2480

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

[No. 84

PART I.

Regulations of Meetings, &c.

2. In all cases not herein provided for, the rules, forms, and usages of Parliament shall be followed, so far as the same are applicable to the proceedings of the Council.

3. At every meeting the first business shall be the reading and confirmation of the minutes of the preceding meeting, and no discussion shall be permitted thereon, except as to their accuracy as a record of the proceedings.

4. After the confirmation of the minutes, the order of business of any ordinary meeting shall be as follows :—

(a.) Pass accounts.

(b.) Engineer’s and other reports.

(c.) Motions of which previous notice has been given.

(d.) Reading letters received, and considering and ordering thereon.

(e.) Reception and reading of petitions and memorials.

(f.) Ordinary business.

(g.) Orders of the day, including subjects continued from proceedings of former meetings.

(h.) Extraordinary business.

(i.) Notices of motion for next meeting.

5. The business of any special meeting shall be taken in the order in which the same stands in the resolution or requisition in pursuance of which such meeting shall be called.

6. The order of business at any meeting may be altered by order of the Council.

7. Notices of motion shall be dated and numbered and delivered by the intending mover to the Clerk.

8. Notices of motion shall be recorded by the Clerk in a book to be kept for that purpose, in the order in which they shall be received by him.

9. Except by leave of the Council, motions shall be moved in the order in which they have been so recorded, and unless so moved or postponed shall struck out.

10. No motion upon notice shall be moved or proceeded with in the absence of the Councillor who gave such notice, unless by some other Councillor producing written authority from such first-mentioned Councillor to move such motion.

11. The Councillors in meetings of Council shall designate each other by their official titles of Chairman or Councillor, as the case may be.

12. Any Councillor may of right demand the production of any of the documents of the Council relating to the question under discussion.

13. Any Councillor desirous of moving a motion or amendment, or of taking part in any discussion thereon, shall rise and address the Chairman, and shall not be interrupted unless called to order, when he shall immediately sit down or otherwise obey such call to order until the Councillor (if any) calling to order shall have been heard thereon, and the question of order disposed of, when the Councillor so called to order may, subject to the ruling of the Chairman, proceed with the debate.

14. The Chairman shall rise when addressing the Council to discuss any question, but need not leave the chair.

15. If two or more Councillors rise to speak at the same time, the Chairman shall decide who is entitled to priority.

16. Any Councillor desirous of proposing a motion or amendment shall, before addressing the Council thereon, if so required by the Chairman, reduce such motion or amendment into writing, sign the same, and immediately upon its being seconded deliver it to the Chairman, who shall state the same to the Council.

17. No Councillor other than the mover shall speak to any motion or amendment, nor shall any motion or amendment be discussed, or put to the vote of the Council, or recorded upon the minutes, until it has been seconded.

18. No motion or amendment shall be withdrawn without leave of the Council.

19. A Councillor moving a motion, but not a Councillor merely seconding one, shall be held to have spoken thereon.

20. A Councillor who has spoken to a question may, when he has been misunderstood or misrepresented, again be heard to explain himself in regard to some material part of his speech, but may not introduce any new matter.

21. The mover of any original proposition, but not of an amendment, shall have a right to reply when called upon by the Chairman, who shall first ask whether any other Councillor desires to speak, and immediately after such reply the question shall be put by the Chairman without any further discussion.

22. No Councillor shall speak a second time on the same question, except by way of reply, in explanation, or upon a point of order.

23. No Councillor shall digress from the subject-matter of the question under discussion, or comment upon the words used by any other Councillor in a previous debate, or reflect upon any former resolutions of the Council, except on a motion to rescind such former resolution.

24. Any Councillor imputing improper motives to, or making personal reflections on, any other Councillor shall be deemed highly disorderly, and on being required by the Chairman shall withdraw his expressions and make satisfactory apology to the Council.

25. Any Councillor may require the enforcement of any of the provisions of these by-laws by directing the attention of the Chairman to any infraction thereof.

26. The Chairman, when called upon to decide on points of order, shall state the provision, rule, or practice which he considers applicable to the case, without discussing or commenting on the same, and his decision as to order or explanation in each case shall be final.

27. A question having been proposed may be amended by leaving out certain words only, by leaving out certain words in order to insert other words, or by inserting or adding words.

28. No second or subsequent amendment, whether upon an original proposition or on an amendment, shall be made or taken into consideration until the previous amendment is disposed of.

29. If an amendment be carried, the question as amended shall then become the question or motion before the Council, and may be further amended as to any portion thereof coming after the part so amended.

30. If an amendment be negatived, then a second amendment may be moved as to any portion of the question.

31. No discussion shall be allowed on any motion for adjournment of the Council.

32. If any motion for adjournment be put and negatived, the subject then under consideration, or the next or some other on the business paper, shall be discussed before any subsequent motion for adjournment be made.

33. If any meeting of the Council be adjourned, the business thereof shall be resumed at the adjourned meeting at the point where it was interrupted by the adjournment.

34. The Chairman shall, in taking a vote of the Council, put the question first in the affirmative and then in the negative, and the result thereof shall be recorded in the minutes.

35. Whenever a division shall be demanded by any Councillor the Clerk shall call the name of each of the Councillors, and each Councillor shall answer “Aye” or “No” according as he intends to vote, and the Clerk shall record the vote of each Councillor, and the result shall be declared by the Chairman.

36. Minutes shall be kept of the names of the Councillors present at all meetings of committees, and of the reports and resolutions of such committees, and shall be entered in the Committees’ Minute-book, and the minutes of every meeting of any committee shall be signed by the Chairman thereof and presented to the Council at the next meeting, and the Clerk shall, when practicable, attend all meetings of committees.

37. The Clerk shall convene every committee within ten days of the first appointment, or at any time thereafter by order of the Council, or on written order of the chairman or any two members of the committee.

38. It shall be incumbent on every Councillor presenting a petition to acquaint himself with the contents thereof, and to ascertain that it does not contain language disrespectful to the Council, and that the contents do not violate any of the provisions of any by-law.

39. Every Councillor presenting a petition to the Council shall sign his name thereon.

40. Every Councillor presenting a petition to the Council shall confine himself to a statement of the persons from whom it comes, the number of signatures attached to it, and the material allegations contained in it, and to the reading thereof.

41. No appointment to any permanent office at the disposal of the Council shall take place until seven clear days’ public notice shall have been given inviting applications from qualified candidates for the same.

42. The salary or allowance attached to any office or place at the disposal of the Council to which any new appointment is about to be made shall in all cases be fixed before making such appointment, and shall be specified in the public notice inviting applications for such office or place.

43. No Councillor or officer of the Council shall be received as a surety for any officer appointed by the Council, or for any work to be done by the Council.

44. The hours during which the Clerk’s office shall be kept open for the transaction of business shall be from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on all week-days except Saturdays and public holidays. On Saturdays the office hours shall be from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Clerk or his assistant shall attend at the said office at all times during office hours.

45. The common seal of the Council shall not be affixed to any document except in the presence of the Chairman and Clerk, or of the Clerk and two Councillors specially authorised by resolution of the Council for that purpose.