Schedules

The Legal Framework Order was issued as President's Order No. 2 of 1970 by the President and Chief Martial Administrator, General A. M. Yahya Khan on March 30, 1970 in Rawalpindi.

Schedule 1
Schedule 2
Schedule 3

Schedule 1

Article 4 (2) National Assembly of Pakistan

Schedule 2

Article 5 (1) Provincial Assemblies

Schedule 3

Article 17 (2) Rules of Procedure

Short title

1. These rules may be called the National Assembly Rules of Procedure, 1970.

Definitions

2. In these rules, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-

(a) "Assembly" means the National Assembly of Pakistan;

(b) "Bill" means a Bill seeking to frame a Constitution for Pakistan;

(c) "Commissioner" means the Chief Election Commissioner appointed or deemed to be appointed under the Electoral Rolls Order, 1969 (P.O. No. 6 of 1969);

(d) "Committee" means a Committee, including a Select Committee, appointed by the Assembly;

(e) "Member in charge", in relation to a Bill, means the member by whom the Bill has been introduced, and includes any other member permitted by the Speaker to do in relation to the Bill anything which the member in charge can do ;

(f) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Assembly;

(g) "Speaker" means the Speaker of the Assembly. Function of the Assembly

3. (1) The function of the Assembly shall be to frame a Constitution for Pakistan.

(2) The Constitution shall be drawn up and passed by the Assembly in the form of a Bill.

Speaker and Deputy Speaker

4. (1) At the first meeting of the Assembly, the Commissioner shall, after the members have taken the oath, call upon the members to elect a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker. ^

(2) Any member may propose another member with his consent for election as Speaker or as Deputy Speaker by communicating to the Secretary in writing the name of the member he proposes.

(3) No member shall propose more than one member for election as Speaker or as Deputy Speaker.

(4) The Secretary shall read out separately the names of the members nominated for election as Speaker and as Deputy Speaker.

(5) Immediately after the names have been read out by the Secretary, any member who has been nominated for election may withdraw his candidature.

(6) Where, after withdrawals, if any, only one person is left as the candidate for election as Speaker or as Deputy Speaker, the Commissioner shall declare such candidate to have been elected as Speaker or, as the case may be, Deputy Speaker.

(7) Where there are more candidates than one for election as Speaker or as Deputy Speaker, the Secretary shall read out to the Assembly the names of such candidates, and the Assembly shall then proceed to elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker by secret ballot which shall be held in such manner as the Commissioner may direct.

(8) Where there is equality of votes between two or more candidates and the addition of one vote for one such candidate would entitle him to be declared elected, the Commissioner shall forthwith draw a lot in respect of such candidates and the candidate on whom the lot falls shall be declared to have been elected as Speaker or, as the case may be. Deputy Speaker.

5. (1) Deliberations of the National Assembly shall be presided over by the Speaker and, in his absence, by the Deputy Speaker and, in the absence of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, by the person whose name is highest, on the panel of Chairmen from amongst those present at the sitting.

(2) If at any time at a sitting of the Assembly neither the Speaker nor the Deputy Speaker nor any person on the panel of Chairmen is present, the Secretary shall inform the Assembly of the fact and the Assembly shall, by a motion, elect one of its members present to preside.

Powers of Speaker

6 (1) The Speaker may, subject to the provisions of this Order, adjourn a meeting of the Assembly and call a meeting of the Assembly after adjournment.

(2) The Speaker shall-

(a) call a meeting of the Assembly to order ;

(b) preserve order and decorum and, in the case of disturbance or disorder in the galleries, may cause them to be cleared ; and (c) decide all points of order.

(3) The Speaker shall have all powers necessary for the purposes of enforcing his decisions.

Panel of Chairmen

7. The Speaker shall nominate from amongst members of the Assembly a panel of not more than four Chairmen and arrange their names in an order of precedence.

8. The person presiding over a meeting of the Assembly shall have the same powers as the Speaker while presiding over such meeting ; and all references in these rules to the Speaker as presiding officer shall be deemed to include a reference to such person.

Conduct of business in the Assembly

9. The business of the Assembly shall be brought before it by means of-

(a) a motion;

(b) amendment of a motion or an amendment to an amendment; and

(c) report of a Committee.

