Chapter
2 - Parliamentary Privilege: immunities and powers of the Senate
Circulation of
petitions
Section 16 of the
Act explicitly declares that the submission of a document to a House or a
committee is part of proceedings in Parliament. In 1988 the Committee of
Privileges considered the question of whether the circulation of a petition
before its presentation to the Senate falls within the definition of
proceedings in Parliament. The committee concluded that it did not. An
influential factor in this conclusion was the fact that it is open to any
petitioner to present a petition signed only by the petitioner, and the
circulation of a petition is not essential for its presentation (11th
report, PP 46/1988).
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