A parliamentary inquiry is a question directed to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly to obtain information on a matter of parliamentary law or the rules of the organization bearing on the business at hand. The primary purpose is to enable members to obtain the chair's guidance on parliamentary matters about which they are uncertain.
A parliamentary inquiry is sometimes used as a tactful alternative to a call for the orders of the day, or a point of order.
Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure notes, "It is not, however, the presiding officer's duty to answer general questions concerning parliamentary law." Per RONR, the chair is also not obligated to answer hypothetical questions. This motion is made by saying, "Mr. Chairman, I rise to a parliamentary inquiry."
Famous quotes containing the word inquiry:
“An inquiry about the attitude towards the release of so-called political prisoners. I should be very sorry to see the United States holding anyone in confinement on account of any opinion that that person might hold. It is a fundamental tenet of our institutions that people have a right to believe what they want to believe and hold such opinions as they want to hold without having to answer to anyone for their private opinion.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)