cspoc for 17 January 2026

Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) Latest News

The Prime Minister recently inaugurated the 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) in New Delhi, highlighting India's commitment to sharing open-source tech platforms with the Global South.

About Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC)

• It brings together the Speakers and Presiding Officers of the national parliaments of the independent sovereign states of the Commonwealth. 
• It was created in 1969 as an initiative of the then Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Lucien Lamoureux. 
• Since its inception, Canada has provided CSPOC with a secretariat to support its activities.
• The Conference is an independent group and has no formal affiliation with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Commonwealth Secretariat, or the Commonwealth Heads of Government. 
• CSPOC operates on a two-year cycle, holding a conference of the full membership every two years, usually early in January, and a meeting of the Standing Committee at the same time the intervening year.
• The Conference aims to:
  • Maintain, foster, and encourage impartiality and fairness on the part of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliaments;
  • Promote knowledge and understanding of parliamentary democracy in its various forms; and
  • Develop parliamentary institutions

What is the Commonwealth?

• It is a voluntary association of 56 independent countries, almost all of which were formerly under British rule.
• It differs from other international bodies such as the United Nations or the World Trade Organization. 
• It has no formal constitution or bylaws. 
• The members have no legal or formal obligation to one another; they are held together by shared traditions, institutions, and experiences as well as by economic self-interest. 
• Commonwealth action is based upon consultation between members, which is conducted through correspondence and through conversations in meetings.
• The values and aspirations which unite the members of the Commonwealth are reflected in the Commonwealth Charter, adopted in December 2012. 
  • The Charter expresses the commitment of Commonwealth members to the development of free and democratic societies, good governance, human rights, the rule of law, sustainable development, and the promotion of peace and prosperity. 
• The work of the Commonwealth is administered by the Commonwealth Secretariat based in London.
• The last countries to join the Commonwealth were Gabon and Togo in 2022.
• India is the largest member state of the Commonwealth, with nearly 60% of the total population of the association. 

Source: ET