Petitioning Tynwald is one of the ancient rights that the people of the Isle of Man enjoy.

Every July 5 - Tynwald Day - anyone can present a petition for redress of grievance to our politicians to highlight what they perceive as an injustice.

Occasionally, those petitions can lead to a change in the law.

At the very least, a petition brings an issue to the attention of the Manx public and highlights causes close to the hearts of the petitioner.

Anyone who wants to exercise that right can do it on the day.

But the Clerk of Tynwald’s office is urging them to get in touch first.

If the petitions do not comply with Tynwald’s standing orders, they might be a waste of ink and paper.

Meanwhile, petitioners who want good publicity for their cause should also contact Isle of Man Newspapers.

The more information we get, the more coverage we can give a petition.

Last year, five petitions were presented.

But what happens next and how often are matters taken up by politicians with any changes being made as a result?

They don’t all automatically go to a Tynwald committee.

After being examined by the Standing Orders Committee, a petition may then be adopted by a member of the House of Keys or Legislative Council.

Then that member has to persuade Tynwald to set up a committee.

Tynwald’s own guidance for petitioners tells constituents that petitions can ’deliver changes in Tynwald policy, which can in turn result in changes to the political priorities of government departments and to the administrative procedures for which they are responsible. A petition can even ultimately result in a change being made to the law’.

However, the guidance sounds a note of caution, saying: ’Procedures are not quick, cannot provide a benefit in the form of compensation and cannot result in another person being fined or punished.’

The benefit, according to the guidelines, is that a petition can publicise a matter of public interest that has affected a petitioner and raise the question of whether something should be done to address a problem.

A report from the Tynwald standing orders committee, which incorporates all of the petitions is laid before Tynwald, but not debated, and the report is also published on the Tynwald website so the content of all the petitions is publicly accessible.

At this point, any member of Tynwald can adopt any of the petitions, within the next five years after Tynwald Day, and put it forward to be debated in Tynwald.

After being debated, a petition could move to a select committee for further consideration. At this point further input might be invited from petitioners who could be required to submit further information in writing to the committee; they could even be invited to give evidence in person at a public hearing.

Once a matter has been fully considered by the committee, a report is produced for Tynwald and this is generally debated. Petitioners will receive a copy of the report and can attend the debate. Any recommendations contained in the report can be accepted, amended or rejected by Tynwald members.

Recommendations accepted by Tynwald could then be adopted by a government department or if new legislation is required, this would be drafted by the Attorney General’s Chambers before going through the standard legislative process of debate and consideration by the House of Keys and Legislative Council.

A petition presented in 2009 was the catalyst for changes in rules governing legal aid in family cases.

The petition, by Stephen Broad, was supported by a number of other people who gave evidence to a standing committee about the inequitable way they felt the legal aid system could operate.

They pointed out that a legally aided party in family proceedings may pursue a course of litigation, publicly funded, when matters could have been dealt with less acrimoniously using mediation.

It also meant the other, possibly self-funded party, incurred significant expense defending their position in what could be an unnecessarily combative process.

Following the petition, the Legal Aid (Amendment)Act, 2012, introduced a statutory charge.

This can oblige a legally aided party, to use money awarded in any court proceedings to reimburse the legal aid fund, and puts both parties on a more even footing.

Petitioners should meet at 10.15 am on July 5 at the Lych Gate to the Royal Chapel in St John’s.

Guidance for potential petitioners is available on the Tynwald website at http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/petitions/ or from the Tynwald Library. Phone 685520.

Contact Isle of Man Newspapers’ reporters on 695697 or email [email protected]. Don’t forget to include a phone number so we can get back to you quickly if we need to.