Recall of Parliament

A recall of Parliament is a parliamentary procedure involving an extraordinary sitting of a parliament, occurring outside the time when that parliament would usually meet, such as over a weekend, or when the parliament would normally be in recess. A parliament is generally recalled as a result of events of major national importance, thus allowing members to hold an emergency debate on issues relating to those events.

In the United Kingdom, decisions as to whether the House of Commons or House of Lords should be recalled are the responsibility of the Speakers of those individual bodies, and are usually taken following a request from the government.[1] This follows a 2001 recommendation from the Hansard Society Commission on Parliamentary Scrutiny that "the Speaker of the Commons should have the ability to recall Parliament at times of emergency".[2]

Examples

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, Parliament has been recalled on the following occasions:

• 27–29 September 1949: To discuss the devaluation of the pound sterling.[3]
• 12 and 19 September 1950: To discuss the Korean War.[2][3]
• 4 October 1951: 1951 general election—prorogation, followed by dissolution.[2][3]
• 12–14 September 1956: To discuss the Suez Crisis and events in Cyprus.[2][3]
• 18 September 1959: 1959 general election—prorogation, followed by dissolution.[2][3]
• 17 and 23 October 1961: To debate the Berlin Crisis.[2][3]
• 16 January 1968: To debate government expenditure cuts.[2][3]
• 26–27 August 1968: To debate events in Czechoslovakia and Nigeria.[2][3]
• 26–29 May 1970: 1970 general election—prorogation, followed by dissolution.[2][3]
• 22–23 September 1971: To discuss The Troubles.[2][3]
• 9–10 January 1974: To discuss the impact of the 1973 oil crisis.[2][3]
• 3–4 June 1974: To discuss The Troubles.[2][3]
• 2 and 14 April 1982: To discuss the Falklands crisis.[2][3]
• 6–7 September 1990: To discuss Britain's response to Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait.[2][3]
• 24–25 September 1992: To discuss the government's economic policy following Black Wednesday, and the United Nations response to events in Yugoslavia, Iraq and Somalia.[2][3]
• 31 May 1995: To discuss the Bosnian War.[2][3]
• 2–3 September 1998: To debate the Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy) Bill following the Omagh bombing.[2][3][4]
• 14 September 2001: To discuss the September 11 attacks in the United States.[2][3]
• 4 and 8 October 2001: To discuss the War on Terror.[2][3]
• 3 April 2002: To allow MPs to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother following her death.[5]
• 24 September 2002: To debate the situation in Iraq following the publication of the September Dossier on weapons of mass destruction.[2][3][6]
• 20 July 2011: For a statement on public confidence in the media and police in the wake of the News International phone hacking scandal.[2][3][6]
• 11 August 2011: To debate public disorder following the 2011 England riots.[7]
• 10 April 2013: To allow MPs to pay tribute to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher following her death.[8]
• 29 August 2013: To discuss the Syrian Civil War, and the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government.[9]
• 26 September 2014: To discuss possible military intervention against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.[10]
• 20 June 2016: To allow MPs to pay tribute to Labour MP Jo Cox, who was killed in a violent attack a few days earlier.[11]
• 25 September 2019: Following the outcome of R (Miller) v The Prime Minister and Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland the previous day, which had ruled the prorogation of parliament earlier that month was "unlawful, void and to no effect" and that MPs and peers should be free to resume sitting immediately.[12] However, Speaker of the House John Bercow did not consider this to be a recall of parliament since the prorogation had been ruled unlawful.[13]
• 19 October 2019: A special Saturday sitting of Parliament to debate the revised European Union withdrawal agreement.[14][15]

References

1. "Recall of Parliament - UK Parliament". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
2. Williamson, David (1 April 2016). "Here's when Parliament has been recalled - should MPs be back to debate steel?". The Western Mail. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
3. "Recall of Parliament - UK Parliament". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
4. "Commons passes anti-terrorism bill". BBC News. BBC. 3 September 1998. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
5. "Blair leads tributes to Queen Mother". BBC News. BBC. 4 April 2002. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
6. Lowther, Ed (9 August 2011). "Timeline: When Parliament has been recalled". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
7. Smith, Norman (9 August 2011). "London riots: Parliament to be recalled". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
8. Freedland, Jonathan (10 April 2013). "Margaret Thatcher: parliament recall sets John Bercow and No 10 at odds". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
9. Watt, Nicholas; Mason, Rowena (27 August 2013). "David Cameron recalls parliament over Syria crisis". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
10. "Parliament Recalled to Take UK to War Against Isis in Iraq". International Business Times. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
11. "Parliament to be recalled in sign of respect to murdered MP Jo Cox". 17 June 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
12. "Supreme Court rules Boris Johnson's suspension of Parliament 'unlawful, void and to no effect'". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
13. Honeycombe-Foster, Matt (24 September 2019). "John Bercow orders Commons to reopen after Supreme Court rules Boris Johnson's shutdown 'unlawful'". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 25 September 2019. "In the light of that explicit judgment I have instructed the House authorities to prepare not for the recall - the prorogation was unlawful and is void - but to prepare for the resumption of the business of the House of Commons.
14. "Brexit: Special sitting for MPs to decide UK's future". BBC News. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
15. Murphy, Simon (9 October 2019). "Parliament set for Brexit showdown on 19 October". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2019.