Sources and Origins of Parliamentary Law

Parliamentary law, understood as the set of legal rules that govern the organization and functioning of parliamentary assemblies, often appears to be the “poor relative” of constitutional law. It seems to be a minor branch, a corollary that would interest only a few specialists who practice it. This can be explained in many ways: the difficulty of objectively grasping an opaque legal field known only to some practitioners, which is challenging for academics to access; the political nature of a body of rules that does not seem to satisfy the canons of legal rigor; its procedural nature that does not arouse much enthusiasm or evoke much charm; and the increasing interest in constitutional litigation that has led to the neglect of institutional issues. However, the progressive construction of parliamentary law has played a decisive role in the empowerment of Parliaments and in the establishment of representative democracies in Western countries, and is still a crucial issue in states experiencing democratic transition.