XIX.

Chapter and the order for the second reading, to be served upon the parties affected, and to hear them by counsel.1 The attorney-general has also been ordered to appoint counsel

2

to manage the evidence, at the bar of the house, in support
of the bill, or to take care that evidence be produced in
support of the bill.3

ment of

When a bill has been read a second time, a question is Commitput, "That this bill be committed," which, in the House of bills. Commons, cannot be opposed, being a mere formal sequel to the second reading (see p. 215); and a day is named for the committee. If a member desires that the bill shall be committed to a standing or select committee, he must make a motion to that effect as soon as the bill has been read a second time. To a motion that a bill be committed to a select committee, an amendment may be moved to substitute a standing committee for a select committee or vice versá.5 When such a motion has been negatived or withdrawn, the bill stands committed to a committee of the whole house, and the Speaker calls upon the member in charge of the bill to name a day for the committee stage." Notices of Notice of amendments to a bill in committee are not receivable at ments. the table, until the bill has been read a second time. On the order of the day being read for the committee, it is moved in the Lords, "That the house be now put into committee on the bill; " to which an amendment may be moved, that the house be put into committee on a future day, beyond the probable duration of the session. When the order of the day is read in the Commons, for the house to resolve itself into a committee on the bill, the Speaker, pursuant to standing order No. 51, unless a member rises 8. O. 51, Appendix I. Notice of to move an instruction which stands upon the notice paper, leaves the chair, forthwith. When the order of the day for committee on a bill is read, the member in charge thereof

See also Pp. 215, 223.

instruc tions, see

p. 482.*

1 Wilson's Disabilities Bill, 1737; Rumbold's Pains and Penalties Bill, 1782; Queen's Degradation Bill, 1820 (Lords).

2 Rumbold's Bill, 7th May, 1782.

3

• O'Sullivan's Disabilities Bill,

5th May, 1869, 124 C. J. 180.

* 151 ib. 265; 149 Parl. Deb. 4 s. 745.

5 159 C. J. 56. 126; 161 ib. 42. 151 ib. 265; 31 Parl. Deb. 4 s. 1140; 32 ib. 1488.

amend

Committee

stage passed

over.

Instructions to committees on bills.

Instruc

tions to committees of the

whole

house.

XIX.

thereon, see

can move that the order be discharged, and the bill referred Chapter
to a standing or select committee. If that motion is
moved by another member, the member in charge of the Procedure
bill, if he objects to that course, can express his desire that p. 499.
the Speaker should leave the chair, which the Speaker
would do forthwith, pursuant to standing order No. 51.

The Lords occasionally, as in the case of Consolidated
Fund bills, when the bill has been read a second time,
negative the committee stage, and proceed at once to the
third reading. Numerous instances of this practice are to
be found upon the journals of the House of Commons, until
the year 1786, in the case of urgent bills, acts of grace, and
even in taxation bills, when there were no blanks to be
filled up, and no amendment was tendered to the bill.
The bill recognizing King William and Queen Mary, and for
avoiding all questions touching the Acts made in the
Parliament assembled at Westminster on the 13th February,
1688, was, perhaps, the most important bill treated in this
manner.1

Before the house resolves itself, for the first time, into a committee of the whole house upon a bill, an instruction. may be given to the committee, empowering them to make provision for matters which would exceed a fair interpretation of the rule concerning relevant amendments. To explain the principles that govern the proposal of Instructions (priinstructions to committees of the whole house, it must be vate bills) borne in mind that, under the parliamentary usage in force see p. 731. in former times, an amendment might be wholly irrelevant to the motion or bill to which it was proposed (see p. 293), and that consequently to a bill in its progress through the house, clauses might be added relating to any matters however various and unconnected, whether with each other or

10 C. J. 373. Naturalization of the Electress Sophia, 1705, 15 ib. 47: Act of Grace, 1747, 25 ib. 406; South Sea Company Bill, 1760, 28 ib. 983; Importation of Tobacco, 1728, 21 ib. 284; Proceedings of Courts to be in English, 1732, 22 ib. 81; Recruiting of the Land Forces,

1744, 24 ib. 637; Justices of the
Peace Qualification Bill, 1766, 31 ib.
44; Sinking Fund Bill, 1786, 41 ib.
977.-(Information communicated
by the late Sir Archibald Milman.)
See also Adjournment of Parliament
Bill, 1657, 7 ib. 575.

