CONSTITUTIONAL & PARLIAMENTARY
INFORMATION
—
59th year, No. 198
Geneva, October 19 –21, 2009
CONTENTS
The office of the Secretary General — General debate moderated
by Andres LOMP —
Director of Parliamentary Relations of the Parliament
(Australia)………………………………………………………………….3
Reform of the consideration of bills and other texts in public
sitting at the National Assembly — Xavier ROQUES
Secretary General of the Questure of the National
Assembly (France)............................................................. 17
Coordination council of secretaries general of legislative bodies
of state authority of the Russian Federation — Vladimir
SVINAREV Secretary General, Council of Federation of
the Federal Assembly (Russian Federation) ....................27
Final draft report on the autonomy of Parliaments — Alain
DELCAMP Secretary General of the Senate (France) .... 31
The representation of local authorities by the French Senate —
Alain DELCAMP Secretary General of the Senate
(France) ............................................................................ 33
Co-operation of Parliamentary Secretariats, Beginning of of
Global Parliamentary Democracy — PARK Kye Dong
Secretary General of the National Assembly (Republic of
Korea) ................................................................................ 51
The challenge of the strategic planning implementation in the
Brazilian Chamber of Deputies — Maria Raquel
MESQUITA MELO Senior Manager of the Strategic
Management Office of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) 57
Administrative self-evaluation by Parliaments — General
debate moderated by Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI President,
Secretary General of the Council of the Nation (Algeria)63
Presentation by Gherardo CASINI — Global Centre for ICT in
Parliament ......................................................................... 83
Constitutional issues arising out of oath taking by members of a
new Lok Sabha (House of People) — P.D.T. ACHARY
Secretary General of the Lok Sabha (India) ................... 89
Contempt of the House by Members of Parliament – the
Zambian experience — Doris Katai Katebe MWINGA
Clerk of the National Assembly (Zambia) ....................... 93
Non-egalitarian bicameralism: the case study of the Senegalese
Parliament — Fatou Banel SOW GUEYE Secretary
General of the Senate (Senegal) ......................................103
The parliamentary system of Angola — Pedro Agostino DE
NERI Secretary General of the National Assembly
(Angola) ...........................................................................109
The demokratiewerkstatt in the Austrian Parliament – take
part, influence, play your part — Georg POSCH Secretary
General of the Parliament (Austria)............................... 121
Impact of dissolution of Lok Sabha (Lower House) on legislative
and other business — V.K. AGNIHOTRI Secretary
General of the Rajya Sabha (India)................................ 127
The Gabonese experience of parliamentary immunities — Félix
OWANSANGO DEACKEN Secretary General of the
Senate (Gabon) ................................................................ 139
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
3
THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL
—
General debate moderated by Andres LOMP
Director of Parliamentary Relations of the Parliament (Australia)
Previous consideration
Understandably, the topic of the office of Secretary-General of a parliamentary assembly
has been considered on a number of occasions by the Association of Secretaries-General of
Parliaments (ASGP). Previous recent consideration has occurred:
 in 1984 - The Role of Secretaries-General of Parliaments1 (A.M. De Guzman, SecretaryGeneral of the Batasang Pambansa of the Philippines),
 in 2000 - The Role of the Secretary General in the Administration of Parliament2 (Mr Ugo
Zampetti, General Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies, Italy) and
 The Management Role of the Secretary-General was the subject of general debate at the
ASGP April 2003 session, led by Mr Xavier Roques, Secretary-General of the Questure of the
National Assembly of France.3
The introduction to the general debate proposed for October 2009 will revisit many of the
points made by earlier contributors, particularly where there has been significant subsequent
change. The opportunity will be taken to revisit a number of aspects concerning the role of
the Secretary-General, including the organisation of parliamentary administration, the
Secretary-General’s dual role of adviser in parliamentary law and operational manager, and
the importance of leadership by the Presiding Officer and the Secretary-General. Finally, the
presentation will focus on three aspects of the office of secretary-general:

Appointment provisions;

Provisions relating to termination of office; and
 Disciplinary provisions.
Organisation of parliamentary administration
The importance of a representative parliament in the process of establishing rule of law is
being recognised increasingly around the world as an essential element of sound, effective
governance. It is difficult to imagine even the most basic of legislative bodies operating
Constitutional and Parliamentary Information (hereafter CPI) No 144 (4th quarter 1985), page 151.
CPI No.180 (2nd half year 2000).
3 The full text of Mr Roques’ presentation, and a summary of the debate that followed is in CPI No.
185 (1st half year 2003), pp 5-21
1
2
4
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
effectively without a parliamentary administration. Members of Parliament will usually
require the assistance of staff in giving effect to the enactments and other decisions of their
legislative body, plus supporting them in their committee and other activities (including
library support). The way in which this assistance is provided, the parliamentary
administration, is a very important element in the effective governance of a country.
Frequently the organisation of the parliamentary administration will be determined by
Constitutional arrangements or enactments (other enactments in the case of legislatures
operating under a written Constitution). Consequently, if a country’s Constitutional
arrangements provide for machinery observing the doctrine of separation of powers, it is
likely that the administration of each arm of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary
will be separated into individual compartments.
In countries operating under the Westminster System, where the Executive is part of the
legislature, the compartments may be blurred occasionally. Consequently, in some
jurisdictions the staff serving the Parliament may be appointed and employed under
legislative arrangements applying to the civil service attending to the needs of the Executive.
This was the case in Australia for the first 98 years of the country’s existence. Parliamentary
staff operated under the Public Service Act. However, extreme care was taken to ensure that
arrangements for the parliamentary service were different under that same Act. For example,
the Speaker of the House discharged many of the functions left to an independent public
service agency in respect of parliamentary staff.
In some jurisdictions (for example, the United Sates of America), there is a concept of “To
the victor [at the ballot box], the spoils”. However, there is a solid core of apolitical staff that
provides continuity and corporate memory. This occurs in both Houses, under the
leadership of the Parliamentarian. The Parliamentarian of the US House of Representatives is
a valued member of the ASGP. Most parliaments in the Westminster system adopt the
approach of having apolitical staff. This is especially important in times when the general
civil service is expected to implement the policies of the government of the day and to assist
in promoting them in the general community. It is important that the staff of parliaments,
and those of the judiciary, remain outside a process of promoting government policies.
This is not to suggest that there is not movement of staff across compartments. Where
administrations are organised so that parliamentary service and executive service are sideby-side, promising staff from the parliamentary service will frequently be tempted or
coerced into service for the executive. The important element in any lateral movement is that
there is no conflict of interest, and there must not be the appearance of conflict of interest.
There is also the matter of appropriate conditions of service for parliamentary staff. At the
core of this is remuneration that is competitive with comparable civil service staff. Where the
legislature is bicameral, it is also important that conditions for staff should be similar if not
necessarily identical across the Chambers. This does not apply only to salaries. There are
other significant elements of conditions of service that are important to staff, for example
appropriate accommodation and facilities such as computer and internet access. The
possibility for on-the-job learning and professional development are aspects that are
important to staff.
If at all possible, it is important for staff to be able to engage in some sort of parliamentary
career planning. Combined with this is the desirability for a declaration of skills that are
required for advancement in the parliamentary service, so that selection processes are
transparent and staff know in which areas they need to develop to gain selection for higher
positions. The Australian House of Representatives has developed a list of skills identified as
being of importance for work in a legislative Chamber and for parliamentary committees.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
5
The Australian House of Representatives experience has been that any statement of skills
should extend to other work areas beyond the more traditional “parliamentary” areas. It is
important for example that skills covering financial and personnel staff should be included,
and that there is no concept of second-class staff. If possible, senior staff should be familiar
with the demands and requirements of operation within areas of this kind. The Department
of the House of Representatives is fortunate in having a second chamber, which we currently
call “the Main Committee”, where committee, technical and other staff can sample tasks
performed by those working in the Chamber, assess if the experience is to their liking, and
test if they have the aptitude to perform the duties required.
The role of the secretary-general/clerk
Most secretaries-general perform a dual role. They are the principal adviser on
parliamentary law and the procedures of their legislature. The second role they play is a key
one, of ensuring the efficient functioning of their parliament, usually entailing broad
management responsibilities for parliamentary staff, budgets and assets.
One important element in the optimal performance of parliamentary duties is in the
relationship between the Secretary-General and the Presiding Officer. In a lecture under the
auspices of the Australia/New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) entitled Is
Westminster dead in Westminster (and why should we care), Professor Rod Rhodes of the
Australian National University spoke of the relationship between public servants and
ministers as follows:
Unfashionable though it may be to say so, bureaucracy has its uses. It acts as the
repository of specialised knowledge and as a counterweight to short- term political
expediency and opportunism. The civil service is the locus of institutional memory and the
bearer of institutional scepticism. It stands for integrity and probity against partisan interest
and corruption. It is also a political necessity. Ministers may want responsiveness and better
services. They also want the older arts. The good department secretaries spot the pot holes
before ministers fall in, and pull ministers out after they have fallen in, then pretend they
never fell in at all.4
The same concepts apply to the relationship between a Secretary-General and a Presiding
Officer. The Presiding Officer deserves frank and fearless advice on procedural and
administrative matters, and it is frequently more advantageous to the Presiding Officers for
matters to be explored first with the Secretary-General, as the custodian of institutional
memory and usually a source of non partisan/confidential scepticism. Based on a long
period of observation of examples of an effective Secretary-General and a less-than
successful Secretary-General, there is one readily identifiable characteristic, that is
anticipation of procedural and administrative consequences that any action might bring. If a
Presiding Officer appears to be on a course that might result in him or her falling into a pot
hole, it is the Secretary-General’s duty to point this out. The advice may be sought by
Members of Parliament other than the Presiding Officer, in fact to all elements of the political
spectrum. In many instances, an Opposition can only turn to the Secretary-General and his
or her staff for advice, and not to the much larger number of ministerial staff and agencies
that serve the government. This apolitical approach, and the appearance of being nonpartisan, is a major factor that differentiates the parliamentary service in Australia and other
countries.
Of course, a relationship of this kind grows with trust and understanding. Another major
characteristic in successful Secretaries-General and their staff is confidentiality. Particularly
4
The text of the address is at http://www.anzsog-research.anu.edu.au/events.html.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
6
in dealings with the Presiding Officer, it is not appropriate for the Secretary-General to “go
public” where there is a difference of opinion. Most Association secretaries-general are not
elected members of the legislature. A few are elected members, and there are benefits and
disadvantages in both approaches. The bottom line is that it is usually the Presiding Officer
who is the elected representative, and in many jurisdictions, he or she has been elected by his
or her peers. The ultimate decision-making remains with the Presiding Officer, although in a
number of nations (including Australia) the Presiding Officer is at arm’s length from day-today administrative decisions. This distance works to the advantage of the staff, and to the
advantage of the Presiding Officer.
Secretaries-General of Parliaments have a key role advising the Speaker/President and
the parliamentary chamber as a whole on procedural matters. To fulfil this advisory role
effectively it is important that the role can be performed with independence and integrity.
The Secretary-General is called upon to perform two roles:

Principal adviser on the law of Parliament, and
 Manager/agency head.
More time tends to be spent on the administrative duties. However, the principal players
in the political process, including the head of government and other executive Members, rely
on the Secretary-General for sound advice as to parliamentary law. Moreover, the advice is
frequently required on the spot and under intense pressure.
Secretaries-General are often closely observed by others in the political process. They are
expected to have a deep knowledge of the rules and precedents. There is also an expectation
that the Secretary-General will operate according to an institution’s rules, and will
demonstrate respect for and observance of sound principles of good governance, in domestic
and international relations.
Leadership - Importance of the Presiding Officer and
the Secretary-General
Leadership is an extremely important consideration in the organisation and constitution
of an effective parliamentary administration. Australia’s House of Representatives has
prioritised two aspects of leadership. One is individual leadership. The other is corporate
leadership.
Individual leadership
The Australian national experience has been that it is preferable to have the Presiding
Officer at the head of the Parliament, but to be at arm’s length from day-to-day
administrative, financial and staffing considerations. Under superseded arrangements, the
Presiding Officer constituted a final point of appeal in administrative matters. Occasionally
there were difficulties arising from this, in reality and in perception. It was found preferable
to have ultimate leadership vested in the Secretary-General, among whose functions are to
promote and to observe parliamentary service values and a parliamentary code of conduct.
However, this is not to suggest that all leadership within an administration is vested in
the Secretary-General. One important aspect of the concept of leadership as promoted and
practised in the Australian House of Representatives administration is that leadership is
exercised by almost everyone in the organisation depending on the circumstances. Staff are
encouraged to accept and develop their leadership skills, both in everyday working
situations and on external courses.
The House of Representatives is accredited as an Investor in People (IiP) Agency. IiP
provides an internationally recognised standard for improving performance by developing
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
7
people. There are standards and indicators of performance. The site of IiP is at:
http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/Pages/Home.aspx.
The individual leadership development program originated in and is driven by IiP. In
preparing for the standard, the Department established four working groups, one each on:

Leadership,

Planning & evaluation,

Communication, and
 Training & development.
The leadership group determined what the concept meant to them, and what skills and
modes of behaviour they expected of good leaders. Thirteen characteristics were developed.
Staff then rated their supervisor’s performance against these thirteen points.
The opportunity given to staff to provide feedback on their supervisor is an integral part
of annual work performance assessment cycle. It is normally completed by an entire work
group, but may be completed by individuals. The results are provided to the supervisor’s
manager prior to commencement of individual performance assessments.
The year 1998 provided a benchmark for staff satisfaction with departmental leadership as
against staff expectations. We have since rationalised the characteristics and conducted
regular surveys of this kind. This enables us to measure the way in which leadership in the
department is improving, and enables us to publish a leadership satisfaction index. The
index has shown, until this year, a continually increasing trend of satisfaction. The current
year shows a slight decrease, but not within the bounds of statistical significance.

1998 – 42%

1999 – 64%

2001 – 54%

2003 – 67%

2005 – 72%

2006 – 78%

2007 – 87%

2008 – 87%

2009 – 85%.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
8
There are strong grounds for concluding that strong individual and group leadership will
develop into sound corporate leadership. The two concepts are inter-related.
Corporate leadership
“Corporate leadership” means the reputation an organisation or an agency possesses by
being a leader in its field. For example, some fast food producers have developed a
reputation of corporate leadership in producing fast, cheap meals. They are now trying to
extend this reputation to encompass good nourishment as well. Australia’s national airline
Qantas has a reputation of corporate leadership in airline safety (reflected in the script of the
Tom Cruise/Dustin Hoffman film Rainman).
In the parliamentary environment, the Australian House of Representatives has
developed a reputation for over 100 years of the accuracy in the work that it produces. When
dealing with legislation, it is necessary for Acts to be processed and reproduced with
absolute accuracy.
There is an apocryphal story in English legal history about a man who was hanged
because a comma was missing from a piece of legislation. Punctuation can change meaning
significantly. For example, there is a story about students in a college being asked to
punctuate the following sentence:
woman with her man is nothing
The men punctuated the sentence accordingly:
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
The female students’ version was as follows:
Woman: Without her, man is nothing.
The public perception of the quality of leadership in the department has grown, and it has
developed a reputation as a leader in staff development. One beneficial aspect of this is that
staff are frequently keen to join the department because of the professional development
opportunities it provides. Similarly, they are eager to stay because of the development
benefits compared to similar institutions.
Qualifications, appointment, dismissal and termination of office
How and for how long the Secretary-General is appointed, and the circumstances in
which the Secretary General can be disciplined and dismissed, are important determinants of
the independence of the position. So also is whether the
Secretary-General is an elected member of the Assembly, or is a civil servant either
appointed to or elected by the Assembly.
Appointment
In Australia, the national Secretaries-General are non-elected officials, appointed by the
Speaker for a maximum 10 year, non-renewable term. This is similar to the provisions
relating to the national Auditor-General, and is intended to achieve the maximum degree of
independence. A Secretary-General’s advice might be perceived to be influenced by the fact
that he or she is seeking a renewal of appointment if this were permitted under the Act.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
9
The background and experience of the Secretary-General contributes to his/her authority
in performing the role. A background in law, or long experience working in parliament,
assists in providing the Secretary-General with the required authority.
Section 58 of the Parliamentary Service Act provides that a person is not to be appointed
as Secretary-General of the Senate or the House of Representatives unless the Presiding
Officer making the appointment is satisfied that the person has extensive knowledge of, and
experience in, relevant parliamentary law, procedure and practice.
General directions may be given in writing to the Secretaries-General in relation to the
management and leadership of the parliamentary service employees. However, the Act also
provides that the Secretary General of either House is not subject to direction by a Presiding
Officer in relation to any advice sought from, or given by, the Secretary-General with respect
to that House or any of its committees or Members.
Discipline
The Parliamentary Service Act sets out a number of parliamentary values and a Code of
Conduct. The values include a commitment to ethical standards, leadership, employment
decisions made on the basis of merit, anti-discrimination and recognition of workplace
diversity, performance orientation, equity etc. They also include a number of parliamentspecific values including the following:

