House of Assembly (Bermuda)

House of Assembly of Bermuda

Bermuda coat of arms	Sessions House, Hamilton
Basic data
Seat:	Hamilton , Bermuda
Legislative period :	5 years
First session:	August 1, 1620 (June 2, 1968 as a modern two-chamber system)
MPs:	36
Current legislative period
Last choice:	18th July 2017
Chair:	Speaker : Dennis Lister
Distribution of seats:	PLP 24 OBA 12
Website
parliament.bm

The House of Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Bermuda , which is based on the two-chamber system modeled on the British Westminster system . While the members of the House of Assembly are elected, the members of the House of Lords , the Senate (Senate) , are appointed.

The House of Assembly currently consists of 36 members who are elected by general election in constituencies every five years. The party which wins the most seats in the general election or which has the support of the largest number of members of the House of Assembly forms the government. According to the Bermuda Constitution , the leader of the majority party is asked by the governor to form a government. The largest minority party then becomes the official opposition with its own opposition leader as chairman of a shadow cabinet . The House of Assembly currently has nine cabinet ministers. Another minister is a member of the Senate.

history

In St. Peter's Church in St. George's , the first meeting of the Assembly of Bermuda was held on August 1, 1620

The Bermuda Parliament is one of the oldest parliaments in the world, with a history dating back to August 1, 1620. On that day, then Governor Nathaniel Butler called a general meeting at a church in Saint George’s , later named St. Peter's Church. This assembly, the forerunner of today's House of Assembly, was composed of two male, elected ("chosen by voice") representatives from each tribe (today the Parishes ) into which the colony was then divided. These elected representatives met together with the governor and his advisers (Council) to local problems to discuss, to manage the legal system and to formulate laws that were sent after the vote to England for examination. At the opening of the first meeting, Governor Butler formulated the ideas that would serve as the basis for future debates.

After direct administration of the affairs of Bermuda was transferred to England in 1684, the governors of Bermuda represented the authority of the British Crown and acted on instructions from the motherland. With this, the governors played a leading administrative role in Bermuda until the 1960s. After the parliament initially consisted of one chamber, it has consisted of two chambers since 1888. After the Constitutional Conference of 1966, Bermuda changed from a representative to an autonomous form of government, which was implemented by the first general elections in 1968.

In 1815, Hamilton replaced Saint George's as the capital of Bermuda. As a result, the parliament, the courts and all public authorities moved to the new capital. The first meeting of the congregation in the town hall on Front Street in Hamiliton took place on January 13, 1815. In 1826, the House of Assembly moved into the Sessions House on Parliament Hill , which has since served as the seat of Parliament.

Members of the House of Assembly and elections since 1968

The House of Assembly currently consists of 36 elected members (1968 to 2003: 40 members) who are each elected in a constituency (Parliamentary Constituency) . Each district (Parish) consists of three to four constituencies. After each election, a member of parliament is elected President of Parliament (Speaker) . After the election of the President of Parliament, he formally gives up his party membership and does not take part in any debate. Rather, its main task is to ensure that Parliament's rules, rules of procedure and reputation are observed during the sessions.

In 1968 the first elections took place under the provisions of a general and equal election and made it possible to choose between several political parties. The United Bermuda Party (UBP) emerged as the electoral winner, winning 30 seats, while the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) won. The Bermuda Democratic Party (BDP), which was formed shortly before the first election, failed to win a seat and disbanded shortly afterwards.

Twelve elections have taken place since 1968 with the following results (percentage of seats of the election winner in bold ):

choice	United Bermuda Party (UBP)	Progressive Labor Party (PLP)	One Bermuda Alliance (OBA)	National Liberal Party (NLP)	Non-party
June 1968	30th	10	-	-	-
June 1972	30th	10	-	-	-
May 1976	26th	14th	-	-	-
December 1980	22nd	18th	-	-	-
February 1983	26th	14th	-	-	-
October 1985	31	7th	-	2	-
February 1989	23	15th	-	1	1
October 1993	22nd	18th	-	-	-
November 1998	14th	26th	-	-	-
July 2003	14th	22nd	-	-	-
December 2007	14th	22nd	-	-	-
December 2012	-	17th	19th	-	-
July 2017	-	24	12	-	-

Expense allowance

Members of the House of Assembly will receive an allowance of BD $ 56,023 . The speaker is entitled to an increased expense allowance of BD $ 82,592, as is the deputy speaker of BD $ 69,308. In addition, the opposition leader also receives an increased allowance of BD $ 86,390. Furthermore, the parliamentary executives of the parties (party whips ) are also entitled to increased expense allowances of BD $ 63,616.

Meetings and administration of the House of Assembly

List of speakers since 1968

The Speaker, who is thus President of the Lower House of Parliament, chairs the House of Assembly. The speaker chairs the sessions of the parliament in the context of the agenda (business papers / order papers) and the debates on the legislative process. He also initiates the answering of the question time based on oral or written questions (Parliamentary Questions) . This also applies to inquiries about government statements (Ministerial Statements) . In doing so, he pays particular attention to compliance with Parliament's rules of procedure (standing orders) .