XIX.

bill, see 465.

P.

Chapter with the bill as originally drawn. A reaction from such laxity of procedure led to the establishment of rules and practice which imposed on the House of Commons an inconvenient rigidity in dealing with a bill. No amendment could be moved which was not strictly within the scope of the prefatory paragraph, known as the title, which is preTitle of a fixed to every bill, and describes its object and scope. To obviate the difficulty thus created, the house, in 1854, by standing order No. 34, gave a general instruction to all s. O. 34, committees of the whole house to whom bills were committed, which empowered them to make such amendments therein as they should think fit, provided that the amendments were relevant to the subject-matter of the bill; and, if such amendments were not within the title of the bill, the title was to be amended, and reported specially to the house.

Ilustra

tions of in

This general and standing instruction to committees on bills meets all ordinary occasions. Amendments to bills may, however, be offered which exceed the operation of standing order No. 34, and which, without a special instruction from the house, could not be considered by the committee.

Appendix I.

of an in

In entertaining an instruction, the house is subject to this Principle structions, primary condition, namely, that the amendments to be struction. see Appen- sanctioned by an instruction must come within a fair inter

dix II.

matter of

pretation of the rule laid down by standing order No. 34,
namely, that those amendments should be relevant to the
subject-matter of the bill. Thus as the subject-matter of a Subject-
bill, as disclosed by the contents thereof, when read a second a bill.
time, has, since 1854, formed the order of reference which
governs the proceedings of the committee thereon, it follows
that the objects sought by an instruction should be pertinent
to the terms of that order; and that the amendments, which
an instruction proposes to sanction, must be such as would
further the general purpose and intention of the house in the
appointment of the committee. The object of an instruction
is, therefore, to endow a committee with power whereby the
committee can perfect and complete the legislation defined
by the contents of the bill, or extend the provisions of a bill

Amend

ment to an instruction.

to cognate objects; and an attempt to engraft novel principles Chapter into a bill, which would be irrelevant, foreign, or contradictory

XIX.

the chair

tions, see

to the decision of the house taken on the introduction and For the
leading de-
second reading of the bill, is not within the due province of cisions from
an instruction. Accordingly, an instruction can be moved on instruc
that authorizes the introduction of amendments into a bill Appendix
which extends its provisions to objects not contained there- II.
in, if those objects are relevant to the subject-matter thereof,
or which would augment the legislative machinery whereby
the bill is to be put into force, as shown by the examples
contained in Appendix II., class 1; whilst, on the other
hand, no instruction is permissible which is irrelevant,
foreign, or contradictory to the contents of the bill, or
that seeks the subversion thereof, by substituting another
scheme for the mode of operation therein prescribed (see
Appendix II., class 3).

An amendment to an instruction must be strictly relevant Notice
of such
thereto, and must be drawn in such a shape that, if accepted, amend-
the question as amended would retain the form and effect ment, see
of an instruction.1

An instruction is necessary to enable a committee to divide a bill into two or more bills,2 to consolidate two bills into one bill, or to give priority to the consideration of a

1 21st Feb. 1893, Liverpool Corporation Bill; Mr. T. P. O'Connor's amendment; Speaker's ruling (private).

