Standing Orders of the House of Commons

APPENDIX

Orders and Resolutions

Matters sub judice

Resolution of 15 November 2001

Resolved, That, subject to the discretion of the Chair, and to the right of the House to legislate on any matter or to discuss any delegated legislation, the House in all its proceedings (including proceedings of committees of the House) shall apply the following rules on matters sub judice:

(1) Cases in which proceedings are active in United Kingdom courts shall not be referred to in any motion, debate or question.

(a)

(i) Criminal proceedings are active when a charge has been made or a summons to appear has been issued, or, in Scotland, a warrant to cite has been granted.

(ii) Criminal proceedings cease to be active when they are concluded by verdict and sentence or discontinuance, or, in cases dealt with by courts martial, after the conclusion of the mandatory post-trial review.

(b)

(i) Civil proceedings are active when arrangements for the hearing, such as setting down a case for trial, have been made, until the proceedings are ended by judgment or discontinuance.

(ii) Any application made in or for the purposes of any civil proceedings shall be treated as a distinct proceeding.

(c) Appellate proceedings, whether criminal or civil, are active from the time when they are commenced by application for leave to appeal or by notice of appeal until ended by judgment or discontinuance.

But where a ministerial decision is in question, or in the opinion of the Chair a case concerns issues of national importance such as the economy, public order or the essential services, reference to the issues or the case may be made in motions, debates or questions.

(2) Specific matters which the House has expressly referred to any judicial body for decision and report shall not be referred to in any motion, debate or question, from the time when the Resolution of the House is passed until the report is laid before the House.

(3) For the purposes of this Resolution—

(a) matters before coroner’s courts or fatal accident inquiries shall be treated as matters within paragraph (1)(a);

(b) ‘Motion’ includes a motion for leave to bring in a bill; and

(c) ‘Question’ includes a supplementary question.

Parliamentary privilege (application of legislation)

Resolution of 8 May 2014

Resolved, That, in light of the recommendations contained in paragraphs 226 and 227 of the Report of the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege, HC 100, this House resolves that legislation creating individual rights which could impinge on the activities of the House should in future contain express provision to this effect.

Positions for which additional salaries are payable for the purposes of Section 4A(2) of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009

Resolution of 19 March 2013 (amended 26 March 2015, 11 October 2016, 4 July and 12 September 2017, 30 January and 16 July 2018, 16 January, 3 February and 2 March 2020, 20 May 2021, 20 June 2022, 28 June 2023)

Resolved, That—

(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), the following offices or positions are specified for the purposes of section 4A(2) of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, with effect from 1 April 2013—

(a) the Chair of a select committee appointed under Standing Order No. 152 (Select committees related to government departments), the Administration Committee, the Backbench Business Committee, the Environmental Audit Committee, the European Scrutiny Committee, the European Statutory Instruments Committee, the Finance Committee, the Liaison Committee, the Petitions Committee, the Select Committee on Procedure, the Committee of Public Accounts, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, the Committee of Selection, the Committee on Standards, the Joint Committee on Human Rights or the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, the Select Committee on the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill, the Select Committee on the Holocaust Memorial Bill; and

(b) a member of the Panel of Chairs appointed under Standing Order No. 4 (Panel of Chairs), other than a member who is the Chair of a committee specified in subparagraph (a) or a member who is entitled to an additional salary by virtue of any provision of the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975.

(2) If a Member already holds an office or position referred to in paragraph (1)(a), then any other office or position referred to in paragraph (1)(a) is not specified for the purposes of section 4A(2) of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 in respect of any period for which that other post or position is held by that Member.

(3) Any office or position referred to in paragraph (1)(a) for the purposes of section 4A(2) of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 is not specified for the purposes of that section in respect of any period in which it is held by a Member who is also entitled to an additional salary by virtue of any provision of the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975.

(4) Any reference to any committee in paragraph (1)(a) shall, if the name of the committee is changed, be taken to be a reference to the committee by its new name.

Notice period for amendments to public bills

Resolution of 23 May 2016

Resolved, That this House notes the recommendation of the Procedure Committee in its Fourth Report of Session 2015–16, Programming: evaluation of the trial of new arrangements for tabling amendments (HC 823).

Resolved, That, subject to the discretion of the Chair, notices of amendments and new schedules and new clauses to be considered in Committee of the whole House and Public Bill Committee and at Report stages of programmed and unprogrammed public bills should be given no later than three sitting days, calculated in accordance with Standing Order No. 12(3) (House not to sit on certain Fridays), before the sitting at which they are to be considered.

