Petitions against Private Bills

101 Limit of time for presenting petition against bill

(1) Subject to paragraph (2), no petition objecting to all or part of any private bill shall be received by this House unless the petition has been presented by having been submitted to the office of the Clerk of the Parliaments on or before 6th February, except where the petition complains of any matter which may have arisen during the progress of the bill before the Committee or of the amendments as proposed in the filled-up bill deposited in the office of the Clerk of the Parliaments.

(2) In the case of—
       (a) any bill brought from the House of Commons, and
       (b) any bill as to which compliance with the standing order as to the time for depositing the bill has been 
            dispensed with, and
       (c) any bill in respect of which the Examiner has certified that the standing orders have not been complied 
            with, or in respect of which he has made a special report to the House, or in respect of which the 
            examination has been held on or adjourned to a day after 27th January,
a petition against the bill may be submitted at any time not later than the tenth day after that on which the bill was read a first time or, if the House is not sitting on that day, the next day on which the House  sits.

101A Limit of time for submitting petition relating to hybrid bill (HC 171B)

(1) This order applies to any government bill in relation to which the Examiner decides that Standing Orders 4 to 68 are applicable.

(2) In the case of a bill originating in this House, the period during which petitions against the bill can be submitted begins the day after the bill was read a second time. The petitioning period shall last for a minimum period of 25 calendar days.

(3) In the case of a bill brought from the House of Commons, the period during which petitions against the bill can be submitted begins the day after the bill was read a first time. The petitioning period shall last for a minimum of 25 calendar days.

(4) The Chairman of Committees shall decide the actual length of the petitioning period, whether under paragraph (2) or (3) above, after consulting the relevant Minister.

(5) In the case of a bill originating in this House, the Chairman of Committees shall decide the length of the petitioning period in respect of an additional provision, after consulting the relevant Minister.

102 [Repealed 18 December 2017]

103 Withdrawal of petitions (HC 173)

Any petitioner may withdraw his petition, and any co- petitioner may withdraw his name from a petition, by informing the office of the Clerk of the Parliaments in writing that he wishes to do so.