The seminar offers an opportunity to Members from other Parliaments to discuss British parliamentary and political processes with leading U.K. Members and Clerks, as well as to exchange experiences with each other. The CPA holds the annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar, hosted jointly since 1989 with different Branches on a regional rotation. Discussions on practice and procedure are led by delegates, and by local Members and officials. The 1999 host was Malta and Bermuda will act as host in 2000. Regional and Local Seminars Regional seminars on practice and procedure are held in the Australian and Pacific Regions, and in the Asian, Canadian and South-East Asian Regions.
Many Branches hold seminars for their Members and parliamentary officials.
Often held after elections, these are sometimes augmented by experienced MPs and officials from other Branches, with CPA Secretariat support. Five procedural workshops for southern African Parliamentarians were held in 1996 and early 1997 with special funding from the British government. Nearly 200 Members from the national Parliament and provincial Legislatures of South Africa and from nearby Commonwealth Assemblies discussed practices with CPA resource teams of experienced Members and officials and exchanged ideas on the advancement of democracy in the region. A second round of workshops is under consideration, as are similar ventures in West Africa and the Caribbean. Since the 1991 Harare Commonwealth Declaration in which Heads of Government recognized the CPA role in promoting democracy, the Association has undertaken an intensive programme of 21 seminars in Commonwealth countries.