The Forums of Glennain

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Section 1. The Presiding Officer.

1. The King of Hanover, or any other person lawfully serving in his place as Head of State, shall be the normative presiding officer of the Parliament.

2. The King may appoint a Speaker to undertake his duties in Parliament; a person so appointed shall serve at the King's pleasure, but shall also be subject to dismissal by Parliament.

3. The appointment of a Speaker shall not affect the King's right to speak in any debate in Parliament, or to grant and withhold the Royal Assent.

4. It shall be the King's responsibility to maintain order and decency in the House; however, the remarks of any person shall not be censored or modified in anyway, except by permission of the House, or as explicitly permitted by Act of Parliament.

Section 2. Code of Conduct.

5. Whenever speaking in Parliament, members shall always address the Chair using the words "Mr./Ms. Speaker"; when replying to remarks by the King, however, the words "Most Gracious Sovereign" shall instead be used.

6. Members shall endeavour at all times to maintain civil and polite standards of debate, without descending to petty or slanderous attacks.

7. In instances of repeated, severely disruptive behaviour during discussions in the House, the King may may censure the Member or Members responsible, and may impose a suspension of up to one week.

Section 3. Business in the House.

8. The Crown-in-Parliament exercises its supreme legislative authority by promulgating Acts of Parliament, agreed to by a majority of the House, and granted the Royal Assent.

9. A Bill is an Act of Parliament in draft form. Bills may be proposed by any member, known as the sponsor, either by their own initiative, or by advice of the King, as signified in Letters of Business sent to Parliament.

10. No member shall have more than one bill before the Parliament at a given time.

11. The member who introduces a given bill shall have the right to withdraw it until a division is started, after which time the bill must stay until the division is concluded.

12. The Parliament exercises its non-legislative powers by means of Resolutions agreed to by a majority of the House. Resolutions do not require the Royal Assent, although the King may speak in debates upon them.

13. There is no limit to the number of concurrent resolutions a member may sponsor.

14. When a Bill or Resolution has been proposed, the King shall instruct the Secretary of Parliament to announce that a new Bill or Resolution has been set before the Parliament. The members of Parliament being thus alerted, the King and the members of Parliament shall discuss the general principles and specific provisions of the measure.

15. Amendments may be proposed at any time during debate on a Bill or Resolution. Amendments by the original sponsor of the Bill shall be accepted without debate; other amendments shall be considered in the same manner as a Bill or Resolution. Amendments by the sponsor shall require the whole modified Bill or Resolution to be reposted, not by editing the original post.

16. Only one amendment may be proposed for a given bill, per member at a time.

17. All amendments will be considered in the order they are proposed.

18. An amendment may be withdrawn by the sponsor at any time until the division regarding it has started.

19. Discussion about a given bill shall be limited to the amendment being considered.

20. The King may, at his discretion, call for unanimous consent upon any amendment. Such a call will be given to the clerk of Parliament to distribute. Unanimous consent shall have 2 business days from the time the clerk reports completion of his duty in which any member may object. If no member objects then the amendment shall be passed without further discussion or division.

Section 4. Divisions of the House

21. When he believes that debate on a Bill, Resolution, or Amendment has reached its proper conclusion, the King shall instruct the Kings Secretary of Parliament to announce the pending division. Upon the Secretary reporting completion of his duty the King shall call for a division. If a majority of the members voting declare themselves to be Content with the measure, it shall be passed.

22. A division may likewise be called by a majority of the members of Parliament in the King's stead, upon which any member may conduct the division.

23. A division shall be concluded, and all votes counted, after two business days time has elapsed, or when an absolute majority of the House has been attained in for or against the measure.

Section 5. Schedule of the House

24. All business of the house shall happen on weekdays Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday provided those are not national holidays.

25. The King may call a recess of not more than 2 business days at any time. Such a recess will suspend all discussion and divisions, which shall resume at the end of the recess.

26. The members may put forth a resolution to call a recess of not more than 5 business days. Such a recess will suspend all discussion and divisions, which shall resume at the end of the recess.

27. At no time shall the house recess for more than 7 business days.

Section 6. Office of Kings Secretary of Parliament

28. There shall be an office of the Kings Secretary of Parliament who shall have the primary duty of communicating the status of parliament to those in the colony of New Bergen.

29. The Kings Secretary shall serve at the pleasure of the King.

30. The Kings Secretary shall be required to have an account in Second Life, and be willing to use that account for official business.

31. At various times the Kings Secretary shall be instructed to notify the citizens of New Bergen. He shall do so via the standard group notification features of Second Life, and shall report back when he has accomplished this task.

Section 6. Office of Clerk of Parliament

32. There shall be an office of the Clerk of Parliament who shall have the primary duty of keeping the roster of active and inactive members, and of tallying the votes for each division.

33. Only members who are active before a division is called may participate in the division, and the number of active members shall be used for the determination of passage.

34. A member shall be counted as active if he shall have posted in the Parliament forum in any way in the last 30 calendar days.

Section 7. Suspension of the Standing Orders

35. These Standing Orders, or any Section of them, may be suspended by the consent of two-thirds of the members, upon the motion of any member present.

36. When these Standing Orders have been suspended, they must be subsequently reinstated within three day's time by a further motion of the House, to be passed in the ordinary manner.