10. The meetings of the Assembly shall commence at 9 a.m. unless otherwise resolved by the Assembly or directed by the Speaker.

Arrangement of business

11. (1) A list of business for the day shall be prepared by the Secretary and, after it has been approved by the Speaker, a copy thereof shall be supplied for the use of every member before the commencement of the business of the day. The list thus prepared shall be called the Orders of the Day.

(2) Save as otherwise provided in, these rules, no business, not included in the Orders of the Day, shall be transacted on any day at any meeting without the leave of the Speaker.

(3) All business appointed for any day and not disposed of on that day shall stand over until the next working day, unless the Speaker otherwise directs.

Notice of motion

12. (1) Unless otherwise directed by the Speaker, notice of every motion, accompanied by a copy of the motion, shall be given not later than the day preceding the day on which the motion is to be moved.

(2) Every motion required by these rules shall be in writing addressed to the Secretary and signed by the member giving notice and shall be left at the Notice Office of the Assembly.

(3) Notice left at the Notice Office when it is closed shall be treated as given on the next open day.

(4) Where notice of a motion has been given, the Secretary shall send a copy of the motion to the members as soon as possible after notice had been received.

(5) No notice shall be required-

(a) for a motion for adjournment of the consideration of the motion which is under discussion; or

(b) for a motion for reference back to a Committee.

Disallowance and withdrawals of motions

13. (1) Unless permitted by the person presiding over the meeting, no motion which is substantially the same as a question which the Assembly has decided in the affirmative or the negative shall be made.

(2) The Speaker may disallow any motion or any part thereof on the ground that it is frivolous or dilatory or that it is an infringement of these rules.

(3) The Speaker may allow any member to withdraw a motion standing in his name.

14. The members shall sit in such order as the Speaker may direct.

15. A member desiring to make any observation on any matter before the Assembly shall rise or, if unable to do so, shall otherwise intimate his desire to the Speaker and shall only speak when called upon to do so by the Speaker and shall address the House standing except when permitted otherwise. If, at any time, the Speaker rises, the member shall cease speaking and take his seat.

16. The Speaker may, if he thinks fit, prescribe a time limit for speeches.

Language of the Assembly

17. (1) The members shall address the Assembly in Urdu, Bengali or English, provided that the Speaker may permit any member who cannot adequately express himself in any of these languages to address the Assembly in his mother tongue.

(2) If a member desires that an English translation or a summary of his speech delivered in a language other than Urdu, Bengali or English should be read to the Assembly, he shall supply a copy to the Speaker who may, in his discretion, allow it to be read to the Assembly. Such translation, if read to the Assembly, shall be included in the record of the proceedings of the Assembly.

(3) The official records of the proceedings of the Assembly shall be kept in Urdu, Bengali and English.

18. (1) A matter requiring the decision of the Assembly shall be brought forward by means of a question put by the Speaker.

(2) The Assembly shall decide how a decision relating to the Constitution Bill is to be taken, that is, whether by simple majority or by any other special procedure.

(3) Votes may be taken by voices or division and shall be taken by division if any member so desires.

(4) The Speaker shall determine the method of taking votes by division.

(5) The result of a division shall be announced by the Speaker and shall not be challenged.

Amendments

19. (1) An amendment shall, be relevant to the motion to which it is proposed.

(2) An amendment which has merely the effect of a negative vote on the original motion shall not be moved.

(3) Except as permitted by the Speaker,-

(a) notice of any amendment to a motion shall be given not later than the day preceding the day on which the motion is to be moved ; and

(b) notice of any amendment to an amendment shall be given before the Assembly meets for the day in which the amendment is to be moved.

(4) The Speaker may disallow any amendment which he considers to be frivolous or dilatory.

(5) The Speaker may put amendments to the vote in any order he may choose.

Re-opening of decisions of the Assembly

23. No matter which has once been decided by the Assembly shall be re-opened except with the consent of the Assembly.

Closure

21. Any time after a motion has been made, any member may move ''that the question be now put" and , unless it appears to the Speaker that the motion is an infringement of the right of reasonable debate, the Speaker shall put the motion "that the question be now put"; and if the motion is accepted, no further discussion shall be permitted except for a reply by the member who made the original motion.

