Sittings, Calendar and Order Paper

This document covers how the system implements Part VI (S.O. 26–40) of the National Assembly Standing Orders (7th Edition) — the calendar, sitting lifecycle, quorum, and the Order Paper.

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1. Key Definitions (S.O. 2)

Term	Standing Order definition	System model
Session	Sittings from first meeting after General Election to adjournment at end of calendar year or end of Parliament term	ParliamentSession record
Sitting	A continuous period in which the House sits without adjournment, including time in Committee	Sitting record
Sitting Day	Any day on which the Assembly sits	Sitting.scheduledStart date
Recess	Period during which the House stands adjourned to a day other than the next normal sitting day	ParliamentSession.status = RECESS
Order Paper	Paper showing business for the day, published and circulated by the Clerk	OrderPaper record linked to a Sitting

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2. Sitting Types (S.O. 27, 29)

The system supports three sitting types set via type on POST /api/v1/sittings:

Type constant	Standing Order	When used
REGULAR	S.O. 27 — regular sessions per the calendar	Standard House sittings per the weekly programme
SPECIAL	S.O. 29 — during recess or when the House stands adjourned	Called by the Speaker; requires gazetteNoticeRef
EMERGENCY	S.O. 29 (by extension)	Urgent extraordinary sittings

S.O. 29 — Gazette Notice Enforcement

The service enforces this at creation time:

SO 29 – SPECIAL sittings must have a gazetteNoticeRef
BadRequestException thrown if type = SPECIAL and gazetteNoticeRef is missing

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3. Sitting Lifecycle

A sitting moves through the following states:

SCHEDULED ──► IN_PROGRESS ──► ADJOURNED ──► IN_PROGRESS (resumed)
     │                │
     ▼                ▼
CANCELLED         COMPLETED

Status	Meaning	Who triggers
SCHEDULED	Sitting created, not yet started	Clerk (sitting:create)
IN_PROGRESS	House called to order	Speaker / Deputy Speaker (sitting:start)
ADJOURNED	House adjourned, can be resumed	Speaker / Deputy Speaker (sitting:adjourn)
COMPLETED	Speaker rose the House — session permanently ended	Speaker / Deputy Speaker (sitting:complete)
CANCELLED	Sitting cancelled before it started	Clerk or Admin (sitting:cancel) — only valid from SCHEDULED

S.O. 31 — Adjournment is the Speaker's prerogative. Only the Speaker (or Deputy Speaker presiding) may adjourn or call the House to order. The system enforces this via sitting:start and sitting:adjourn permissions restricted to speaker and deputy_speaker.

Resuming an Adjourned Sitting

POST /api/v1/sittings/:id/start also accepts ADJOURNED status, enabling the House to resume after a short recess within the same sitting day.

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4. Pre-Sitting Readiness Checklist (S.O. 22, 29, 34, 38, 39)

Before the Speaker calls the House to order, GET /api/v1/sittings/:id/readiness returns a checklist of Standing Order requirements. The response shape:

{
  "ready": true,
  "checks": [
    { "rule": "SO 22 – Notice to Members", "passed": true, "detail": "..." },
    { "rule": "SO 29 – Gazette Notice (SPECIAL sittings)", "passed": true, "detail": "..." },
    { "rule": "SO 38 – Order Paper ≥ 12h before sitting", "passed": true, "detail": "..." },
    { "rule": "SO 38 – Supplementary Order Paper ≥ 1h before sitting", "passed": true, "detail": "..." },
    { "rule": "SO 39 – Weekly Programme", "passed": true, "detail": "..." },
    { "rule": "SO 34 – Quorum configured", "passed": true, "detail": "..." }
  ]
}

Check	Standing Order	What is verified
Notice to Members	S.O. 22	sitting.noticePublishedAt is set
Gazette Notice	S.O. 29	gazetteNoticeRef present (SPECIAL sittings only)
Primary Order Paper ≥ 12 h	S.O. 38	OrderPaper.publicationDate is at least 12 hours before scheduledStart
Supplementary Order Paper ≥ 1 h	S.O. 38	Supplementary paper published ≥ 1 hour before sitting (if present)
Weekly Programme linked	S.O. 39	weeklyProgramme linked and status = PUBLISHED
Quorum configured	S.O. 34	sitting.quorumRequired is set

ready: true only when all checks pass.

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5. Attendance and Quorum (S.O. 34–37)

Check-In / Check-Out

Members self-register via:

• POST /api/v1/sittings/:id/attendance/check-in — records checkedInAt
• POST /api/v1/sittings/:id/attendance/check-out — records checkedOutAt
• GET /api/v1/sittings/:id/attendance — full attendance list

Quorum Check (S.O. 34)

GET /api/v1/sittings/:id/quorum returns:

{ "met": true, "count": 58, "required": 50 }

Quorum is calculated as the number of Members currently checked in (no checkedOutAt). The quorumRequired threshold is stored on the Sitting record.

