Legislative Assembly
This article is about the term as used within the Commonwealth of Nations; there is also an Legislative Assembly in Oregon and there used to be a Legislative Assembly in France during the French Revolution.A
Legislative Assembly in some parts of the Commonwealth refers to a legislature, or a chamber of the legislature.
Politicians elected to a Legislative Assembly are usually referred to as a
Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). However, in
Canada, members of the province of
Ontario's
Legislative Assembly are known as Members of the Provincial Parliament (MPP, Ontario). In
Northern Ireland, members of the
Northern Ireland Assembly are also known as MLAs, even though the Assembly itself is not called the Legislative Assembly.
In
Quebec, the Legislative Assembly was renamed the
National Assembly after the
Legislative Council was abolished in
1968.
In
Mauritius, the country's
unicameral parliament was known as the Legislative Assembly until
1992, when, following the establishment of a
republic, it was renamed the National Assembly.
*
Australia:
Queensland,
Northern Territory and
Australian Capital Territory.
*
Canada: all provinces and territories, except
Quebec,
Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland and Labrador.
*
India: in 23 of India's 28
states, the Legislative Assembly serves as the
unicameral legislature. In five states (
Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar,
Karnataka,
Maharashtra and
Jammu and Kashmir, the Legislative Assembly serves as the lower house of a
bicameral legislature.
*
Norfolk Island*Australia:
New South Wales,
Victoria and
Western Australia.
South Australia and
Tasmania call the lower house the House of Assembly.
**The Colony of
British Columbia (1858-1871) and the Crown Colony of
Vancouver Island (1843-1866) had separate Legislative Assemblies (
British Columbia's was not convened until 1863). In those colonies, and in the United Colonies of 1866-1871, the Legislative Assemblies had limited powers relative to that of the
Governor of
British Columbia and the largely appointed
Executive Council, which included local military and judicial officials.
*
House of Assembly
