Adjournment
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An adjournment ends a meeting. To adjourn to another time or place means to suspend proceedings until a later stated time or place.
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Law
In law, to adjourn means to suspend proceedings to another time or place, or to end them.
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Parliamentary procedure
| Class | Privileged motion |
|---|---|
| In order when another has the floor? | No |
| Requires second? | Yes |
| Debatable? | No |
| May be reconsidered? | No |
| Amendable? | No |
| Vote required | Majority |
In deliberative assemblies, an adjournment ends a meeting. Under Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR), if no time or method has been fixed to reconvene the assembly, the adjournment has the effect of dissolving the body.
Motion to adjourn
A motion to adjourn is a privileged motion, unless it is qualified in any way (such as "adjourn at 10 p.m."), the time for adjourning is already established, or unless adjournment would dissolve the assembly, in which case it is a main motion.[1] As a privileged motion, the motion yields to a motion to fix the time to which to adjourn, since that matter must be decided first.[2] The privileged motion to adjourn is used to end the meeting immediately. If there is any unfinished business, it is carried over to the next meeting. When a body has completed the scheduled order of business at a meeting and there is no further business for the assembly to consider at that time, the chair may simply declare the meeting adjourned without a motion having been made. If it is a main motion, it cannot interrupt pending business, and is amendable and debatable.
Under Robert's Rules, a motion to adjourn is given high privilege even to the point of interrupting the pending question and, on adoption, it immediately closes the meeting. This is because a majority should not be forced to continue in session substantially longer than it desires and this is also the reason why this motion is not debatable. It cannot be made while another has the floor.[3]
The motion to adjourn can be renewed after "material progress" in business or debate, such as an important decision or speech. If no material progress has been made since the last motion to adjourn such renewed motion may be ruled dilatory by the chair. A vote on a motion to lay on the table or recess does not count as business of a character to justify renewal of a motion to adjourn.[4]
Along with the motion to fix the time to which to adjourn, recess, and take measures to obtain a quorum, it is one of the only motions allowed in the absence of a quorum.[5]
The Standard Code of Parliamentary Procedure (TSC) treats the motion to adjourn as a privileged motion but under fewer circumstances. Like RONR, TSC considers it a privileged motion (and thus non-debatable) when business is pending. As a privileged motion, however, TSC allows the motion to be amended to a limited extent to establish the time when the interrupted meeting will continue.[6] Unlike under RONR, however, it is considered a main motion (debatable and amendable) when no business is pending.
Motion to Fix the time to which to adjourn
| Class | Privileged motion |
|---|---|
| In order when another has the floor? | No |
| Requires second? | Yes |
| Debatable? | No |
| May be reconsidered? | Yes |
| Amendable? | Yes |
| Vote required | Majority |
The motion to fix the time to which to adjourn is used to set the time (and possibly the place) for another meeting to continue business of the session. If it is moved while a question is pending, it is the highest ranking privileged motion. Otherwise, it is an incidental main motion.[7]
Adjourned meeting
An adjourned meeting is a term used in parliamentary procedure to mean a meeting that is continued from the previous meeting.[8] The motion to fix the time to which to adjourn sets up an adjourned meeting, which is part of the same session (series of related meetings).
Despite the name, an adjourned meeting is not related to the act of adjourning (i.e. "an adjourned meeting" does not mean "a meeting that has been adjourned"). To reduce this confusion, an adjourned meeting is sometimes called a "continued meeting".