Advice and support for the parliament independently of the Executive Government;

Non-partisan and impartial advice and services;
 Accountability to the Parliament.
Breaches of the Code of Conduct may result in a reprimand, salary deduction or
reduction, classification reduction or termination of appointment. The Secretaries General
are required to act in accordance with the Code of Conduct and promote the parliamentary
service values.
In practice, allegations of breaches of the values or Code of Conduct by the SecretariesGeneral are referred for advice to the Parliamentary Service Commissioner by the Presiding
Officer.
Termination of Appointment
The appointment of a person as Secretary-General may be terminated by resolution of the
respective House, for which notice of six sitting days is necessary. The resolution must state
the ground for termination either being misbehavior, incapability because of physical or
mental incapacity, or insolvency.
The 10-year appointment of the current Secretaries General of the Australian national
parliament was taken to have started at the time of commencement of the legislation. Their
previous service was not taken into account. The first 10-year period will expire in December
2009.
As this time approaches from a personal point of view, four considerations come to mind:
 Service in the Australian House of Representatives is greatly enriched by the
opportunity to work for representatives chosen by the people of Australia from all political
affiliations or without political affiliation.
 The Department which serves Australia’s House of Representatives has existed for
well over 100 years. Its role is to serve one of the most important institutions in democracy,
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
10
the Parliament. Much of the work is vital in the day to day operations of the Parliament but a
most important role is to care for the institution for the next generation.
 Service as Secretary General is always enriched by professionalism and goodwill of
other parliamentary colleagues, both domestically and internationally.”
Mr Vladimir V. SVINAREV (Russian Federation) presented the following contribution:
1. The quality of support services provided to any body of state authority depends to a
large extent on the level of skill of its administrative staff.
In the Russian Federation, the introduction of job assessment processes has been
effectively implemented on the basis of provisions of the Federal Law on Public Service in
the Russian Federation and the Federal Target Program entitled Reform and Development of the
Public Service System in the Russian Federation.
2. Job assessment processes employed in the Staff of the Council of the Federation are
quite varied. They include competitions for vacant positions, probation periods, appraisals,
qualifying examinations, candidate pools, and annual reports by public servants of work
completed during the year.
2.1. One of the areas of work of the human resources department is the use of the above
processes to carry out annual performance reviews of all staff across every division of the
Staff of the Council of the Federation. Reviews are conducted on both individual and
functional levels. Outcomes of the reviews are used in the process of improving the work of
both the division itself and each member of staff.
2.2. I would like to note that in recent times the work done by the human resources
department at the Staff of the Council of the Federation in this area of human resources
management has entered a whole new level. This was achieved by the implementation of a
positive attitude to assessment processes by employees of all levels from support staff to
managers. Employees are not objects, but subjects of the assessment process.
2.3. Understanding this, the human resources department aims to inform staff of
assessment processes as thoroughly as possible. To this end, the following measures have
been implemented within the Staff:
 staff is individually acquainted with documents regulating performance assessment
and use of outcomes,

talk,
staff is individually acquainted with outcomes of appraisals by way of an individual
 meetings are held where human resources staff answer any questions raised by
employees.
3. According to current research in the area of management, job performance assessment
is a powerful motivating factor which stimulates improvement in employees. Outcomes of
assessment processes are used to plan training, career and professional advancement of
employees, formation of candidate pools and advancement, and financial incentives. For the
performance assessment system to achieve a true stimulating effect, constant interaction
with employees is required to ensure individual motivation.
3.1. Within the Staff of the Council of the Federation, this is implemented in the form of
the so-called assessment talks between a manager and employee, which is we believe the
most active type of feedback, conducted both prior to the assessment (appraisal) and again
based upon the its outcomes.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
11
Only a constructive conversation reveals the employee’s personal interests, views, and
beliefs which influence his or her professional work. In turn, information provided by a
manager corresponding with the motivation of the employee significantly increases the
likelihood of it being absorbed. The assessment talk thus becomes a regulator of occupational
behaviour.
Thus, during an assessment talk, the employee is given the opportunity to learn the
details of which specific parameters of his or her performance go into the summarized
assessment criteria, learn the standards of best and poorest employees in order to more
specifically define his or her “professional development zone” and to use this understanding
to acquire a basis for self-control of quality of the quality of his or her output. All this helps
employees to increase their confidence and professional self-esteem.
As far as the manager is concerned, an assessment talk will help him or her to better
understand the “motivational zone” of the employee, to more reliably assess the employee’s
output, and to regulate the social and psychological atmosphere within the team.
3.2. I strongly believe that job performance assessment must not become a technical
procedure accompanied by a formal acquaintance and signature of the employee under the
outcome with no further comments!
Lack of feedback on assessment outcomes first of all decreases motivation of the employee
and secondly discredits the authority of the manager. To prevent this from happening, a set
of measures aimed at educating management is being developed within the Staff of the
Council of the Federation. For a number of years now, practical seminars have been held for
heads of divisions.
The aim of these seminars is to minimize the psychological barriers to managers
providing feedback to their employees and to ensure active use of the assessment talk. The
seminars consist of three parts: theory, training, and a simulation exercise.
In the theory part of the seminar, managers learn the aims and objects of job performance
assessment, its motivational role, and the scope of using assessment outcomes directly in
their management.
In the second part, devoted to training, heads of divisions develop the necessary skills of
providing and receiving feedback, most importantly, the skill of active listening, which aids
to build trust between managers and employees.
The third part of the seminar takes the form of a simulating exercise, which enables the
participants of the seminar to apply what they have learned in a specific practical situation.
3.3. A distinctive feature of such seminars is the focus not so much on how assessment
processes work but why they work, that is on the motivational aspects of assessment and
feedback based on its outcomes.
Thus assessment ceases to be a formal requirement: during a constructive conversation,
each party obtains something useful for him or herself and their actual advancement.
Managers obtain confidence in their ability to handle such a vital management function as
feedback, while employees gain an opportunity of using obtained results in their
professional self-development.
4. With interactive feedback on outcomes of assessment, the process of implementing
assessment processes ceases to be unilateral, traditionally beginning from above. Now the
process is being supported from below! This is one of the main factors of effective
assessment as a whole, and consequently, a guarantee of performance.”
Mr Austin ZVOMA (Zimbabwe) thanked Mr Lomp for his refreshing presentation.
Zimbabwe had a bicameral parliament, but a single administration headed by the Clerk of
12
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Parliament. This posed slightly different challenges from those presented by Mr Lomp. The
Clerk was a constitutional post with security of tenure. The two presiding officers together
chaired the Standing Orders and Rules Committee. The Clerk needed to find ways of
keeping in touch with the President of the Senate on administrative management issues,
although he reported to the Speaker of the lower House. Procedural work tended to be
delegated to deputies. The Clerk was directly accountable in management and financial
probity terms. Mr ZVOMA asked Mr Lomp how the survey on the leadership satisfaction
index was carried out, and by whom; and what relations existed between the clerks and
presiding officers of the two chambers in Australia.
Mr Francesco POSTERARO (Italy) presented the following contribution:
THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ITALIAN CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES
In this address I would like to summarise the main features of the post of Secretary
general of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, identifying the functions and the scope of the
powers vested in the post, according to the Rules of the Chamber.
The basic rules are found primarily in the Chamber of Deputies Rules of Procedure which,
in article 12 (4) provides that the Bureau shall appoint the Secretary General acting on a
proposal of the President of the Chamber; paragraph (5) of the same article provides that
two-thirds of the members of the Bureau is required to revoke the appointment.
Under article 67 of the Rules, the Secretary General is responsible for managing the
services and the offices of the Chamber and for reporting to the President of the Chamber of
Deputies.
One can already identify two basic principles enshrined in these first two legal provisions:
a) it is the Bureau, as the political/administrative steering body of the Chamber of Deputies,
representing all the Parliamentary groups, which appoints the Secretary General, and
guarantees the autonomy which is constitutionally vested in the Chamber. Furthermore, the
fact that in order to revoke the Chamber of Deputies Secretary General a very large majority
is required on the Bureau means that the majority coalition groups and the opposition
groups must necessarily concur, as further evidence of the principle that the post of Secretary
General is not subject to the pure rationale of dominance by the majority; b) the appointment
is made acting on a proposal of the President of the Chamber of Deputies: the fiduciary
relationship between the President and the Secretary General is essential, such that the
Secretary General is the main benchmark figure for providing legal and procedural advice to
the President, to whom he is accountable for the efficient working operation of the
bureaucratic apparatus.
The Secretary-General of the Chamber of Deputies is responsible for setting policies,
scrutinising and monitoring all the work of the Administration, with an overall unifying
function by identifying objectives and programmes for the work of the Administration,
laying down directives for their attainment, assessing the results and playing an active part
in the main functional processes.
The functions of the Secretary General - as illustrated by the regulations on Services and
Regulations on Staff - are based on the twin nature of his activities: acting as the legal adviser
to the President of the Chamber on the one hand, and managing and coordinating the work
of the Administration of the Chamber of Deputies, on the other.
By far the most important of the first type of activities is assisting the President during
sittings in the Chamber: for the Secretary General normally sits by the President during the
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
13
most sensitive and complex sessions, and also prepares the parliamentary business.
He also assists the President at meetings of the Bureau, which he attends with a
consultative vote, at the Conference of Group Presidents, which are responsible for adopting
resolutions regarding the organisation of parliamentary business, and at meetings of the
Board for the Rules of Procedure, which is responsible for proposing changes to the Rules of
Procedure to be put to the Chamber.
One of the legal and procedural consultancy functions of the Secretary General is taking
responsibility for handling relations with the other constitutional organs, namely, the Office
of the President of the Republic, the Senate, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministers,
and the Constitutional Court.
The second type of functions include policy-setting, and scrutiny and control over the
activities of the Administration. The sensitive functions of Personnel Director are also
exercised by the Secretary General, who proposes to the Bureau the appointment of Heads of
Service among parliamentary counsellors; he also proposes to the President the allocation of
counsellors to the different Services, appoints office heads and coordinators, allocates and
transfers all the Chamber of Deputies personnel from one structure to another within the
Administration.
Far-reaching changes in the Italian institutional and legal system have also been
incorporated into this normative context, and over the past decade a radical process of
administrative reform has been implemented which has affected the organisational structure,
the instruments for the work of the Administration and the internal regulations, emphasising
the managerial functions and vesting further responsibilities in the Secretary-General.
For in organisational terms, the wide range of structures which work together today to
achieve the institutional objectives have made the Secretary General's policy-setting and
scrutiny activities more stringent, to guarantee the pursuit of the objectives laid down by the
policy-setting organs.
As for the functions performed, the Secretary General plays a dynamic role, operating not
only as the head of a hierarchical structure but above all as a liaison and linkage,
guaranteeing that all the structures of the Administration work together in order to ensure
that all issues are dealt with on the necessary across-the-board basis due to the complexity of
the administrative activities performed.
This change in the role of the Secretary General is the result of the evolution taking place
in the parliamentary administrations towards more complex and more modern ways of
supporting the institutional work of Legislative Assemblies. This is a particularly significant
development when related to wide-ranging events which, albeit in different ways, involve
the representative institutions in every country today. The modernisation and globalisation
of policies and markets, as well as the development of innovative new media - one only has
to think of the revolution that has taken place in the exchange of information introduced by
the Internet - require parliamentary administrations to make a massive effort to adjust in
organisational and technological terms.
For the changed benchmark framework has added and increased the number of
managerial and organisational functions that have to be performed, in order to guarantee the
maximum efficiency and functionality of the administrative structures.
As a result of an increase in the functions performed in various parts of the
Administration, the Secretary General's responsibilities have also been broadened, because,
as already mentioned, here is answerable to the President for all the work performed within
the administration.
The specific responsibility of the Secretary General is therefore the capacity to guarantee
consistency and coherence between all the activities of the policy-setting organs of the
14
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Chamber of Deputies and the administrative structures, acting in a wholly impartial role,
thereby creating the conditions to ensure the best possible operation of the organ of popular
sovereignty.
The increasing complexity of the work of the apparatus is therefore accompanied by
heightened impartiality on the part of the Administration, and hence on the part of the
Secretary General.
The principle of impartiality, which is the main feature of the Italian parliamentary
bureaucracy and of the post of the Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies requires
him to support the unifying responsibility of the President and being functions of acting as a
guarantor super partes and then providing uniform services on an equal basis for all the
members of Parliament and the various political parties.
The characteristics of the parliamentary bureaucracy, whose organisational model and
administrative functions are based on the principles of impartiality, unity and autonomy,
remain unchanged. Indeed, in some respects, they have been further strengthened as the
political/institutional system has evolved, particularly with the introduction of the majority
voting system. Impartiality has remained as one of the most specifically distinctive elements.
If anything, it has become even more important still, parallel to the extension and a greater
complexity of the functions performed by the President of the Chamber as guarantor.
It is the principle of impartiality that has imposed the need for the Administration to be
organised as a strongly unitary body, and after defining working methods and techniques
designed mainly to place all the offices in the Administration under the unitary
responsibility of the Secretary General. The unity of the Administration, and to the oversight
of the Secretary General is therefore one of its essential distinctive features.
The prior definition of the working methods, as the kingpin of the administrative work of
the Chamber, is governed by the complex corpus of internal rules which basically cover
every area of activity of the Administration based on common principles: impartiality,
uniformity, and objectivity. These rules comprise the Regulations on Services and Staff, the
Regulations for administration and accounts, the Regulation governing documentation and
the Library, the Regulation governing the Historical Archive, the Regulations setting the
general criteria of the organisation of the Legal Counsel's Office of the Chamber, the
Regulations governing Competitive Recruitment Examinations, the Regulations governing
discipline of the staff, the Regulations governing access to parliamentary documents and the
administrative documents of the Chamber, and personal data protection rules.
The “hourglass” configuration of the legal organisation of the Chamber, on which there
are the policy-setting organs at the top identifying objectives and laying down guidelines,
and at the other end is the Administration required to implement them, has the Secretary
General as its fulcrum, playing the essential part of a linkage between the political sphere
and the administrative sphere, while keeping those roles clearly distinct. This distinction is
itself a key principle of the work of the bureaucratic administration and of the Secretary
General as its head.
Against this background, in which autonomy and impartiality are the core values of the
administrative work, at every level, and the benchmark parameter for every activity, the
abolition of the limit on the term of office of the Secretary General in 2002 was designed to
guarantee the neutrality of the Secretary General and the work of the whole Administration,
regardless of the political majorities which can change as one Parliament succeeds another.

Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
15
Mr Brendan KEITH (United Kingdom) described his own position in the House of Lords
as an adviser on parliamentary ethics. He summarised the functions of secretaries general
under four headings: (1) chief adviser on procedure (the traditional, highly technical job), (2)
adviser to the Chair, both on procedure and on political issues, (3) chief executive, a leader,
manager, financial manager and ‘father figure’ to junior colleagues, and (4) individual and
corporate leadership, through planning, communication and outreach work. This made for a
busy and demanding job. He asked three questions: first, whether any one person could
undertake all these roles successfully; second, if so, what kind of person; and third, whether
the job needed to be split between more than one person.
Mr Baye Niass CISSÉ (Senegal) talked about the office of secretary general in his
country, which as in other countries, had both procedural and administrative functions.
Dr V.K. AGNIHOTRI (India) explained that the Vice-President of India was ex officio
chair of the Indian upper house on a part-time basis. The secretary general was appointed on
a contract basis by the Vice-President, following consultation with the leaders of the major
political parties in the House. The contract was for two years, extendable for one year at a
time. His term of office was in practice usually co-terminous with that of the Vice-President,
which lasted for five years. 80% of Dr Agnihotri’s time was taken up in administrative
matters, and 80% of that was staff management. He dealt with enormous staff files, even
when in the Chamber. Another increasing burden followed from the Right to Information
Act, with numerous requests for information arriving daily, especially about the results of
promotion boards.
Mr Zingile DINGANI (South Africa) asked about the accounting officer role of the
secretary general. He noted the reluctance of parliamentarians to participate in the process of
planning and budgeting for committee functions. Committees tended to want to spend
money when they wanted, and not be bound by officials’ decisions. New parliamentarians
also sometimes challenged the authority of an unelected chief executive.
Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, noted that in Algeria the presiding officer would be
elected in December. The oldest parliamentarian would preside over the election, not the
secretary general as in Australia. He asked who took decisions on hiring staff in Australia,
the presiding officer or secretary general, and about relations with the head of Cabinet.
Mr Andres LOMP (Australia) confirmed that the secretary general presided over the
election of the Speaker in Australia. This could be uncomfortable for the secretary general,
but the tradition remained in place. The secretary general confirmed staff appointments
other than his own, following a panel interview process. Leadership had been a focus of the
debate. While the secretary general was the head of the organisation, others also had to play
a leadership role. The leadership survey involved working groups of staff, which produced
indicators of good leadership. Staff were asked anonymously about whether their existing
leaders met these indicators. As in Russia, there had been a strong focus on human resource
planning. Mr Lomp did not think the job was too much for one person, as long as they had a
strong enough team to support them.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
17
REFORM OF THE CONSIDERATION OF BILLS AND
OTHER TEXTS IN PUBLIC SITTING AT THE
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
—
Xavier ROQUES
Secretary General of the Questure of the National Assembly (France)
The National Assembly has just amended its Rules of Procedure. An important aspect of
this revision concerns the organisation of the debate of instruments, with, in particular, the
possibility of fixing a maximum duration for the consideration of instruments at sittings and
the application of 'sanctions' to get this organisation of debates respected.
A provision of this type had been abolished in 1969. It is now reappearing. I feel it is
instructive to consider this wide swing in the light of the provisions of rationalised
parliamentarism which are an important element in the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.
Three remarks are to be made in this respect:
First, the importance must be stressed of the fact that rationalised parliamentarism breaks
with the previous constitutional tradition.
Then it is to be noted that it is the very success of rationalised parliamentarism which has
justified its relaxation today.
Last, it should be emphasised that while there has indeed been a wide swing, it is not an
all-out swing.
That is what I will now demonstrate.
I.- THE MECHANISMS OF RATIONALISED PARLIAMENTARISM: A
REVOLUTION WHICH HAS SUCCEEDED
The Fifth Republic wanted to correct the constitutional defects that had led to paralysing
governmental action in France. These defects have been labelled as the 'assembly regime'
which stands for the excesses brought about by the conception of 'parliamentary sovereignty'
that has marked the French public spirit since 1877.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
18
Philosophically, the aim was to return to the principles of the separation of powers set
forth, as early as 1789, in Article XVI of the Declaration of Human Rights and of the Citizen.
A major part of French political and constitutional history since 1789 can indeed be seen as
the difficult quest for balance between the powers, so as 'to ensure democracy works
optimally'.
Politically, this quest led to the restoration of full governmental power in the face of
legislative power, so as to put an end to governmental instability and also preserve the
government from an increase in parliamentary prerogatives to its detriment.
Legally, this new balance was achieved by so-called rationalised parliamentarism
provisions, of a constitutional nature. Their role has been essential. They were directly and
precisely devised on the basis of the lessons drawn from the experience of the Fourth
Republic.
What are these provisions?
Apart from a strict sittings regime, these provisions have been aimed at the manner in
which legislative work is exercised, with:
–
Demarcation by the Constitution of a field of statute law per se and limitation of
the right of amendment of parliamentarians with regard to the ambit of statute thus defined;
–
Control over the parliamentary agenda as a matter of priority by the government;
–
Strict framing of the manner in which Finance Acts are considered and limitation
of the right of amendment of parliamentarians for financial admissibility reasons (in other
words the fact you cannot increase an item of public expenditure even by guaranteeing an
ensuing saving);
–
The privileged place granted to the government in legislative proceedings and
debate, with in particular:
•
Debate at sittings on the basis of the initial governmental instrument and not that
resulting from consideration in a committee,
•
The possibility of calling for a block vote on all or part of the provisions under debate,
•
And control over the shuttles between the National Assembly and the Senate (this
way the government can declare an instrument to be urgent. This allows a joint National
Assembly-Senate committee to be convened after a single reading in each chamber: the
instrument proposed by the joint committee can be amended only with the government's
agreement).
Last, a symbolic provision is to be mentioned, even if it isn't used frequently: the
possibility of getting legislation adopted without a vote unless the government is
overthrown by a motion of censure being passed (Article 49 paragraph 3 of the Constitution).
With regard to what was the experience of the Fourth Republic, these mechanisms of
rationalised parliamentarism have been all the more efficient as they have imposed
themselves over a lengthy period. However, it is not unreasonable to believe that two
reasons outside rationalised parliamentarism strictly speaking have mainly allowed it to
become anchored:
–
Choice of a voting method that allows voters to reach a majority on the very
evening of the elections (two-ballot system) and strengthens the legislature majorities;
–
Introduction of a monitoring of constitutionality that has been effectively
implemented. This monitoring has been all the more effective because, since 1974, 60
deputies and 60 senators have been allowed to refer matters to the constitutional judge,
which has led to the development of ever more precise jurisprudence. This jurisprudence
accepts that an irregular adoption procedure can make a legislative provision
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
19
unconstitutional.
All in all, in this set-up, the Rules of Procedure, although essential for the daily holding of
debates, cannot either in letter or in their implementation (precedents), free themselves from
the constitutional provisions which strictly fix the framework of relations between the
government and parliament.
From this point of view, the abolition, in 1969, in the National Assembly Rules of
Procedure, of the framing of the length of consideration of instruments appears quite
symbolic. Such a framing had nevertheless appeared in 1935 and had been taken up again
under the Fourth Republic. If, in 1969, it was felt possible to no longer fix a maximum
duration except for the general debate and procedural motions, it was indeed because
relations between the government and parliament, as organised by the Constitution, led to
the 'almost mechanical' consequence of control over the schedule of debates on instruments.
What reasons have led to changing this state of affairs?
*
* *
II.- LESSER FRAMING OF THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENT FOR BETTER
LEGISLATIVE WORK
Two changes are to be taken into account.
The first concerns the relations between the government and parliament.
Whenever the majoritarian principle prevails over time, the logic of 'blocs', to use old
terminology of international relations, has given way to détente, understanding and
cooperation between the executive and the legislative. The main question has therefore
become that of parliament's influence and, in practice, that of its majority, over the
instruments drafted by the government administration owing to their increasing technicality.
That's why the feeling has arisen that granting greater latitude to parliament could, all in
all, guarantee greater efficacy of joint action by the government and its majority.
The constitutional revision of 23 July 2008 has therefore reconsidered several symbolic
provisions of the rationalised parliamentarism of the origins of the Fifth Republic:
–
Control over the agenda is now better shared between the government and
parliament;
–
Parliament has been given the possibility of opposing the choice of an accelerated
procedure limiting the number of shuttles between the assemblies;
–
The debate of instruments in plenary sitting takes place on the basis of the
instrument drafted by the committee;
–
Last, the possibility of getting legislation adopted without a vote unless the
government is overthrown (the symbolic Article 49 paragraph 3 of the Constitution) is
limited to a single use per session, apart from use for the adoption of Finance Acts or Social
Security Finance Acts.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
20
Full control over the schedule of debates on instruments, and not only over the general
debate, appears all the more useful as French parliamentary tradition is based on the
primacy of the plenary sitting.
If the length of the public sitting is considered, time devoted to legislative debate stood at
202 hours in 1973 and grew greatly from the 1980s onwards but has no longer fundamentally
changed since then: 627 hours in 1983, 612 hours in 1994 and 651 hours in 2004. However, the
increase in the number of amendments tabled during parliamentary debate is a decisive
element of the past thirty years or so. In 1973, 1,620 amendments were tabled and 593 of
them were adopted, in other words 36%. In 1983, 8,912 amendments were tabled and 3,593
adopted, in other words 40%. In 2004, 26,471 amendments were tabled and 3,059 adopted, in
other words 11.55%.
As the time globally devoted to public sittings has not fundamentally changed, and as
that devoted to general debates and procedural motions has not substantially varied, it is the
time devoted to the consideration of each amendment which has therefore decreased. That's
why greater flexibility in the organisation of debate time, combined with better use of the
work carried out in committees appear likely to allow a decrease in the number of
amendments presented by deputies of the majority in public sitting.
Yet, from the point of view of relations between the government and its majority, the
question mainly debated to date has not so much been that of the individual initiative of
each majoritarian deputy as that of the intervention of the majoritarian group, as early as
possible before the tabling of bills. No doubt should we see here an effect of the weakening
of the technical legitimacy of government departments, incapable, according to elected
representatives, of being genuinely in tune with public opinion. For these elected
representatives, a good instrument or a good reform can be spoilt by poor communication.
The majoritarian group must therefore be expressly associated in the most important tradeoffs so as to 'clear the field of mines' or prepare it. But this determination to make the
intervention of the majoritarian group as perceptible as possible to public opinion as early as
the preparatory stage of governmental work has already, on several occasions, led to
reserves on the part of the government.
The second change concerns relations between the majority and the opposition.
Here, it is a form of tension which has appeared, with a greater frequency of behaviours
aimed at delaying the adoption of instruments by having recourse to obstruction processes
especially like the increased use of amendments. The massive tabling of amendments is
aimed at delaying the adoption of a bill and starting a battle of opinions on the problems it
raises.
By way of example:
–
During the 1998-1999 session, 13,835 amendments were tabled of which 3,061 on a
single instrument on the civil pact of solidarity (PACS);
–
During the 2003-2004 session, 27,073 amendments were tabled of which 56% on
only three instruments (8,495 on the bill on health insurance, 4,876 on the bill on local
freedoms and responsibilities and 1,960 on the bill on the public gas and electricity service);
–
During the 2004-2005 session, out of the 26,471 amendments tabled, 68%
concerned just three instruments (14,888 on the bill on postal activities, 2,152 on the bill on
the organisation of working time and 1,039 on the bill on social cohesion);
–
During the 2006-2007 session, out of the 144,014 amendments tabled, 95%
(137,665) concerned a single instrument (bill on the energy sector).
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
21
As recourse to the provisions of Article 49 paragraph 3 of the Constitution is limited, its
efficacy as an 'anti-obstruction' arm (which it had mainly become owing to the cohesion of
the legislature majorities) has waned and it appeared necessary to introduce a substitutive
mechanism fixing the length of consideration of instruments.
*
* *
III.- RETURN TO THE ORGANISATION OF DEBATES IN THE RULES OF
PROCEDURE: PROGRAMMED LEGISLATIVE TIME
The rules framing the debates on Finance Acts have been kept unchanged.
The principles of rationalised parliamentarism have been kept as regards the budgetary
field. The constitutional regulations lay down lengths of time for the adoption of the finance
bill and, if these are not respected, the bill is removed from parliament as a sanction. The bill
can then be brought into force by ordinances. In addition, only a single reading in each
chamber is laid down before convening a joint committee.
This mechanism of rationalised parliamentarism was spread to social security finance bills
in 1996, given the importance now acquired by social budgets and their growing funding by
taxation.
The 2008 revision has not changed these provisions. It has kept, without any limitation,
the possibility, for the government, to get legislation adopted without a vote unless it is
overthrown (Article 49, paragraph 3 of the Constitution). Also, the revision of the Rules of
Procedure has excluded debates on these instruments from the procedural field, setting
down lengths of time for the consideration of an instrument at sittings.
From the viewpoint of relations between the executive and the legislative, the rationalised
parliamentarism of the origins of the Fifth Republic has been fully kept. From the viewpoint
of relations between the majority and the opposition, obstruction on the bills in question
would in any case be counter-productive as, roughly speaking, the determination to prevent
by all means the adoption of an instrument would lead only to it being promulgated by
ordinance.
The possibility of setting a length of time for the consideration of other instruments at sittings
Rules 49 and 55 of the Rules of Procedure lay down this possibility once more. Roughly
speaking, the mechanism is arranged as follows:
This is a mere possibility for the Chairmen's Conference. If it chooses to implement it, it
can then fix the length not only of the general debate, but of the instrument in its entirety,
including the consideration of articles.
The Chairmen’s Conference fixes the time granted to groups and non-enrolled deputies.
As far as it is concerned, the speaking time allotted to committees and the government is not
limited.
Each group must have a minimum time, opposition groups enjoying more time than
others.
22
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Remaining time is granted at the rate of 60% to opposition groups, divided between them
in proportion to their numeric importance, the remaining 40% being assigned to the other
groups and also being divided among them in proportion to their numeric importance.
Time allotted to non-enrolled deputies is fixed on an all-inclusive basis.
The Chairmen's Conference has fixed the division of time between groups. For instance, in
cases where, for the consideration of an instrument, a length of 20 hours is granted to group
interventions, 11 hours 35 will be allotted to the opposition groups (7 hours 10 to the socialist
group, the largest opposition group, and 4 hours 25 to the GDR group) and 8 hours 25 to the
majoritarian groups (5 hours 15 to the largest group and 3 hours 10 to the centre group). 40
minutes are set aside for deputies not enrolled in any group.
Group chairmen can ask and obtain, by right, that the time reserved for groups shall be
set as 30 hours. Once a session, each group chairman can obtain that the time allotted to
groups shall be set as 50 hours. When the debate of an instrument at first reading takes
places less than 6 weeks before its tabling or less than 4 weeks before its transmission by the
Senate, a group chairman can oppose the fixing of lengths of time for the consideration of
this instrument.
As time is now globalised, oral statements are no longer subject to any time limit and
all deputies' statements are deducted from the time allotted to the group they belong to.
Statements by group chairmen are deducted within a limit of one or two hours depending on
whether the global time fixed by the Chairmen's Conference is under or over 40 hours. Time
devoted to suspensions of sittings is fully deducted from the time of the group that has asked
for them. The same applies to time devoted to points of order if the chairman of a sitting feels
they are clearly not related to the Rules of Procedure or the conduct of a sitting, within the
limit of 2 minutes per point of order.
When a group has used up the time allotted to it, the floor is no longer given to its
members. An amendment then tabled by a deputy belonging to this group is put to the vote
without debate. The group chairman can no longer ask for a public ballot, except on the
instrument in its entirety. The chairman of the sitting asks only for the opinion of the
committee and the government on the amendments in question in order to enlighten the
Assembly's vote.
Last, following the vote on the last article of the instrument under debate or on the last
amendment, each deputy can take the floor to explain his personal vote for 5 minutes. Time
devoted to these vote explanations is not deducted from the global time divided between
groups.
This mechanism has already been implemented on three occasions.
 For the consideration of a bill on derogations to the principle of Sunday rest, a group
chairman used his right to ask for a maximum time of 50 hours. The speaking time allotted to
the majoritarian group was 14 hours 55 and that allotted to the primary opposition group
was 19 hours 50. Before passing on to the debate on articles, the majoritarian group had
divided 2 hours 39 between 23 speakers and the primary opposition group 9 hours 17
between 30 speakers. At the beginning of the last sitting devoted to the instrument, the
majoritarian group still had 11 hours 30 to defend 24 amendments and the primary
opposition group still had 2 hours 51 to defend 83 amendments. This group used up its
speaking time before having defended all its amendments, so the chairman of the sitting
stopped the deputy from speaking when the time allotted to the group was used up. Then,
all the amendments whose authors no longer had time to defend them were put to the vote
after obtaining the opinion of the committee and the government.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
23
 For the consideration of a bill on vocational training, a group chairman asked for the
application of a maximum time of 30 hours. The groups stayed within the times allotted to
them since, at the beginning of the last debate sitting on this instrument, the remaining
speaking time was, for instance, 5 hours 56 (out of 8 hours 30) for the majoritarian group
where 5 amendments remained under debate, and 4 hours 38 (out of 11 hours 25) for the
primary opposition group where 14 amendments remained under debate.
 For the consideration of a bill on competition in the online gambling sector, the
groups again stayed within the times allotted to them since, at the beginning of the last
debate sitting on this instrument, the remaining speaking time was 6 hours 22 (out of 8 hours
30) for the majoritarian group where 23 amendments remained under debate, and 6 hours 29
(out of 11 hours 25) for the primary opposition group where 217 amendments remained
under debate.
*
**
The programming of the length of consideration of instruments is only at the beginning of
its implementation, but it is reasonable to believe that it cannot remain without effects on
behaviours in the plenary sitting.
The Constitutional Council acknowledged this by considering that when a maximum
duration is decided for the consideration of the whole of an instrument, 'this length of time
cannot be fixed in a manner that it makes the requirements of clarity and sincerity of parliamentary
debate meaningless'. Therefore, a consideration length of time manifestly incompatible with
the importance, including 'qualitative', or the technicality, of an instrument, could no doubt
be usefully disputed before the constitutional judge.
Such a mechanism cannot therefore be reasonably used to 'ration' speaking time. On the
other hand, its logic indeed leads each group to 'using its time thriftily', to avoid losing
control over its participation in the debate. When deputies speak they will focus more and
more on what appears politically important, which will require stopping debate strategy on
a case by case basis. For instance, a trade-off between the time allotted to general debate and
the time allotted to the 'battle' over amendments will have to be made.
Similarly, it can be believed that everything concerning the technical improvement of the
mechanism should now be undertaken in a committee so as to be integrated in the
instrument serving as the basis for debate at sittings and not have any impact on debate time.
It can also be believed that the 'efficacy' of words spoken will tend to become an
important decisional criterion: for example, should the number of speakers be limited to a
few specialists of the instrument, best able to be dissenters or fully demonstrate matters, with
sufficient time to do so, or should the number of statements be increased so as to provide
evidence of the group's 'mobilisation'?
As for its long term effects, it can barely be disputed that such a reform will contribute to
strengthening the role of political groups in legislative activity. However, this influence
cannot be effectively increased unless group discipline, beyond voting itself, is successfully
spread to the taking of the floor. In effect, from now on, the responsibility of getting
discipline respected as regards the taking of the floor will no longer be a matter for the
chairman of a sitting as long as the global time allotted to a group is not used up. Does this
augur lesser visibility in the hemicycle of atypical or marginal deputies of whom journalists
and editorial writers are so fond? It is too early to say so. On the other hand, it can already be
noted that the logic of programmed legislative time is that of close dialogue, in the
24
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
hemicycle, between the government and the opposition, majoritarian deputies being those
for whom voting is important above all, because they are less entitled to take the floor as
they are more numerous.
All in all, a new facet of the parliamentary job has no doubt made its appearance: the
experienced parliamentarian is now the one who not only knows how to use all the
possibilities of the Rules of Procedure but also knows how to be thrifty in using the speaking
time allotted to his group. Perhaps in the hemicycle also, the composure of old troops will
constitute the strength of armies? But what then will become of the furia francese?”

Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, asked how speaking time globally was to be shared
between different political groups. He said that he thought that heads of political groups
were taking on too much power.
Mr Alphonse K. NOMBRÉ (Burkina Faso) asked about the risks associated with holding
committee sessions in public.
Dr V.K. AGNIHOTRI (India) asked how time could be allotted effectively to parties with
very few Members of Parliament.
Mr Zingile DINGANI (South Africa) focused on the right of individual parliamentarians
to propose amendments to bills, and how to ensure they made sense in the context of budget
planning.
Mrs Doris Katai Katebe MWINGA (Zambia) said that in her country, committee sittings
had also been opened to the public. This meant that those appearing at these sittings had to
prepare more effectively. She asked about the relationship between political groups and
committees.
Mr Louis-Claude NYASSA (Cameroon) asked whether opening committees to the public
had made their work more obviously political.
Mr Xavier ROQUES (France) said that he shared some of the concerns raised. There was
a mathematical formula for sharing the global speaking time among the various groups.
Within the formula, more time was given to opposition groups than governing party groups.
Members who did not belong to groups (parties with fewer than 20 members) were given a
brief speaking time. Heads of groups found the power to share speaking time among their
members a mixed blessing; it was not a power they had sought. The system had worked
reasonably well so far. Now that they were held in public, committee meetings were
preceded by private meetings of the political groups to prepare, and they did now have a
more political character. Groups were now having to follow more closely the work being
carried out within committees and exercise greater discipline over their members. In France,
individual members were not allowed to propose lowering taxes or raising expenditure.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
25
Mrs Emma LIRIO REYES (Philippines) briefly described the committee system in the
Philippines.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
27
COORDINATION COUNCIL OF SECRETARIES
GENERAL OF LEGISLATIVE BODIES OF STATE
AUTHORITY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
—
Vladimir SVINAREV
Secretary General, Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the
Russian Federation
At our previous meeting I had the privilege of informing you of the work being carried
out by the Staff of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian
Federation to ensure cooperation with constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the
area of legislation. Today I would like to continue this topic by speaking to you on one area
of this work – the Coordination Council of Secretaries General of Legislative Bodies of State
Authority of the Russian Federation.
The creation of the Coordination Council in 2003 was resulted from the necessity of
coordinating administrative efforts directed at the exercise of powers of legislative bodies of
state authority of the Russian Federation and the creation of a single legal space.
The Coordination Council comprises of Secretaries General of legislative bodies of
constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as Secretaries General of the Council of
the Federation and of the State Duma, who also act ex officio as co-chairmen of the
Coordination Council.
For the purpose of ensuring cooperation between legislators of all levels, the Coordination
Council organizes the exchange of legal information, conducts conferences, seminars,
secondments, and other activities aimed at sharing administrative experience. It also
considers proposals on improving parliamentary public service, provides professional
support to staff of administration of legislative bodies, including in the form of further
education, additional qualifications and professional skill.
Meetings of the Coordination Council are as a rule held at least once every year in one of
the chambers of the Federal Assembly or in one of the constituent entities of the Russian
Federation. The meetings are a broad platform for discussion of issues of expert work on
federal and regional draft legislation. In this area, the Coordination Council works closely
with the Council of Legislators.
Secretaries General of legislative bodies of the Russian Federation who are by virtue of
their positions members of the Coordination Council work to unite efforts of representatives
28
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
of the expert community, working through and appraising new forms of analytical and
informational support of the work of parliaments.
In addition, meetings of the Coordination Council include discussion of issues related to
the monitoring of the practice of implementing federal legislation in the constituent entities
of the Russian Federation. The executive branch of government is directly involved in the
law-enforcement process. Because of this, the organization of administrative cooperation
between legislators and representatives of the administration of constituent entities of the
Russian Federation represents another vital aspect of the work carried out by the
Coordination Council.
On location, within their own administrations, members of the Coordination Council
ensure work is undertaken to conduct analysis of law-enforcement practice in the regions,
and to process and provide the relevant information to members of parliament.
For this purpose, the Coordination Council is organizing work with submissions made by
the public on issues of application of federal legislation. Such submissions are initially
considered and responded to by the administrations of regional parliaments, while at
meetings of the Coordination Council the Secretaries General exchange summarized
(systemized) information for possible use in legislative drafting process.
So that you may assess the geographical scope and subject range of our meetings, I will
offer you the example of the three most recent meetings of the Coordination Council. Thus,
in 2007, the meeting on the issue informational and technological support of the legislative
process was held in the Urals, in the city of Khanty-Mansiysk. In 2008, the Secretaries
General met in Saint Petersburg and discussed the issue of cooperation of the State Duma
and legislative (representative) bodies of state authority of the Russian Federation in the
federal legislative process.
In 2009, the meeting of the Coordination Council was held in Siberia, in the Altai Region
and was devoted to issues of legal and informational and analytical support of work of
legislative bodies of state authority of the Russian Federation, the development of an
electronic document management system and full-scale use of resources of the Parliament
web portal.
The next meeting of the Coordination Council is planned to be held at the Council of the
Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The subject of discussion will
be issues of ensuring effectiveness of legislative activity of constituent entities of the Russian
Federation and the preparation of consolidated legislative initiatives.
I will only note that the issue of coordination of legislative activity of the constituent
entities of the Russian Federation is one of the priorities of the current work of the Council of
the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and its administration. It is
a constant topic of discussion at many different events. And the Coordination Council is the
platform where parliamentary Secretaries General will be able to develop specific
mechanism of supporting legislation drafting process of the constituent entities of the
Russian Federation when this legislation is submitted for consideration by the federal
Government and the State Duma.
The effectiveness of cooperation between federal and regional legislators depends on the
level of cooperation between their supporting staff. In this regard, the Coordination Council
represents a type of teamwork by the Secretaries General of legislative bodies of state
authority in the federal state.

Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
29
Mr Alain DELCAMP (France) asked how the regions were represented within the
Council of the Federation, and the nature of their mandate; whether and how the regions had
any power to initiate federal legislation; and what were the respective roles of the Council of
Federation and the State Duma with respect to the regions.
Mr Brendan KEITH (United Kingdom) asked whether the Coordination Council had
considered any performance measures to assess the effectiveness of the various constituent
entities.
Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, asked for more information about relations between
citizens and the Co-ordination Council.
Mr Vladimir SVINAREV explained that the Council of Federation was made up of
representatives from each regional legislative body and each regional executive branch,
appointed by the heads of those bodies. A new model was about to be launched under which
there would be elections at a regional level for representatives to be sent to the Council of
Federation. Each region did indeed have a right to initiate bills and amendments at a federal
level. The Co-ordination Council had a duty to ensure the effectiveness of regional legislative
processes. Unfortunately, there was a low level of effectiveness: only about 10% of regional
legislation was successful. Legislative initiatives from the regions were considered first by
the State Duma. The role of the Council of Federation was to validate their constitutionality.
The Council was represented at and participated in sittings of the State Duma. Citizens were
entitled to submit questions and requests at various levels. The Speaker and committees of
the Council of Federation dealt directly with citizens’ requests, and monitored the extent to
which their issues were dealt with.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
31
FINAL DRAFT REPORT
ON THE AUTONOMY OF PARLIAMENTS
—
Alain DELCAMP
Secretary General of the Senate (France)
Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, explained that the final draft report of Mr Alain
DELCAMP, Secretary General of the French Senate, on the autonomy of Parliaments, had
been distributed to members at the session in Addis Ababa. The Association now had to give
its view on this report, which, if there was no objection, would become a report of the ASGP.
He gave the floor to Mr DELCAMP to present his report.
Mr Alain DELCAMP (France) stated that there were a number of errors in the report
originally provided to the Association, and that two additional contributions had been
received. He regretted that there had not been more responses to the original questionnaire
to make it more representative. If further contributions were received, he hoped they could
be incorporated in some way. He mentioned that he had grouped parliamentary
organograms together in the latest version of his report. He suggested thinking for the future
about indexing the reports published by the Association, to enable wider access to the
material contained within them.
Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, asked if there were any comments on the report.
Ms Heather LANK (Canada) noted that Canada’s reply had been on behalf of both
Houses, and the report should be amended to reflect this.
Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, thanked Mr DELCAMP for his excellent report. An
addendum to the report could be published in the future if further responses were received.
32
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
The final draft report, as amended, was adopted.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
33
THE REPRESENTATION OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES
BY THE FRENCH SENATE
—
Alain DELCAMP
Secretary General of the Senate (France)
INTRODUCTION:
THE BICAMERISM, HERITAGE OF HISTORY AND FRUIT OF THE FRENCH SOCIAL
REALITIES
The representation of the local bodies by a second parliamentary chamber is not a French
specificity, but until now it was not frequent that a second chamber takes its constitutional
legitimity from this lone representation, in a unitary State.
Usual in a federal State, the representation of local bodies, whatever their status are, State,
region, district, is generally considered as a characteristic or specificity of complex and
federal States.
Indeed, the representation of the institutions which compose the federation by a chamber
is often a substantial element of the constitutional pact. It is complementary to the
representation of the people by the first parliamentary chamber. This constitutional frame
born in the United States is shared by several countries in the world, but with some shades
(particularly as far as the weight of the different entities within the second chamber is
concerned). These federations were created by incorporation (Germany, Helvetic
Confederation, Indian Union) or dissociation (Belgium).
This does not mean that all these countries match with a « pure » model of representation
of the local bodies. Some countries organise complex associations which reflect the degree of
devolution or the degree of federalisation acceptable by the constituents.
We can find these complex constructions in some States as Belgium or Spain. As I wrote in
a tribute that I paid to a great European constitutionalist5, the existence of a second chamber
is not necessarily linked to a federal system, but it can also correspond to diverse
constitutional situations. It reveals in reality the nature of the State.
Tribute to Francis DELPÉRÉE, (today Vice-president of the Senate of Belgium), Itineraries of a
constitutionnalist, Brussels-Paris, Bruylant, LGDJ, 2007, p. 397.
5
34
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
The French bicamerism and the composition of its second chamber can perfectly match
with this definition.
The French political tradition, coming from the Revolution of 1789, has balanced during
more than two centuries between the wish for a stable, strong and centralised power – as
the two empires were – and a parliamentary democratic tradition. This hesitation has
condemned the institutions to instability, due to the dispersion of political forces and to the
deep conflicts by which the public opinion was divided (question of the monarchy and
republic; separate views on the status of the Church in the State; ideological war on the
principles of organisation of the society and social relations).
This permanent hesitation led to search stabilizing elements for the political system.
One of those was the setting up of a second chamber. It was first hereditary, nominated and
then elected, but always different from the renewal rhythm of the first chamber.
The main stabilizing elements of the French second chamber are the following: the
duration of the mandate: 9 years between 1875 and 2003, 6 years since; the indirect suffrage;
the gradual renewal (by third or by half) and above all, the permanence: the second chamber
cannot be dissolved by the President of the Republic.
This need for stability led to seek for an autonomous source of legitimacy for this
second chamber. The Revolution had forbidden the representation of the aristocratic part of
the society, contrary to several neighbour monarchic systems, whereas the representation of
new social classes was done within the chamber which represents the people. From 1795,
date of creation of the first « republican » second chamber, to 1875, the debates on the
composition and the usefulness of the second chamber did not cease. We can even say that
the debates on the usefulness of the second chamber are part of the regular institutional
debates in all countries in which such type of parliamentary chamber exists.
The second criterion justifying the existence of a second chamber is the possibility of
dialogue between two categories of representatives, one tempering the other. Thus, the
constituent of 1795 saw in the “Council of the Five Hundreds” (the Lower House), the
“imagination”, while in the “Council of the Old” (the Upper House), the representation of the
“reason”. One believed, at that time, that the reason could be found in a relatively high age:
40 years! and a matrimonial statute guaranteeing a certain stability: thus the old ones were
either to be married, or widowed!
This second aspect also resulted in seeking a different mode of representation from that
of the first chamber and thus likely to avoid that the second chamber be only the pale copy
of the first.
If the existence of a second chamber, in France, resulted from the need for stabilization
of the political system, the choice of its mode of poll corresponded to a functional
requirement. It had to ensure an independence and a different composition of a rather
moderate tonality.
The result is that the bicameral system obviously constitutes one of the fundamental
constitutional characteristics of the French political system, since through 5 republics, 2
empires, 5 revolutionary system and a de facto system (1940-1944), France has known, since
1789, 183 years of bicameral system, out of 220. Consulted twice by referendum, in 1946
and 1969 on the principle of a political bicameral system, the French people said no to the
suppression or the transformation of the second chamber.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
35
A SPECIFIC AND CHARACTERISTIC FUNCTION OF THE FRENCH BICAMERAL
SYSTEM
The representation of the local authorities is the legitimacy foundation of the second
chamber in our bicameral system
The function of representation of the local authorities of the Republic, given to the Senate
by the article 24 of the Constitution of 1958, can be analyzed as a necessary component of
the national representation, according to article 3 meaning. It is the condition of a sufficient
differentiation of the second chamber to ensure the effectivity of the bicameral system, and
a complement anyway of representing the Nation, which is imperfectly ensured by the first
House.
This principle of organization, which is the basis of the legitimacy of the Senate, is initially
the fruit of the history: the function of territorial representation allotted to the Senate was
always confirmed since 1875. This “permanence” has “largely contributed to preserve the
existence of the Senate, particularly at the time of its questioning in 19696”. It has inspired a certain
number of bicameral solutions abroad7 and it remains a subject of reflection for the countries8
which plan to introduce a second chamber into their institutions.
We often remind that the Senate of 1875 was a concession to the monarchists, so that they
accept the Republic, but we often forget that it was also the work of moderated and liberal,
against the opinion of the legitimists9 and with the agreement of the Republicans. The
expression “Great council of the communes of France”, popularized by Gambetta, one of the
inspirers of the constitution of the Third Republic10 and a short-term President of its Council
of Ministers, was precisely the republican answer to the “Great council” proposed by the
duke of Broglie, representative of the monarchists (“the Republic of the Dukes”) in the French
National Assembly elected in 1871 to ensure a constitutional continuity. It is not useless to
point out besides the ignited words and the mystic with Gambetta spoke about the
communes: “I want you to seize well which admirable instrument of order, peace, democratic
progress this intervention of the communal spirit can give to the political affairs in France…
(The communal spirit) is what there is most democratic in France, what constitutes the
entrails of the democracy: the communal spirit, i.e. thirty-six thousand communes of
France”.11
The Republicans saw in the rooting of the second House at the communal level the
guarantee of a rooting of the democracy: in fact the Senate got a republican majority right
after the first general local elections in 1884.
JP Duprat “territorial Representation and political moderation: the French Senate”. International
review of compared policy, vol 6, n°1,1999 p.83.
7 Belgium until the passage to federalism (owing to the Belgian federalism particularism the territorial
solution, in use in the majority of the federal countries, was not thereafter privileged any more).
8 See initiative taken by the president and the Bureau of the French Senate to invite in Paris on March
14, 2000 all the presidents of second chambers for the first “Forum of the Senates of the world” which
joined together nearly 80 representatives.
9 Traditionalist monarchists compared to the downward “orleanists” of the branch of the the Bourbons
which had tried to set up a constitutional monarchy between 1830 and 1848.
10 1875-1940: the “first Republic” extends from 1742 to 1799, the second from 1848 to 1852, the fourth
from 1946 to 1958.
11 April 23, 1875, speeches on the constitutional laws pronounced in the XXe district of Paris, Discours
et plaidoieries politiques, Paris, Charpentier, 1881, volume 4, p. 314.
6
36
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
In addition, the conservatives and the monarchists saw a hope in the fact that the future
senators would be anchored in the provinces12 and would opportunely come to moderate the
deputies, in particular the deputies elected in the capital city, “mother of Revolutions”.
We can thus consider that the principle of the representation of the local authorities by the
Senate, beyond the letter of the current constitution, constitutes a fundamental principle of
our constitutional organization and a specificity of the French bicameral system.
Moreover in 1871, elected general councils had been created in each department, which
were going to take part in the election of the senators. The law of April 5, 1884 set up an
organization of elected town councils and mayors which is remained quasi unchanged
during nearly one century, until the laws of 1982 known as of “decentralization”.
Thus the compromise of 1875, inspired by the search for an institutional and moderating
counterweight, gave rise to a very important structural link between the second chamber
and the evolution of the local authorities. Initially representing the communes, the second
chamber became the representative of all the categories of local authorities (communes,
departments, regions - communities of overseas13) but especially the national expression of
the deep movement of “decentralization” which progressively moderate – with an abrupt
acceleration as from the years 1976-1985 – the centralized nature of the French State. The
Senate was often at the origin of this reinforcement of the local authorities and, in particular,
initiated the constitutional revision of 25 March 2003, recognizing “the decentralized
organization” of the Republic.
The various government or member’s bills which were introduced and even discussed to
modify the senatorial poll never called into question the principle of the representation of the
local authorities. We can even estimate that the development of decentralization and, a
fortiori, the change of nature14 of the link between the Republic and some overseas
territories, reinforced it.
The recurring debates on the bicameral system invite us to question the constitutional
significance of the “representation of the local authorities” by the Senate.
One could say that the election of the Senate by the local authorities was only an electoral
technique15 and that it was consequently only one manner among others of representing the
people. This thesis has inspired draft amendments to the mode of election of the Senate, but
Right from the start the senators were elected within the framework of the “departments”
themselves very close to the communes.
13 There exists in France as well overseas departments, overseas regions (overseas departments and
regions have the same territory), overseas specific territories, overseas territories and overseas
countries each statute translating a particular degree of decentralization.
France account today 22 metropolitan regions and 4 overseas regions, 96 metropolitan departments
and 4 overseas, 36 783 communes. On January 1, 2009, 34 164 communes, gathering 56,4 million
inhabitants, gathered in 2 601 groupings with taxation (16 urban communities, the highest degree of
inter-commune co-operation, 174 communities of agglomerations, for sets grouping at least 50 000
inhabitants around a town of at least of 15 000 inhabitants, 2 406 communities of communes, without
minimum threshold of population and 5 unions of new agglomeration).
14 One can estimate for example that the existing bond from now on between the central State and
New Caledonia is a quasi federal bond.
12
François Robbe - the representation of the local authorities by the Senate - Study on article 4, subparagraph
3, of the French Constitution of October 4, 1958, constant at the university of Besancon on December 12,
1998.
15
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
37
did not contribute to understand the particular place of the Senate in the institutions. The
local authorities cannot, indeed, be reduced to simple electoral districts. They express a
particular solidarity among their inhabitants, through elections to which the
constitutional Council recognized the character of “political” elections, and are in charge
of managing specific interests. The local authorities, to take the excellent expression of an
advised commentator of the institutions, are “human communities, with a legal status and
determined by interests of proximity and affinities which they create”.16 The councils, more than the
inhabitants, have the charge to express them. This implies that the distribution of the
senatorial delegates (electors) cannot be carried out on only demographic bases, as wrote
the rapporteur of the Senate on the project of reform proposed by the Government of Mr.
Lionel Jospin in 1998: “It would be strange to base the representation of the Senate on more
demographic basis than the French National Assembly itself”.17 The Constitutional Council, in a
decision n°2000-431 of July 6, 200018 put an end to this controversy on demography, by
affirming that “the Senate must, insofar as it ensures the representation of the local
authorities of the Republic, being elected by an electorate body which is itself the emanation
of these communities; that, consequently, this electorate must be primarily composed of
members of the assemblies of the local authorities. if the number of delegated of a town council
depends on the population of the commune and if, in the most populated communes, some additional
delegates, selected in-outside town council, can be elected to represent it, it is at the condition that
the participation of the latter in the senatorial college preserves a simple demographic
character of correction”. For these reasons the Constitutional Council cancelled the law
suggested by the government, which intended to introduce proportionality between the
senatorial voters (called “delegates”) with the population. Thus, the Senate represents the
communities of inhabitants and not only the inhabitants themselves taken individually.
JP Duprat above mentioned article, p.82.
Paul Girod, n° 427 Senate 1998-1999, p. 23.
18 “Considering that it results from the above mentioned provisions of article 24 of the Constitution which the
Senate owes, insofar as it ensures the representation of the local authorities of the Republic, being
elected by an electorate which is itself the emanation of these communities; that, consequently, this
electorate must be primarily composed of members of the assemblies deliberating of the local
authorities; that all the categories of local authorities must be represented there; that moreover, the
representation of the communes must reflect their diversity; that finally, to respect the principle of equality in
front of the vote resulting from article 6 of the Declaration of the rights of man and of the citizen of 1789 and
article 3 of the Constitution, the representation of each category of local authorities and the various types of
communes must take account of the population which resides at it;
6. Considering, consequently, that, if the number of delegated of a town council must be function of the
population of the commune and if, in the most populated communes, additional delegates, selected in-outside
town council, can be elected by him to represent the community, it is in the condition that the participation
of the latter in the senatorial college preserves a demographic character of correction; that the
application of the provisions in force of the article L. 285 of the electoral code does not call into question the
above-mentioned principles;
7. Considering, on the other hand, that pursuant to the provisions of the 1° of article 2 of the submitted law,
delegates, necessarily chosen apart from the town council, will be indicated, at a rate of an additional delegate for
300 inhabitants or fraction of this number, when the number of delegates is higher than the number of the town
council; that, consequently, these additional delegates will constitute a substantial share, even, in certain
departments, majority of the college of the senatorial voters; that their participation in the election of the
senators will be all the more determining as article 10 of the examined law extends to many departments the
election of the senators to the poll proportional;
8. Considering that the importance thus given by the law submitted to the additional delegates of the
town councils within the electoral colleges would go beyond the simple demographic correction; that
would be thus ignored the above-mentioned principles.
16
17
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
38
A different composition and behaviour from the “National Assembly”
This reality reinforces one of the reasons of the establishment of the senatorial poll: to
have a representation different from that of the French National Assembly: “Neither
support nor opponent, the Senate has the role to bring a different eye on the decisions from the
Government”.19
Parliamentary groups in the French Senate
after 2008 September, 21st election (%)
Rassemblement démocratique et
social européen; 4,96%
Union centriste; 8,45%
Union pour un mouvement
populaire; 44,02%
Socialiste; 33,53%
Communiste républicain, citoyen
et des sénateurs du parti de
gauche; 7,00%
Sénateurs non inscrits; 2,04%
Communiste républicain, citoyen et des sénateurs du parti de gauche
Socialiste
Rassemblement démocratique et social européen
Union centriste
Union pour un mouvement populaire
Sénateurs non inscrits
Parliamentary groups in the National Assembly
after 2007 June, 10th and 17th election (%)
Nouveau Centre; 3,64%
Socialiste, radical, citoyen et
divers gauche; 35,36%
Union pour un M ouvement
Populaire; 55,63%
Députés non inscrits; 1,21%
Gauche démocrate et
républicaine; 4,16%
Gauche démocrate et républicaine
Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers
gauche
Nouveau Centre
Union pour un Mouvement Populaire
Députés non inscrits
This effect is obtained, first, by the mode of repartition of the votes, which combines
majority and proportional system. This characteristic is one of the reasons for which,
paradoxically, the Senate is a more protective assembly of the minority. The poll plays a
part of shock absorber, which contrasts with the abrupt oscillations, especially during the
fifteen last years, recorded in the French National Assembly. Between 1993 and 1997, in spite
of the persistence of a senatorial majority anchored to the centre and on the right, there were
more senators within the socialist group than deputies in the same group, despite of the
superiority of the total staff complement of the National Assembly compared to that of the
19
Christian Poncelet, “Weaken the Senate is weaken the democracy”, the World June 23, 1999.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
39
Senate.20 Another notorious effect: in fifty years of Ve Republic, the Senate had a majority
group only during two years (2002-2004) and still in the absence of third-term election.
This stabilizing role is also the fruit of the distribution of the senatorial delegates, which
do not lead to the same result that the division of the constituencies in the French National
Assembly. This division must take account of the division of the administrative districts and
the distribution between the departments. The choice of a majority poll with two rounds,
which corresponds to the French political tradition (poll of district), is, so far, the condition of
governmental stability.21
The senatorial poll is thus not, in itself, more criticizable than that of the National
Assembly. It is adapted to the function of balance of the Senate, within a powerful
presidential system. We cannot thus distinguish a “technical bicameral system”22 and a
“political bicameral system”. The “technical bicameral system” - as the majority mode of
poll to the French National Assembly - is one of the elements which make the Senate fulfill
its function : a different place for expressing sovereignty.
The objective to make the poll representative is, of course, by no means contradictory
with this function. Several adaptations - of which most important (1976 and 2003) on the
initiative of the Senate itself - contributed to it.
The principle of representation by the Senate of the local authorities, especially after the
reform of 2003 which adapted, under the control of the Constitutional Council, the
distribution of the seats of senators according to the demographic trends between the
departments, thus does not restrict its legitimacy. On the contrary, decentralization policy
reinforced it.
The recent renewal of September 2008, first renewal per half and for 6 years, showed that
the mode of poll translates much precisely the result of the local elections, organized in
2004 for the regions and in spring 2008 for the communes.23 These polls had been marked,
like all the intermediate elections, by an important progression of the opposition parties. For
the first time, the poll of 2011, that will be done on the same basis,24 could lead to a hope for
the opposition, for a political alternation in the Senate for the first time since 1974.
The debates on the legitimacy of the mode of poll should shadow then, while waiting for
the vote of the announced territorial reform which shall have, at least, a mechanical effect on
the senatorial poll.
A full parliamentary assembly
If the function of representative of the local authorities confers on the Senate a specific
place in the institutions, it does not close it in a narrow vocation and does not prevent it from
being a fully powered second chamber.
In 1959, many of deputies defeated and, among them, many leaders of the opposition of the time, found refuge. One will
also raise with interest that the percentage of women in the Senate is higher than that of the women in the National
Assembly (22% against 18,54% in the Senate).
21 It actually had this effect but specific law was voted in 2001 to ensure that the legislative election should be organised just
after the presidential one. It was strongly reinforced by the presidential election shadow during the major part of Ve
République (except from 1958 to 1962 and from 1988 to 1993).
22 Raymond Ferretti, “bicameral system of Ve République ”, small Posters, n° 261, December 31, 1999, p. 10.
23 Departments as for them being renewed per half in 2004 and 2008.
24 Only the regional councils will be renewed the next year.
20
40
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Powers of the Senate and frame of the dialog between the two chambers
If the legislative bicameral system, set up by the Constitution of 1958, appears at first
sight to be unequal because it gives the last word to the French National Assembly in the
event of dissension with the Senate during the legislative shuttle, the practice strongly
moderates this first impression.
Quantitatively, the majority of laws are voted after agreement between the two
assemblies, either after the first reading, or after the second reading. In the event of persistent
dissension, the mechanism of the Joint Committee25 is efficient, as in two cases out of three,
an agreement is found. It is only in 9 to 11 % of the cases, according to whether we take into
account or not the International Conventions, that the last word is given by the Government
to the National Assembly.
Which means that nearly 90 % of the laws adopted since 1958 were the result of an
agreement between the two houses. The mechanism of article 45 which organizes “the
shuttle” between the assemblies make of “divorce” the very ultimate stage of the process. It
spares, in fact, many stages of conciliation.
On the constitutional level, the Senate of Ve Republic has, from the beginning, being
placed equally with the National Assembly. As said Mr Michel DEBRÉ, the founding
father, beside General de Gaulle, of the Constitution: “Two chambers with reasonable size
and a mandate of a certain duration, is the first guaranty of wisdom. The duality avoids the
imprevisibleness and excesses of a single assembly. The first chamber is the direct expression
of the nation. It transmits to the government the impulse of the majority. Beside it, the Senate
has the same attributions, but it uses in another spirit: it moderates the too new wills, it
connects the policy of the present to that of the passed and to that of the future.”
The constitutional revisions, which multiplied during last years, emphasized the
contribution of the Senate. Some even could reproach the Senate to use constitutional
revisions in order to reinforce its own powers. That is paradoxical as the Senate used to be
one of the first one to denounce, during the last decade, the too great frequency of
constitutional revisions.26
In the exercise of its constituent capacity, the Senate wanted to be constructive and
proposed innovations likely to profit with the two chambers of the Parliament:
 thus, of the first methods of assessment of the proposals of Community acts that the
Senate succeeded in imposing to the executive branch with the profit of the two assemblies
in 1992,
 thus also, of the provisions widening the powers of the Parliament with regard to the
duration of the sessions and the reinforcement of the right of the Assemblies to take
legislative initiatives, thanks to the institution of a special reserved day.
 The Senate obtained in 2003 to be the assembly seized in priority of the “bills having
for main object the organization of the local authorities”, thus introducing a homothety with the
priority granted traditionally to the directly elected chamber for all for the finance bills
(article 39 of the Constitution). Paradoxically, this initiative joined an idea of a former
The government – and presidents of the assemblies since the reform of 2008 with regard to the
private bills have the possibility of convening after one or more readings an equal Joint Committee
made up of 7 senators and 7 deputies and charged with under discussion finding – out the presence of
the government-a common text “on the remaining provisions”.
26 23 to date.
25
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
41
socialist Prime Minister, a priori unfavourable to the Senate, expressed in 1996. Mr. Michel
ROCARD recommended “to entrust the Senate the mission of drawing up each year a situation
report on the decentralization and the regional planning” and proposed “that any bill concerning
the local authorities should be read first within the Senate, the Council of State ensuring the
qualification of the text. We can even imagine that if, during the discussion of a text concerning the
local authorities, the two chambers do not adopt an identical text, the National Assembly can
impose its point of view only by an absolute majority of its members (as for the organic
laws)”.
We can also quote the will of the Senate to raise the law concerning the methods of vote of
the European citizens to the row of organic law relating to the Senate, and to affirm, by doing
this, that this question touched the expression of sovereignty itself, precisely through the
mode of election of the Senate.
The constitutional capacity of the Senate could not thus be compared to a capacity of
blocking, but constitutes a guarantee vis-a-vis initiatives likely to attack constitutional
balances or freedoms and one of the vectors of the progressive rebalancing of the
institutions in favour of the Parliament vis-a-vis the Government.
This parallelism between the French National Assembly and the Senate explains why
the majority of the innovations of procedure referring to the relations between the
Parliament and the Government intervened since 1958, were introduced at the same time
into the two assemblies or were transposed to the Senate.
We can quote, for example, the debates on declarations of the Government which give the
opportunity to the Parliament to react on the great subjects of topicality, in a more visible
way than with the Oral Questions with debate. The day before the revision of 2008, the
Senate had however not given up, contrary to the French National Assembly, this last
technique, by institutionalizing also Oral Questions with debate dealing with European
matters.
The constitutional reform of 1995, which had first contributed to reinforce the powers of
Parliament, in particular with the introduction of the single session, opened new possibilities
to the Senate, as regards the questions to the Government (of which the periodicity is
however only semi-monthly, whereas it is twice-weekly with the National Assembly27), and
as regards the “reserved agenda”, according which each assembly can examine the texts of
its choice once a month.
In the field of control, the Senate, which always showed less dependence to the executive
power, was the first to use the procedure of the committees of control (in 1960: management
of the meeting of the national opera houses) and to give its letters of nobility to the
committees of enquiry (1971: slaughter-houses of the Villette). It also contributed much to the
improvement of the legal means of action of these committees by the laws of July 19, 1977,
and July 20, 1990.
The Senate has also developed less solemn forms of control, but with the same results as
the committees of enquiry: missions of information (common to several committees or not, in
particular, to follow decentralization or the agreements of Schengen), groups of studies and
work, hearings of the committees, leading more and more frequently to member’s bills.
As of the present session, the Senate however will try out, on the initiative of its president, a new
fashion of questioning in public: “the screens questions” about a subject fixed by its Conference of the
Presidents.
27
42
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Lastly, the control of the implementation of laws was systematized by the Senate since
1972, on the initiative of its standing committees, which has been a clear incidence on the
publication rhythm of the decrees and clearly marked the link between the legislative
function and the function of control of the Government.
In a less institutional field, that of the communication on the activity of the assemblies,
the common decision to create a parliamentary TV channel with the pooling of the
techniques of diffusion, but with two different firms,28 gives the French National Assembly
and the Senate the same communication means, respecting their identity.
The constitutional revision of July 23, 2008, the most important one since 1958 (47 articles
modifying 40 articles of the Constitution, which represents almost half of the Constitution)
gives the two assemblies identical new means, in term of structures (the possibility of
creating up to 8 standing committees instead of 6, the constitutionalization of the committee
in charge of European affairs, the institution of a shared agenda, substantial changes in the
methods of legislative work characterized by a return on certain modifications introduced in
1958 for better controlling the action of the assemblies, constitutionalization of the function
of control and assessment of the public policies). All these new means are currently and
gradually implemented, each chamber doing it with its own style. The representation of the
local authorities is obviously an explanatory factor of the “senatorial style”.
The representation of the local authorities constitutes a specific but nonexclusive function
This specific vocation to represent the local authorities is all the more easy to fulfill that
the senators often hold local mandates at the same time. 252 senators hold 1 or 2 local
mandates, 116 are mayors – for example of Marseilles and Lyon, 131, at the same time, are
Counsellor of departments – including 28 presidents of local assembly, 32 regional
Counsellors including 4 presidents of region. It should be noted however that the fact of
having several mandates at the same time – which is considered as typically French
specificity and is more and more criticized – is rather in decrease, since 26%29 of the senators
do not hold any other mandate (15% before the last renewal). 13% only of the deputies also
hold no other mandate.
It is clear that, in the case of the senators which receive their national mandate by local
elected people, exercising a local mandate facilitate the dialog with the elective communities
they represent. There is nonetheless a growing difficulty to hold several mandates, as the
local executive functions are getting more and more heavy, and as the parliamentary
mandate itself is demanding more and more time and availability.
We can find however in the knowledge of the grass-roots, which is necessary to be elected
as a senator,30 the indirect character of the suffrage – if they are not themselves local elected,
senators are always “elected by elected people” – , the origin of the search for efficiency
which is one face of the pragmatism style of the Senate.
LCP-AN” and “Public-Senate”.
This relative importance is partly explained by the fact that 12 senators represent French established
out of France and do not hold consequently any local mandate. The election with the poll proportional
which intervenes for half of the seats undoubtedly makes less necessary also the detention of a
mandate.
30 The senatorial election in general supposes an investment and a continuous local action, and it is
very exceptional that a candidate can “be parachuted” at the time of a senatorial election. It is not the
same thing for the legislative election, more sensitive to the great variations of the national public
opinion.
28
29
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
43
Through holding local mandates, the Senators pay attention more particularly to the local
authorities’ affairs. The Senate is thus naturally the best institution to defend the principle of
free local administration, and the high interests of the local authorities.
The Senate, since its origins, holds values of the local democracy, in the context of the
jacobinic democracy. The Senate brings the echo from the grass-roots and from the French
diversity, in a context of centralized system.
By her origin is carrying - and that of long date - values concerned with another
democratic current which is that of the local democracy. Vis-a-vis the unifying centralization,
which found its limits today, it brings the echo of the ground and French diversity.
Officially recognized for the first time in the Constitution of 1946 – which is late in the
French constitutional history – this other type of democracy deeply rooted also in French
history, corresponds even more today with a major aspiration of the citizens, to have their
concrete concerns in their day-to-day life taken into account by the officials in charge. To a
certain extent, the decentralization policy launched in the Eighties, was the late recognition31
of the legitimacy of this local democratic current in our institutions.
The action of the Senate is thus necessarily marked in this way. The senators naturally
carry a glance on all what concerns local management in their various missions, but also
through specific actions that they take towards the local authorities.
On the constitutional level, the Senate took part in the elaboration of a better legal
framework for the local authorities, along the discussions on the legislative texts, as well as
seizing the Constitutional Council on:
the principle of the free administration of the local authorities, their competences and
their resources (article 34 of the Constitution);
-
the statute and guarantees of the elected deliberating assemblies which manage them;
-
the creation by the law of new local authorities;
the nature and the range of the control of legality by the state, the autonomy of
selecting the local staff, the level of the tax resources without which local autonomy would
not exist;
-
the special rights of the overseas local authorities, etc.
On the legislative level, the Senate defended local freedoms before even the process of
decentralization, against the secular tendency of our country to reinforce centralization.
At the end of the Seventies, with the succession of reforms ensuring more autonomy to
the local communities, the range of the missions of the Senate in this field widened.
It showed it throughout the eighteen months (1979-1981) devoted to the examination of a
first bill on the development of the responsibilities for the local communities, and then when
started the reform of the decentralization, which was to lead to the law of March 2, 1982 and
the following ones.
The following themes were particularly precisely examined by the Senate:
31
The communes succeeded the parishes of Ancien Régime in the first months of the French revolution in 1789.
44
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
the institutional debate on the place and the role of the various levels of local
authorities and on their relationship with the State;
the financing of the transfers of technical and decisional powers to the local
authorities;
the territorial public office and the autonomy of recruitment of the local authorities.
For example, the law (1987) on the status of the local public office came from a senator’s bill;
inter-commune co-operation: the Senate always opposed any authoritative form of
regrouping. The important reform introduced on the matter by the law of July 12, 1999 is
owed to the work of the Senate. It was concluded by a success in Joint Committee, after three
meetings and 18 hours discussion in total.
The action of the Senate is most frequently done through amendments to the texts of
government bills. Many provisions of laws relating to the local authorities originate in
senatorial amendments. Moreover, a lot of Senators’ bills on the right of the local authorities
and decentralization led to adopted laws:
the law of May 13, 1996 (n° 96-393) relating to the penal responsibility for imprudence
or negligence,
the law of 24 January 1997 (n° 97-60) on the specific service dependence for the old
people.
Other initiatives of control of the Senate profited to the local authorities: missions of
information, groups of studies, information reports, written and oral questions with (or
without) debate. There were also several committees of enquiry on Corsica and before on
New Caledonia, for example.
Several missions of information common to several committees were created on the
implementation of decentralization (1983, 1984, 1991 and 1998).
The first two aimed at checking the right implementation of the decentralization laws, and
denounced the insidious transfers of responsibilities and attempts to a recentralisation,
which led to bring corrective measures to the reform.
These missions, indeed, beyond the critical analysis, formulate proposals for legislative
improvements. When these reports issue, the Senate regularly take the chance to defend the
true financial autonomy of the local authorities, which is in reality often hindered by a
transfer of responsibilities superior to the transfer of finances from the State to the local
bodies, and also by the suppression of local taxes by the State. Each year the discussion on
the Finance bill is the occasion to denounce these facts. The debate should be very keen this
year with the project of cancelling local tax on business.
The groups of studies created by the Senate on questions relating to the local authorities
give also their conclusions in reports including tracks of reforms tending to improve
decentralization.
The Senate thus led a reflection on the reform and the simplification of the territorial
structures in France, launched in 2008 by the President of the Republic and entrusted by an
ad hoc committee chaired by a former Prime Minister.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
45
After several series of hearings and meetings outside Paris, in the presence of the
President of the Senate, the mission of the Senate led to the development of new types of
interactive and public debates in the spaces opened by the recent constitutional revision.
Many of the proposals presented in this framework will probably appear in the bill which
will be tabled to the Senate. It should be noted that in spite of the upheavals which probably
arise with this reform – which intends to reduce by half the number of departmental and
regional elected officials –, the Senate will propose a reasonable reform and will not remain
on the support of corporatism: “In this concern, the Senate will not have a politician approach, the
Senate wants a reform of the local governance… The territorial reform, since the Defferre laws of
1982, everyone announced it but nobody carried it out yet. I am pragmatic and reasonable. On this
file, the senators will seek the right ways”32
The Senate supplemented this legislative action towards local authorities by a networking
strategy to promote local democracy. Engaged very early in the development of new
technologies, the Senate created in February 1999, after the setting up of a Local Authorities
department, a website
called the
“crossroads
of
the local
authorities
(www.carrefourlocal.org)”, for the use of the actors of the local world. This crossroads, as its
name indicates it, is opened with co-operations with similar external sites, through
hypertexts (“good addresses”).
This site is an instrument of reference gathering all the texts applicable to the local
authorities, analyzes of the most recent legislative texts, a tool to prepare and support local
decision-making by the way of notes and studies, and a means of dialog with the local
councillors thanks to mail boxes which enables them to question the senators on questions of
local government.
The Senate’s general website also includes all the data on the whole and day-to-day
legislative work in particular as regards local authorities (www.senat.fr).
In addition, many conferences are organized within the Luxembourg Palace, on the
subjects relating to the local authorities. This allows to prolong the debate by modern means,
between the senators and diversified interlocutors: central administration representatives,
university, local actors, economic partners of the local world…
The Senate carries out partnerships with the main local institutional actors (the national
associations of elected officials of course first, research institutes…) in order to create
synergies between the university reflection and the senatorial experiment, in particular to
develop a force of legislative proposals in the various fields of the decentralized policies.33
“House of the local authorities” according to the expression of President Christian
Poncelet – president of 1998 to 2008 – the Senate is also willing to listen to the actors of
decentralization and undertook to tie a dialog with them, on the ground.
Beyond the direct contacts that each senator can have with the representatives of the local
authorities his/her department, General Meetings of local consellors were organized
during the last years, in all the regions of France and with the participation of all the senators
of each of these regions. During these meetings, to which all the mayors and the elected
officials of the regions are invited, the main topics of decentralization were discussed: legal
safety of the local public action, local finances, inter-commune co-operation. The
Gerard Larcher, President of the Senate, Le Figaro, September 23, 2009.
The annual price of thesis of the Senate and the assistance with research on the bicameral system,
the revival of the parliamentary studies are as many vectors for better knowing the institution and
better making known the stakes and the advantages of the bicameral system in the intellectual world.
32
33
46
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
observations and the proposals which are put forth during these meetings are put on line on
Internet and are then transmitted to the standing committees for a legislative outlet. In the
same spirit, each year a stand of the Senate hosts the thousands of participants of the
Congress of the mayors of France in Paris.
Through these contacts, and the use of the modern means of communication, the Senate
takes its inspiration from the grass-roots, illustrates the democracy of proximity which it
defends, and revives the institutional link with the various parts of the national territory.
After the recent constitutional reform, the Senate could have set up a new standing
committee for local authorities, but it did not decide to do so. First because of financial
reasons, and secondly because it wishes that each of its standing committees keep the
particular concern of local authorities, in legislating and in controlling the general public
policies.
On the other hand, one among the four34 delegations will be especially devoted to the
local authorities.
The Senate therefore is not locked up in an exclusive role towards the local authorities. It
affirms an interest and is recognized for its action in all the fields of the public action.
The legislative and supervising action of the Senate
In spite of an attempt of the constitutional Consultative Committee, the Constitution of
1958 had not given a preferential legislative power to the Senate as regards local authorities.
Some could regret it but, with the examination, this can be rather an asset.35 Its presidents
often underlined it while the French themselves allotted to the existence of a Senate some
higher advantages than that to represent the local authorities. In a survey ordered by the
presidency of the Senate in Sofres and carried out from the 22 to 26 June, 1990, the mission of
defence of the local authorities arrived only in fifth position - in particular after the function
of improving the laws.
A certain number of senators presented constitutional private bills aiming at making of
Senate a true chamber of the local authorities, assigning it the mission of ensuring the
defence of the local bodies by giving him a greater role in the drafting of the legislative texts
in this matter. They were not retained by the Senate itself. They must nevertheless be
regarded as many indices of the natural attention paid by the senators to their electorate.
In spite of their attachment in being the representatives of the local authorities, the
Senators are, in general, even more sensitive to the risks than would contain a too great
specialization of their assembly in this representation.
Indeed, the contribution of the Senate is far from being limited to the right of the local
communities. Its pragmatism, issuing from the recruitment of the senators, and the (relative)
moderation, the serenity which reigns on its debates and the technicality acquired by its
members, in particular because of duration of their mandate, lead to a substantial
contribution of the senatorial legislator in all matters. Its contribution is in particular very
Women's rights; scientific and technological choices (these two first exist in the two assemblies and
the two scientific and technological delegations are brought together in a common office). The
delegation with the local authorities and futurology are specific to the Senate.
35 Among the advanced ideas of reform, the idea of one “Bundesrat in the French way” confirms the
role of representative of the local authorities of the Senate but limits – precisely regarding this
specialization – its scope of legislative competence.
34
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
47
appreciable with regard to the defence of democratic freedoms and the great society topics,
from the ethical and medical problems to new technologies or the questions of environment.
Among the many examples likely to be quoted:
the extension of the legal aid to the minors within the framework of the penal
mediation (law n° 98-1963 of December 18, 1963),
the widening of filiation to the natural and hybrid children (1973), de-penalization of
the divorce (1976) or homosexuality,
the extension of the control of the Court of Auditors to the control of associations
calling upon public generosity (law n°96-559 of June 24, 1996),
-
the introduction of a specific dependence allocation (law n°97-60 of January 24, 1997),
the introduction of the electronic bracelet like alternative to the imprisonment (law
n°97-1159 of November 19, 1997).
Often these initiatives must reconcile imagination and tenacity in order to succeed. The
permanence of the Senate, beyond the majorities, is an asset in this respect:
-
access to the palliative care (law n°99-477 of June 9, 1999),
reform of the policy and the structures of medical prevention. The Senate was then in
the opposition, but it imposed reforms prepared and already suggested under previous
legislatures.
More recently, last year, the Senate brought various contributions:
The Senate contributed to change the governorship of the hospital through a better
association of the medical world; it showed its interest for the equal treatment between the
citizens, by creating the “hospital communities of territory” quoted in the preparatory
works of the bill on which Mr Gérard LARCHER worked when he was a Minister.
On the legal level, it confirmed its engagement in favour of the defence of public
freedoms and private life:
It did it for the penitentiary law, first text for which was applied the deliberation on the
text of the standing committee, founded by the constitutional revision of July 23, 2008, by
reaffirming the principle of individual imprisonment;
It did it when opposing the DNA tests36 as mean to control immigration;
It did it in its reports, in particular by underlining the problems in the protection of the
private life induced by the development of IT;
The financial crisis, which was the first challenge of the newly elected President,
generated many initiatives and collaborations with the French National Assembly at large, as
well as with its different standing committees.
The committee for Finances worked towards the support to medium-sized and small
companies, but also very recently on an environmental taxation.
36
This reform is abandoned today.
48
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
In the cultural field, it is the Senate which succeeded in imposing a perennial financing for
France Television, public grouping for which the President of the Republic had wished the
reduction of the resources coming from publicity.
It is also the Senate which recalled the principle of secularity in schools and of autonomy
of the local bodies, of which it is the guard.
It maintained the principle of the 20% minimal of social housing in the communes of more
than 3500 inhabitants, against the government.
Its special subcommittee on the “consumer credit” proposed many innovations to inform
and better protect the consumer.
Lastly, the commission of the Foreign Affairs and Defence implemented a tandems of
rapporteurs majority-opposition, for visits on the ground in particular in the Middle East. Its
president, accompanied by all the presidents of political groups, should go very soon to
Afghanistan to evaluate the commitment of the French troops.
These initiatives are part of a tradition where the existence of a second chamber - if
necessary of a different majority from the first chamber - appears to the French like a
guarantee for freedoms and for a balance in the institutions.37
The most important function which is allotted to the Senate according the polls is, indeed,
“the development of the laws”: 87 % consider it “very important” or “important”; come then
the vote on the budget (76 %), the function of control (55 %), the protection of freedoms (54
%).38
More recently, the bicameral system received the approval of 53 % of the French and 57 %
judged that it was rather a good thing that the Senate was not, at the time of the survey,39 of
the same political majority as the French National Assembly.
In a more recent survey still, whose result was not very flattering for the parliamentary
assemblies,40 the Senate was considered by 70 % of the French as “useful for the development
of the laws” and for 65 % “useful for the balance of power”. This percentage had still
increased in spite of ambiguous opinions41 the day before the last renewal: “A clear majority
of questioned people (61%) considers that the Senate plays an important part in the French
political life, a perception which is now rooted in the public opinion. In an investigation
carried out in 1999, only 48% of the French considered as positive the role of the Senate. Moreover, it
is observed that this perception is shared whatever the generation, the professional category and the
political sensitivity of the interviewed (sympathizers of left: 64%, sympathizers of right: 62%).
This legitimacy granted to the Senate as actor of our political life is based on two representations:
on the one hand, its usefulness in development of the laws, shared by 67% of the interviewed;
in addition its role in the balance of power, positively recognized by 61% of the questioned
people, a role of countervailing power recently emphasized at the time of the reform of the
institutions. However, let us raise a left-right cleavage which is not surprising: 72% of the closed to
UMP consider the Senate as useful for the balance of power, against 55% of socialist sympathizers,
Jacques Hardy, the Senate and public freedoms (1958-1981) - Thesis for the doctorate of State in
political sciences, Rennes, 1985.
38 Above mentioned Sofres survey.
39 Above mentioned Sofres survey.
40 Aujourd’hui en France – Le Parisian - SCA - March 10, 1999.
41 In this respect, in spite of the proximity in the time of the ballot expiry of September 21, nearly the
three quarters of the French (74%) do not say themselves concerned by this poll. Sondage' IFOP for
Profession Politique realized in September 2008.
37
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
49
those having undoubtedly in memory the domination of the right in the Senate since the beginning of
Ve Republic”.42
The principles applicable to the current mode of election of the Senate, added to its
permanence and the duration of its mandate, contribute to determine a specific place in the
general functioning of the institutions. There is a direct effect of the diversification of the
recruitment of the political community, brought by the local communities experience.
Conclusion
The fact that the Senate has been entrusted a function of representation of the local
authorities is not neutral regarding the necessity of the balance of powers.
It translates the historical will to establish a differentiation of the representation within the
two chambers of the parliament, thus giving all its sense to the bicameral system.
Through the indirect suffrage and the election by delegates, themselves in charge of local
responsibilities, the Senate found the base of its capacity of moderation.
The specific function of representation of the local authorities, criticized by some people,
deserves, in this context, to receive a positive reading and constitutes, in reality, an
advantage for the Senate, which is a full part parliamentary assembly.
The existence of a second chamber in charge of the representation of the citizens living
within the local authorities must be seen as an asset in our institutional organization. At the
time when the omnipresence of the central State is lived as a source of blocking and
asphyxiation, the attention paid by the Senate to the demands of our fellow-citizens, gives
weight to its function of representation and put it in phase with a more attentive society to
diversity.
This specificity is thus necessarily an asset in the context of evolution of the political
system itself: the reform reducing from 7 to 5 years the mandate of the President of the
Republic starts to have significant effects, in particular accentuating the “presidentialisation”
of the system of government. This one calls counterweights. The constitutional revision of
July 23, 2008 could allow their reinforcement through new spaces of freedom and initiative
granted to the parliamentary assemblies and a better direct access of the citizens to the
institutions (citizen’s initiative, exception of unconstitutionality, submission to High Council
of the magistrature, defender of the rights creation).
In this context, however, the Senate is the only major political institution, precisely
because of its territorial anchoring, the characters of its mode of election, the duration of its
mandate – which remains the longest of the Republic – its permanence not to depend on the
presidential elections rhythm.
Its reinforced capacity of autonomy by the recent constitutional revision, in the
organization of its work and procedures, give the Senate even more than yesterday a specific
counter weighting role of the presidential power.
Far from being a handicap or a simple method of election, the representation of the local
authorities appears, at the time of contestation of the State model and in the new
constitutional context a very important vector for the future.

