Day 1
Bill Seeks to Simplify General Synod Bills Process
A Bill which aims to make the bills process at Synod easier to understand was proposed at General Synod today (Friday May 10).
A Bill which aims to make the bills process at Synod easier to understand was proposed at General Synod today (Friday May 10).
Bill No 7 paves the way for Synod to consider changes to the terminology relating to the bills process in the Standing Orders, making the bills process easier to understand and thus encouraging greater participation of members.
This will be proposed in a motion as changes to Standing Orders are not done by Bill but by Motion. A Motion from Standing Committee will be considered later in Synod.
Proposing the Bill, Ken Gibson noted that the bills process had served General Synod very well for many years, probably since Disestablishment, in that it followed well defined stages. He emphasised that the Bill did not propose to change the principles of the process but was about making a minor change to the Constitution to allow Synod to consider a later motion to change the terminology used in the Standing Orders either now or in the future.
The Bill seeks to remove five words in Section 25 of Chapter I, Part 11: “having been read three times” and replace them with “passed in accordance with the Standing Orders”.
Speaking to the Bill, Gillian Purser (Cashel, Ferns and Ossory) suggested that it was time for someone to look at the language used in the Constitution to make it understandable to people without a legal background.
The Bill passed its first and second stages and it will receive its third reading on Tuesday May 14 online.