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Management role of the Secretary General
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Overview | Key points | Viewpoint | Papers presented | Comments and questions
Overview
Secretaries General of Parliaments have the dual role of chief procedural adviser and chief executive of parliamentary administration. They play a key role in ensuring the proper and efficient functioning of their parliaments, with broad management responsibilities for parliamentary staff, budgets and assets.
Papers presented at the ASGP meeting held in Santiago Chile in April 2003 explored the management role of the Secretary General and how it operates in different parliaments.
Key points
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Parliament requires sufficient independent financial, human and technical resources to carry out its duties and functions independently of executive government. This flows from the separation of powers principle, under which executive, legislative and judicial power are vested in different organisations to prevent abuse of power.
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Budgets for parliamentary administration may be prepared independently from executive government budgets but in practical terms must be realistic according to the means available to the society and must take into account the political background and the financial and economic imperatives of the state.
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Autonomy over its own property, such as parliamentary buildings, is one aspect of parliamentary independence but autonomy does not mean that parliament is immune from general legal requirements implemented by the executive, such as planning laws.
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The ability of parliaments to employ their own staff and to make arrangements for their own security help to reinforce the autonomy of parliament.
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Parliamentary actions not being subject to court action has been an important element of the principle of the separation of powers.
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Financial limitations in poorer countries make it more difficult in maintaining full parliamentary independence, particularly if the parliament does not have the resources it needs to operate as it would want to and instead must rely on executive government for necessary resources.
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Competitive recruitment processes for parliamentary staff coupled with good salaries help to build a competent parliamentary administration which, in turn, helps to protect the independence of parliament.
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Parliamentary independence is also evident where parliamentary staff and the rules which apply to them and their conduct are separate to the rules applying to civil servants.
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To ensure a competent parliamentary administration, requirements for the employment of parliamentary staff can include higher education, a high level of professionalism and high integrity.
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Secretaries General of Parliaments have a key role advising the Speaker/President and the parliamentary chamber as a whole on procedural matters. To fulfill this advisory role effectively it is important that the role can be performed with independence and integrity. How and for how long the Secretary General is appointed, and the circumstances in which the Secretary General can be dismissed, are important determinants of the independence of the position.
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The background and experience of the Secretary General contributes to his/her authority in performing the role. A background in law, or long experience working in parliament, assists in providing the Secretary General with the required authority.
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The way in which parliamentary rules are expressed impacts on the way in which a Secretary General is able to perform his/her duties. There are laws on parliamentary procedure (often known as Standing Orders). These are supplemented by accepted practice and also by Speaker's/President's rulings. There can also be agreements between political parties represented in assemblies as well as more informal rules of parliamentary behaviour. Monitoring of compliance with the rules is easier for a Secretary General where the rules are expressed in a detailed law of procedure. It is more difficult where rules are subject to interpretation.
Viewpoint
"The parliamentary assemblies are part of the State but the State is not monolithic. It is made up of three powers, executive, legislative and judicial and makes up a trinity which is a complex formulation though classical in the Christian religion. In some ways this is reassuring since legal theory cannot be more complex than theology."
Xavier Roques, France
"A reasonable hypothesis is that if the Secretary General is appointed (elected) by the full house for an indefinite period of time and if he/she can only be dismissed by means of a court procedure, he/she enjoys a highly independent position."
Anders Forsberg , Sweden
Papers presented
The papers and debates on the management role of the Secretary General are reproduced in Constitutional and Parliamentary Information No.185, 2003. Some papers are also available online from the publications page of the ASGP website.
Parliament's independence of the executive in relation to internal management
Xavier Roques, France
The authority of the Secretary General in relation to the Presidency/President
Carlos Hoffmann Contreras, Chile
Role of the Secretary General in control of the compliance with the Constitution and Rules of Procedure
Anders Forsberg , Sweden
See also: The role of the Secretary General in the Administration of Parliament in Constitutional and Parliamentary Information , No 180, 2000
Comments and questions
We welcome comments and questions as a means of continuing discussion on these issues. These should be emailed to the ASGP Joint Secretaries:
Comments and questions, along with responses to questions, will be posted on this site.
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