Irrelevance or repetition

22. The Speaker, after having called the attention of the Assembly to the conduct of a member who persists in irrelevance or in tedious repetition, either of his own arguments or of the arguments used by other members in debate, may direct him to discontinue his speech, and the member shall thereupon resume his seat.

Limitations on debate

23. The matter of every speech shall be strictly relevant to the matter before the Assembly. A member while speaking shall not-

(1) speak offensive and insulting words against the character or proceedings of the Assembly ;

(2) utter treasonable or seditious words ; or

(3) use his right of speech for the purpose of wilfully and persistently obstructing the business of the Assembly.

Members not to speak more than once

24. No member shall speak more than once to a motion in the Assembly except in the exercise of a right of reply or except with the permission of the Speaker and that only for the purpose of making a personal explanation without introducing any new debatable matter.

Admission to the Assembly Chambers

25. The admission of persons other than members to the Assembly Chamber and its galleries during the sittings of the Assembly shall be regulated in accordance with the orders of the Speaker.

26. The Secretary shall cause full reports of the proceedings of the Assembly to be printed and supplied to all members.

Motion for leave to introduce a Bill

27. (1) Any member may move for leave to introduce a Bill after giving to the Secretary at least two clear days' notice of his intention to do so accompanied by a copy of the Bill.

(2) If a motion for leave to introduce a Bill is opposed, the Speaker, after permitting; if he thinks fit, a brief explanatory statement from the member who moves and from the member who opposes the motion, may without further debate put the question.

(3) If the leave to introduce the Bill is granted, the member may introduce the Bill.

Publication after introduction

28. As soon as may be after it has been introduced, a Bill shall be published in the official Gazette.

29. When a Bill is introduced or on some subsequent occasion, the member in charge may make one of the following motions in regard to his Bill, namely :

(a) that it be taken into consideration by the Assembly either at once or at some future day to be then specified; or

(b) that it be referred to a Select Committee:

Provided that no such motion shall be made until after copies of the Bill have been made available for the use of members and that any member may object to any such motion being made unless copies of the Bill have been so made available for three days before the day on which the motion is made; and such objection shall prevail unless the Speaker, in the exercise of his power to suspend this rule, allows the motion to be made.

Discussion of Bills

30. (1) On the day on which any such motion is made, or on any subsequent day to which the discussion thereof is postponed, the principle of the Bill and its general provisions may be discussed, but the details of the Bill must not be discussed further than is necessary to explain its principle.

(2) At this stage, no amendments to the Bill may be moved, but if the member in charge moves that his Bill be taken into consideration, any member may move as an amendment that the Bill be referred to a Select Committee.

31. Unless the Speaker permits any other member to act as the member in charge, no motion that a Bill be taken into consideration or be passed shall be made by any member other than the member in charge ; and no motion that a Bill be referred to a Select Committee shall be made by any member other than the member in charge except by way of amendment to a motion made by the member in charge.

Procedure after presentation of report

32. (1) After the presentation of the report of the Select Committee on a Bill, the member in charge may move-

(a) that the Bill as reported by the Select Committee be taken into consideration:

Provided that any member may object to its being so taken into consideration if a copy of the report has not been made available for the use of members and such objection shall prevail, unless the Speaker allows the report to be taken into consideration ; or

(b) that the Bill as reported by the Select Committee be recommitted either-

(i) without limitation, or

(ii) with respect to particular clauses or amendments only, or

(iii) with instructions to the Select Committee to make some particular or an additional provision in the Bill.

(2) If the member in charge moves that the Bill be taken into consideration, any member may move as an amendment that the Bill be recommitted.

33. (1) When a motion that a Bill be taken into consideration has been carried, any member may propose an amendment of the Bill.

(2) A member who intends to propose an amendment shall give notice thereof to the Secretary together with a copy of the amendment.

(3) The Secretary shall cause a copy of the amendment to be made available for the use of every member.

Order of amendments

34. Amendments shall ordinarily be considered in the order of the clauses of the Bill to which they respectively relate, and in respect of any such clause a motion shall be deemed to have been made "that this clause (or, as the case may be, that this clause, as amended) stand part of the Bill".

35. When a motion that a Bill be taken into consideration has been carried, it shall be in the discretion of the Speaker to submit the Bill or any part of the Bill to the Assembly clause by clause and when he does so the Speaker shall call each clause separately and, when the amendments relating to it have been dealt with, shall put the question "That this clause (or, as the case may be, that this clause, as amended) stand part of the Bill".

