Raise a question of privilege
Encyclopedia
In parliamentary procedure
, a motion
to raise a question of privilege is a privileged motion
that permits a request related to the rights and privileges of the assembly
or any of its members to be brought up.
or fix the time to which to adjourn
.
When a question of privilege affects a single member (rather than the entire assembly), it is often called a point of personal privilege. Such a point may include a need for assistance, to be excused for illness or personal emergency, or the need to immediately answer a charge of misconduct made by another member. The member rises immediately and without waiting to be recognized states, "Mr. Chairman, I rise on a question of personal privilege," or similar words. If the member has interrupted a speaker, the chair must determine if the matter is of such urgency as demands immediate attention; otherwise, the member will have the floor immediately after the current speaker is finished. The use for personal insults follows from the requirement of comity in an assembly: members cannot insult one another unless they are prepared to prefer and prove charges, and a member so insulted must be able to demand proof or an apology quickly, lest his standing in the assembly be imperiled. Points of personal privilege are most often raised when the member in question feels that something is materially affecting his or her ability to discharge his or her duties as a member. The most common reasons for such a point are inability to hear the speaker and an attendant request to the speaker to speak more loudly or clearly and discomfort with the temperature or other conditions of the debating chamber.
A question of privilege cannot interrupt a vote or the verification of a vote.
has two similarly named procedures, "Question of the Privileges of the House" and "Privileged Questions"
Parliamentary procedure
Parliamentary procedure is the body of rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings and other operations of clubs, organizations, legislative bodies, and other deliberative assemblies...
, a motion
Motion (parliamentary procedure)
In parliamentary procedure, a motion is a formal proposal by a member of a deliberative assembly that the assembly take certain action. In a parliament, this is also called a parliamentary motion and includes legislative motions, budgetary motions, supplementary budgetary motions, and petitionary...
to raise a question of privilege is a privileged motion
Privileged motion
A privileged motion is a motion in parliamentary procedure that is granted precedence over ordinary business because it concerns matters of great importance or urgency...
that permits a request related to the rights and privileges of the assembly
Deliberative assembly
A deliberative assembly is an organization comprising members who use parliamentary procedure to make decisions. In a speech to the electorate at Bristol in 1774, Edmund Burke described the English Parliament as a "deliberative assembly," and the expression became the basic term for a body of...
or any of its members to be brought up.
Explanation and Use
Questions of privilege affecting the assembly may include matters of comfort, amplification, or safety. Technically, notifying the assembly of a fire alarm or bomb threat could be viewed as a question of privilege. Such questions have precedence over points of personal privilege should they conflict. Otherwise, a question of privilege can only be interrupted by higher-precedence privileged questions: Motions to take a recess, adjournAdjournment
An adjournment is a suspension of proceedings to another time or place. To adjourn means to suspend until a later stated time or place.-Law:In law, to adjourn means to suspend proceedings to another time or place, or to end them....
or fix the time to which to adjourn
Adjournment
An adjournment is a suspension of proceedings to another time or place. To adjourn means to suspend until a later stated time or place.-Law:In law, to adjourn means to suspend proceedings to another time or place, or to end them....
.
When a question of privilege affects a single member (rather than the entire assembly), it is often called a point of personal privilege. Such a point may include a need for assistance, to be excused for illness or personal emergency, or the need to immediately answer a charge of misconduct made by another member. The member rises immediately and without waiting to be recognized states, "Mr. Chairman, I rise on a question of personal privilege," or similar words. If the member has interrupted a speaker, the chair must determine if the matter is of such urgency as demands immediate attention; otherwise, the member will have the floor immediately after the current speaker is finished. The use for personal insults follows from the requirement of comity in an assembly: members cannot insult one another unless they are prepared to prefer and prove charges, and a member so insulted must be able to demand proof or an apology quickly, lest his standing in the assembly be imperiled. Points of personal privilege are most often raised when the member in question feels that something is materially affecting his or her ability to discharge his or her duties as a member. The most common reasons for such a point are inability to hear the speaker and an attendant request to the speaker to speak more loudly or clearly and discomfort with the temperature or other conditions of the debating chamber.
A question of privilege cannot interrupt a vote or the verification of a vote.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of RepresentativesUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
has two similarly named procedures, "Question of the Privileges of the House" and "Privileged Questions"