Let it be enacted by the Estates-General assembled, and by the grace of His Majesty the Emperor, and by the authority of both:

An act to establish the governing and operating rules of the Estates-General of the Empire of the Alexandrians:

1 Title --- (1) This act shall be cited as the Standing Orders Act.

2 Speaker --- (1) The Speaker of the Estates-General shall be a member of the Estates-General elected by the same.

(2) The Speaker shall be responsible for conducting the business of the Estates-General and to keep order therein, pursuant to this Act.

(3) The Speaker shall serve in that office until the session of the Estates-General is dissolved, or until resignation.

(4) The Speaker shall appoint, and upon the confirmation of the Estates-General assembled, a deputy for the purpose of assuming the duties of the Speaker should he or she be absent with out declared Leave of Absence for five (5) days, or to assume the duties of the Speaker during his or her declared Leave of Absence, or to assume the duties of the Speaker for the remainder of the session upon the resignation of the Speaker.

(5) The Speaker of the Estates-General will submit a weekly report on the actions of the Estates-General to the Emperor.

3 Decisions, Motions --- (1) A decision of the Estates-General shall be made by a motion.

(2) Motions are moved, firstly, by a member of the Estates. When a motion has been put, the motion shall require a seconding member of the Estates-General.

(3) Whenever a motion has been seconded, the Speaker shall then ask the Estates-General to divide on the motion.

(4) Motions shall adopt resolutions, move a Bill of Law to the next stage through the Process of Law, to amend existing legislation or to affect debate.

4 Legislative Process --- (1) Bills of Law submitted by a member of the Estates-General shall be submitted to the office of the Speaker.

(2) Members authoring or sponsoring Bills of Law shall have their names printed at the beginning of the Bill of Law, stating that the bill of law is submitted for the members authoring and or sponsoring.

(3) Once the Speaker has acknowledged a submitted bill, he or she then must submit it to the members in the Estates-General Chamber for the first reading.

(4) A member may put a motion to move a Bill from its first reading to its second reading.

(5) The second reading shall allow members of the Estates-General to discuss the provisions of a Bill of Law. There shall be a passing of a minimum of 72 hours before a member can put a motion to move a Bill of Law to the third reading.

(6) Upon entering the third reading, the Speaker shall put the Bill of Law to the Question before the Estates-General, upon which question the members shall divide.

(7) During the division, the members, inclusive of the Speaker, shall cast votes in favour of or in favour against a Bill of Law.

(8) A member can express a vote in regarding a Bill of Law, or motion, by declaring “Oui”. A member wishing to express a vote in favour against a Bill of Law, or a motion, may do so by declaring “Non”. A member wishing to abstain from the division, may declare “abstain”.

(9) There shall be a passing of a minimum of 48 hours before the Speaker shall be able to conclude a division and certify the results of the same.

(10) A Bill of Law that shall obtain a minimum of 51% of the favour of the Estates-General upon the conclusion of the division shall be sent to the Emperor for his due constitutional consideration.

5 Motions Affecting the Second Reading and Debate --- (1) A motion to Amend the Question, in order to be a valid amendment, shall clarify, add to, or revise the question. Amendments that would make the amended question the opposite of the original bill shall be deemed to be out of order. If the sponsor or author of a Bill of Law accepts an amendment as friendly, neither seconds nor debate are required.

(2) A motion to Extend or Limit the Second Reading or the Debate of a Motion must be made in a minimum of 12 hours before the announced closure of the debate or the Second Reading. This motion requires two seconds to be considered, and shall be debatable upon appeal to the Speaker in his or her office.

(3) A motion to call the question shall halt all debate upon a Bill of Law or which shall cause an immediate Question to be put. In order to consider the motion, a minimum of two seconds is required, and a 2/3 majority is required to pass.

(4) Motions to Postpone shall only be used for an instance where more information is required to properly address the issue. When making such motion, a timeframe for reconsideration must be offered. No motions to postpone indefinitely shall be acknowledged. A Motion to Postpone shall require two seconding members, and a simple majority of the Estates-General for passage.

(5) Motions to Table a question shall be used to set aside a certain Question or Motion. When a motion is tabled, it shall be reconsidered by a simple majority vote of the Estates-General. A Motion to Table shall require two seconds for consideration, and a 2/3 majority for passage. Due to the nature of this motion, the Speaker shall have some discretion in determining if the motion serves a legitimate purpose.

6 Address of Members of the Estates-General --- (1) When making statements in the Estates-General, members shall address the Speaker as “Mr. Speaker” or “Madame Speaker” or the equivalents of such which shall be in the French Language.

(2) Members shall mention other members and guests of the Estates-General as “Mr” or “Ms”, as appropriate, or using the equivalents of such that shall be in the French Language.

7 Order and Penalty --- (1) The Speaker shall observe the conduct of the Members and if a member shall conduct themselves out of order according to all of, or either, the Law, the Constitution or the Governing Rules the Speaker shall remind the member that they are out of order.

(2) Upon the notice to a member that he or she is out of order, the member shall withdraw the violative action. Failure to do so shall justify the Speaker to take penal action against the member.

(3) A suspension of a member by the Speaker for failure to withdraw shall be a maximum of 168 hours or 7 days. Minimum penalty shall be a written warning, in person, to the member.

8 Resolutions --- (1) Resolutions shall be adopted by a motion..

(2) Resolutions must have findings and reasons, the language for the reasoning and findings starting with, for every clause, "WHEREAS, ...".

(3) Resolutions must also state, after the reasoning and findings, what is being resolved; the language for the resolutions being, "LET IT BE RESOLVED:" and for every consequent clause thereafter, "THAT ...".

9 Authority of Motions, Resolutions --- (1) All Motions and Resolutions, until overturned by a motion, shall have binding authority on all members of the Estates-General.

(2) The Speaker, through Section 8, shall be empowered to enforce measures passed by the Estates-General.

10 Roll Call, Leave of Absence --- (1) The Speaker shall initiate a roll call at the end of each Estates-General week.

(2) Members who do not respond to the Roll Call shall be deemed absent.

(3) The Roll Call shall determine the acceptable quorum of the Estates-General.

(3) Members who are absent, caused by (10.2) shall declare their presence to the Speaker in his or her office upon realizing that they have not responded to the recent roll call.

(4) Members taking Leave must notify the Speaker within all practical time, including a reference to the approximate date and time that the member may be deemed present again.

11 Authority of the Act --- (1) This act shall come into effect immediately upon assent of the Emperor.