Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973

25 Procedure

(1) The Assembly shall make standing orders for regulating its procedure.

(2) The standing orders shall include provision—

(a) for general debate of a proposed Measure with an opportunity for members to vote on its general principles;

(b) for the consideration of, and an opportunity for members to vote on, the details of a proposed Measure ; and

(c) for a final stage at which a proposed Measure can be passed or rejected but not amended.

(3) The standing orders shall include provision for the procedure to be adopted where the Secretary of State has withheld his consent to a proposed Measure under subsection (3) of section 5 above or has referred a proposed Measure back to the Assembly for further consideration.

(4) The standing orders shall include provision for the establishment of consultative committees to advise and assist the head of each of the Northern Ireland departments in the formulation of policy with respect to matters within the responsibilities of his department, and a committee may be so established either in relation to a single department or in relation to more than one.

(5) Standing orders made by virtue of subsection (4) above shall, subject to subsection (6) below, provide for the head of the department or the heads of departments in relation to which a consultative committee is established to be chairman or joint chairmen of that committee and shall make provision for securing that the balance of parties in the Assembly is, so far as practicable, reflected in the membership of the consultative committees taken as a whole.

(6) Her Majesty may by Order in Council repeal or amend so much of subsection (5) above as relates to the chairmanship of consultative committees and make such consequential or transitional provision in connection with the repeal or amendment as appears to Her Majesty to be necessary or expedient; but the power to make Orders under this subsection (which includes power to vary or revoke a previous Order) shall not be exercisable before the appointed day and no recommendation shall be made to Her Majesty to make such an Order unless a draft of it has been approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.

(7) The standing orders may provide for enabling a consultative committee to obtain from any department in relation to which it is established such information as the committee may require for the purpose of discharging its functions but shall not enable the committee or any member thereof to have access to any papers of that department.

(8) The standing orders shall include provision for the examination by a committee of the Assembly of the manner in which moneys charged on or appropriated out of the Consolidated Fund of Northern Ireland have been applied.

(9) The Secretary of State may give directions for regulating the procedure of the Assembly so far as he considers requisite pending the making of standing orders by the Assembly.

(10) Subsection (8) above does not apply to the application of moneys before the appointed day.