Apart from the fact that the Manx Parliament, Tynwald, is the oldest continuous parliament in the world, it also has the distinction of being the only one which has three parts (i.e. it is tricameral): firstly, the House of Keys, second the Legislative Council and thirdly, the two chambers sitting together as Tynwald Court.

Tynwald Court

Tynwald Court normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month and consists of the members of the House of Keys and Legislative Council sitting together.  Meetings can last for up to three days and normally begin at 10.30am.  The main purposes of Tynwald Court are to debate policy issues, including the Chief Minister's annual Policy Document, to approve all taxation and government spending and deal with secondary legislation.  Secondary legislation refers to rules, orders and regulations made within the scope of existing law and it is often referred to as Delegated Legislation.  The sessions of Tynwald Court are presided over by the President of Tynwald, who is elected for a five-year term by the Members.  The current President is The Hon Noel Cringle, who succeeded Sir Charles Kerruish when Sir Charles retired in 2000. Sir Charles was the first President of Tynwald.  Prior to his election to this post in 1990, Tynwald was presided over by the Lieutenant Governor, who is the Queen's representative in the Island.

The Midsummer Court

Once a year, on July 5th or the weekday closest to it if the 5th falls over a weekend, Tynwald meets in the open air at St John's.  This Midsummer sitting on July 5th is on midsummer day according to the Julian calendar, which was replaced throughout Europe in the 18th Century, but retained for certain limited purposes in the Isle of Man including the midsummer sitting of Tynwald.  The sitting is more than a mere ceremony - though there is much ceremonial - since it is and always has been a legal requirement upon which validity of legislation enacted by Tynwald depends that it be proclaimed to the people on this occasion.  It is also the occasion on which the ancient right to petition Tynwald with individual grievances is exercised, and each year several such petitions are made and, if considered justified, investigated by a select committee of Tynwald.

The day, known as Tynwald Day, begins with the Court assembling for worship in the Royal Chapel at St John's, after which there is a procession to Tynwald Hill.  Tynwald Hill is known to be one of the ancient sites of open-air parliamentary meetings.  Anciently, the sitting of Tynwald was presided over by the Lord of Mann; since 1765 when the Lordship was vested in the English Crown, the Lieutenant Governor, unless a member of the Royal family is present.  During the open air sitting the Coroners are sworn in and all Acts of Tynwald, which have had Royal Assent are promulgated in both Manx and English by the two Deemsters (the High Court judges). Full details of the work of Tynwald Court and the events of Tynwald Day may be found in the linked web site for Tynwald Court.

Parliament & Government

One function of any parliament is to scrutinise the work of Government (the Executive) and Tynwald is no exception.  The scrutiny of government is part of the concept of Representative and Responsible government. In liberal democracies, governments are chosen by the people and answerable to them for their actions.  However elections occur only infrequently and therefore responsibility is maintained by the executive being answerable to the parliament for its actions between elections.

All three branches have various devices, which can be used to achieve this goal. Some of these mechanisms apply to all three and some are specific to individual chambers.  However the environment within which this scrutiny operates is very different from that of many other parliaments and assemblies in the British Isles, since unlike the U.K., Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man does not have a party system: there is no system of Government and Opposition and no whip system.  In many ways, this is very helpful since it means that Members approach issues on their merit rather than having to follow a 'party line.'  It is also helpful because the Government does not have an in-built majority to force its measures through.

The nine Ministers that make up the Council of Ministers are bound by a modified form of the convention of collective responsibility, but they are the only ones to which it applies. Departmental Members, who are appointed by the Chief Minister from the membership of Tynwald, to assist Ministers, are not subject to the convention and are not junior ministers.  Their only authority is that which a particular Minister delegates to a particular Member.

Question Time

A common element of scrutiny used in all three branches of Tynwald is Question Time.  The main business in the Keys and Tynwald Court always begins with Questions, and sometimes the Legislative Council has Questions on its agenda too.  There are two types of Question, those for oral answer in the particular chamber and those for written answer.  The importance of both Tynwald and Keys Questions is now recognised by the media, with Manx Radio broadcasting them live each week.

