Freedom of speech and parliamentary procedure: can a parliamentary speech take the form of a t-shirt, a sticker

Abstract

Abstract:
To attend a parliamentary sitting wearing clothes featuring a clearly readable political message, is a kind of manifestation of the freedom of speech, or an unacceptable interference in the development of the parliamentary debates, likely to alter the order in the house? Is it acceptable for a Member of Parliament to express his or her opinion within the hemicycle wearing pins o stickers, showing flyers or deploying banners?
The reiteration of these behavior, increasingly common in our parliamentary life, has been demanding from Parliamentary Law an answer that is at the same time consistent with the principles of a democratic State, compatible with the fluid operation of one of its most important institutions, and suitable of being applied in a consistent manner in our different legislatures. In this article we propose for the first time, and on the basis of an analysis of several recent cases, this possible solution.