Prorogation of the National Assembly is the legal act that closes a session. When the Assembly is prorogued upon formal ending of a session, the Secretary is required to publish a notification in the Gazette. Prorogation is distinct from adjournment, which ends a sitting. All pending notices by the members for an agenda item that have not been moved lapse on prorogation.
Read more on how sitting is different from a session
Why it matters for the National Assembly proceedings?
The Gazette notification of prorogation creates a legal record of parliamentary time — specifically, when the National Assembly stopped sitting and when the 120-day intersession clock began. It also creates a legal boundary for which notices and motions were live during a session.
What is in it for citizens?
When a session is prorogued, citizens following specific issues – initiated by their representatives that remained unmoved – need to know those matters may have lapsed. The prorogation Gazette notification is the moment to assess what the House accomplished during the session that has closed.
Source: Rule 4, Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007
The proceedings of 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 20 times.
This post is part of FAFEN’s series on parliamentary literacy. Read more of this series here.