Surname	Beginning of the term of office	Term expires
Jeffrey Astwood	1968	1972
Dudley Spurling	1972	1976
Lawrence P. Gutteridge	1976	1979
F. John Barritt	1979	1989
David E. Wilkinson	1989	1993
Ernest D. DeCouto	1993	1998
Stanley W. Lowe	1998	2012
KH Randolph Horton	2013	officiating

Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms

The President of Parliament is supported in his work by the Clerk to the Legislature at the House of Assembly . The position of clerk is currently held by Shernette Wolffe, who is primarily an advisor to the spokesperson and members of parliament on administrative and procedural matters. She is also an advisor to the parliamentary committees, which she also supports in administrative matters. She also oversees the Youth Parliament , which meets every Wednesday in the House of Assembly. He is also responsible for recording the minutes of meetings, the so-called house minutes . These meeting minutes have been available online in a Hansard since the 2010 meeting period .

The speaker is also supported during parliamentary sessions by the Sergeant-at-Arms , whose office has been Albert Fox since 2001. This sits between the grandstand and the plenary hall in order to always ensure public order at the meetings and thereby guarantee security and protection for the members of the parliament and parliament. The Sergeant-at-Arms also ensures that all members, the press and the public are informed of the legislative process. In addition, the Sergeant-at-Arms leads the opening procession of Parliament together with the speaker, wearing the mace (club), the symbol of the authority of the President of Parliament. He is also responsible for the actual opening and closing of the parliament building.

Legislative process

Most bills go through both houses of parliament, with bills first being presented to the House of Assembly. There are four types of bill in the House of Assembly. The public bills are presented to the government by the minister responsible. Furthermore, draft laws can be submitted by the opposition (opposition bills) as well as by a single MP as so-called private member's bills . Finally, there is the so-called Private Bills that come from an organization or group of individuals and a backbencher (Backbencher) be submitted to the House of Assembly. This backbencher is in most cases a member of the majority party, but not a minister.

The legal advice takes place in five parts:

• First Reading (First Reading) : Formal presentation of the bill
• Second reading (Second Reading) : General policy debate in the House
• Detailed discussion and additional applications in technical committees (Committee)
• Report on additional requests from the specialist committees and the possibility of introducing other additions
• Third reading (Third Reading) : Final debate on the entire bill with amendments

After the legislative consultation in the House of Assembly has been completed, the speaker signs a bill and then presents it to the Senate. There, the bill is discussed in the same way. After a bill has been debated in both Houses, it is submitted to the offices of the Prime Minister and Attorney General for consideration before finally being presented to the Governor for signature and approval.

Parliamentary committees

The House of Assembly consists of the following committees (Committee) :

• House and Grounds Committee : This committee advises the Speaker of the House of Commons on MEPs' questions and on building and land matters in Parliament. The committee is chaired by the Deputy Speaker (2015: Suzzan Roberts-Holshouser)
• Joint Select Committee on Elections (Joint Election Committee of the Parliament)
• Register of Members' Interest Committee : This committee also reviews the personal interests of members of parliament, including with regard to possible influence on the legislative process. The area of ​​responsibility also includes the submission of the respective declaration of honor and interest of the members of the parliament. The chairman of the committee is Dennis P. Lister
• Joint Select Committee on Private Bills : Chair Suzzan Roberts-Holshouser
• Regulations Committee : This committee deals with questions of the rules of procedure, but also with the issue and use of public funds and the initiation of parliamentary inquiries. The committee is chaired by Glen C. Smith
• Committee on Parliamentary Reform : Chairman Cole Simons
• Public Accounts Committee : The committee that monitors the proper use of the budget approved by Parliament is traditionally chaired by a member of the opposition (Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition) (2015: E. David G. Burt )
• Committee of the Auditor General : Chairman NH Cole Simons
• Standing Orders Committee : Chairman KH Randolph Horton
• Panel of Chairman Committee : The members of this committee may represent the Speaker of the House of Commons if debates are taking place in other committees at the same time. Suzzan Roberts-Holshouser chairs the committee because of her role as Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons

Web links

• Homepage of the Parliament of Bermuda

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The United Bermuda Party (UBP) joined forces with the Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) to form the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA) in 2011
2. ↑ The One Bermuda Alliance emerged from a merger of the United Bermuda Party (UBP) and the Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) in 2011
3. ↑ allowances (Remuneration) ( Memento of the original January 29, 2016 Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the homepage of the Parliament of Bermuda (as of 2014) 
4. ↑ Hansard by Session ( Memento of the original from December 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the homepage of the Parliament of Bermuda 
5. ↑ Register of Members' Interest ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the homepage of the Parliament of Bermuda