Section 151: Committee on Standing Rules and Orders

(1) Parliament must appoint a committee to be known as the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders for the purpose of—

    (a) supervising the administration of Parliament;

    (b) formulating Standing Orders;

    (c) considering and deciding all matters concerning Parliament; and

    (d) exercising any other functions that may be conferred or imposed on the committee by

this Constitution or by Standing Orders or any other law.

(2) The Committee on Standing Rules and Orders must consist of the Speaker and the President of the Senate and the following Members of Parliament—

    (a) the Deputy Speaker;

    (b) the Deputy President of the Senate;

    (c) the Minister responsible for finance and two other Ministers appointed by the

President;

    (d) the Leader of Government Business in each House;

    (e) the Leader of the Opposition in each House;

    (f) the chief whips of all the political parties represented in each House;

    (g) the President of the National Council of Chiefs;

    (h) two Members who are not Ministers or Deputy Ministers, one being a Senator

appointed to the committee by the President of the Senate and one being a Member of

the National Assembly appointed by the Speaker; and

          (i) eight Members who are not Ministers or Deputy Ministers, four being elected to the

committee by the Senate and four being elected by the National Assembly.

(3) Members must be appointed or elected to the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders as soon as possible after the beginning of the first session of each Parliament, and they must be selected so that the committee reflects as nearly as possible the political and gender composition of the combined Houses of Parliament.

(4) The Committee on Standing Rules and Orders is appointed for the life of each Parliament.

(5) The Committee on Standing Rules and Orders is chaired by the Speaker or, in his or her absence, by the President of the Senate.

(6) The procedure to be followed by the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders must be prescribed in Standing Orders.

(7) Whenever a vacancy occurs in the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders a Member must be elected or appointed, as the case may be, as soon as possible to fill the vacancy.