Legislative Council

A Legislative Council is the name given to the legislatures, or one of the chambers of the legislature of many nations and colonies.

A Member of the Legislative Council is commonly referred to as an MLC.

Unicameral legislatures

• Legislative Council of Brunei (unelected, dissolved but re-established in 2004)
• Legislative Council of Ceylon (from 1831 until it was dissolved in 1931 to form the State Council of Ceylon)
• Legislative Council of the Falkland Islands (1845-2009; reconstituted as the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands)
• Legislative Council of Gibraltar (1950-1969)
• Legislative Council of Hong Kong (1843-1997. the legislature of the British Crown colony/dependent territory of Hong Kong)
• Provisional Legislative Council of Hong Kong (1997-1998, the first legislative council of Hong Kong after becoming a Chinese dependency)
• Legislative Council of Hong Kong (1998 - present, the name of the legislature of the Chinese dependency of Hong Kong is reverted to its original name after the Hong Kong general election in 1998)
• Legislative Council of Macao (Assembleia Legislativa, sometimes translated as Legislative Assembly)
• Federal Legislative Council of Malaya. (1948-1957; replaced by Parliament of Malaya and subsequently in 1963, the Parliament of Malaysia.)
• Legislative Council of Saint Helena
• Legislative Council of Singapore (1946 to 1953, replaced by the Legislative Assembly and finally the Parliament of Singapore)
• Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements (1867 to 1946, replaced by the Legislative Council of Singapore) and Federal Legislative Council of Malaya
• Uganda Legislative Council (became the National Assembly of Uganda in March 1962)

Part of a bicameral legislature

• Australia:
  • The New South Wales Legislative Council
  • The Queensland Legislative Council (abolished in 1922)
  • The South Australian Legislative Council
  • The Tasmanian Legislative Council
  • The Victorian Legislative Council
  • The Western Australian Legislative Council.
• Barbados: the Barbadian Legislative Council (renamed the Senate in 1964).
• Bermuda: the Bermuda Legislative Council (renamed the Senate in 1980).
• Canada:
  • The Legislative Council of British Columbia (1867-1871)
  • The Legislative Council of Manitoba (abolished in 1876)
  • The Legislative Council of New Brunswick (abolished in 1892)
  • The Legislative Council of Prince Edward Island (amalgamated into the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 1893.)
  • The Legislative Council of Nova Scotia (abolished in 1928)
  • The Legislative Council of Quebec (abolished in 1968)
  • The Legislative Council of Upper Canada (abolished by the Union Act of 1840)
  • The Legislative Council of Lower Canada (abolished by the Union Act of 1840)
  • The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada (abolished at Confederation)

Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan are the only provinces not to have had an upper house.

• India: The Vidhan Parishad in 7 of India's 28 states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh), the Legislative Council serves as the upper house of a bicameral legislature.
• Isle of Man: the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man.
• Dominion of Newfoundland: the Legislative Council of Newfoundland (dissolved with the creation of the Commission of Government in 1934. Not recreated after Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949)
• New Zealand: the New Zealand Legislative Council (abolished in 1951).
• United States:
  • The Delaware Legislative Council: Under the Delaware Constitution of 1776 the upper house (since 1792 the Delaware State Senate).
  • The New Jersey Legislative Council: Under the 1776 New Jersey Constitution the upper house (since 1845 the New Jersey Senate) and New Jersey Supreme Court.
  • The South Carolina Legislative Council: Under the 1776 South Carolina Constitution the upper house (since 1778 the South Carolina Senate).

See also

• Legislative Assembly
• House of Assembly