Beginning Ruleset for Stormwind House of Lords

DISCLAIMER ''This page does not apply to any event or existing IC organisation, and exists only for the purpose of hashing out the details for a potential House of Nobles event. Maxen and I spent some time discussing the idea, and I've gone ahead and posted my ideas here for all those involved in the project to see. The page is protected, and may be edited only by the wiki's admins. It is 100% OOC for the time being.''

Lord Speaker
The main functions of the Lord Speaker are to take the chair in debates held in the chamber of the House of Nobles and to maintain that issues appearing on that session's docket are taken care of in some form or another. The title of Lord Speaker is the official, but rarely used title for position, as it addresses a person who carries the title between sessions.

The position of Lord Speaker will rotate with each session, allowing multiple people to serve in this role.

Secretary of the House
The Secretary is responsible for maintaining a comprehensive list of Stormwind Peers found throughout the realm, as well as providing transcripts from sessions. Often, there is more than one secretary appointed at any given time.

Each Secretary serves for a period of two months.

Sergeant-at-Arms
Often a senior officer of the Stormwind Army, or a member of the Botherhood of the Horse, the Sergeant-at-Arms is responsible for maintaining order within the House of Nobles and making sure the security around Stormwind Keep at the time of the session is acceptable.

The Sergeant-at-Arms serves for two months.

Who Is Eligible To Sit In the House of Nobles
To be eligible to take a seat in the house of nobles, a character must meet all the following IC and OOC criteria:

In Character Requirements
Out of Character Requirements ''Those who violate either the IC or OOC code of conduct will no longer be invited to meetings. ''
 * Hold a title in the Stormwind Peerage (Baron up to Duke or Life Peerage)
 * Be in good standing with the Kingdom of Stormwind
 * Sign and agree to the code of conduct
 * Register their name and title with the Secretary of the House.
 * Read all information on the Stormwind Peerage wiki page
 * Read all the information on the house of nobles wiki page
 * Sign and agree to the code of conduct

Who May Speak and Vote in the House of Nobles
Only registered peers (Those who hold a peerage title in their own right) may speak, and / or vote in the house of nobles.Husbands and wives of peers who are not peers in their own right may attend, but may not speak or vote.

Who May Attend the Meetings
Only registered peers, the Sergeant-at-Arms, and any guards under his / her command may enter the council chambers while a session is in progress.

Basic Rules of Order
The rules of order must be observed by all peers, lest the session turn into what I can only describe as a whip and chair show, and we don't want that!

Business
Business should be submitted to the Secretary of the house, in writing, at least forty-eight hours in advance of the meeting. The docket cannot be changed in the twenty-four hours before the meeting. Matters on the docket are raised in the order submitted.

After all old business is completed, if time remains, new business may be addressed. New business is a discussion brought before the Council either by the motion of a peer, or by the presentation of a communication to the assembly. It is not usual to make motions to receive reports of committees or communications to the assembly. There are many other cases in the ordinary routine of business where the formality of a motion is dispensed with, but should any peer object, a regular motion becomes necessary.

No motion contemplating action may be brought as New Business without the special, explicit approval of the Prefect of the Congregation, given on a case-by-case basis. New business is limited exclusively to discussion of issues.

What Precedes Debate
Before any subject is open to debate it is necessary, first, that a motion be made by a peer who has obtained the floor; second, that it be seconded (with certain exceptions); and third, that it be stated by the Speaker. The fact that a motion has been made and seconded does not put it before the assembly, as the Speaker alone can do that. He or she must either rule it out of Order, or state the question on it so that the assembly may know what is before it for consideration and action, that is, what is the immediately pending question. If several questions are pending, as a resolution and an amendment and a motion to postpone, the last one stated by the Speaker is the immediately pending question.

Motions may contain one or many propositions; however, only a single vote is taken on any individual motion. If the motion fails, all parts of the motion fail. If the motion passes, all parts of the motion pass. Abstentions count as votes to enforce the state of the council prior to the motion--typically, this is 'Nay'.

Obtaining the Floor
Before a peer makes a motion or addresses the assembly in debate, it is necessary that he or she should obtain the floor -- that is, he or she must raise his hand or stand to signal this intent after the floor has been yielded, and address the presiding officer by his or her official title. If the assembly is large so that the peer's name may be unknown to the Speaker, the peer should give his or her name as soon as he or she catches the eye of the Speaker after addressing him or her. It is the responsibility of the Secretary to assist the Speaker in keeping track of who is next to speak, in order.

If the peer is entitled to the floor, as shown hereafter, the Speaker "recognises" him or her, or assigns him or her the floor, by announcing his or her name. If a peer speaks before the floor has been yielded, he or she cannot obtain the floor. It is out of Order to speak when another has the floor, and remarks, motions, or actions by any peer speaking out of order shall not be recognized by the assembly. Out of order conduct is grounds for removal from meetins of the house.

