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Legislative council

Type of legislative body

Summary

Type of legislative body

A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the British (former) colonies. However, it has also been used as designation in other (non-Commonwealth) nations. A member of a legislative council is commonly referred to as an MLC.

A legislative council was generally the first legislative body of a British colony, with members who were all appointed by the viceregal representative (who also presided over the council). Gradually, with the passage of time and increasing levels of self-governance, legislative councils were supplemented by a lower, elected chamber (often called a legislative assembly or house of assembly). This resulted in either the abolition of the council to form a unicameral and wholly elected legislature (as done in New Zealand in 1951, Southern Rhodesia in 1923, Singapore in 1955 and Ceylon in 1931) or the democratisation of and a gradual decrease in powers exercised by the council, as done in India in 1919 and in Australian states throughout the twentieth century.

In the United States, a legislative council has a different connotation, and means a council within a legislature which supervises nonpartisan support staff.

History

In the British Empire, the authority under which legislative councils have been constituted has varied: some under the royal prerogative, others by acts of parliament, and some by commission and royal instructions.

List of legislative councils

CountryBodyTypeEstablishedNotesBrunei DarussalamHong KongIsle of ManPalestineSaint Helena
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1959Suspended in 1984, reconvened in 2004
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1843Established under the British Hong Kong era; Provisional Legislative Council 1997–98
Legislative CouncilUpper House
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1996
Legislative CouncilUnicameral

In India, the Vidhan Parishad is another name for the Legislative Council in those states with bicameral legislatures.

CountryRegionBodyTypeEstablishedNotesAustraliaAustraliaAustraliaAustraliaAustraliaIndiaIndiaIndiaIndiaIndiaIndiaVenezuela
New South WalesLegislative CouncilUpper House1824Unicameral until 1856
South AustraliaLegislative CouncilUpper House1840Unicameral until 1857
TasmaniaLegislative CouncilUpper House1825Unicameral until 1856
VictoriaLegislative CouncilUpper House1851Unicameral until 1856
Western AustraliaLegislative CouncilUpper House1832Unicameral until 1890
Andhra PradeshLegislative CouncilUpper House1958Abolished between 1985 and 2007
BiharLegislative CouncilUpper House1912Unicameral until 1920
KarnatakaLegislative CouncilUpper House1956
MaharashtraLegislative CouncilUpper House1960
TelanganaLegislative CouncilUpper House2014
Uttar PradeshLegislative CouncilUpper House1935
ZuliaLegislative CouncilUnicameral1864
CountryBodyTypeEstablishedDisestablishedNotesAdenAntigua and BarbudaBahamasBarbadosBasutolandBechuanaland ProtectorateBermudaBritish ColumbiaBritish GuianaBritish HondurasBritish IndiaBritish Virgin IslandsBurmaCeylonCyprusDominicaFalkland IslandsFijiGambiaGibraltarGold CoastJamaicaKenyaUnited Kingdom Lower CanadaMalayaMaltaManchukuoMandatory PalestineMauritiusMontserratNew ZealandNewfoundlandNigeriaNorthern RhodesiaNyasaland[[File:Flag of the Territory of New Guinea.svg25px]] Papua New GuineaPortugal Portuguese GuineaPortugal Portuguese West AfricaUnited Kingdom Province of CanadaRomaniaSaint Christopher-Nevis-AnguillaSaint LuciaSaint VincentSeychelles[[File:Flag of Sierra Leone 1916-1961.gif25px]] Sierra LeoneSolomon IslandsSouthern RhodesiaStraits SettlementsSingaporeSwazilandTrinidad and TobagoTanganyikaTurks and Caicos IslandsUgandaUnited Kingdom Upper CanadaZaire
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1947
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished under instructions to the governor
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1841Letters patent
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1963Established under instructions to the governor
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1960Established under instructions to the governor
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19611965
Legislative CouncilBicameral16121980Originally a single thirteen-member Council combined Executive (cabinet) and Legislative functions. Established under royal charters to the London Company in 1606, 1609, and 1612, and to the Somers Isles Company in 1615, transmitted via the Governor. Elected lower House of Assembly held first session in 1620, with council becoming upper house. The council split in 1888 into an Executive Council and a Legislative Council. Colonial legislature was updated to the Westminster system in 1968. Executive Council was renamed the Cabinet in 1973, and is now formed from Members of the majority party in the House of Assembly. Legislative Council was renamed the Senate of Bermuda in 1980, and is now composed of five Members recommended by the Premier, three by the Leader of the Opposition, and three by the Governor acting in his own discretion, all appointed by the Governor.
Legislative CouncilUnicameral18671871
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19281961Established by an act of Parliament, the British Guiana Act 1928; abolished between 1953 and 1954.
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1853Established under instructions to the governor
Imperial Legislative CouncilBicameral18611947Unicameral until 1920
Legislative CouncilUnicameral18672007
Legislative CouncilUnicameral18971936
Legislative CouncilUnicameral18331931Established under the prerogative
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished under the prerogative
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1832Established by an act of Parliament
Legislative CouncilUnicameral18452009Established under the British Settlements Act 1843
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished under the prerogative
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1843Established under the British Settlements Act 1843
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19501969
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished under the British Settlements Act 1843
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1866
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19071963Established under the British Settlements Act 1843
Legislative CouncilUpper House17911841
Federal Legislative CouncilUnicameral19481957
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished under the prerogative
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19341945Puppet state of the Empire of Japan
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19221923
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished under the prerogative
Legislative CouncilUnicameral2011Established under instructions to the governor
Legislative CouncilUpper House18411950Unicameral until 1853
Legislative CouncilUpper House18331934
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished under the prerogative
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act 1843
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1907Established under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act 1843
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19511963
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19631972Became the Legislative Assembly
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19221972Abolished between 1926 and 1955
Legislative CouncilUpper House18411867
Legislative CouncilConsultative19231948Established under Article 76 of the 1923 Constitution and retained under Article 72 of the 1938 Constitution
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1832Established under instructions to the governor
Legislative CouncilUnicameral18321967Established under the prerogative
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished by the Saint Vincent, Tobago, and Grenda Constitution Act 1876 and the St. Vincent (Legislative Council) Order 1936 (SR&O 1936/1372)
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19621970Established under the prerogative
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished under the British Settlements Act 1843
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19601970
Legislative CouncilUnicameral18981923Established under the prerogative
Legislative CouncilUnicameral1867Established by an act of Parliament, the Straights Settlement Act 1866, and letters patent of 4 February 1867.
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19461953
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19641967Established in the Constitution of 1964
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19251961Established under the prerogative
Legislative CouncilUnicameralEstablished under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act 1843
Legislative CouncilUnicameral2006
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19201962Established under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act 1843
Legislative CouncilUpper House17911841
Legislative CouncilUnicameral19721990
CountryRegionBodyTypeEstablishedDisestablishedNotesAustraliaBritish IndiaBritish IndiaCanadaCanadaCanadaCanadaCanadaIndiaIndiaIndiaIndiaIndiaIndiaIndiaIndiaUnited StatesUnited StatesUnited StatesUnited States
QueenslandLegislative CouncilUpper House18601922
BengalLegislative CouncilUpper House18611947Unicameral until 1937
Eastern Bengal and AssamLegislative CouncilUnicameral19061912
ManitobaLegislative CouncilUpper House18701876First province to eliminate upper chamber.
New BrunswickLegislative CouncilUpper House17851891
Nova ScotiaLegislative CouncilUpper House18381928
Prince Edward IslandLegislative CouncilUpper House17731893
QuebecLegislative CouncilUpper House18671968Last province to eliminate upper chamber.
AssamLegislative CouncilUpper House19351969
BombayLegislative CouncilUpper House18611960Unicameral until 1935
CochinLegislative CouncilUnicameral19251949
Jammu and KashmirLegislative CouncilUpper House19572019
Madhya PradeshLegislative CouncilUpper House19561969
PunjabLegislative CouncilUpper House19561969
Tamil NaduLegislative CouncilUpper House19561986
West BengalLegislative CouncilUpper House19521969
DelawareLegislative CouncilUpper House17761792
Florida TerritoryLegislative CouncilBicameral18221845
New JerseyLegislative CouncilUpper House17761844
South CarolinaLegislative CouncilUpper House17761778

