Who invented parliamentary procedure

The proceedings of the House of Commons are regulated by a vast body of parliamentary rules and practices—practice being that part of procedure which developed spontaneously and became regarded as the usual or regular way of proceeding, though not written into the rules the Standing Orders.

Parliamentary Business Parliamentary Business - Home. The House. Procedural Reference Material Library of Parliament. Parliamentary Diplomacy. Members - Home. Members and Roles. Related Information.

Participate - Home. In the 95th Congress the House formally established an Office of the Parliamentarian to be managed by a nonpartisan Parliamentarian appointed by the Speaker 2 U. The compilation and distribution of the precedents of the House are authorized by law 2 U. The current Parliamentarian is Jason Smith. He succeeds Thomas J. Wickham Jr. Sullivan , Charles W. The parliamentary law of the House of Representatives emanates from the Constitution, specifically article I, section 5.

These rules include not only the standing rules adopted from Congress to Congress but also Jefferson's Manual. They also include rules enacted as law and special rules adopted from time to time. On this foundation rests a body of precedent established by decisions of presiding officers on actual parliamentary questions or by long custom and tradition. The Parliamentarian is appointed by the Speaker without regard to political affiliation.

The Office of the Parliamentarian, and its subsidiary Office of Compilation of Precedents, comprise lawyers and clerks who provide nonpartisan assistance on legislative and parliamentary procedure to the Speaker, presiding officers, and the House. The overarching role of the Office of the Parliamentarian is to strive for consistency in parliamentary analysis by attempting to apply pertinent precedent to each procedural question.

In resolving questions of order, the Speaker and other presiding officers of the House adhere to the jurisprudential principle of stare decisis —a commitment to stand by earlier decisions. Henry Martyn Robert was an engineering officer in the regular Army. Without warning he was asked to preside over a public meeting being held in a church in his community and realized that he did not know how.

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