Procedural Guide

A Guide to the House of Nobles’ Speakership and Procedures
By Lord Baldassar Greyson-Partiger, Viscount of Bloodwick & Lord High Speaker of the House of Nobles of the Kingdom of Stormwind

I: The responsibilities of the Speakership
The Lord Speaker of the House (which can be either the Lord High Steward, the Lord High Speaker, a Minister acting as a Speaker or a Deputy Speaker appointed by the Lord High Speaker) is responsible for ensuring that the business of the House is conducted in an orderly manner. This mean that they must:
 * Ensure that as many people in the allotted time can be heard on the motion or bill up for consideration.
 * Ensure that questions asked before the House can be given answers by motion or bill proponents.
 * Ensure that each person speaking on the House floor can be clearly heard without interruption.
 * Ensure that the House remains otherwise orderly, in keeping with its maturity and dignity etc etc.

II: How to conduct the business of the House as Lord Speaker
The Lord Speaker of the House may introduce matters as they have been tabled to the Speaker’s Office prior to a given sitting of the House. It is the Speaker’s prerogative to set the agenda from tabled matters, but it is customary to conduct them in the following order:  The Lord Speaker introduces each matter, excepting electoral hearings, before the House as follows: “The House will now consider the motion/question/bill/amendment/statement (proposed) by/of/from (the) [proponent].” Electoral hearings are introduced as follows: “The House will now hear [election candidate]’s manifesto for election to the office of [office up for election].”
 * 1) Emergency debates
 * 2) Urgent questions for Ministers
 * 3) Ministerial statements
 * 4) Electoral hearings
 * 5) Pending bills or amendments
 * 6) Debates on specific issues with intention to draft bills or amendments
 * 7) General debates

The debate will then take place for the time allotted for it by the Lord Speaker. Traditionally, this has been one hour per agenda item.

Once a debate’s allotted time has elapsed, the Lord Speaker announces: “The time for debate on this motion/question/bill/amendment/statement has elapsed.” He will then introduce the next matter. If debate has come to a standstill, and no further members wish to speak on the current motion/question/bill/amendment/statement, the Speaker may indicate his desire to entertain a motion to postpone debate until a succeeding session.

In keeping order, the Speaker may either call the House at large to order, or call a particular member or guest to order. If the Speaker must do this three times, and the member(s) do not come to order, then their behaviour can be considered contemptible to the House, and so the Speaker may take action as follows: Any protections afforded to a member or guest in the section above do not apply if that Lord Temporal should act in a manner that is violent. Then, the Lord Speaker shall be empowered to order his removal immediately. If their manner is criminal, then they shal also be deprived of said protections and face arrest.
 * 1) If it is a single member, and not a Lord Temporal of the Kingdom of Stormwind, then they may be suspended from the service of the House and ordered to withdraw on the authority of the Speaker.
 * 2) If it is a single member, and is a Lord Temporal of the Kingdom of Stormwind, then they may be named by the Speaker, and a motion to suspend the named member from the service of the House for the remainder of the sitting may be entertained. Should the motion pass, the Speaker will order the member to withdraw.
 * 3) If it is a multitude of members, and the members out of order cannot be addressed individually by the above methods, the Speaker can suspend the proceedings of the House for the remainder of the sitting.

When referring to a member or guest, the Speaker shall refer to them as follows:
 * If they are a Minister, then they are introduced by their ministerial title - e.g. “The Lord High Chancellor.”
 * If they are a Duke, then they are introduced by their ducal title - e.g. “The Duke of Riverstead.”
 * If they are a Lord Temporal or Foreign between Marquis and Baron, then they are introduced with their surname and territory - e.g. “Lord Smith of Riverstead.”
 * If they are a Consular Spiritual of the rank of Bishop, they are addressed by their clerical title - e.g. “The Cardinal-Bishop of Stormwind.”
 * If they are a Consular Spiritual below the rank of Bishop, then they are addressed by their name, preceded by Father or Mother - e.g. “Mother Jane Smith.”
 * If they are any other person, then they are addressed by their name, preceded by the appropriate title - e.g. “Sir John Smith” or “Mrs Jane Jones.”

===  III: How to behave appropriately in the House === It is expected of members of the House of Nobles, be they Lords Temporal or Foreign, or Consulars Spiritual, and of guests to that same body, to behave in accordance with the following principles:  With regards to the last point, such stands as a defence of the sovereignty of the House, from the potential intimidation of it, its procedures and its politics from any military or paramilitary force, and to keep it independent from such influences.
 * To conduct oneself in a manner that is courteous and respectful to both the House and its members.
 * To present oneself in a manner that is formal, does not project a political message, and does not obscure the face.
 * To present one’s viewpoints and knowledge in an honest, informed and relevant manner, and not to seek to deceive the House or the general public.
 * To yield to the authority of the acting Lord Speaker of the House when present in the Chamber, unless the King himself is present.

