The purpose of this Act is to provide for Parliament to meet at set times and dates so as to improve attendance and dispel expectations of constant legislative activity.
For the purposes of this same Act, the “Speaker” refers solely to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The official meeting place of Parliament is Parliament Hall. Should the Monarch, Prime Minister, and Representatives be unable to meet in Parliament Hall for all or part of a parliamentary session, the Speaker shall arrange an online venue for all members of Parliament to take part in the session.
Parliament shall meet at set times throughout the year, to be known as parliamentary sessions, and interspersed with parliamentary recesses, the exact dates of which shall be at the discretion of the Speaker within the parameters set out by Paragraph 5 of this same Act. Unless a parliamentary session will otherwise run into time allotted for the recess, the Speaker shall not end a session while there is still parliamentary business to be conducted.
Parliamentary sessions shall be as follows:
The New Year Session shall be called on or after the second Monday in January, and shall end on or before the Friday before Western Palm Sunday for the Easter Recess.
The Summer Session shall be called on or after the second Monday after Orthodox Easter, and shall end on or before the final Friday in July for the Summer Recess.
The Autumn Session shall be called on or after the second Monday in September, and shall end on or before the twelfth of October for the Autumn Recess.
The Advent Session shall be called on or after the fifteenth day of November, and shall end on or before the twenty third day of December for the Christmas Recess.
A parliamentary session shall not be called to open on a national holiday unless the reasons for doing so are of unavoidable urgency.
Prior to or during each parliamentary session, business to be put before Parliament shall be submitted to the Speaker, who shall arrange for the agenda of each session.
The standing Committees of the House remain in session during a parliamentary recess.
In an emergency, notwithstanding Paragraphs 4-5 of this same Act, the Monarch, Prime Minister, or Speaker can call an extraordinary meeting of Parliament. Likewise, should it be unreasonable for business to be put before the House of Representatives to wait until the next parliamentary session, the Speaker can call an extraordinary meeting of Parliament.
The provisions of this same Act will enter into force on 21 March 2024, upon which the Easter Recess for said year shall immediately and automatically begin. The Summer Session shall then begin at the direction of the Speaker in accordance with Paragraph 5, Subsection B of this same Act.