Special rules of order
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A special rule of order is the term used in Robert's Rules of Order or, more correctly, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) for rules relating to procedure or to the duties of officers within the meeting context that the organization itself adopts. Such rules (with a few exceptions) supersede the rules in RONR. In most assemblies, these can be adopted by a two-thirds vote, majority vote with previous notice, or a majority of the entire membership of the group. These rules continue in existence from one meeting to the next.
A society may also adopt rules that do not relate to procedure; these are called "standing rules" in RONR.
In conventions, a mixture of standing and special rules that are adopted at the start of the convention are called "convention standing rule" in RONR. These, when adopted as a "package" generally require a two-thirds vote.
Other parliamentary authorities generally refer to these types of rules as "standing rule." Many, like the Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (TSC), refer to these types of rules as "standing rules," and do not require anything except a majority vote (with no previous notice needed). TSC treats "special rules" as rules adopted just for one situation and do not have continuing existence.
A generic term for these types of rules is "adopted procedural rules."
One of the most common types of these rules is the rule to set limits on the amount of time, or the number of times, a member may speak in debate or to prohibit some type of motion.
(Sources: Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, 10th edition, The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure, 4th edition, "Parliamentary Authorities' Rule Shift Function," Parliamentary Journal, January 2005, pp. 3–11)