Motions and Resolutions
A motion is a proposal that the house take certain action, or that it express itself as holding certain views. It is made by a peer's obtaining the floor as already described and saying, "I move that" (which is equivalent to saying, "I propose that"), and then stating the action he or she proposes to have taken. Thus a peer "moves" (proposes) that a resolution be adopted, or amended, or referred to a committee, or that a vote of thanks be extended, etc.; or "That it is the sense of this meeting (or assembly) that ______ action be taken," etc.

Seconding Motions
For a motion to be considered by the house of nobles, it must be seconded. This is to prevent time being consumed in considering a question that only one person favors. Typically, a second is offered on most significant issues. Should a motion proceed without a second, any one may make a point of order that the motion has not been seconded, and then the Speaker is obliged to proceed formally and call for a second.

A motion is seconded by a peer's saying "I second the motion," "Seocnded," or "I second it," which he or she does without obtaining the floor. In large assemblies, and especially where non-members are scattered throughout the assembly, members raise their hands, and without waiting for recognition, say, "I second the motion."

Debate
After a question has been stated by the Speaker, it is before the house for consideration and action. All resolutions, reports of committees, communications to the house, and all amendments proposed to them, and all other motions except the Undebatable Motions may be debated before final action is taken on them, unless by a majority vote the house decides to dispose of them without debate. In the debate each peer has the right to speak twice on the same question on the same day (except on an appeal), but cannot make a second speech on the same question as long as any peer who has not spoken on that question desires the floor. No peer may speak longer than ten minutes at a time without permission of the house.

Debate must be limited to the merits of the immediately pending question -- that is, the last question stated by the Speaker that is still pending; except that in a few cases the main question is also open to debate. Speakers must address their remarks to the Speaker, and be courteous in their language and deportment. Speakers should not address their fellows by name in the debates, but rather refer to them as "Lord/Lady X".

Secondary Motions
To assist in the proper disposal of the question, various subsidiary motions are used, such as to amend, to commit, etc., and for the time being the subsidiary motion replaces the resolution, or motion, and becomes the immediately pending question. While these are pending, a question incidental to the business may arise, as a question of Order, and this incidental question interrupts the business and, until disposed of, becomes the immediately pending question. And all of these may be superseded by certain motions, called privileged motions, as to adjourn, of such supreme importance as to justify their interrupting all other questions. All of these motions that may be made while the original motion is pending are sometimes referred to as secondary motions.

Putting the Question and Announcing the Vote
First, a quorum must be present before any vote can be called. Quorum for the house of nobles is half of the body (rounded up, in case of fractions) plus one. So, if the body consists of 15 members, quorum is 9 (half of 15 is 7.5--rounded up to 8, plus 1).

When the debate is closed, the speaker asks again, "Are there remaining matters on this question prior to a vote?" If no one rises, he proceeds to take the vote on the question, first calling for the affirmative (Aye) and then for the negative vote (Nay). In putting the question the Speaker should make perfectly clear what the question is that the assembly is to decide. If the question is on the adoption of a resolution, unless it has been read very recently, it should be read again, the question being put in a way similar to this: "The question is on the adoption of the resolution [which the Speaker reads]; those in favor of the resolution say aye; those opposed say no. The ayes have it, and the resolution is adopted;" or, "The noes have it, and the resolution is lost."

The vote should always be announced, as it is a necessary part of putting the question. The house is assumed not to know the result of the vote until announced by the Speaker, and the vote does not go into effect until announced and confirmed by the Speaker. As soon as the result of the vote is announced the Speaker should state the next business in Order.

All matters of house business require a majority vote of the entire body (not just those present) in order to pass. Any absent representatives are understood to have abstained (their vote maintains the house in its state prior to the vote--typically 'nay').

Adjournment
When the house has reached the designated time for adjournment, the Speaker should announce that time for the meeting has elapsed. A motion may then be made to add thirty minutes of extra time. Such a motion must be seconded and voted upon; should it fail, the meeting is adjourned. Motions for extra time may be made thrice, after which no more motions for extra time may be tabled, and the meeting is adjourned.

If a meeting is adjourned before all of the business on the docket has been addressed, the remaining business is shifted onto the docket for the following meeting. After the meeting is adjourned, the meeting may not be reconvened until the following designated meeting day (in the next month). No business may be enacted after adjournment, nor may the house hear discussion or maintain members present.

Suspension of the Rules of Order
The rules of order may not be suspended at any time, save for the event of a military emergency, such as an attack on Stormwind Keep. Should this occur, the session is considered to have ended prematurely, and will resume on the next available date as if it were the same session.

Weapons and Affray
No peer may enter the council chambers while armed. Before entering the council chambers, he or she must relinquish his or her weapons to the Sergeant-at-Arms. The Sergeant-at-arms is the only person entitled to carry arms within the council chambers. All persons involved in an affray within the council chambers may be arrested and detained by the Sergeant-at-Arms. Any person refusing to cooperate with the Sergeant-at-Arms may be arrested or shot on sight depending on the severity of the infraction.

Signed Code of Conduct
All peers must sign and agree to the code of conduct before they may register to take their seat in the house of nobles. There will be no exceptions made.

This page is a work in progress, and I still have a lot to do with regard to the meeting format, codes of conduct, etc.