Use of Welsh Language in Parliamentary Proceedings

Resolution of 1 March 2017

Resolved, That this House:

(1) notes the Fourth Report of the Procedure Committee, HC 816, on Use of the Welsh language in the Welsh Grand Committee at Westminster, which builds on more than twenty years of use of the Welsh language in parliamentary proceedings in Wales and at Westminster;

(2) resolves that:

(a) whilst English is and should remain the language of this House, the use of Welsh be permitted in parliamentary proceedings of Select Committees and of the Welsh Grand Committee held in Wales and at Westminster;

(b) reasonable notice, as determined by the Chair of the relevant committee, shall be given in advance of any proposed use of the Welsh language so as to allow the necessary arrangements to be made;

(c) the Chair shall have power to insist that points of order are made in English; and

(d) the Official Report shall record contributions made in the Welsh language together with their English translation; and

(3) accordingly rescinds the Resolution of 5 June 1996 (Language of Parliamentary Proceedings).

Notification of the arrest of Members

Resolution of 10 February 2016

Resolved, That Members of the House shall be under no undue restraint from being able to attend the House, and that this principle has been, and continues to be, encompassed in the privileges of the House claimed at the beginning of each Parliament;

Ordered, That this House accordingly:

(1) endorses the Second Report of the Procedure Committee, Session 2015–16, Notification of the arrest of Members, HC 649;

(2) directs the Clerk of the House and the Speaker to follow the protocol on notification of arrest of Members set out in Annex 2 to that Report; and

(3) directs each chief officer of police in the United Kingdom, immediately upon the arrest of any Member by the police force under that officer’s command, to notify the Clerk of the House in accordance with the provisions of that protocol.

Presentation of documents under paragraph 17(3)(b) of Schedule 7 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 or paragraph 6(3)(b) of Schedule 5 to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023

Order of 12 July 2023 (replacing the Order of 16 July 2018 (as amended by the Order of 3 February 2020))

Ordered, That where, under paragraph 17(3)(b) of Schedule 7 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 or paragraph 6(3)(b) of Schedule 5 to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023, any document is to be laid before this House, the delivery of a copy of the document to the Votes and Proceedings Office on any day during the existence of a Parliament shall be deemed to be for all purposes the laying of it before the House; and the proviso to Standing Order No. 159 (Presentation of statutory instruments) shall not apply to any document laid in accordance with this Order.

Confidentiality in the House’s Standards System

Resolution of 21 April 2021

Resolved, That this House reaffirms its commitment to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) and to tackling bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct on the part of anyone who works for or with Parliament; reasserts the importance of confidentiality within the ICGS in order to protect the vulnerable and encourage victims to come forward; notes the concerns expressed by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, as set out in the Appendix to the Sixth Report of the Committee on Standards, Confidentiality in the House’s standards system (HC 474), about the operation of certain aspects of the confidentiality regime set up by the House in its decisions of 19 July 2018; agrees to the recommendations specified in paragraph 22 of the Committee’s Twelfth Report, Sanctions and confidentiality in the House’s standards system: revised proposals (HC 1340); and notes that nothing in these recommendations undermines the key ICGS principle of confidentiality.

Sanctions in respect of the conduct of Members (ICGS cases) 1

Resolution of 21 April 2021

Resolved, That this House approves the following arrangements for sanctions in cases of bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct by Members following an investigation under the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme:

(1) The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards shall have power to instigate informal discussions with a Member to indicate concern about the Member’s reported attitude, behaviour or conduct; to require a Member to attend a formal meeting at which the Commissioner may indicate concern about or give words of advice on the Member’s reported attitude, behaviour or conduct; and require an apology in writing, or on the floor of the House by means of a point of order or a personal statement;

(2) The Independent Expert Panel shall have power to impose the following sanctions on its own authority:

(a) requiring a Member to attend training or enter into a behaviour agreement;

(b) withdrawal of services and facilities from a Member, and imposing other personal restrictions including on travel, where this will not affect the core functions of a Member 2;

(c) for non-Members, subject to the approval of the Speaker, withdrawal of Parliamentary passes, either indefinitely or for a fixed period.