2 73 L. J. 79; 85 ib. 289; 107 C. J. 118; 108 ib. 645; 116 ib. 376 (three bills); 124 ib. 192; 126 ib. 114; 148 ib. 592, 18 Parl. Deb. 4 s. 324; 160 C. J. 333. An instruction to a committee to divide a bill into two or more bills is in order only when the bill is drawn in distinct parts, enabling the committee to deal with them separately, or when the bill naturally falls into separate parts or subjects, 27 Parl. Deb. 4 s. 1028; 40 ib. 1267; 41 ib. 866; 85 ib. 434; 97 ib. 453; 108 ib. 1130. In session 1894 an instruction was moved to the committee on the Finance Bill, by which new rates of estate duty

were proposed, that they had power
to divide the bill into two parts, and
in the first place to report the por-
tion relating to Customs and Inland
Revenue, 149 C. J. 151; but on the
18th June, 1901, the Speaker ruled
out of order an instruction to enable
the committee on the Finance Bill
to divide the bill into two parts,
and place the coal tax in a separate
bill, on the ground that the ordinary
practice of the house is to treat the
Finance Bill, which contains all
the taxes to meet the expenditure
of the year, as far as taxation is
necessary, as one bill with one object,
95 Parl. Deb. 4 s. 755.

3 Representation of the People and
Redistribution of Seats Bill, 28th
May, 1866, 183 H. D. 3 s. 1319. For
other precedents, see 107 C. J. 112;

p. 482.

XIX.

Chapter portion of a bill, with power to report the same separately to the house;1 and instructions have been given to committees of the whole house, on the presentation of a petition, empowering the committee to hear counsel and examine witnesses.2 An instruction also may be required to render the provisions of a bill bearing a limited title applicable to the whole of the United Kingdom, or otherwise to extend the operation of a bill beyond the limits defined in the title 3 (see Appendix II., class 4).

tion to the

see p. 607.

instruc.

No instruc- A motion for an instruction which seeks to confer upon a Informal committee committee of the whole house power to make amendments tions. of supply, in a bill that is already possessed by the committee, is out of order (see Appendix II., class 2); nor, in the Commons, can an instruction be moved to a committee of the whole house in a form other than the permissive form, namely

4

"that they have power"-to consider the matter dealt with by the instruction; 5 and this rule applies to instructions to standing or joint committees (see p. 423). No such restriction applies to instructions to select committees (see p. 400) or private bill committees (see p. 731), nor to committees of the whole house in the Lords. To these committees a mandatory or imperative instruction, defining the course

124 C. J. 246; 125 ib. 246; 144 ib.
319. 339; 205 H. D. 3 s. 977; 146
C. J. 254; 156 ib. 324.

1 Purchase of Land, &c. (Ire-
land), Bill, 1890, 146 C. J. 30;
Established Church (Wales) Bill,
1895, 150 ib. 182.

2 Corn Regulation Bill, 1791, 46 . ib. 466; Sinecure Offices Bill, 1812, 67 ib. 309; Apprentices Bill, 1814, 69 ib. 335; Penryn Bribery Bill, 1819, 74 ib. 441; Silk Trade Bill, 1824,79 ib. 180; Coventry Magistracy Bill, 1827, 82 ib. 536; East Retford C Disfranchisement Bill, 1828, 83 ib. 122; Liverpool Franchise Bill, 1832, Municipal Corporations Bill, 1835, 67 L. J. 329; Gaming Actions Discontinuance Bill, 1844, 76 ib. 550. 553; St. Albans Disfranchisement . Bill, 1851, 84 ib. 101. Motion for hearing the electors of Lancaster

before the committee on the Repre-
sentation of the People Bill, 1867,
186 H. D. 3 s. 982.

3 The Chairman, in default of
such an instruction, has declined to
put the question on a new clause,
142 C. J. 333; or the clause has been
withdrawn, 143 ib. 500.

4 195 H. D. 3 s. 847; 207 ib. 402; 33 Parl. Deb. 4 s. 539; 95 ib. 755. If such an instruction has been proposed from the chair, on notice taken, the Speaker declines to put the question thereon, 24th July, 1884, 139 C. J. 396,

51 Lord Colchester's Diary, 431; 2 Lord Sidmouth's Life, 144; 189 H. D. 3 s. 1070; 97 Parl. Deb. 4 s. 453; 134 ib. 451; 139 ib, 1219; 148 ib. 268.

532.

65 L. J. 551; 68 ib. 151; 71 ib.