EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode, recorded during the online meeting on “Virtual parliamentary sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic” for presiding officers, parliamentarians, and clerks of English-speaking parliaments in the Americas and the Caribbean, representatives of the House of Keys of the Isle of Man, Senate of Brazil and House of Commons of the United Kingdom share their experiences in taking their parliamentary sessions virtual.

EPISODE NOTES

In this episode, the Honourable Juan Watterson, Speaker of the House of Keys of Tynwald, Parliament of the Isle of Man; Luiz Fernando Bandeira de Mello, Secretary General of the Board of the Senate of Brazil; and Matthew Hamlyn, Strategic Director of the Chamber Business Team of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom share the experiences and lessons that their respective institutions have learned as they transition to holding fully or partially virtual parliamentary sittings as a solution to continue their work while respective physical distancing guidelines. 

Following these interventions, presiding officers or representatives from 14 other parliaments in the Americas and the Caribbean shared the mechanisms that they have adopted to continue operating during this crisis, and shared concerns or questions that have arisen in the national debates they have been holding regarding the option of virtual sittings. 

These presentations were recorded during the online meeting on “Virtual parliamentary sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic” for presiding officers, parliamentarians, and clerks of English-speaking parliaments in the Americas and the Caribbean that took place on May 1, 2020.