Standing orders in the New Zealand House of Representatives

SUMMARY

As a matter of functional necessity, any legislative body must have a system of internal governance. In parliamentary democracies, that system nearly always takes the form of ‘standing orders’: a body of rules that govern the conduct of proceedings in (and the exercise of powers possessed by) the central legislative body. This paper examines the desirability of placing constitutional importance on such an ephemeral device as standing orders. Using recent examples from the New Zealand House of Representatives, the paper shows how a legislative majority's use of standing orders has the potential to undermine democratic and deliberative legislative processes in all parliamentary democracies.