Oral Questions in Tynwald Court normally occupy the chamber until 1pm on the first day of its sitting each month.  Members can table questions to ministers on almost anything concerned with the work of their department.  Questions have to be tabled at least seven days in advance of the sitting, to allow the relevant Department to research the answer for their Minister.  Tynwald Court's Standing Orders (Standing Order 3.4) contain precise rules for framing questions.  For example a Question may not be asked on a matter which is before the courts of law or about more than one subject.  The Questions are then printed in a Question Paper which follows the Order Paper for each sitting.

When the Question is asked the President calls upon the Member who tabled it to ask his or her Question and the Member stands and says "I Beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name."  When the Minister has answered the Question, the President will normally allow one or more supplementary questions to be asked.  It is these which Members often seek to use to scrutinise the Government, and Ministers need to try to predict what the likely content of the supplementary may be so they are prepared to answer it.  Unlike procedure in the House of Commons, however, supplementary questions may only be asked within the scope of the original Question.  The popularity of Question Time as a means of seeking to scrutinise the work of Government is increasing amongst Members and the ability to ask such Questions is an important aid to effective scrutiny of government.

The House of Keys also has a Question Time at the commencement of business.  Keys Questions are a relatively new development, originally being introduced to allow Members to table Questions on important issues between the monthly sittings of Tynwald Court.  Like Tynwald Court, the House of Keys has its own set of Standing Orders and these govern the framing and asking of Questions.  Rules governing the framing of Questions in the Keys are broadly similar to those for Tynwald Court.  Keys Questions are also increasingly used by Members and there are occasions when the Keys Standing Orders are suspended to enable Questions not reached by 11am (the official cut off point for Question Time under Standing Orders) to be answered.  If any Question is not answered, the Member must receive a written reply from the Minister within 48 hours.  A similar practice operates in Tynwald Court for Questions not answered by the official cut off time of 1pm.

Sessions of the Legislative Council may also have Questions, but there are fewer here, since normally few Members of the Council are also Ministers, and therefore the effectiveness of Questioning may be less as it will be answered by a Member who may not have responsibility in the Department concerned.

While Question Time is one common means of scrutiny of government between all three branches, another is debate.  Debate may be used as a means of scrutiny in several ways.  Firstly, Members may table Motions for debate that may call upon the government to do something or to cease from doing something.  For example, a recent motion before Tynwald from a Member called upon the Government to take more responsibility for financing of the Island's Hyperbaric Medical Chamber, while another called upon the Government to implement some form of residence control in the Island.  The length of these debates is unpredictable, with any Member who wishes to do so being permitted to speak and there being no 'guillotine' on the length of debates.

Second, in Tynwald debates occur on government policy and finance.  The Chief Minister produces an annual Policy Document, which is debated at the October sitting.  Members have a chance to speak their mind on the direction in which policy is going and they must approve the Policy Document in a vote. Whilst it is unlikely that Members will reject it outright given the strong tradition of consensus government in the Island and that it will therefore have been prepared with that in mind, serious scrutiny of Government through this debate nevertheless does take place.

The annual Budget, setting out the Government's taxation and expenditure plans for the forthcoming financial year, is also subject to Tynwald debate.  As in the U.K., the Manx Treasury Minister presents the Budget to the Court and a debate then follows.  The Court may approve or defeat the various financial Motions which are based upon the Budget, and the opportunity to debate the Budget and the financial motions associated with it give Members a chance to air their feelings, suggest alternatives for the future and influence the Government's policy.

Debate also takes place at each sitting of Tynwald Court when there will be various Government Motions for consideration.  Many of these Motions are relate to Orders made as delegated legislation.  In some cases Orders are subject to an affirmative resolution, meaning that Tynwald must vote explicitly to bring an Order into effect; in other cases, an Order may be subject to a negative resolution, meaning that it will not have effect if a Member of Tynwald successfully moves the Court against it.  The likelihood of orders and regulations being challenged successfully is markedly higher in the Manx Parliament than it is, for example, in the House of Commons.

