Parliamentary committee Work: Overview
Parliamentary committees are a vital part of the work of the Parliament. They examine bills/proposed laws in detail, scrutinize government policies and conduct studies on issues relevant to citizens so that lawmakers can make well-informed decisions. They also play an important role in debating complex issues and overseeing the executive, therefore ensuring proper checks and balances. This program provides an overview of the administrative and technical work of committees, and practical aspects of the work of committee staff.
Objectives
The course aims to build the knowledge of trainees on how parliamentary committee work is conducted across legislatures, to strengthen the skills of the trainees performing administrative tasks such as:
- Providing advice to the committee members on procedural questions
- Preparing committee agendas and assigning committee hearing rooms
- Communicating with ministries and institutions
- Notifying witnesses regarding their appearance at committee hearings
- Arranging committee travel
The course aims to strengthen the skills of the participating staff to perform technical work such as:
- Writing reports on topics being considered by the committee
- Drafting briefing notes and other materials to familiarize committee members with a topic
- Preparing questions for the committee members to ask witnesses
- Suggesting witnesses that can be questioned when committee members are studying a topic or a piece of legislation
- Preparing amendments on legislation for committee members
The course also aims to facilitate networking opportunities and the exchange of good practices between parliamentary practitioners (North-South and Regional/South-South).
DURATION
The training program will be conducted through a 3-4 day workshop
VENUE
Training will take place at the National Assembly of Lao PDR in combination with distance training through ZOOM
DATE
2023 program dates to be determined
PARTICIPANTS
Committee staff from participating AIPA Member Parliaments will be targeted for the training
LANGUAGES
The training will be conducted in English and translated into Lao upon request
The training program will be conducted through a 3-4 day workshop
Training will take place at the Parliament of Myanmar.
If travel is not possible all training will be done through distance learning.
2021 program dates to be determined
Participating Parliamentary administrations will each select up to 20 members of staff.
The training will be conducted in English and translated into Burmese upon request