Parliamentary Inquiry

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."