Meeting of the Parliament 24 April 2024
On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek your guidance in relation to rule 9.10.5 of the standing orders, which talks about the proper form of amendments, and, in particular, the use of languages other than English. Indeed, there is a publication policy by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, dating from 2018, which states that the working language of the Parliament is English and that the Parliament legislates in English. There is provision for another language to be used where appropriate, and where prior approval of the head of chamber and reporting, as the role was called then, has been sought.
I have had useful correspondence with the Minister for Parliamentary Business about why Latin has been used in an amendment that was lodged quite late in the lodging period. I seek your guidance on whether prior approval was sought for the use of Latin. I understand why it has been used but, procedurally, my understanding is that, for the amendment to be in an appropriate form, that approval needs to have been sought first.