IV: An exhaustive list of the motions of the House, with examples of how each is used
All motions must be introduced by a Lord Temporal of the Kingdom of Stormwind, excepting procedural motions, which may be introduced by any member of the House of Nobles, but not a guest. Such applies also to who may vote upon said motions. All motions must be first proposed, and then seconded, before the Speaker calls a vote on the motion.

====  Legislative Motions ==== “My Lord Speaker, I move that the question now be put.” “My Lord Speaker, I move to amend the Bill to remove Section Two, Subsection Four.” “My Lord Speaker, I move to divide the question.”
 * Motion to put the question: A motion during a voting debate to end discussion of the matter at hand and vote on it immediately. This motion is not debated, and is voted upon, and is passed by simple majority.
 * Motion to amend the question: A motion during a debate to change some part of the substance of the matter at hand. This motion is debated, and is voted upon, and is passed by simple majority.
 * Motion to divide the question: A motion during a voting debate to consider for vote a bill or motion consistory of two or more parts that the bill or motion have each section voted upon in turn by the House separately. This motion is not debated, and is voted upon, and is passed by simple majority.

====  Procedural Motions ==== “My Lord Speaker, I move to extend the debate by a duration of half an hour.” “My Lord Speaker, I move to postpone the debate until a succeeding sitting of this House.” “My Lord Speaker, I move to end the debate.” “My Lord Speaker, I move to suspend the rules of this House.”
 * Motion to extend debate: A motion to add additional time to the debate to grant greater consideration to the matter at hand. This motion is not debated, and is voted upon, and is passed by simple majority.
 * Motion to postpone debate: A motion to close the debate on the matter at hand until a succeeding sitting of the House. Will not be entertained by the Speaker during the matter’s voting debate, where instead a motion to put the question would be appropriate. This motion is not debated, and is voted upon, and is passed by a simple majority.
 * Motion to end debate: A motion to end the debate on the matter at hand permanently. Can only be used on general debates, emergency debates, debates on specific issues, urgent questions and ministerial statements. This motion is not debated, and is voted upon, and is passed by a simple majority.
 * Motion to suspend the rules: A motion to suspend the general rules of the assembly’s procedure in order to foster a more informal and open discussion on the matter at hand. This does not prevent the Speaker from keeping the House in an orderly fashion. This motion is not debated, and is voted upon, and is passed by a simple majority. Only applies for the duration of the matter at hand.

====  Punitive Motions ==== “My Lord Speaker, I move to suspend the named member from the service of the House of Nobles.” “My Lord Speaker, I move to censure the Duke of Riverstead, for actions in office which have been injurious to the reputation and integrity of His Majesty’s Government.” “My Lord Speaker, I move to impeach the Lord High Chancellor, on the charge of malfeasance of office.” “My Lord Speaker, I move to impeach the Head of the Civil Service, on grounds of incompetence.”
 * Motion to suspend from the service of the House: A motion to suspend a named member from the House. Should a Lord Temporal act in such a way that the Lord Speaker of the House must “name” them, marking them out for this very motion, the motion may be introduced to suspend the member from the service of the House, expelling them from the remainder of the session. The motion is not debated, and is voted upon, and is passed by a simple majority.
 * Motion to censure: A serious motion, a censure stands as a permanent mark on the record of its recipient that they have received the condemnation of the House of Nobles. The motion is debated, and is voted upon and is passed by a simple majority.
 * Motion to impeach a Minister: The most serious motion before the House of Nobles, a motion of impeachment serves as an indictment for a Minister to face trial before the House of Magistrates, as detailed in the Grand Charter. Specific charges must be given for this motion. The motion is debated, and is voted upon, and is passed by a two-thirds majority.
 * Motion to impeach a civil servant: A simpler, but no less serious, process than the impeachment of a Minister, if a civil servant has been found to act disreputably or otherwise their conduct has been found disagreeable to the House, they may be removed from office by this motion. Any justification may be given for this motion. The motion is debated, and is voted upon, and is passed by a simple majority.

V: On how and why to use points of order, and how such should be handled by the Speaker
Points of order may be raised by any member of the House of Nobles if they feel there has been an error of procedure that must be rectified by the Lord Speaker of the House, or if they feel that an act in breach of the order of the House has taken place that must be attended to also by the Lord Speaker.

In order to raise a point of order, the member must merely raise their voice and declare “Point of order, my Lord Speaker!” The Lord Speaker shall then halt the proceeding of the House to attend to the point of order.

If the point of order is in order, that is to say, correct, then it shall be upheld by the chair and the appropriate rectifications made. If it is not in order, then the Lord Speaker of the House may dismiss it.

