The Table, Volume 86, 2018
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VOL. 86 FOR 2018 T H E J O U R N A L O F T H E S OC I E T Y O F C L E R K S - AT- T H E - TA B L E I N COMMONWE A LT H PA R L I AME N T S VOLUME 86 2018 £15.00 Journal of the Society of Clerks-at-the-Table in Commonwealth Parliaments Please check colours, board and finish with Kinnaird marketing Green and red should match Vol.75 2007 edition???? The Table THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF CLERKS-AT-THE-TABLE IN COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTS EDITED BY LUKE HUSSEY VOLUME 86 2018 THE SOCIETY OF CLERKS-AT-THE-TABLE IN COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTS HOUSE OF LORDS LONDON SW1A 0PW 86 The Table v3 .indd 1 21/11/2018 08:54 The Table 2018 ©The Society of Clerks-at-the-Table in Commonwealth Parliaments 2018 ISBN 0-904979-43-1 ISSN 0264-7133 86 The Table v3 .indd 2 21/11/2018 08:54 CONTENTS Editorial 1 Archibald Milman and the 1894 Finance Bill 10 COLIN LEE Party voting in the New Zealand House of Representatives 40 DAVID WILSON The Lord Speaker's Committee on the size of the House of Lords: a new approach to turning the oil tanker 48 TOM WILSON Conduct in the Jersey States Assembly 55 MARK EGAN The Strathclyde Review: effective scrunity of secondary legislation? 58 PAUL BRISTOW Miscellaneous notes 63 Comparative study: dissolution of Parliament 115 Privilege 144 Standing orders 163 Sitting days 179 Unparliamentary expressions 182 Books on parliament in 2017 191 Index 197 iii 86 The Table v3 .indd 3 21/11/2018 08:54 86 The Table v3 .indd 4 21/11/2018 08:54 The Table The Journal of the Society of Clerks-at-the-Table in Commonwealth Parliaments EDITORIAL This edition of The Table sees a welcome return to Colin Lee’s series on Archibald Milman, this time considering the passage of the legislation giving effect to the 1894 Budget through the House of Commons, and the procedural issues that arose. Sir William Harcourt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the Budget. As Leader of the House of Commons alongside his chancellorship, Harcourt took the opportunity to undertake reforms (in particular to death duties) in spite of resistance from his Prime Minister (Lord Rosebery, the penultimate Prime Minister to lead a government from the Lords). At a fractious time, the advice of Milman was sought and relied upon, and procedure used (as well as its limitations found) to assist Harcourt in securing victory with the Budget. The article considers Milman’s relationships with his fellow clerks and Harcourt, giving light to the challenge (familiar to many) of separating personal opinion from the advice being given. David Wilson, Clerk of the House of Representatives in New Zealand, writes about the party voting system in the House, an unusual system by Westminster- derived procedural standards. Under this system, questions are usually resolved by a question by a single member, typically a whip, who casts all a party’s votes collectively. Introduced in 1995, the system has come under repeated review and David sets out the considerations that have been given to reform. Next, Tom Wilson, Registrar of Lords’ Interests in the House of Lords, provides an insight into the workings of the Lord Speaker’s Committee on the size of the House. The Lord Speaker’s Committee was the first of its kind, and is the latest attempt at tackling the challenge of reform to the House of Lords. As clerk to the Committee, Tom reflects on the difficulties of trying to address a problem many have tried to tackle in the past, as well as the opportunities arising from not being a formal select committee and bound to the procedures of the House. The Lord Speaker’s Committee reported in December 2017, and given that the recommendations require support from members of the House, as well as the Prime Minister, we must wait to see if the report leads to any change in the way the House is appointed and constituted. I look forward to a sequel to the article in future editions of The Table. Mark Egan, Greffier of the States of Jersey, provides a case study on the conduct of a minister that has been nearly a decade in the making. The Assembly has been faced with the issue of a minister having been found to have misled both the Assembly (in 2008) and the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry. 1 86 The Table v3 .indd 1 21/11/2018 08:54 The Table 2018 The Privileges and Procedures Committee was tasked with considering how to respond to that minister’s conduct, who was still a Deputy, and the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. Mark considers the unusual circumstances of this incident, and the implications for the Assembly moving forwards. The final article is courtesy of Paul Bristow, Adviser to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in the House of Lords, who takes us through the 2015 Strathclyde Review and its outcome. The review was commissioned by the Government and undertaken