United States

In American English, the term "legislative council" has acquired a slightly different meaning since the 1930s. It refers to a joint committee with members from both houses of the state legislature, which supervises a staff of attorneys, accountants, and researchers charged with providing strictly nonpartisan support services to the legislature or to particular committees. The concept of the legislative council was first developed in Kansas and was implemented by the Kansas Legislature in 1933. Eventually, a majority of U.S. states adopted legislative councils, but under a variety of names. Between 1933 and 1959, at least 32 states had legislative councils.

Kansas still uses a legislative council, although it was converted into the Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council in 1971. Legislative councils operating under that name exist in the states of Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin. Several states use the term "commission" for the same thing, including New Jersey and Nevada.

A few states, like California, have a "legislative counsel", not "council", who is appointed by a vote of the entire legislature and is thus responsible to the body as a whole rather than a "council" within it.

References

References

  1. Wright, Martin. Appendix 9 in ''The Development of the Legislative Council 1606–1945'', in the series "Studies in Colonial Legislatures" edited by [[Margery Perham]] of the Institute of Colonial Studies, Oxford, England (Faber & Faber, 1946).
  2. (1954). "Colonial Reports Report on Aden".
  3. (1947). "The Colonial Office List, Comprising Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the Colonial Empire, List of Officers Serving in the Colonies, Etc". H.M. Stationery Office.
  4. "The Senate {{!}} BARBADOSPARLIAMENT.COM".
  5. "Image 30 of Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland; a guide to official publications, 1868-1968".
  6. . (). ["General Information"](http://parliament.bm/about/view/3). *Government of Bermuda*.
  7. "Saint Lucia - Access Government".
  8. (2002). "The Rise of the States: Evolution of American State Government". The Johns Hopkins University Press.
  9. Davey, Harold W.. (1953). "The Legislative Council Movement, 1933–1953". American Political Science Review.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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