Raise a question of privilege
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The 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.[1]
[edit] Explanation and Use
| Class | Privileged motion |
|---|---|
| In order when another has the floor | Yes, but should not interrupt a person who has begun to speak, unless unavoidable |
| Second | No, but if the question of privilege thereby raised is in the form of a motion, the motion must be seconded |
| Debatable | No |
| Amendable | No |
| Vote Required | Admissibility of question is ruled upon by chair |
| Reconsider | No |
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, to adjourn or to fix the time to which to adjourn.
[edit] Point of Personal Privilege
When a question of privilege affects a single member, 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.
[edit] Cannot interrrupt a vote
A question of privilege cannot interrupt a vote or the verification of a vote.[2]
[edit] See Also
The United States House of Representatives has two similarly-named procedures, "Question of the Privileges of the House" and "Privileged Questions"
[edit] References
- Robert's Rules of Order [available on line here]
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