by Lord Strathclyde, a former Leader of the House. It was tasked with examining how elected Governments could have their ability to secure their business in Parliament protected, with particular regard to the House of Commons’ primacy on financial matters and secondary legislation. It arose following the House agreeing to motions calling for the Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (secondary legislation laid under the affirmative procedure) to be deferred until the Government had taken various steps to analyse and mitigate their impact. The Review set out to prevent such a ‘constitutional crisis’ occurring again. Paul sets out what has happened since the Review reported in December 2015. This edition also includes the usual interesting updates from jurisdictions and a comparative study on the circumstances involved in dissolving legislatures, considering who has the power to dissolve a parliament or legislature, in what circumstances a legislature can be dissolved and whether any conventions or practices apply to dissolution. Nicolas Besly announced in the previous issue that it would be his last as editor, following the publication of nine editions of The Table. I trust you will all share my sincere thanks to Nicolas for his work and dedication. I have enjoyed editing my first edition ofThe Table, and I am grateful to all those who have contributed articles and updates from across the Commonwealth. I look forward to future editions, and hope to be able to follow in my predecessor’s footsteps in continuing to ensure that The Table is a valuable and interesting forum for the exchange of views and experiences across parliaments. MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY Australia House of Representatives Robyn McClelland, Clerk Assistant (Committees) retired on 17 February 2017. Queensland Parliament Leanne Clare, First Clerk Assistant (Procedure) retired in December 2017. 2 86 The Table v3 .indd 2 21/11/2018 08:54 Editorial Amanda Honeyman commenced as First Clerk Assistant (Procedure) in January 2018. Victoria Legislative Council Andrew Young, Clerk of the Legislative Council, became Acting Clerk of the Parliaments following the retirement of Ray Purdey, Clerk of the Legislative Assembly and Clerk of the Parliaments. Western Australia Legislative Council Dr Colin Huntly resigned as Clerk Assistant (Procedure) in January 2017. Suzanne Veletta rotated from the position of Clerk Assistant (Committees) to Clerk Assistant (Procedure) in January 2017. Christine Kain commenced as Clerk Assistant (Committees) in July 2017. Canada House of Commons Charles Robert was appointed Clerk of the House of Commons on 20 June 2017, replacing Marc Bosc, Acting Clerk of the House since August 2014. André Gagnon was confirmed as Deputy Clerk (Procedure), having been acting in the role since 2014. Michel Patrice was appointed to the new position of Deputy Clerk (Administration) on 21 August 2017. Pierre Rodrigue was appointed the Senior Principal Clerk of the new Parliamentary Information Directorate on 4 July 2017. Senate Charles Robert, former Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments was appointed Clerk of the House of Commons in July 2017. Nicole Proulx, who was previously Chief Corporate Services Officer, was appointed Interim Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments. Ms. Proulx retired in January 2018, and Richard Denis, from the House of Commons (where he served as the Deputy Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel), was appointed as Interim Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments and Chief Legislative Services Officer on 31 January 2018. Michel Patrice, the Senate Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, left the Senate in August 2017, taking the position of Deputy Clerk of Administration at the House of Commons. Prince Edward Island Legislative Assembly Marian Johnston retired from the services of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island on 31 December 2017 (appointed Clerk Assistant and 3 86 The Table v3 .indd 3 21/11/2018 08:54 The Table 2018 Clerk of Committees on 15 November 2001). Recently, she served as Chief Electoral Officer (Acting) for Prince Edward Island Elections from June– November 2017. She served on the executive of the Association of Clerks-at- the-Table in Canada from 2010–2013, and as President in 2012. Quebec National Assembly On 18 May 2017, the National Assembly appointed Ariane Mignolet as Ethics Commissioner, whose role is to oversee and ensure compliance with the National Assembly’s code of ethics and conduct. Ms. Mignolet has previously occupied a number of positions in the Assembly’s parliamentary affairs sector, including those of Parliamentary Procedure Adviser, Director of the Assembly Secretariat, Director of Parliamentary Procedure, Director of Parliamentary Procedure and Parliamentary Affairs and, as of 2011, Director General of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.