Notes and Comments on Robert's Rules, Fourth Edition

Point of Order

70 Point of Order What is the purpose of a Point of Order? According to Robert’s, a Point of Order may be raised if the chair 1. overlooks that the rules of the assembly are being violated (247), 2. assigns the floor to the wrong person (31), 3. fails to rule out of order a main motion that is outside the society ’s objects as defined in the bylaws or constitution (268), or 4. fails to rule out of order a main motion that is outside the announced purpose for which a mass meeting has been announced (268). A Point of Order, then, is a claim by a member that a specific rule is being or has just been violated and is a demand that the rule be enforced.53 On page 49, we suggested that Point of Order can replace the privileged motion to Call for the Orders of the Day. Robert’s says that Call for the Orders of the Day is used when the chair fails to conform to the “agenda, program, or order of business, or to take up a general or special order that is due to come up at the time” (219), which fits nicely within “when a member thinks that the rules of the assembly are being violated” (247). If a member is a jealous advocate of proper procedure, it might be wise to adhere to the restraint in Robert’s advice: “In ordinary meetings it is undesirable to raise points of order on minor irregularities of a purely technical character, if it is clear that no one’s rights are being infringed upon and no real harm is being done to the proper transaction of business” (250). Robert originally gave good advice, which is worth repeating: It is a mistake to be constantly raising points of order in regard to little irregularities. . . . The assembly meets to transact business , not to have members exploit their knowledge of parliamentary law. A business meeting is not a class in parliamentary law. It is a nuisance to have the time of the assembly wasted by 71 Point of Order a member’s raising points of order on technical points when no harm is done by the irregularity. (Parliamentary Law, 151) What is the procedure for raising a Point of Order? member: I rise to a point of order. chair: State your point of order. member: My point is . . . chair: The point is [not] well taken and . . . How soon must a member make the Point of Order? Immediately. The member must make the Point of Order at the time of the violation (250). The rationale is obvious. It would make little sense to rise to a Point of Order fifteen minutes after a speaker’s remarks to say that the remarks were not germane to the motion. The damage is long done. Robert’s even goes so far as to state that “if the chair is stating the question on a motion . . . that is out of order in the existing parliamentary situation, the time to raise [this point] of order is when the chair states the motion. After debate on such a motion has begun—no matter how clearly out of order the motion may be—a point of order is too late” (250). And as stated in Parliamentary Law: “After a member has finished his speech, it is too late to call in question the propriety of language used in the earlier part of his speech. After an amendment has been debated it is too late to rule it out of order, even though it is unquestionably not germane” (150). The general rule that the Point of Order must be made immediately is well taken and should be followed. If, however, debate on an amendment reveals that the intent of the amendment is not germane to the original motion or if a motion is being debated that clearly is out of order in the “existing parliamentary situation,” it is customary to allow the Point of Order to be made. Finally, Robert’s does provide an exception to the timeliness rule. “The only exceptions . . . arise in connection with breaches that are of a continuing nature, in which case a point of order can be made at any time during the continuance of the breach” (251). Robert’s lists five instances of such breaches—including an adopted motion that conflicts with the bylaws—and concludes that in such cases, “it is never too late to raise a...