An example of this is as follows:

“Point of order, my Lord Speaker!”

“What is your point of order, Lord Smith of Riverstead?”

“The Lord High Chancellor had precedence in the queue to speak over Mrs Jones.”

“The point of order is in order. The floor shall go to the Lord High Chancellor.”

Another example of this is as follows:

“Point of order, my Lord Speaker!”

“What is your point of order, Sir John Smith?”

“The Duke of Riverstead has, by implying that I have lied to this House, used unparliamentary language.”

“The Duke of Riverstead shall withdraw the comments.”

VI: Procedures on voting in the House of Nobles, on matters of procedure, on legislative matters, on constitutional matters and for elections
The methodology by which the House of Nobles votes on various items changes between item, but is generally conducted in a way which preserves the integrity of votes and allows for them to be collected and collated in an orderly and swift manner. The various methods shall be detailed below: “I move that the question now be put.”
 * Motions (as above in IV): When the motion is first introduced, the Lord Speaker of the House shall announce the motion before the House. If it has not already been seconded, then he shall call for seconds. Once seconded, the Lord Speaker shall then call for the Aye votes, and then the Nay votes. If it is evident which side has the most votes, then he shall declare the winner, and uphold the result.

“The motion before the House is that the question now be put. Any seconds?”

“Seconded.”

“The motion before the House is that the question now be put. All in favour of the motion, say Aye!”

[The Aye votes are declared.]

“All to the contrary, Nay!”

[The Nay votes are declared]

“The Ayes have it, the Ayes have it. The question shall now be put.” “The Appropriate Usages of Rice Act shall now be voted upon. All in favour of the motion, say Aye!”
 * Legislative matters (bills and amendments): When a bill or amendment is up for vote before the House, the Lord Speaker shall declare before the House the matter that is being voted upon, before calling for the Aye votes, and then the Nay votes. If it is evident which side has the most votes, then he shall declare the winner, and the result shall be upheld.

[The Aye votes are declared.]

“All to the contrary, Nay!”

[The Nay votes are declared]

“The Ayes have it, the Ayes have it. The Appropriate Usages of Rice Act shall become law.” “The amendment to the Grand Charter to establish the office of Lord High Patisserie shall now be voted upon. All in favour of the motion, say Aye!”
 * Constitutional matters (charter amendments): When an amendment to the Grand Charter is up for vote before the House, the Lord Speaker shall declare before the House the matter that is being voted upon, before calling for the Aye votes, and then the Nay votes. If it is evident that the Ayes have achieved more than two-thirds of the votes cast, then he shall uphold the amendment. If not, then he shall announce it as defeated.

[The Aye votes are declared.]

“All to the contrary, Nay!”

[The Nay votes are declared]

“The Ayes have it, the Ayes have it. The amendment shall be made to the Grand Charter.” “We shall now vote on the candidates for the position of Lord High Chancellor.”
 * Elections: Votes at elections are not declared like the previous three matters, but held as a ballot. Furthermore, votes at elections are always presided over by the Lord High Steward. If there is only one candidate for an office, then the choice shall be “Aye” or “Nay”. If there are multiple candidates, then the choice shall be between those candidates. The Lord High Steward shall collate the votes in the ballot box, and declare the winner once the count is completed.

[The Lords Temporal queue to approach the Lord High Steward, and submit their ballots into a box beside him. Afterwards, the Lord High Steward counts the ballots.]

“The Duke of Riverstead is duly elected as the Lord High Chancellor of the Kingdom of Stormwind.”

Supplementary to the information above, on legislative, constitutional and electoral votes, absentee ballots may be submitted to the Speaker’s Office for the first two, and to the Steward’s Office for the latter. These shall be added to the count alongside the votes cast at the session in question.

Should the Lord Speaker of the House be unable to determine clearly the winner of a declared vote (as in a motion, legislative or constitutional vote), then they may order the division of the House. When there is a division of the House, an “Aye” and a “Nay” teller shall be nominated by the Speaker from the respective positions, and the Lords Temporal shall move to the side of the House to the Speaker’s right if “Nay” and to the Speaker’s left if “Aye”. Those Lords Temporal electing to abstain, and other members and guests of the House, shall remain in front of the Speaker. The tellers shall count the members on each side, and give authoritative numbers to the Lord Speaker of the House, from which a victor may be called.

Should a vote tie in the House of Nobles, then the Lord Speaker of the House is empowered to cast a vote that would break said tie. Though no authoritative and codified rule on this exists, either constitutionally or legislatively, it is advisable that to maintain the neutrality of the Speakership of the House of Nobles, one should always vote in favour of the status quo. That is to say, against impeachment, against legislation or amendments, and for incumbents in an election.