An Act of Parliament passed this morning has legislated for Parliament to henceforth meet in four formally scheduled sessions throughout the year, interspersed with recesses.
Prior to this, Parliament was in effect constantly “in session”.
Representatives live around the world, and so meet online in a private channel on the messaging software Discord, having previously used Skype.
When an issue of legislative business arises, they are sent an alert by the Speaker. This means that those who are able to more frequently check their social media are more likely to respond to legislation first.
The Act passed today means that in the future, Representatives will be made aware weeks in advance of a time and date to meet online. It is hoped that this will improve the ability of as many Representatives as possible to attend parliamentary discussions and votes.
The introduction of formal parliamentary recesses in between sessions is also hoped to allay fears that Parliament could be accused of being “inactive”.
Recent years have seen Acts being passed less frequently. Although it has been argued that this is natural now that a solid foundation of civil, criminal, and administrative law has been set for the Empire, there has remained a certain pressure for the legislature to be seen to be “doing something”, pressure that official recesses will relieve.
There will be four annual parliamentary sessions interspersed with four recesses: the New Year Session followed by the Easter Recess, the Summer Session followed by the Summer Recess, the Autumn Session followed by the Autumn Recess, and the Advent Session followed by the Christmas Recess.
The exact start date of each session and recess is at the discretion of the Speaker, albeit bound by parameters laid down by today’s Act of Parliament.
The Monarch, Prime Minister, or Speaker will still be able to call Representatives to meet during a recess for an emergency or extraordinary meeting if necessary.