canada's Parliament
. ECW Press.
ISBN
978-1-77305-618-0
.
- ^
Mancini-Galeotti,
Norme ed usi del Parlamento Italiano
, Roma, 1887, p. 97.
- ^
(in Spanish)
Sanciones disciplinaries y policia interna en el ordenamiento parlamentario italiano
‘’AA.VV., Derecho parlamentario sancionador’’, Eusko Legebiltazarra, Parlamento Vasco ed., 2005p. 236-271
Archived
2018-12-11 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
F. Bilancia,
L’imparzialita perduta (a proposito di President di Assemblea parlamentare)
, in Aa.Vv.,
Studi in onore di Gianni Ferrara
, vol. I, Giappichelli, Torino 2005, pp. 311 ss.
- ^
"Constitution of the Italian Republic - Article 86"
(PDF)
.
Senate of the Italian Republic
.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2020-11-18
. Retrieved
2022-10-23
.
- ^
"Office of the Speaker - New Zealand Parliament"
.
www.parliament.nz
.
Archived
from the original on 2022-02-03
. Retrieved
2022-02-03
.
- ^
"Our system of government - New Zealand Parliament"
.
www.parliament.nz
.
Archived
from the original on 2017-03-08
. Retrieved
2022-02-03
.
- ^
"Chapter 5 Speaker of the House of Representatives - New Zealand Parliament"
.
www.parliament.nz
.
Archived
from the original on 2022-02-03
. Retrieved
2022-02-03
.
- ^
Lee, Min Kok (8 January 2016).
"Halimah Yacob to be renominated as Speaker of Parliament: 7 things you may not know about the post"
.
The Straits Times
. Archived from
the original
on 7 August 2017
. Retrieved
7 August
2017
.
- ^
Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, Art. 40(2).
- ^
"Speaker of Parliament"
.
Parliament of Singapore
. Archived from
the original
on 7 August 2017
. Retrieved
7 August
2017
.
- ^
Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, Art. 40(2).
- ^
Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, Art. 19(3)(a).
Further reading
[
edit
]