Who can propose amendment to blyaws and Parliamentarian's role in interpreting

[Guest Robert Paulson]

Two questions, related:

 

First, does Robert's Rules provide restrictions (or specify a LACK of restrictions) on who can propose an amendment to bylaws? More on this later.

 

Second, what is the role of the Parliamentarian in interpreting bylaws? On the one hand, RR says that ambiguous bylaws are determined by majority vote. It also says that the Parliamentarian is responsible for "interpretation" of bylaws. So what happens if the Parliamentarian says, "It means this," but others disagree?

 

Specific example. Our bylaws only have two mentions related to amending the bylaws. They are as follows:

 

 

Bylaws Committee.  At least three and no more than five members shall be appointed to the Bylaws Committee by its chair, who has been appointed by the President of [ORG]. The purpose of this committee shall be to evaluate the bylaws of said organization at the discretion of the governing board.

 

 

These Bylaws shall be amended according to the following procedure:

1. The proposed amendment(s) must be approved by a 2/3 vote of the members present at a regular board meeting.

2. The proposed amendment, after Board approval, must be submitted to the membership at the next general meeting and be approved by a 2/3 vote of the members present.

 

The Parliamentarian is interpreting this as meaning only the Bylaws Committee can propose amendments to the bylaws, which I vehemently disagree with.

[Hieu H. Huynh]

Generally, any member can propose amendments to the bylaws (see RONR 11th ed., p. 596).

 

A parliamentarian's role is purely advisory (see p. 465).

[George Mervosh]

RONR contains no restrictions on who may submit a proposed bylaw amendment and the parliamentarian's role is purely advisory.  The members decide what their bylaws mean when interpretation is required.

[Gödel Fan]

It appears unambiguous to me that the description of the committee does not limit the proposing of new bylaws to the bylaws committee.  It also appears unambiguous that the second quote does require board approval for bylaw proposals before they are introduced to the membership (and, seemingly, eliminates the RONR requirement of notice to the membership).  I have some personal opinions on the wisdom of this, but that is what your bylaws say.

[Gary Novosielski]

It appears unambiguous to me that the description of the committee does not limit the proposing of new bylaws to the bylaws committee.  It also appears unambiguous that the second quote does require board approval for bylaw proposals before they are introduced to the membership (and, seemingly, eliminates the RONR requirement of notice to the membership).  I have some personal opinions on the wisdom of this, but that is what your bylaws say.

Well, once you figure out how to get a bylaws amendment before the assembly, you might want to make fixing that language one of your first amendments.

[Gödel Fan]

The comment above perfectly captures where my opinions on this idea come from...

[Guest Robert Paulson]

Thanks all. Now it's time to get all my notes together. Especially because the bylaws state Roberts Rules of Order Revised (no edition given) are the ones held to, and that leaves out a lot of specificity present in the current version.

 

Fun fact: The word "Parliamentarian" does not seem to exist at all in RROR. That'll make things interesting.

[Hieu H. Huynh]

Thanks all. Now it's time to get all my notes together. Especially because the bylaws state Roberts Rules of Order Revised (no edition given) are the ones held to, and that leaves out a lot of specificity present in the current version.

 

Fun fact: The word "Parliamentarian" does not seem to exist at all in RROR. That'll make things interesting.

 

Note the following from RONR:

 

"This Eleventh Edition supersedes all previous editions and is intended automatically to become the parliamentary authority in organizations whose bylaws prescribe "Robert's Rules of Order," "Robert's Rules of Order Revised," "Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised," or "the current edition of" any of these titles, or the like, without specifying a particular edition. If the bylaws specifically identify one of the ten previous editions of the work as parliamentary authority, the bylaws should be amended to prescribe "the current edition of 'Robert's of Order Newly Revised'" (see p. 588)." (RONR 11th ed., p. vii)

[Guest Robert Paulson]

Note the following from RONR:

 

"This Eleventh Edition supersedes all previous editions and is intended automatically to become the parliamentary authority in organizations whose bylaws prescribe "Robert's Rules of Order," "Robert's Rules of Order Revised," "Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised," or "the current edition of" any of these titles, or the like, without specifying a particular edition. If the bylaws specifically identify one of the ten previous editions of the work as parliamentary authority, the bylaws should be amended to prescribe "the current edition of 'Robert's of Order Newly Revised'" (see p. 588)." (RONR 11th ed., p. vii)

 

You are my hero. Thank you!

[George Mervosh]

Fun fact: The word "Parliamentarian" does not seem to exist at all in RROR. That'll make things interesting.

 

Funner fact.  RROR doesn't exist.      

[Josh Martin]

Thanks all. Now it's time to get all my notes together. Especially because the bylaws state Roberts Rules of Order Revised (no edition given) are the ones held to, and that leaves out a lot of specificity present in the current version.

 

As Mr. Huynh notes, this already means the current version, but it certainly doesn't hurt to specify this - see here for the recommended wording.

 

Fun fact: The word "Parliamentarian" does not seem to exist at all in RROR. That'll make things interesting.

 

The proper abbreviation for Robert's Rules of Order Revised is ROR, but as previously noted, the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revises (RONR) is your parliamentary authority. The current edition quite clearly describes the role of the parliamentarian on pgs. 465-467. In particular, the text states quite clearly that "The parliamentarian's role during a meeting is purely an advisory and consultative one" (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 465).