Passing of Bills

36. (1) When a motion that a Bill be taken into consideration has been carried and no amendment of the Bill is made, the member in charge may at once move that the Bill be passed.

(2) If any amendment of the Bill is made, any member may object to any motion being made, on the same day, that the Bill be passed, and such objection shall prevail, unless the Speaker allows the motion to be made.

(3) Where the objection prevails, a motion that the Bill be passed may be brought forward on any future day.

(4) No amendment which is neither formal nor consequential upon an amendment made after the Bill was taken into consideration shall be moved to a motion that the Bill be passed.

Withdrawal of Bills

37. The member in charge may at any stage move for leave to withdraw the Bill introduced by him; and, if such leave is granted, no further motion may be made with reference to the Bill.

38. When a Bill is passed, all other Bills pending before the Assembly shall lapse.

Authentication

39. When the Constitutional Bill is passed by the Assembly, the Secretary shall submit to the President for authentication a copy thereof signed by the Speaker.

Committees of the Assembly

40. (1) The Assembly may, besides a Select Committee constituted in relation to a Bill, appoint as many Committees and allocate to each such Committee such business as it may think fit.

(2) The members of the Committee including the Chairman shall be appointed by the Assembly at the time it appoints the Committee.

(3) A casual vacancy in a Committee shall be filled as soon as possible after it occurs by nomination by the Speaker.

(4) If the Chairman is not present at any meeting of the Committee, the member of the Committee shall elect one of their members to be the Chairman.

(5) In the case of an equality of votes, the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote.

41. (1) Subject to the requirement of a quorum prescribed by or under these rules, a Committee appointed by the Assembly shall have power to act notwithstanding any vacancy in the membership thereof.

(2) A Committee may hear expert evidence and representatives of special interests who may desire to place their views before it.

Quorum of the Committee

42. (1) At the time of the appointment of the members of a Committee, the number of members whose presence shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for a meeting of the Committee, and the time within which the Committee shall make its report, shall be fixed by the Assembly.

(2) If at the time fixed for any meeting of the Select Committee, or if at any time during any such meeting, the quorum is not present, the Chairman of the Committee shall either suspend the meeting until a quorum is present or adjourn the meeting to some future day.

(3) Where the Committee has been adjourned in pursuance of sub-rule (2) on two successive dates fixed for its meeting, the Chairman shall report the fact to the Assembly.

Voting in Committees

43. (1) All questions at a meeting of a Committee shall be determined by a majority of the members present and voting.

(2) The Chairman shall not vote except in the event of equality of votes.

Reports of the Committees

44. (1) A Committee shall make a report relating to the business allocated to it or, in the case of a Select Committee, on the Bill referred to it.

(2) If any member of a Committee desires to record a minute of dissent on any point, he must sign the report stating that he does so subject to his minute of dissent, and must at the same time hand in his minute'.

Presentation of report

45. (1) The report of a Committee shall be presented to the Assembly by the Chairman.

(2) The Secretary shall cause every report of a Committee, together with the views of the minority, if any, to be printed in English and a copy thereof made available for the use of every member of the Assembly. The report, with the views of the minority, if any, shall be published in the official Gazette, and, in the case of the report of a Select Committee, it shall be published together with the Bill as settled in the Committee.

46. (1) The timetable of business of a Committee and the agenda for each meeting of the Committee shall be determined by the Chairman of the Committee.

(2) Notice of all meetings of a Committee shall be sent to the members of the Committee.

Suspension of rules

47. Whenever any inconsistency or difficulty arises in the application of these rules, any member may, with the consent of the Speaker, move that any rule may be suspended in its application to a particular motion before the Assembly, and if the motion is carried the rule in question shall stand suspended.

Removal of difficulties

48. Where in the opinion of the Speaker any difficulty is likely to arise in carrying out the provisions of these rules, or in respect of any matter for which no provision or on sufficient provision exists in these rules the Speaker may make such rules as he thinks fit, not inconsistent with these rules, for the purpose of removing the difficulty.

Source: Election Handbook 1970 by S.G.M. Badruddin.
Publishing and Marketing Associates Ltd, Karachi (1970)

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