Sensible Seating and Security Act

Sensible Seating and Security Act

An Act to ensure the security of the House of Nobles and the continued concord and dignity of the Lords Temporal and Foreign, and the Consulars Spiritual, of whom our great House is consistory.

BE IT ENACTED by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

 

1 Repeal of antecedent legislation  
 * 1) The Orderly Chamber Act shall be repealed entirely by this legislation.

2 On the entranceway to the Chamber of the House of Nobles  
 * 1) There shall exist within the entranceway to the Chamber of the House of Nobles a door, manufactured from a core of reinforced titanium and veneered in carved mahogany.
 * 2) The keys to the door, and any copies therein, shall be maintained and dispensed by the right and authority of the Lord High Speaker and the Lord High Constable, and retrieved by the same should such dispensation be reversed.

3 On the seating arrangements of the House of Nobles  
 * 1) Henceforth, the Lord Speaker of the House (that is to say, the active chairman of the session), shall have the Speaker’s Throne positioned with its back facing the Door to the Chamber of the House of Nobles, at the Ministers’ Table.
 * 2) The Members of the Council of Ministers shall be seated or standing around the Ministers’ Table.
 * 3) Attendees to the House shall be arranged around the Minister’s Table in sufficient proximity to each other to make sure all voices can be heard, in a manner determined as orderly by the Lord Speaker of the House.
 * 4) No attendee of the House may stand behind the Speaker’s Throne.
 * 5) Should any person present in the Chamber require the support of a chair, one shall be provided by the House staff.
 * 6) The seating arrangements of the House of Nobles shall be subject to change at the prerogative of the Lord Speaker of the House, should it be deemed beneficial to the continued security and order of the Chamber.

4 Creation of positions under the authority of the Office of the Lord High Speaker  
 * 1) There shall exist, under the authority of the Lord High Speaker, a Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Nobles, who shall be nominated by the joint consent of the Lord High Marshal and Lord High Constable and confirmed by the Lord High Speaker, responsible for the oversight of the security of the Chamber of the House of Nobles.
 * 2) There shall exist, under the authority of the Lord High Speaker, a Gentleman (or Lady) Usher of the House of Nobles, responsible for the oversight of the orderly seating of new and inexperienced members of and visitors to the House to their proper places.

5 Short title and commencement
 * 1) The short title of this act shall be the “Sensible Seating and Security Act”.
 * 2) The provisions of this act shall come into force immediately.