Legislative assembly

Legislative assemblyis the name given in some countries to either alegislature,or to one of its houses.

The name is used by a number of countries, including member-states of theCommonwealth of Nationsand other countries. It is also used by their sub-national divisions, such as theIndian states and union territories,Australian statesandCanadian provinces.

Legislative assemblies in the Commonwealth

Legislative assemblies in modern-day Commonwealth countries, either as national or sub-national parliaments, are in most cases an evolution of one of the legislative chambers of the previous colonial parliaments, whether the full legislature or alower house.In a number of jurisdictions, the nameHouse of Assemblyis used instead. It is one of the main names used in everyday speech for parliament in many countries.

Australia

Three of the sixAustralian statesstyle theirlower housesasLegislative Assemblies;inSouth AustraliaandTasmania,they are styled asHouses of Assembly.The unicameral parliaments ofQueenslandand the twoself-governing territoriesalso style their legislature asLegislative Assemblies.Queensland originally had a Legislative Council as itsupper house,in line with the other states, until it was abolished leaving it the only state with a sole chamber of parliament.

The previously self-governing Norfolk Island had its ownLegislative Assemblyuntil it was abolished and replaced with aRegional Councilin 2015.

Members of these assemblies are referred to as MLAs (WA, ACT, NT) and MPs (NSW, QLD, VIC, SA, TAS).^[1]Previously, MLA and MHA have been used in states that now use MP.

Canada

InCanada,seven of the tenprovincesand all three of theterritoriesstyle their legislatures aslegislative assemblies.All are unicameral. Manitoba was the first to abolishits Legislative Councilin 1876. British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador abolished their Councils before becoming provinces. There was no Council for Alberta when it was created in 1905. TheLegislative Assembly of Quebecwas renamed theQuebec National Assemblyas part of the abolition of theLegislative Council of Quebecon December 31, 1968.

India

InIndia,thelower houseor the only house of the State Legislatures are calledLegislative Assemblies.The same name is also used for the only house of the legislatures of three of the eightunion territories,Delhi,Jammu and KashmirandPuducherry.Theupper housein states with abicamerallegislature are calledLegislative Councils.Members of the former are called MLAs, and those of the latter are called MLCs.

Other Commonwealth countries and British Overseas Territories

Former legislative assemblies

InMauritius,the unicameral parliament was known as the legislative assembly until 1992, when, following the establishment of a republic, it was renamed theNational Assembly
Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada(1791–1838)
Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada(1791–1841)
Legislative Assembly (British Guiana)(1961–1964)
Central Legislative Assemblyof British India–1947

Legislative assemblies outside the Commonwealth

Legislative Assembly is the name given to some national legislatures (or one of the houses of the national legislature) of the sovereign nations of:

Former assemblies include:

National Legislative Assembly of Thailand (2014)
National Legislative Assembly (South Sudan)
Legislative Assembly of Kyrgyzstan
Legislative Assemblyof Revolutionary France

Legislative bodies of theUnited Statesinclude:

The legislatures of theStates of Brazilare called "legislative assembly", as are the legislatures of the two insularautonomous regions of Portugal,Azores(theLegislative Assembly of the Azores) andMadeira(theLegislative Assembly of Madeira), and theregional councilsof threeItalian regions(Emilia-Romagna,MarcheandUmbria). In Mexico, the legislative branch of government of Mexico City is theLegislative Assembly of Mexico City.

TheLegislative Assembly of Macauis the organ of the legislative branch of the Macau Special Administrative Region.

References

^"Parliaments and councils".Australian Government Style Manual.Australian Government. Archived fromthe originalon 9 April 2024.Retrieved9 April2024.

[1] "Parliaments and councils".Australian Government Style Manual.Australian Government. Archived fromthe originalon 9 April 2024.Retrieved9 April2024.

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