S.O. 34 — A quorum of the House is fifty Members. S.O. 35 — If a quorum is not present after 30 minutes, the Speaker adjourns the House.

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6. Order Paper (S.O. 38)

Creation and Publishing

Action	Endpoint	Who
Create Order Paper	POST /api/v1/order-papers	Clerk
Publish Order Paper	POST /api/v1/order-papers/:id/publish	Clerk / Speaker

When published, the service checks the lead-time and returns a timingWarning if the 12-hour rule is at risk:

{
  "timingWarning": "Order Paper published only 10h before sitting — SO 38 requires ≥ 12h"
}

Supplementary Order Paper (S.O. 38)

A supplementary Order Paper (isSupplementary: true) must be published at least 1 hour before the sitting. The same endpoint handles both types; the isSupplementary flag controls which timing check applies.

Sequence of Business (S.O. 40)

The Order Paper follows the prescribed sequence. Each Agenda Item has a type aligned to S.O. 40:

Order	AgendaItem.type	S.O. 40
1	OATH	Administration of Oath (S.O. 40(a))
2	COMMUNICATION	Communication from the Chair (S.O. 40(b))
3	MESSAGE	Messages from Senate or President (S.O. 40(c))
4	PETITION	Petitions (S.O. 40(d))
5	PAPER	Papers laid on the Table (S.O. 40(e))
6	NOTICE_OF_MOTION	Notices of Motion (S.O. 40(f))
7	QUESTION	Questions (S.O. 40(g))
8	STATEMENT	Statements (S.O. 40(g))
9	MOTION	Motions (S.O. 40(h))
10	BILL	Bills (S.O. 40(h))
11	REPORT	Committee Reports
12	OTHER	Other business

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7. Weekly Programme (S.O. 39)

GET /api/v1/weekly-programmes and POST /api/v1/weekly-programmes manage the weekly programme published by the Clerk. A sitting can reference its weeklyProgrammeId. The readiness check confirms the programme is PUBLISHED before the sitting commences.

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8. API Reference — Sittings

Method	Endpoint	Permission	Description
POST	/api/v1/sittings	sitting:create	Schedule a sitting (Clerk)
GET	/api/v1/sittings	sitting:read	List sittings (paginated, filterable by status, type, sessionId, termId)
GET	/api/v1/sittings/:id	sitting:read	Get sitting details including agenda items
PATCH	/api/v1/sittings/:id	sitting:update	Update sitting details
POST	/api/v1/sittings/:id/start	sitting:start	Call House to order (Speaker)
POST	/api/v1/sittings/:id/adjourn	sitting:adjourn	Adjourn the House (Speaker)
POST	/api/v1/sittings/:id/complete	sitting:complete	Rise the House permanently (Speaker)
POST	/api/v1/sittings/:id/cancel	sitting:cancel	Cancel a SCHEDULED sitting (Clerk)
GET	/api/v1/sittings/:id/readiness	sitting:read	Pre-sitting SO compliance checklist
POST	/api/v1/sittings/:id/attendance/check-in	floor:request_speak	Member checks in
POST	/api/v1/sittings/:id/attendance/check-out	floor:request_speak	Member checks out
GET	/api/v1/sittings/:id/attendance	sitting:read	Full attendance list
GET	/api/v1/sittings/:id/quorum	sitting:read	Live quorum count
POST	/api/v1/order-papers	order_paper:create	Create Order Paper
POST	/api/v1/order-papers/:id/publish	order_paper:publish	Publish Order Paper

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9. Agenda Item Management

Method	Endpoint	Permission	Description
GET	/api/v1/sittings/:id/agenda	sitting:read	List agenda items in order
POST	/api/v1/sittings/:id/agenda	sitting:update	Add agenda item
PATCH	/api/v1/sittings/agenda/:itemId	sitting:update	Update agenda item
DELETE	/api/v1/sittings/agenda/:itemId	sitting:update	Remove agenda item
POST	/api/v1/sittings/agenda/:itemId/start	sitting:update	Mark agenda item as IN_PROGRESS
POST	/api/v1/sittings/agenda/:itemId/complete	sitting:update	Mark agenda item as COMPLETED
POST	/api/v1/sittings/:id/agenda/reorder	sitting:update	Reorder agenda items

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10. Real-Time Events

The DashboardGateway broadcasts sitting lifecycle changes to all connected clients:

Event type	Trigger
SITTING_CREATED	New sitting scheduled
SITTING_STARTED	Speaker calls House to order
SITTING_ADJOURNED	House adjourned
SITTING_COMPLETED	House rose
SITTING_CANCELLED	Sitting cancelled
ATTENDANCE_CHECKIN	Member checked in
ATTENDANCE_CHECKOUT	Member checked out

See Floor and Floor Handling for real-time floor events (floorUpdate, micOn, micOff).