28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC)

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) in the iconic Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan on January 15.

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Ministers, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Presiding Officers of Parliaments of the Commonwealth countries, Members of Parliament and other dignitaries graced the occasion.

Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth

• The Conference brings together the Speakers and Presiding Officers of the national Parliaments of the independent sovereign states of the Commonwealth. 

• It was created in 1969 as an initiative of then Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada Lucien Lamoureux. 

• Since its inception, Canada has provided CSPOC with a secretariat to support its activities.

• The Conference is an independent group and has no formal affiliation with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Commonwealth Secretariat or the Commonwealth Heads of Government. 

• CSPOC operates on a two-year cycle, holding a conference of the full membership every two years, usually early in January, and a meeting of the Standing Committee at the same time the intervening year.

The Conference aims to:

i) Maintain, foster, and encourage impartiality and fairness on the part of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliaments.

ii) Promote knowledge and understanding of parliamentary democracy in its various forms. iii) Develop parliamentary institutions.

28th CSPOC

• The Parliament of India, in coordination with the CSPOC Secretariat, is hosting the 28th CSPOC in New Delhi from January 14 to 16.

• India is hosting the CSPOC for the fourth time.

• CSPOC brings together Speakers and Presiding Officers of 53 national Parliaments of sovereign states of the Commonwealth. 

• Other delegates include Presiding Officers of 14 semi-autonomous Parliaments, Secretary General of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), President of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Secretaries-General and accompanying officials. 

• A total of 61 Presiding Officers including 45 Speakers and 16 Deputy Speakers are attending the 28th CSPOC from 42 CSPOC member countries and 4 Semi-Autonomous Parliaments.

This edition of CSPOC focusses on contemporary issues relevant to modern legislatures including:

i) The responsible use of artificial intelligence in parliamentary functioning.

ii) The impact of social media on parliamentary practice and public discourse.

iii) Innovative approaches to enhance public understanding of Parliament and citizen participation beyond voting.

iv) Matters relating to the security, health and well-being of Members of Parliament and parliamentary officials.