Review of Vanuatu Parliament’s Rules of Procedure: May 2009 Workshop

At the request of the Speaker of the National Parliament of Vanuatu, Hon. George Andre Wells MP, CDI has agreed to assist the Parliamentary Standing Orders Review Committee in its task of reviewing and revising the Standing Orders of the National Parliament. CDI is facilitating the provision of technical expertise.

From 26-27 May 2009, CDI conducted a specialised workshop for the Review Committee and other interested parliamentarians at Parliament House in Port Vila. The purpose of the workshop was to kickstart the review process by giving the Committee background to best practice elsewhere and then to assist them in examining their own rules. During the workshop participants discussed key areas of the Standing Orders including the sources of authority for the Standing Orders, the Rules of Debate, Committee procedures, Questions to the Government, Powers and Immunities, and the passage of legislation. Thirty Members of Parliament together with the Clerk of Parliament, Mr Mr Lino Bulekuli dit Sacsac, and his deputy, Mr Leon Teter, participated in the workshop. Mr Quinton Clements, Deputy Director, CDI, convened the workshop, together with:

• Hon. Kevin Rozzoli - former Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly;
• Mr Ian Harris – Clerk of the House of Representatives, Parliament of Australia;
  
• Mr Neil Laurie – Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Parliament of Queensland; and
  
• Mr David Blunt - Deputy Clerk, Legislative Council, Parliament of New South Wales.
  

Following the workshop it was agreed that CDI and its partners would continue to assist the committee in its work including with:

• Preparing the required legislation (Parliament of Vanuatu Act);
• Consolidating and refreshing the language of the existing Standing Orders and other procedural documents – this would involve straightforward amendments that will tidy up the standing orders and make changes that are of a high practical priority, such as, the Deputy Speaker taking the chair in the absence of the Speaker, incorporating the Procedural Guidelines for Committees, introducing the provision for sessional orders, and amplifying existing procedures to make them clearer; Developing procedural manuals; and
• Preparing other reforms (including the election and role of the Speaker, the passage of legislation, financial scrutiny, Questions without notice, debate of committee reports).

This is the first time that a workshop of this kind has been conducted for the Vanuatu Parliament. The workshop is part of CDI’s ongoing commitment to support the Vanuatu Parliament. It builds on the successful induction program for Members organised by CDI in October 2008 and the Parliamentary Committees Workshop in March 2009.

Click on these links for more details:

Review of Vanuatu Parliament’s Rules of Procedure | Pt Vila | May 2009:
	Full Workshop REPORT		Vanuatu Press Coverage of the Workshop
	Workshop Program		Photo Gallery
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	CDI & Vanuatu
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