Sessions and meetings of Parliament

Session

The Life of Parliament is the 5 year period between General Elections. Within the life of a Parliament, each of these years is called a Session. A session commences every November and ends when Parliament is prorogued.

 Meeting

Normally there are three Meetings in a Session.

  • The first is the November/December Meeting which is the Official Opening of Parliament that starts with the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency the President.
  • The second Meeting is the Budget Meeting that runs from February to April. The Budget Meeting starts with the Budget Speech presented by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development.
  • The third is the Winter Meeting which runs from July to August. The focus of this meeting is to consider Bills and Committee Reports.

 Sittings of the House

A sitting is the day to day convening of the House.

During a Meeting the House sits from:

  • Monday to Thursday from 1400 hrs to 1800 hrs 
  • Fridays from 0900 hrs to 1230 hrs 

except where a motion has been moved to exempt the days’ sitting from the provision of the Standing Orders.

Mondays to Thursdays are designated for Government Business, but private Members’ Bills shall have priority on Thursdays, while on Fridays Private Members Business is given priority over Government Business.