42
Above mentioned IFOP survey.
50
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Mr Geert Jan A. HAMILTON (Netherlands) said that in his country the influence of the
provinces went no further than electing senators. The provinces had no subsequent
constitutional role in the national parliament. The Dutch senate could only accept or reject
bills, not amend them, unlike the French senate. However, if the majority in the senate
showed that it had no confidence in the Government, there would be new elections; this had
happened twice in the last century. The existence of this power was an important factor in
the political system.
Mr Alphonse K. NOMBRÉ (Burkina Faso) asked how the Overseas Territories were
represented by the Senate.
Mr Louis-Claude NYASSA (Cameroon) asked why there were fewer Senators than there
were members of the National Assembly, and why they had different terms of office.
Ms Heather LANK (Canada) said that appointed Senators in Canada saw themselves as
representatives of minorities. The proportion of government bills amended in the Senate was
the same irrespective of whether they were in a majority or not, which suggested that they
took the task of legislative scrutiny seriously, and that other factors than party politics were
engaged.
Mr David NATZLER (United Kingdom) asked whether the order in which bills were
taken between the two Chambers marked a shift in power.
Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, noted that in Algeria, regions were represented
equally in the upper House, no matter the size of their population. The President appointed
one third of the members, who had a blocking power on legislation. He asked what
happened to the Senate when the National Assembly was dissolved.
Mr Alain DELCAMP (France) clarified that the Government was not accountable to the
Senate, and this allowed a freer form of politics to flourish. The Senate, thanks to the lack of a
majority, had to work by compromise. It moderated and regulated the political system. It
tended not to obstruct legislation, although this could change towards the end of a mandate.
Overseas territories had different kinds of status. Some (such as Guadeloupe) were
integrated fully into the French state, others (such as New Caledonia) less so. Second
chambers were often smaller, perhaps because they were more reasonable, and also because
there was less of a requirement for perfect representativity. Senators were elected for nine
years, embodying an idea of permanence. The idea of reducing the term to six years was in
the air, to match more closely that of the President of the Republic (currently five years). The
Senate continued to work during elections to the National Assembly.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
51
CO-OPERATION OF PARLIAMENTARY
SECRETARIATS, BEGINNING OF GLOBAL
PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY
—
PARK KYE DONG
Secretary General of the National Assembly (Republic of Korea)
1. Exchange among parliamentary secretariats: key to global parliamentary democracy
This is my third communication here at ASGP, after Geneva last year and Ethiopia this
spring. It is indeed a great honor for me to be given this precious opportunity three times
consecutively.
Last fall my communication was concerned with the general features of e-parliament of
the Korean National Assembly. This spring, it was about the e-Parliament Assistance
Initiative, or e-PAI, whose main objective is to assist parliaments in implementing eparliament projects.
Today I would like to introduce to you three initiatives undertaken by the Korean
National Assembly to facilitate and promote exchange, including people-to-people exchange,
among parliamentary secretariats.
The first initiative is what we call the e-PAI Project through which the National Assembly
of Korea has donated 400 computers and transferred experience and know-how to run eparliament to countries around the world over the past year.
Secondly, the Korean National Assembly inaugurated the Secretaries-General Forum of
Asia-Pacific Parliaments in July this year to provide a platform for exchange and cooperation
among parliamentary secretariats in the region.
The third initiative is the Global Inter-Parliamentary Exchange Program launched as a
follow-up to the Secretaries General Forum. The first batch of participants arrived in Korea
as recently as this month from the Ethiopian House of Federation to gain experience and
knowledge on overall parliamentary administration.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
52
All these endeavors have been made to achieve two objectives: deepening friendship
among countries at the inter-parliamentary level and building and strengthening
professionalism of secretariats at the parliamentary level.
Through my communication today, I would like to introduce to you in greater detail each
of these 3 initiatives and present a vision for global parliamentary democracy driven by
exchange among parliamentary secretariats.
2. e-PAI Project
Let me start off with the e-PAI Project.
The e-PAI Project was launched last November to assist countries in need of IT
infrastructure in laying the groundwork for e-Parliament. Korea’s flagship electronics
companies such as Samsung and LG provide technical assistance for the Project.
Starting from Cambodia, the National Assembly of Korea has donated a total of 400
computers to Nepal and Lao in Asia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia in Africa and
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in Central Asia.
Marking the 1-year anniversary of this project next month, the Korean National Assembly
plans to upgrade e-PAI both in quality and quantity.
A survey revealed that 25 countries have expressed interest in the e-PAI Project with the
number of computers in demand reaching 1,200. We plan to hand over 150 PCs to Mongolia,
the Philippines and Cambodia by the end of this month and additional 150 PCs to Niger,
Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi by the end of this year.
By the year 2010, a total of 550 PCs will be secured to meet the needs.
The expansion of technology cooperation is also under review to donate software
packages enabling the e-Bills System and the Parliamentary Information System and to
facilitate knowledge-sharing in overall parliamentary administration.
The e-Bills System helps to track all bills in the legislative process from introduction to
committee deliberation to house floor consideration. The Parliamentary Information System
provides all legislative information relating to bills under deliberation and laws enacted or
amended.
Had it not been for generous assistance from countries around the world, Korea’s
economy and democracy would not be where it stands now. To pay back what we owed, the
National Assembly of Korea wishes to find what it can do to make a contribution to
advancing global e-democracy. I hope the seeds we plant with PCs will bloom into flowers of
global e-democracy.
3. Secretaries-General Forum of Asia-Pacific Parliaments (SGFAPP)
Next, let me touch upon the Secretaries-General Forum of Asia-Pacific Parliaments, or
SGFAPP.
Thanks to keen interest and strong support from secretaries-general, the SecretariesGeneral Forum of Asia-Pacific Parliaments was inaugurated on July 7th in Seoul, Korea.
Under the slogan of “Cooperation of Parliaments, Beginning of a New Asia-Pacific Era,”
the SGFAPP brought together secretaries general in the region to discuss issues relevant to
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
53
parliamentary secretariats and to create a regional association for parliamentary secretariats.
The Forum was the first of its kind as a regional conference for parliamentary secretariats.
The 5-day Forum was attended by 83 delegates representing 42 parliaments of 32
countries and engaged in intense discussions on “e-Parliament” and “Response to a
Changing Legislative Environment.” I would like to take this opportunity to express my
heart-felt gratitude to all the participants of the Forum.
What we were able to gain from the baby steps we took at the Forum was the consensus
on
the
need
for
mutual
cooperation
among
the
secretaries
general.
Based upon this consensus, all the delegations presented a concerted voice through the Seoul
Communiqué, which underlined the importance of inter-parliamentary cooperation in the
region.
Besides the official meetings, visits to industrial sites, such as Hyundai Heavy Industries
and LG Display, and to historic and cultural sites, such as Bulguksa Temple and Samsung
Museum, were arranged to enhance understanding on Korea’s economy, history and culture
and deepen friendship among the participants.
It was agreed that the Assembly of the Forum will take place every two years. Given the
continuity of the Forum, I expect that the Steering Committee of the Forum will meet during
the first half of next year. Currently we are building a website for the Forum to make
relevant information easily accessible.
Expressing my sincere thanks to all the participants once again, I hope that the Forum will
grow into an association encompassing all parliamentary secretariats in the Asia-Pacific
region, leading to the creation of a regional parliamentary leaders’ conference.
4. Global Inter-Parliamentary Exchange Program
Now, let me move on to the Global Inter-Parliamentary Exchange Program.
As I said before, the SGFAPP adopted the Seoul Communiqué whose main objective was
to promote exchange among parliamentary secretariats.
To put into practice the ideas contained in the Seoul Communiqué, the Korean National
Assembly developed an initiative called the Global Inter-Parliamentary Exchange Program.
The Program was designed to provide staff members of parliamentary secretariats with
training courses which transfer expertise and knowhow in parliamentary management.
As the inaugural step of the program, a 6-member delegation from the Secretariat of the
Ethiopian House of Federation, the Upper House of the Ethiopian Parliament, visited the
Korean National Assembly at the beginning of this month for a week-long training program.
It was initiated at the request of the Secretariat of the Ethiopian House of Federation to
understand and benchmark the operational knowhow of Korea’s e-parliament. Through the
training program, the Ethiopian delegation learned about the Korean parliament’s ITenabled systems, such as e-Bills System, Parliamentary Information System, e-Library etc.
Going forward, the Secretariat of the Korean National Assembly hopes to diversify the
types of exchange programs.
First of all, we are planning on developing “customized programs” focusing on specific
themes, such as building and managing e-parliament, optimizing the physical structure of
parliamentary buildings and budget deliberation processes. In particular, secretaries general
54
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
of quite a few parliaments, including Vietnam, Palau, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, expressed
interest in the area of IT during the SGFAPP.
It was in this context that we decided to implement the “e-Parliament Exchange Program”
in October next year. The week-long program will provide parliaments who wish to
participate with opportunities to gain experience and knowhow in e-parliament and to enjoy
the true beauty of Korea through visits to industrial facilities and cultural sites.
Secondly, we are expanding exchange training programs between parliamentary
secretariats as part of the Global Inter-Parliamentary Exchange Program. A good case in
point is the MOU on Exchange Training signed by the Korean National Assembly and the
Lower House of the Japanese Diet in 2001. The two parliaments have been successfully
implementing 2-week training programs on an annual basis.
Lastly, once sufficient data for offline exchange programs have been compiled, we plan to
move them into Web-based video-on-demand systems to overcome spatio-temporal
constraints and enhance accessibility. I believe it will maximize opportunities while
minimizing expenses on the part of participants.
Exchange programs among parliamentary secretariats will be a shortcut to building and
strengthening professionalism while responding actively to a changing legislative
environment. Interest and support from honorable secretaries general would be greatly
appreciated.
5. Conclusion: Exchange among Parliamentary Secretariats in an Era of a New
Civilization
Currently, historic changes are taking place at a global level where an enormous amount
of knowledge and experience accumulated in different spheres of culture and civilization
converges on the back of developing science and technology and growing economies. I
would like to refer to this phenomenon as a new civilization.
With the advent of this new civilization, the need is growing for us to address common
challenges such as poverty, climate change and the economic crisis and to pursue common
values like peace and sustainable development.
I believe that parliaments, the cradle of democracy, have critical roles to play. Parliaments
should present right values and policy directions and a consensus among secretaries general
who provide steady assistance in these efforts will be a good starting point.
I am confident that the joint efforts of secretaries general, parliamentary cooperation and
upgraded professionalism of parliamentary secretariats are among the key elements in
advancing global parliamentary democracy in an era of a new civilization.
I hope that the three initiatives undertaken by the Korean National Assembly, e-PAI
Project, SGFAPP, Global Inter-Parliamentary Exchange Program will serve as fuel for the
journey to the destination.
This concludes my presentation on the programs initiated by the Korean National
Assembly to promote exchange among parliamentary secretariats.

Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
55
Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, encouraged Mr Park in the three initiatives he had
described, and mentioned the need for resources and training to make best use of IT
equipment.
Mr Geert Jan A. HAMILTON (Netherlands) asked if the meetings of secretaries general
could be an opportunity to prepare for any parallel meetings of regional Speakers.
Mrs Emma LIRIO REYES (Philippines) thanked Mr PARK for the donation of computers
to her Parliament.
Mr PARK Kye Dong encouraged others to join the forum of Asia-Pacific parliaments. Its
main objectives were exchanges of information and knowledge. The aim was for the forum
of secretaries general to lead to similar meetings of Speakers. He was interested to learn from
the European experience.
Mr Gherardo CASINI (Global Centre for ICT) said that he hoped the forum would lead
to the formation of a kind of ECPRD (European Centre for Parliamentary Research &
Documentation) for Asia, to enable information exchange among parliamentary staff. He
noted the existence of an Africa Knowledge Parliamentary Network. He saw it as a model in
development.
Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, thanked Mr PARK Kye Dong for his communication
as well as all those members who had put questions to him.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
57
THE CHALLENGE OF THE STRATEGIC PLANNING
IMPLEMENTATION IN THE BRAZILIAN CHAMBER OF
DEPUTIES
—
Maria Raquel MESQUITA MELO
Senior Manager of the Strategic Management Office of the Chamber of
Deputies (Brazil)
Strategic and Planning Management in the Chamber of Deputies
Governments from all over the world have suffered the pressure for the increasing
efficiency, efficacy and effectiveness in the accomplishment of its role with the society. It is
clear the need of improving the work of the public institutions in order to transform them
into an institution really capable of promoting the transformations that the population,
connected in world terms, demands of the State. Besides, the society has used mechanisms of
communication and information in a more consistent way, allowing its organization and
articulation in order to require the transparency of acts from the institutions. On behalf of the
citizens, the process of regulation and assessment of public services becomes natural. Social
groups claim for economical time-effective results. Thus, it is immediate the need of causing
a revolution in the model of public management, in a manner of addressing the requirements
of this new social and economic order.
The reason for the existence of the Chamber of Deputies, a public organization, is defined
by the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The Deputies are elected to
represent the people, to legislate and to supervise the application of the public funds.
However, more than pass laws, the Chamber of Deputies is responsible for enabling the
participation of the society in the legislative debate to make it more accessible and
democratic resulting in rules that are more consonant with the social needs of the Brazilian
society. To accomplish this mission, the Chamber of Deputies is provided with an
administrative and legislative structure supported by the technical board of the Institution.
The Chamber of Deputies’ Administration, aware that the quality of the services provided
to the Representatives and to the society can be improved with modern management
techniques, invested in the application of scientific models established in methodologies of
strategic management as well as project and process management.
58
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Planning in the Chamber of Deputies
Initiated in 2004, the Strategic Planning of the Chamber of Deputies, defined as a mission
of the department of technical administrative, legislative support: “to provide support to the
parliamentary activity, with a high quality and ethics, contributing to its continuous
strengthening, improvement and transparency”. The plans for the future and the
organization values were established as well: commitment, professionalism and
responsibility, ethics and transparency; cooperation, solidarity, efficiency, efficacy and
effectiveness.
Even three strategic guidelines were drawn, with the aim of guiding the future lines of
action and working programs:
a) To improve the Chamber of Deputies’ means of account, information dissemination
and communication with the citizens, contributing to the consolidation of an institutional
image before the society.
b) To disclose the Strategic Thinking and improve the tools of management, assuring
the continuity and the effectiveness to the actions of technical-administrative support, allied
to the parliamentary activity.
c) To promote the people development and professional learning, to encourage the
contribution and the sharing of experiences, to stimulate the continuous processes of
innovation and improvement, especially by means of the knowledge management.
Over the past years, the values and the guidelines established were essential for several
advances. Strong investments in training and capacity building, information technology and
institutional communication composed the Chamber of Deputies of a highly qualified
technical staff, computerized systems and many means of communication with the society.
The Chamber of Deputies’ website (www.camara.gov.br) was improved due to the creation
of the field “Transparência” (Transparency), in which information about agreements,
biddings, trips in official mission, compensatory payments, management report and other
types of information are disclosed. Besides, the citizen can follow up the current stage of a
bill in the House, the participation of the Representative that he elected and receive
information about the most varied themes discussed in the House. Such initiatives are based
on the “ethics and transparency” values that guide the process of account to the society.
Since 2006, administrative department strategic guidelines of the Chamber of Deputies
were detailed according to the aims of each department, a job accomplished in every
functional department of the organization. This process was initiated in the Human
Resources Division and it is in the conclusion stage at the Center for Information and
Technology. For such, the Balanced Scorecard – BSC Methodology was used, and it aims,
besides the definition of strategic objectives for the department in which it’s been applied, for
the identification of a group of indicators and periodic goals. The methodology enables the
measurement of the Institution success in addressing the goals valid for the cycle of planning
in force. According to the technique, every objective is evaluated by at least one indicator,
capable of translate, in terms of quantity, how the strategy is becoming reality.
Deployment of the strategy
The challenge is on for the Administration of the House: to implement an articulated
group of actions capable of achieving the established aims, to use the management methods
proposed and to promote the desired positive effects in the administrative efficiency and in
the institutional image before the society. In order to achieve this, it is essential to focus on
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
59
the strategy and transform it into reality from the development of projects. In the
implementation of the strategy, the projects allow the conducting of efforts and prioritize the
use of resources, in a manner of achieving the expected results.
In order to address this challenge, it is essential: the professionalization of projects’
management in the House and the consolidation of the management methodology of
projects, whose basis were released in 2006. The Administration identified the importance of
basing the development of projects on recognized management principles. The group of best
practices of project management, contained in the PMBOK Guide of the Project Management
Institute (PMI), was adapted according to the reality of the organization and created a Project
Guidebook), whose first version was published in 2008. At the same time, the first project
managers, identified after the cycles of department strategic planning, received formal
training for project management. (PMI, 2004)
The Strategic Management consists on the process that assures the sense of direction and
continuity to the organization. “The strategic management comprises the process of drawing and
implementation of strategies, and the conception and adoption of an organizational model, adequate to
the established strategies.” (Tavares, 2005:147)
The organizational model (strategic governance), adopted by the Chamber of Deputies, is
based on the definition of collegiate instances of decision making and mechanisms of control
with the aim of result follow up. Must be emphasized the accomplishment of Meetings of
Strategic Assessment, opportunities in which the main managers of the House reflect
together about the established strategy and check if the hypothesis that were accepted as true
elements, during the planning, must be maintained or not. In these quarter meetings, the
leaders debate the performance of the organization, based on the indicators and established
goals, which allow identifying objectively which projects and work processes must be
adjusted.
The implementation of a strategic management requires even a change program that
achieves all departments of the House. It is essential that the High Administration leads this
process and clarifies it, in an objective way, which are the real behaviors expected from all
parties involved. These behaviors, applied to the routines and work processes, aim to assure
that the transition for the new management model be successful. Defined in real behavior
terms what the change represents in the reality of every party involved, it is natural that the
resistances be expressed. According to Edgar Schein, the resistance to change is based on the
anxiety of learning, manifested in unconscious fears of the temporary incompetence, loss of
the power of influence, job, affiliation to the group and even the loss of identity. Sometimes,
these fears are presented by the denial of the need for change, avoidance and the
transference of responsibility of personal attitudes to the group. (Schein, 2008)
Communication and governance
Aware of the need of promoting a necessary psychological safety to attenuate the anxiety
of learning, typical of the process of culture transformation (a process in which the
Institution has been), the department that leads the Strategic Management in the House
invested in the preparation of a Communication Plan. First of all, the communication of the
strategy was accomplished due to the presentation of the Mission, desired Vision and Values
for all employees. Then, were presented the objectives defined in the Strategic Corporate
Map and the projects and programs that will transform the strategy into results.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
60
The consolidation of the Strategic Management in the House will be accomplished,
therefore, by the alignment of all board of directors and administrative units with the
expected objectives present in the Strategic Corporate Map, by the implementation of
strategic projects, by the improvement of work processes and by the deployment of a follow
up system and assessment, based on performance indicators and goals. The use of
methodological and technological tools that allow the measurement and the follow up of
indicators and goals is essential, since that what cannot be measured, cannot be managed.
The future is promising. The first Meeting of Strategic Assessment in the corporate scope
was held on August, 2009. At the time, the Governance Model of Strategic Management was
approved by the main managers of the House, the strategic projects were formalized and the
first cycle of strategic management in the Chamber of Deputies was officially initiated. The
principles that will conduct the efforts of the Administration and the technical staff to
support with excellence the parliamentary activity were established in order to account for
the society, and thus, definitely contribute for the institutional strengthening of the Brazilian
Legislative Branch.”
Bibliography
PMI Project Management Institute. Um Guia do Conjunto de Conhecimentos em Gerenciamento de
Projetos (Guia PMBOK). 3ª edição. Four Campus Boulevard, Newtown Square, PA, 2004.
SCHEIN, Edgar. Princípios da consultoria de Processo: para construir relações que transformam.
São Paulo: Peirópolis: Instituto Fonte para o Desenvolvimento Social, 2008.
TAVARES, Mauro C. Gestão Estratégica. São Paulo: Atlas, 2005.