Scrutiny of Legislation

In the U.K., party discipline means that effective scrutiny of government legislation through parliamentary debate on Bills is in reality very limited.  However, in the Isle of Man, without a party system, there is real opportunity for Members of the Keys to scrutinise and amend the legislative proposals, which are put before it by the Government.  The first opportunity occurs at the Second Reading stage of a Bill.  At this stage, the Keys discusses the principle that lies behind the proposal and a vote is taken on whether to proceed.  Given the lack of a built-in government majority, the approval of the Keys is not always forthcoming.  While many Government Bills do receive a Second Reading, some do not.

Once a Bill has passed its Second Reading, Members have a further opportunity for scrutiny and amendment at the Clauses Stage.  The Clauses Stage provides for in-depth analysis of the proposals in the Bill.  It is usually taken by the whole House but sometimes, if a Bill is particularly complex, it may be taken by a committee of the House, which will report back.  At this stage Members frequently propose amendments.  Subject to the constraint of having to remain within the scope of the Bill's long title, amendments may be to make the Bill a more workable piece of legislation, or to extend the Bill beyond that which the Government originally intended, or to change the original intention behind the Bill.  Amendments can be the subject of vigorous debate and some of them succeed while others do not.  However the fact that such an opportunity exists and can succeed provides the Keys with a valuable means of scrutiny.

Having passed through the Keys, Bills are then considered by the Legislative Council. Again the Council can and does propose amendments to legislation, but generally amendments proposed in Council are to make the law more effective, rather than to undermine the intention of the Government.  Nevertheless the Council can propose amendments to restrict the intended scope of a Bill, although the Keys have to endorse any amendment made by the Council.  The Council's powers in the event of disagreement with the House of Keys are - if the mechanisms designed to reconcile the two branches' views fail - essentially delaying powers akin to those of the House of Lords in the U.K.

Committees of the Legislature

Another means of parliamentary scrutiny is through the use of committees of the legislature.  Tynwald, like most parliaments, makes use of committees to undertake scrutiny of government and a number of standing and select committees exist.  A standing committee is basically one that exists for the duration of a parliament, namely five years, while a select committee is one established to investigate a specific issue and report on it.  In addition, there are joint committees with Members elected by each branch separately.

One of the most important committees in this regard is the Standing Committee on Expenditure and Public Accounts.  This Committee exists by Standing Orders of Tynwald Court (Standing Order 5.7).  It has six Members who are elected by Tynwald Court after each general election.  To ensure its impartiality no Member of the Council of Ministers is eligible to serve on it and no Member of the Committee is allowed to sit on inquiries into a Department in which they serve as a Departmental Member.

The remit of the Committee on Expenditure and Public Accounts is somewhat wider than that of its U.K. equivalent, the Public Accounts Committee.  Not only does it consider the accounts of Government to ensure that monies have been spent in accordance with Tynwald's authorisation, but it also may consider any papers on public expenditure presented to Tynwald and any of the Departmental Estimates it may chose to look at. Part of this wider remit gives it the ability to report on whether policies which lie behind particular estimates could be achieved in a more economic manner.  To facilitate its work, the Committee often establishes sub-committees to undertake particular investigations.  The Committee gained its wider remit as a result of a reform introduced in 1996.

In addition to the Committee on Expenditure and Public Accounts, Tynwald Court has established other committees to undertake specific enquiries into an aspect of the work of Government or issues relating to it.  All committees have the authority summon persons and papers.  Both ministers and civil servants regularly appear before them to give evidence.  Quite obviously such proceedings ensure that government is kept under scrutiny, and the outcome of committee reports may be that government would adapt its policies in the light of committee criticism or recommendation.  The Keys and Legislative Council may also set up Committees of Inquiry which may be used to scrutinise the work of Government, or seek to improve it.

A final means of scrutiny takes place in the Legislative Council, which considers summaries of proceedings within the Council of Ministers; normally the Council does so about once a month.  Because of the confidential nature of the proceedings within the Council of Ministers, the Legislative Council considers them in private session.  This too can prove a useful exercise, since it gives the Members some idea what the Council of Ministers is considering and how it might go about achieving its aims.  This can be useful in preparing for future Tynwald Court debates on items of Government policy.

Acknowledgement: Clerk of Tynwald