The Panel may determine the following sanctions for decision by the House:

(d) withdrawal of services and facilities from a Member, and imposing other personal restrictions including on travel, where this will affect the core functions of a Member, and where the sanction reflects the nature of the offence 3;

(e) dismissal from a select committee;

(f) suspension from the service of the House for a specified period (during which time the Member receives no salary and must withdraw from the precincts of the House);

(g) withholding of a Member’s salary or allowances even if he or she has not been suspended;

(h) in the most serious cases, expulsion from the House.

Committee of Privileges (not impugning the integrity of, or lobbying or intimidating its Members)

Resolution of 10 July 2023

Resolved, That this House […] considers that where the House has agreed to refer a matter relating to individual conduct to the Committee of Privileges, Members of this House should not impugn the integrity of that Committee or its members or attempt to lobby or intimidate those members or to encourage others to do so, since such behaviour undermines the proceedings of the House and is itself capable of being a contempt […].

Temporary Standing Order

European Statutory Instruments Committee

Order of 3 February 2020 (as amended on 17 March 2021 and 12 July 2023) 4

(1) There shall be a select committee, called the European Statutory Instruments Committee, to examine and report on—

(a) any of the following documents laid before the House of Commons in accordance with paragraph 17(3)(b) of Schedule 7 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018—

(i) a draft of an instrument; and

(ii) a memorandum setting out both a statement made by a Minister of the Crown to the effect that in the Minister’s opinion the instrument should be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament (the negative procedure) and the reasons for that opinion, and

(b) any of the following documents laid before the House of Commons in accordance with paragraph 6(3)(b) of Schedule 5 to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023—

(i) a draft of an instrument; and

(ii) a memorandum setting out both a statement made by a Minister of the Crown to the effect that in the Minister’s opinion the instrument should be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament (the negative procedure) and the reasons for that opinion, and

(c) any matter arising from its consideration of such documents.

(2) In its consideration of a document referred to in paragraph (1) the committee shall include, in addition to such other matters as it deems appropriate, whether the draft instrument—

(a) contains any provision of the type specified in paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 7 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 in relation to which the Act requires that a draft of the instrument must be laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament (the affirmative procedure);

(b) contains any provision of the type specified in paragraph 5(2) of Schedule 5 to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 in relation to which the Act requires that a draft of the instrument must be laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament (the affirmative procedure);

(c) otherwise appears to make an inappropriate use of the negative procedure;

and shall report to the House its recommendation of the procedure which should apply.

(3) The committee shall have regard to the reasons offered by the Minister in support of the Minister’s opinion that the instrument should be subject to the negative procedure.

(4) Before reporting on any document, the committee shall provide to the government department concerned an opportunity to provide orally or in writing to it or any sub-committee appointed by it such further explanations as the committee may require except to the extent that the committee considers that it is not reasonably practicable to do so within the period provided by the Act.

(5) It shall be an instruction to the committee that it shall report any recommendation that the affirmative procedure should apply within the period specified by the Act.

(6) The committee shall consist of sixteen Members.

(7) The committee and any sub-committees appointed by it shall have the assistance of the Counsel to the Speaker.

(8) The committee shall have power to appoint specialist advisers either to supply information which is not readily available or to elucidate matters of complexity within the committee’s order of reference.

(9) The committee shall have power to send for persons, papers and records, to sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the House, to adjourn from place to place, and to report from time to time. 

(10) The committee shall have power to appoint sub-committees and to refer to such sub-committees any of the matters referred to the committee.

(11) Each such sub-committee shall have power to send for persons, papers and records, to sit notwithstanding any adjournment of the House, to adjourn from place to place, and to report to the committee from time to time.

(12) The committee shall have power to report from time to time the evidence taken before such sub-committees, and the formal minutes of sub-committees.

(13) The quorum of each such sub-committee shall be two.

(14) The committee shall have power to seek from any committee of the House, including any committee appointed to meet with a committee of the Lords as a joint committee, its opinion on any document within its remit, and to require a reply to such a request within such time as it may specify.

(15) Unless the House otherwise orders each Member nominated to the committee shall continue to be a member of it for the remainder of the Parliament, or until this Standing Order lapses, whichever occurs sooner.

(16) This Standing Order shall lapse—

(a) in so far as it relates to documents laid in accordance with paragraph 6(3)(b) of Schedule 5 to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (and matters arising from the consideration of such documents), at the end of the period after which no more regulations may be made under Sections 11, 12, or 14 of that Act;

(b) in so far as it relates to documents laid in accordance with paragraph 17(3)(b) of Schedule 7 to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (and matters arising from the consideration of such documents), at the end of the period after which no more regulations may be made under section 23(1) of that Act.

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