Madam Speaker, the point of order is that in this House we rely on precedence and convention. There have been rulings in this House made from the Chair before that govern the sub judice rule. I would like to address you in terms of the guide to the procedure where it sets out that, and I quote: The Chair should apply the rule in such a way as to impose minimal limitation on open debate.
This means that members should be allowed to refer to a matter before a court, but cannot discuss the merits of the matter before a court.
I would submit to you, Madam Speaker, that we are not asking the Deputy President to go into the specifics about the merits of the matter before the court. There is a broad principle that we are asking him to answer on, and that is his view on the use of police in this House. It is not about the merits of what happened on the 12th, and it is not about the merits of the case which, incidentally, is still not before a court, but it is a simple question and we are asking for an answer to it.