Northern Ireland Assembly Reform Bill

A BILL TO reform some aspects the Northern Ireland Assembly, and to emphasise the importance of integral, existing parts of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act 2016.

BE IT ENACTED by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Section 1: Definitions.

(1) The “Northern Ireland Assembly Act” is defined as the Northern Ireland Assembly Act 2016, which received Royal Assent on the 4th of May, 2016.

(2) A “community” is defined as one of the three groupings of Members of the Legislative Assembly, namely:

(a) Unionist,

(b) Nationalist,

(c) or Other.

(3) The “Petition of Concern” is defined as the petition used by the communities of Northern Ireland to block legislation, as laid out in Section 5 of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act 2017.

Section 2: Repeals.

(1) Section 9, subsection (5) of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act shall be repealed.

Section 3: Petition of Concern.

(1) Section 5 of the Northern Ireland Assembly shall be amended as follows:-

(a) If a bill or motion is passed in the Northern Ireland Assembly which falls under the following topics:

(i) culture,

(ii) language,

(iii) heritage,

(iv) the constitution,

(v) the Northern Ireland Assembly,

(vi) the communities,

(vii) or other sensitive topics;

(b) and if two thirds of any single community sign a petition, which is then sent to the Speaker of the Assembly within five days of the bill or motion passing, and if the single community holds at least one third of the seats in the Assembly, then:

(i) There shall be a three-day period, commencing immediately after the petition has been submitted to the Speakership, during which any member of a different community may challenge the petition on the grounds that the bill or motion does not fall under any of the topics listed.

1) When a petition is challenged, the Speakership shall determine if the bill or motion falls under one or more of the topics listed.

a) If the Speakership determines the bill or motion to not fall under any topic listed, the bill or motion shall be passed on for Royal Assent.

b) If the Speakership determines the bill or motion to fall under one or more of the topics listed, the bill or motion shall be rejected immediately, and the petition shall be deemed “accepted.”

2) If, after the three-day period defined in subsection (i), there has been no challenge to the petition, the bill or motion shall be rejected.

(c) A motion for a Border Poll shall not be subject to a Petition of Concern.

(d) Amendments to bills shall not be subject to a Petition of Concern.

(e) Prior to the end of the five-day petitioning period, a bill or motion may not be passed on for Royal Assent.

Section 4: Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly

(1) Section 9, subsection (4) of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act shall be amended as follows:-

(a) If the Speaker fails to meet these criteria in their capacity, or if at least one third of the Assembly is of the opinion that the Speaker is unfit to serve as such, the Speaker may be impeached through a Vote of No Confidence.

(2) This section shall be appended to of Section 9 of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act as follows:-

(a) A Vote of No Confidence in the Speaker shall be overseen by the Speaker of the House of Commons, who may delegate this responsibility to a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons or fellow Triumvir.

(3) Section (8), subsections (7) and (8), and Section 9, subsection (1) of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act shall be enforced in their entireties by the Speaker of the Assembly or, if the Speaker is unable to do so, the Speaker of the House of Commons, who may delegate this responsibility to a Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons.

(a) In any case where Section (8), subsections (7) (8), and Section 9, subsection (1) of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act have not been fully enforced at the beginning of the current elected term, they shall be enforced immediately for the current term by the relevant authorities, as per Section (4), subsection (5), without any Votes of No Confidence.

(4) This section shall be appended to Section 9, subsection (6) of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act as follows:-

(a) If the Speaker is unable to vote, they may request the principal Deputy Speaker vote in their proxy.

(5) These sections shall be appended to Section of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act as follows:-

(a) If the Speaker will be unable to fulfil their duties for a certain period of time, the principal Deputy Speaker shall be appointed as the Acting Speaker.

(i) If the period is shorter than four weeks, the Acting Speaker shall be appointed immediately. If the period is longer than four weeks, the Acting Speaker must pass a Vote of Confidence.

(ii) If the Acting Speaker fails their Vote of Confidence, the Speaker may appoint another Acting Speaker from the other Deputy Speakers.

Section 5: Deputy Speakers of the Northern Ireland Assembly

(1) These sections shall be appended to Section 9, subsection (7) of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act as follows:-

(a) The Speaker may appoint a principal Deputy Speaker.

(i) If no principal Deputy Speaker is appointed, the current Deputy Speaker whose Vote of Confidence was first shall be the principal Deputy Speaker.

(ii) The principal Deputy Speaker shall serve as the Acting Speaker if the Speaker is unable to fulfil their duties for a certain period of time.

(iii) The Speaker may delegate any or all of their duties to the principal Deputy Speaker.

(iv) The principal Deputy Speaker may not give orders to other Deputy Speakers, nor are they superior to the other Deputy Speakers.

(2) Section 9, subsection (7) (d) of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act shall be amended as follows:-

(a) If a Deputy Speaker is proven to violate (7) (b) or (7) (c), or is otherwise determined to be unfit to serve by at least one third of the Assembly, they may be impeached through a Vote of No Confidence.

(3) This section shall be appended to Section 9, subsection (7) of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act as follows:-

(a) A Vote of No Confidence in a Deputy Speaker shall be overseen by the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, who may delegate this responsibility to a Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.

Section 6: Seat Count Changes

(1) These sections shall be appended to Section 3 of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act as follows:-

(a) The number of seats to which MLAs may be elected at an upcoming election may be changed during the term immediately preceding the election.

(i) If the Speakership of the Northern Ireland Assembly wishes to change the number of available seats, it must put the matter to a vote, which shall pass with a simple majority.

(ii) No changes may be made within thirty days of the election.

(iii) If no changes are made to the number of seats available, the amount of seats in the immediately preceding term shall be used for the new term.

(iv) No changes made may affect the current term.

Section 7: Other Devolved Assemblies

(1) These sections shall be appended to Section 3 of the Northern Ireland Assembly Act as follows:-

(a) No member of any other devolved assembly - namely the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, and the London Assembly - shall be allowed to run as a candidate in an election to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Section 8: Extent, commencement and short title.

(1) This Act extends to Northern Ireland.

(2) This Act commences immediately upon passing.

(3) This Act may be cited as the Northern Ireland Assembly Reform Act 2017.

This bill was submitted by the Rt Hon. Baron of Glastonbury on behalf of the Ulster Unionist Party.

This reading will end on 13 May 2017.