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34.Time and Manner of Speaking

In speaking to any question before the House or a committee of the whole House, the following rules shall be observed:

1. A Member shall speak standing and shall address his observations to the Speaker.

2. By indulgence of the Speaker, a Member unable conveniently to stand, by reason of sickness or infirmity, will be permitted to speak sitting.

3. He shall not be interrupted, except by the Speaker or on a point of order.

4. Any Member who has a direct personal pecuniary interest in any matter on which he is addressing the House or committee of the whole House shall declare such interest at the beginning of his speech.

5. When a Member has finished his observations, he shall resume his seat, and any other Member wishing to speak may rise.

6. If two or more Members rise at the same time the Speaker shall call on the Member who first attracts his attention.

7. A Member shall confine his observations to the subject under consideration; where more than one question has been proposed, as by way of amendment, the debate shall only be relevant to the last question so proposed until it has been disposed of:

   Provided that when any amendment has been moved and seconded, a Member who has not spoken prior thereto, may speak to the substantive motion and to any amendment thereof.

8. A question shall not refer to any matter on which a judicial decision is pending or reflect on the decision of a court of law.

9. A Member shall not impute improper motives to any other Member.

10. 1. No Member may speak more than once to any question except:
       1. to a point of order;

       2. when the House is in Committee;

       3. in explanation or vindication as provided in this Standing Order

       Provided that:
       1. the mover of any substantive motion, other than any motion for amendment may, at the end of the debate on such motion, speak in reply to any matter raised in such debate; and

       2. a Member who has spoken on a substantive motion, when a motion to amend that motion has been moved and seconded, may speak again on the amendment only.

    2. A Member may second a motion, including a motion relating to a Bill, by rising in his place and stating that he seconds the motion, without losing his right to speak at a later period of the debate.

11. When the mover of any motion, including a motion relating to a Bill, has exercised his right of reply, no other member may speak on such motion and the question shall then be put.

12. The President's name shall not be introduced to influence the House or any Committee thereof.

13. The conduct of the President or the person acting as President, Members of the House or the Senate, judges, magistrates or persons. executing legal process, shall not be raised except upon a substantive motion introduced by leave of the Speaker; and in any amendment, question to a Member, or remarks in a debate on a motion dealing with any other subject, reference to the conduct of the person aforesaid shall be out of order.

14. A Member shall not read his speech, but he may read extracts from written or printed papers in support of his argument and may refresh his memory by reference to notes. When a point of order is raised that a Member is reading his speech the Speaker, if he is satisfied that the Member is in fact so doing, shall direct -the Member, to refrain from reading his speech.

15. When a motion has been proposed, debated and disposed of, it shall not be competent for any Member, without the leave of the Speaker, to propose such motion again within six months, nor shall it be competent without such leave, to revive in any debate a matter upon which the House has come to a conclusion during the last six months.

16. It shall be out of order to anticipate any question by discussion of a motion or by debate, on a day prior to that appointed for the consideration of such question.

17. No Member may allude to any debate or proceedings of the current session in the Senate, or to any measure pending therein, unless such allusion be relevant to the matter under discussion:

18. provided that this Standing Order shall not prevent reference to a ministerial statement in the Senate.

19. No Member may allude to any debate or proceedings of the same session unless such allusion be relevant to the matter under discussion.

20. No Member may reflect upon any vote of the House, except upon a 4~ motion that Such vote be rescinded.

21. It shall be out of order for any Member to use:
    1. offensive words against either Houses of Parliament and any Member thereof;

    2. treasonable words;

    3. seditious words;

    4. words which are likely to promote or provoke feelings of ill-will or hostility between different Communities in Fiji.

1. Any Member may raise a point of order, which, when raised, takes precedence over other business.

2. Any Member may raise a point of order, which, when raised, takes precedence over other business.

   When a question of order has been stated, the Member who raises it shall resume his seat, and no Member, except by leave of the Speaker, shall rise till the Speaker has decided on the question, after which the Member who was addressing the House or Committee at the time the question was raised shall be entitled to proceed with his speech.

3. The Speaker's decision on a point of order shall not be open to appeal and shall not be considered by the House except upon a substantive motion made after due notice.

1. The House or a Committee of the whole House may impose a time limit in respect of the debate on any question, clause of a Bill or head of the Estimates by allotting a limited period of time for such debate. The debate unless the question has not been previously proposed shall cease upon the expiry of the time limit.

