- Latest available (Revised)
- Point in Time (12/03/2009)
- Original (As enacted)
Version Superseded: 12/04/2010
Point in time view as at 12/03/2009.
There are currently no known outstanding effects for the Northern Ireland Act 1998, Cross Heading: Proceedings etc..
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. At the current time any known changes or effects made by subsequent legislation have been applied to the text of the legislation you are viewing by the editorial team. Please see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ for details regarding the timescales for which new effects are identified and recorded on this site.
(1)The proceedings of the Assembly shall be regulated by standing orders.
(2)Standing orders shall not be made, amended or repealed without cross-community support.
(3)Schedule 6 (which makes provision as to how certain matters are to be dealt with by standing orders) shall have effect.
(1)If 30 members petition the Assembly expressing their concern about a matter which is to be voted on by the Assembly, the vote on that matter shall require cross-community support.
(2)Standing orders shall make provision with respect to the procedure to be followed in petitioning the Assembly under this section, including provision with respect to the period of notice required.
(3)Standing orders shall provide that the matter to which a petition under this section relates may be referred, in accordance with paragraphs 11 and 13 of Strand One of the Belfast Agreement, to the committee established under section 13(3)(a).
(1)Standing orders shall include provision for a register of interests of members of the Assembly, and for—
(a)registrable interests (as defined in standing orders) to be registered in it; and
(b)the register to be published and made available for public inspection.
(2)Standing orders shall include provision requiring that any member of the Assembly who has—
(a)a financial interest (as defined in standing orders) in any matter; or
(b)any other interest, or an interest of any other kind, specified in standing orders in any matter,
declares that interest before taking part in any proceedings of the Assembly relating to that matter.
(3)Standing orders made in pursuance of subsection (1) or (2) may include provision for preventing or restricting the participation in proceedings of the Assembly of a member with a registrable interest, or an interest mentioned in subsection (2), in a matter to which the proceedings relate.
(4)Standing orders shall include provision prohibiting a member of the Assembly from—
(a)advocating or initiating any cause or matter on behalf of any person, by any means specified in standing orders, in consideration of any payment or benefit in kind of a description so specified; or
(b)urging, in consideration of any such payment or benefit in kind, any other member of the Assembly to advocate or initiate any cause or matter on behalf of any person by any such means.
(5)Standing orders may include provision—
(a)for excluding from proceedings of the Assembly any member who fails to comply with, or contravenes, any provision made in pursuance of subsections (1) to (4); and
(b)for withdrawing his rights and privileges as a member for the period of his exclusion.
(6)Any member of the Assembly who—
(a)takes part in any proceedings of the Assembly without having complied with, or in contravention of, any provision made in pursuance of subsections (1) to (3); or
(b)contravenes any provision made in pursuance of subsection (4),
is guilty of an offence.
(7)A person guilty of an offence under subsection (6) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(8)Proceedings for an offence under subsection (6) shall not be taken without the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
(1)The Assembly may require any person—
(a)to attend its proceedings for the purpose of giving evidence; or
(b)to produce documents in his custody or under his control,
relating to any of the matters mentioned in subsection (2).
(2)Those matters are—
(a)transferred matters concerning Northern Ireland;
(b)other matters in relation to which statutory functions are exercisable by Ministers or the Northern Ireland departments.
(3)The power in subsection (1) is exercisable in relation to a person outside Northern Ireland only in connection with the discharge by him of functions relating to matters within subsection (2).
(4)That power is not exercisable in relation to a person who is or has been a Minister of the Crown, or a person who is or has been in Crown employment within the meaning of Article 236 of the M1Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, in connection with the discharge of any functions prior to the appointed day [F1or during a period when section 1 of the Northern Ireland Act 2000 was in force].
[F2(4A)That power is not exercisable in relation to a person mentioned in subsection (4) in connection with the discharge, during a relevant period, of a function which relates to a matter which is a transferred matter by virtue of an Order under section 4.
For this purpose “relevant period” means a period when the matter was not a transferred matter.
(4B)That power is not exercisable in relation to a person mentioned in subsection (4) in connection with the discharge, during a relevant period, of a statutory function which—
(a)is exercisable by a Minister or a Northern Ireland department; but
(b)was at any time exercisable by a Minister of the Crown.
For this purpose “relevant period” means a period when the statutory function was exercisable by a Minister of the Crown.]
(5)That power is not exercisable in relation to—
(a)a person discharging functions of any body whose functions relate to excepted matters, in connection with the discharge by him of those functions;
(b)a person discharging functions of any body whose functions relate to reserved matters, in connection with the discharge by him of those functions;
(c)a judge of any court or a member of any tribunal which exercises the judicial power of the State.
(6)That power may be exercised by a committee of the Assembly only if the committee is expressly authorised to do so by standing orders.
(7)The Presiding Officer shall give the person in question notice in writing specifying—
(a)the time and place at which the person is to attend and the particular matters relating to which he is required to give evidence; or
(b)the documents, or types of documents, which he is to produce, the date by which he is to produce them and the particular matters to which they are to relate.
(8)Such notice shall be given—
(a)in the case of an individual, by sending it, by registered post or the recorded delivery service, addressed to him at his usual or last known address or, where he has given an address for service, at that address;
(b)in any other case, by sending it, by registered post or the recorded delivery service, addressed to the person at the person’s registered or principal office.
(9)A person is not obliged under this section to answer any question or produce any document which he would be entitled to refuse to answer or produce in proceedings in a court in Northern Ireland.
(10)In this section “statutory functions” means functions conferred by virtue of any enactment.
Textual Amendments
F2S. 44(4A)(4B) inserted (11.3.2009) by Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2006 (c. 33), ss. 18, 31; S.I. 2009/448, art. 2
Modifications etc. (not altering text)
C1Amendment in s. 44(4) continued (10.5.2007) by Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2006 (c. 53), ss. 2(2)(5), 27(4)(5) (as amended by Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Act 2007 (c. 4), s. 1(1)), {Sch. 4 para. 2(8)} (with Sch. 4 para. 2(10)); S.I. 2007/1397, art. 2
Marginal Citations
(1)Subject to subsection (9) of section 44, any person to whom a notice under subsection (7) of that section has been given who—
(a)refuses or fails to attend proceedings as required by the notice;
(b)refuses or fails, when attending proceedings as required by the notice, to answer any question relating to the matters specified in the notice;
(c)deliberately alters, suppresses, conceals or destroys any document which he is required to produce by the notice; or
(d)refuses or fails to produce any such document,
is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months.
(2)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1)(a), (b) or (d) to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for the refusal or failure.
(3)Where an offence under this section which has been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of—
(a)a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate; or
(b)any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,
he, as well as the body corporate, is guilty of that offence and liable to be proceeded against accordingly.
(4)Proceedings for an offence under this section shall not be taken without the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
(5)For the purposes of section 44 and this section, a person shall be taken to comply with a requirement to produce a document if he produces a copy of, or an extract of the relevant part of, the document.
(1)The Presiding Officer or such other person as may be authorised by standing orders may—
(a)administer an oath to any person giving evidence in proceedings of the Assembly; and
(b)require him to take the oath.
(2)Any person who refuses to take an oath when required to do so under subsection (1)(b) is guilty of an offence.
(3)A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months.
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.
Would you like to continue?
The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
The Schedules you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
Point in Time: This becomes available after navigating to view revised legislation as it stood at a certain point in time via Advanced Features > Show Timeline of Changes or via a point in time advanced search.
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: