Roberts Rules of Order | Page 8

when relating
to the rights of the assembly or its members, as otherwise they could be

made use of so as to seriously interrupt business. They are as follows
(being arranged in their order of precedence among themselves):
To Fix the Time to which the Assembly shall Adjourn ...... See § 10.
Adjourn .................................................. '' § 11. Questions relating to
the Rights and Privileges of the Assembly or any of its
Members ............................................ '' § 12. Call for the Orders of the
Day ........................... '' § 13.
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Art. III. Motions and their Order of Precedence.* [For a list of all the
ordinary motions, arranged in their order of precedence, see § 64. All
the Privileged and Subsidiary ones in this Article are so arranged.] [§§
10-27.]
Privileged Motions. [§§ 10-13. See § 9.]
10. To Fix the Time to which the Assembly shall Adjourn. This motion
takes precedence of all others, and is in order even after the assembly
has voted to adjourn, provided the Chairman has not announced the
result of the vote. If made when another question is before the assembly,
it is undebatable [§ 35]; it can be amended by altering the time. If made
when no other question is before the assembly, it stands as any other
principal motion, and is debatable.** [In ordinary societies it is better
to follow the common parliamentary law, and permit this question to be
introduced as a principal question, when it can be debated and
suppressed [§ 58, 59] like other questions. In Congress, it is never
debatable, and has entirely superseded the unprivileged and inferior
motion to "adjourn to a particular time."]
The form of this motion is, "When this assembly
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adjourns, it adjourns to meet at such a time."
11. To Adjourn. This motion (when unqualified) takes precedence of

all others, except to "fix the time to which to adjourn," to which it
yields. It is not debatable, and cannot be amended, or have any other
subsidiary motion [§ 7] applied to it. If qualified in any way it loses its
privileged character, and stands as any other principal motion. The
motion to adjourn can be repeated if there has been any intervening
business, though it be simply progress in debate [§ 26]. When a
committee is through with any business referred to it, and prepared to
report, instead of adjourning, a motion should be made "to rise," which
motion, in committee, has the same privileges as to adjourn in the
assembly [§ 32].
The effect upon Unfinished Business of an adjournment is as follows*
["After six days from the commencement of a second or subsequent
session of any Congress, all bills, resolutions and reports which
originated in the House, and at the close of the next preceding session
remained undetermined, shall be resumed, and acted on in the same
manner as if an adjournment had not taken place." Rule 136, H. R. Any
ordinary society that meets as seldom as once each year, is apt to be
composed of as different membership at its successive meetings, as any
two successive Congresses, and only trouble would result from
allowing finished business to hold over to the next yearly meeting.]
[see Session, § 42]:
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(a) When it does not close the session, the business interrupted by the
adjournment is the first in order after the reading of the minutes at the
next meeting, and is treated the same as if there had been no
adjournment; an adjourned meeting being legally the continuation of
the meeting of which it is an adjournment.
(b) When it closes a session in an assembly which has more than one
regular session each year, then the unfinished business is taken up at
the next succeeding session previous to new business, and treated the
same as if there had been no adjournment [see § 44, for its place in the
order of business]. Provided, that, in a body elected for a definite time
(as a board of directors elected for one year), unfinished business falls
to the ground with the expiration of the term for which the board or any

portion of them were elected.
(c) When the adjournment closes a session in an assembly which does
not meet more frequently than once a year, or when the assembly is an
elective body, and this session ends
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the term of a portion of the members, the adjournment shall put an end
to all business unfinished at the close of the session. The business can
be introduced at the next session, the same as if it had never been
before the assembly.
12. Questions of Privilege. Questions relating to the rights and
privileges of the assembly, or any of its members, take precedence