2. A motion to limit the time of any debate shall be moved by a member of the Business Committee and on the direction of that Committee.

3. During the course of any debate a Member may move "That the question be now put."

4. Such motion as aforesaid shall be made without notice and subject to paragraph of this Order being seconded the question on it shall be proposed without amendment or debate.

5. When a debate ceases upon the expiry of a time limit or when the motion "That the question be now put" is carried, the Speaker shall immediately call upon the mover to exercise his right of reply and then shall propose the question before the House.

6. The Speaker shall refuse to propose "That the question be now put" if he considers such proposal to be an abuse of Standing Orders or an infringement of the rights of a minority.

7. The Speaker, when any time limit has been placed on any debate, shall ensure that the rights of any minority shall not be infringed by curtailing any speech to ensure that the Government and the Opposition have an equal time for speeches or by such other methods as he may consider just and equitable and to enforce his decisions, may request a list of speakers from the Prime Minister or from the Leader of Opposition and may make such other order or decision as he shall think fit.

1. The Speaker shall be responsible for the observance of the rules or order in the House and in Committee of the whole House.

2. Whenever the Speaker intervenes during a debate, any Member then speaking, or offering to speak, must sit down and the House or Committee of the whole House shall be silent, so that the Speaker may be heard Without interruption.

3. The Speaker after having called the attention of the House or Committee of the whole House to the conduct of a Member who persists in irrelevance or tedious repetition either of his own arguments or of the arguments used by other Members in debate, may direct the Member to discontinue his speech.

4. The Speaker may order any Member whose conduct is disorderly to withdraw immediately from the House for the remainder of the day's sitting.

5. Members who are directed to withdraw under paragraph (4) hereof shall withdraw immediately from the House and its precincts; and the Speaker may direct such steps to be taken as are required to enforce this Order.

6. If the Speaker deems that his powers under the previous provisions of this Order are inadequate he may name such Member in which event the procedure in the next following subsection shall be as follows:

   Provided that if the offence has occurred in a Committee of the whole House the Committee shall first resolve itself again into the House.

7. The Speaker shall name the Member concerned by calling upon him as follows, "I name Mr/Ms...", whereupon the Leader of the House or a senior Member shall without debate move "That Mr/Ms ... be suspended from the service of the House." The question thereon shall be put forthwith whereupon the Member suspended shall withdraw immediately from the House, aided if necessary by the Sergeant-at-Arms acting under the direction of the Speaker, and shall be required to withdraw altogether from the precincts of the House for such period, not being more than three sitting days, as the Speaker may determine.

8. In the case of grave disorder the Speaker may, in his discretion, suspend the sitting, or adjourn the House, to a time named by him.

9. Nothing in this Order shall be deemed to prevent the House from proceeding against any Member for any breach of order not referred to in these Orders, or from proceeding in any other way it thinks fit in dealing with breaches of order.

38.Matters of Privilege

1. A Member who wishes to raise a matter which he believes to affect the privilege of the House shall do so as soon as possible after the matter comes to his attention. Such Member shall inform the Speaker, stating the facts to which he wishes to draw attention, at least one hour before the beginning of the sitting at which he proposes to raise the matter.

2. When a Member is called by the Speaker to raise a matter of privilege he shall state briefly the facts to which he wishes to draw the attention of the House and the grounds on which he believes that those facts affect the privilege of the House.

3. The Speaker shall then state whether, in his opinion, the matter may or may not affect the privileges of the House:

4. If the opinion of the Speaker is that the matter raised may affect the privileges of. the House the Member who raised the matter,' or in his absence any other Member, may without notice move a motion based on that matter of privilege and the motion shall be debated forthwith.

5. If during the sitting of the House a matter suddenly arises which, in the opinion of the Speaker, appears to involve the privileges of the House and which calls for the immediate attention of the House, the proceedings shall be interrupted, except during the progress of a division, and the House shall proceed forthwith to debate a motion based on such matter.

6. Privileges of the House and Members thereof shall be those privileges provided in the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act, any Act amending the same or any Act in substitution or supplementary thereto.

39.Personal Explanation

By leave of the Speaker, a Member may explain matters of a personal nature, although there is no question before the House, but such matters may not be debated and the Member must confine himself strictly to the vindication of his own conduct.

40.Misquotation of Words used in Debate

A Member who has spoken to a question may again be heard to offer explanation of some material part of his speech which has been misunderstood but he must not introduce any new matter. This should be carried out immediately at the end of the speech.

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