The Meeting of Parliament Act 1797 (37. Geo. III, c. 127) was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of Great Britain passed in 1797.
Section 1 established that 14 days were to elapse from the proclamation of a new Parliament to the meeting of Parliament.
Section 3 enacted that in case of the demise of the monarch after one Parliament had been dissolved, but before the day indicated by the Writ of Summons for electing a new Parliament, then the previous Parliament (i.e. that which had been dissolved) was to be recalled immediately to Westminster. It would there sit as a parliament for the next six months, to all intents and purposes as though it had not been previously dissolved; it could, however, be dissolved or prorogued at any point during this time by the new monarch. A new writ would be issued, and the election would take place.
Section 5 provided that if the monarch died after the date of the election, then the newly-elected Parliament would meet as normal.
Section 1 was amended in 1943 to remove the 14-day limit. The rest of the Act has been repealed.
Famous quotes containing the words meeting, parliament and/or act:
“They are universal places, like churches, hallowed meeting places of all mankind.”
—Iris Murdoch (b. 1919)
“At the ramparts on the cliff near the old Parliament House I counted twenty-four thirty-two-pounders in a row, pointed over the harbor, with their balls piled pyramid-wise between them,—there are said to be in all about one hundred and eighty guns mounted at Quebec,—all which were faithfully kept dusted by officials, in accordance with the motto, “In time of peace prepare for war”; but I saw no preparations for peace: she was plainly an uninvited guest.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There is a distinction to be drawn between true collectors and accumulators. Collectors are discriminating; accumulators act at random. The Collyer brothers, who died among the tons of newspapers and trash with which they filled every cubic foot of their house so that they could scarcely move, were a classic example of accumulators, but there are many of us whose houses are filled with all manner of things that we “can’t bear to throw away.””
—Russell Lynes (1910–1991)