Upon introduction, every bill automatically stands referred to the relevant Standing Committee for review and recommendations. However, the mover of the bill may put a motion before the House that this requirement be dispensed with. If the Assembly allows so, the bill proceeds directly without the committee report. The Finance Bill must have its committee report tabled in the House within 15 days of the bill’s introduction.
Why it matters for the National Assembly proceedings?
The automatic committee referral is designed to ensure that legislation receives expert scrutiny before the full Assembly debates it. Standing Committees can hear witnesses, examine technical details, and propose amendments. However, it is not binding upon the plenary to adopt those recommendations. The dispensation mechanism to bypass the committee review is intended for urgent bills but has sometimes been used to rush legislation with minimal scrutiny.
What is in it for citizens?
When a bill is ‘passed without committee review’, citizens should understand this is a departure from the default rule. The reasons given for dispensing with committee referral should therefore be scrutinised closely. FAFEN tracks how often bills bypass committee scrutiny and in which sessions in its parliamentary observation reports.
Source: Rule 122, Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007
The proceedings of the National Assembly are governed by the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007. The current rules were passed on 23 February 2007 and have since been amended 21 times, most recently on 22 October 2024.
This post is part of FAFEN’s series on parliamentary literacy. Read more of this series here.