Dr V.K. AGNIHOTRI (India) congratulated Ms MESQUITA MELO on the ambition of
the project. He asked what problems the strategic management group had faced in
developing the model, and what precautions other parliaments might take in replicating it.
Mr Habtamu NINI ABINO (Ethiopia) asked for more detail on the challenges
encountered in Brazil in the adoption of the balanced scorecard approach. He asked also how
the approach was cascaded down through the organisation.
Mr Marc BOSC (Canada) asked how the development of competencies had been linked
back to individual performance evaluations for staff of the Assembly.
Mr Zingile DINGANI (South Africa) asked if Members of Parliament had been involved
in buying into the strategic planning model, if a competency framework had been
developed, and if ICT services were assisting MPs to carry out their duties more effectively.
Mr Brendan KEITH (United Kingdom) asked how much implementation of the strategic
management initiative had cost, and had saved in the way of economies, and whether it had
made any real difference.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
61
Mr Geert Jan A. HAMILTON (Netherlands) asked about Members’ involvement in the edemocracy project.
Mr Vladimir SVINAREV (Russian Federation) asked how the people involved in
designing the strategic management system had been trained.
Ms MESQUITA MELO (Brazil) said that the hardest problem her team had faced was
cultural. It was difficult to motivate long-serving civil servants with strict project schedules.
Communication was crucial, to establish very clearly what was expected of individual civil
servants in this new management method. A training package had been put in place to help
people meet the competency framework. In the past, only managers evaluated their
subordinates – a 360 degree system was now being implemented. There were three steps to
map a competency model: general competencies, management competencies, and technical
competencies. She did not know how much the process had cost. There would be an
assessment meeting in December which would show, for example, how many training hours
would be required to help staff meet the competencies. Committee secretaries were involved
in negotiating the time of Members of Parliament for the e-democracy programme.
Managers could follow project progress more effectively thanks to IT software. She hoped to
have more news on the success of the project next year.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
63
ADMINISTRATIVE SELF-EVALUATION BY
PARLIAMENTS
—
General debate moderated by Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI
President, Secretary General of the Council of the Nation (Algeria)
1. Organization and Functioning of the Institution
1.1
To what extent has the internal organization of the departments made the
legislative work easier?
1.2
To what extent do the civil servants of the Parliament take part in the
development of the organization chart?
1.3
To what extent the current organizational structure of your Parliament is there a
framework to fulfil their missions by staff members (skills of clarity, definitions of missions,
positioning hierarchical distribution of staff?
1.4
What is the degree of efficiency of your organization chart (number of structures,
allocation of tasks, functional relationships ...)?
1.5
To what extent are the methods of administrative and Parliamentary work
effective in your Parliament (definition of the tasks, manpower deployment, discipline ...)?
1.6
To what extent have the services of the General Secretariat been a major support
in improving working conditions?
1.7
What is the degree of intensity of the relations between departments in their
duties fulfillment?
1.8
To what extent the coordination of the activity of the different services seems to
you adequately insured?
1.9
To what extent the mobility of civil servants in various departments during their
careers is a good thing for staff and administration?
1.10
What is the degree of interconnection between all departments or services?
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
64
1.11
To what extent do the civil servants of the Parliament take part in the
development of the budget?
1.12
To what extent is the information flow effective horizontally and vertically?
1.13
To what extent has the Parliament sufficient and qualified human resources?
1.14
To what extend has the statute currently governing the personnel of your
Parliament effective?
1.15
What are the degree and the quality of the relations of the civil servants with their
seniors in rank?
1.16
What is the degree of the functional relations between the two chambers?
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
5
Q 1.1
Q 1.2
Q 1.3
Q 1.4
Q 1.5
Q 1.6
4
3
2
1
65
5 = to a very
large extent / at
a very high
degree
4 = to a large
extent / at a
high degree
3 = fairly /
at a medium
degree
2 = to a low
extent / at a
low degree
1 = to a very
low extent / at
a very low
degree
Q 1.7
Q 1.8
Q 1.9
Q 1.10
Q 1.11
Q 1.12
Q 1.13
Q 1.14
Q 1.15
Q 1.16
Additional questions
What has been the biggest recent improvement in the above? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What is the most serious ongoing deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
66
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
What measures would be needed to remedy this deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
2. Working conditions in the administration of parliament
2.1 To what extent is the mechanism used to fix the remuneration of the civil servants of
the Parliament acceptable by the civil servants themselves?
2.2 What is the degree of acceptance of the Staff regulations of the civil servants of the
Parliament by the latter?
2.3 To what extent is the staff involved in the mechanisms of the professional promotion?
2.4 What is the degree of transparency of rules and criteria in recruitment and
promotion?
2.5 What is the degree of quality of training policy committed to improve qualifications
and skills of civil servants?
2.6 To what extent the policy of training and professional careers has the interest of the
civil servant?
2.7 To what extent do you assess your contribution to the functioning of the institution?
2.8 To what extent do you assess your motivation and your effectiveness?
2.9 To what extent is the welfare of the civil servants of the Parliament a matter of
concern (health policy, conflict resolution, security ..)?
2.10 To what extent do the civil servants of the Parliament have certain facilities
(transport, accommodation, restaurants, sports, cultural activities, medical and social
coverage)?
2.11 To what extent do you feel that sufficient attention is paid to your thoughts when you
make comments about your working conditions or the functioning of your service
(hierarchical chain, dialogue)?
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
5
4
3
2
1
Q 2.1
Q 2.2
Q 2.3
Q 2.4
Q 2.5
Q 2.6
Q 2.7
67
5 = to a very
large extent / at
a very high
degree
4 = to a large
extent / at a
high degree
3 = fairly /
at a medium
degree
2 = to a low
extent / at a
low degree
1 = to a very
low extent / at
a very low
degree
Q 2.8
Q 2.9
Q 2.10
Q 2.11
Additional questions
What has been the biggest recent improvement in the above? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What is the most serious ongoing deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What measures would be needed to remedy this deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
3. Representativeness in the Parliamentary administration
3.1
To what extent the parliamentary civil servant has the right to express his
grievances and proposals for improving the organization and functioning of
services?
3.2 To what extent, has a Parliamentary civil servant the right to choose to work with
such political parliamentary group compared to such other?
3.3 To what extent the composition of your administration reflect the equity between
men and women (diploma and competence equal, position equal)?
68
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
3.4 To what extent is the infrastructure of the Parliament and its unwritten rules
favorable to the participation of women (adaptation of working hours, quotas, review of
administrative rules, nurseries)?
3.5 What is the degree of intensity in the willingness of leaders to promote women's
place in the administration of parliament?
3.6 What is the degree of transparency of recruitment processes within the parliament?
3.7 To what extent is it easier for a person who has no relations to be recruited for
employment in parliament?
3.8 To what extent is the administration of Parliament representative of various areas of
the country?
3.9 To what extent can one say that there is within the Parliamentary administration a
prevalence of people of such area compared to other areas?
3.10 To what extent can one say that within the Parliamentary administration there is a
prevalence of academics compared to the other levels?
3.11 To what extent can one say that the structures intended to ensure the contribution of
political parties or opposition groups or minority groups and their members to the work of
the Parliament, do actually fulfill their role?
3.12 To what extent can we say that the civil servants of the Parliament are approached by
the opposition groups or minority parties?
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
5
4
3
2
1
Q 3.1
Q 3.2
Q 3.3
Q 3.4
Q 3.5
Q 3.6
69
5 = to a very
large extent / at
a very high
degree
4 = to a large
extent / at a
high degree
3 = fairly /
at a medium
degree
2 = to a low
extent / at a
low degree
1 = to a very
low extent / at
a very low
degree
Q 3.7
Q 3.8
Q 3.9
Q 3.10
Q 3.11
Q 3.12
Additional questions
What has been the biggest recent improvement in the above? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What is the most serious ongoing deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What measures would be needed to remedy this deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
4. Assistance to the legislative process of the Parliament
4.1 To what extent can one say that the parliamentary assistants take part in the
preparation of reports committees on the drafting of bills?
4.2 What is the degree of involvement of parliamentary staff in drafting parliamentary
interventions (written and oral questions, amendments)?
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
70
4.3 What is the degree of involvement of parliamentary staff in the drafting of
parliamentary interventions (written and oral questions, amendments)?
4.4 To what extent can one say that the Parliamentary assistants are solicited by the
members of the Parliament for studies, researches and analyzes of the laws under
discussion?
4.5 To what extent can one say that the Parliamentary assistants are solicited for the
drafting of the amendments?
4.6 What is the effectiveness of the procedure of committees for the review and
amendment of bills?
4.7 To what extent is the parliamentary staff involved in the operation and
development of a documentation center?
4.8 To what extent are the Parliamentary assistants involved in the evaluation of
legislation?
4.9 To what extent parliamentary staff have, in your opinion, the necessary means to
fulfil their assistance in the areas of legislation and controls (training, research facilities and
documentation, computer and office equipment, organization, support staff)?
4.10 To what extent the research, information services meet the needs of all
parliamentarians and their groups?
5
Q 4.1
Q 4.2
Q 4.3
Q 4.4
Q 4.5
Q 4.6
Q 4.7
Q 4.8
Q 4.9
Q 4.10
4
3
2
1
5 = to a very
large extent / at
a very high
degree
4 = to a large
extent / at a
high degree
3 = fairly /
at a medium
degree
2 = to a low
extent / at a
low degree
1 = to a very
low extent / at
a very low
degree
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
71
Additional questions
What has been the biggest recent improvement in the above? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What is the most serious ongoing deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What measures would be needed to remedy this deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
5. Transparency and Accessibility of the Parliament
5.1 To what extent new technologies have helped to improve the accessibility of media
and citizens in the work of Parliament, including in its debates?
5.2 To what extent has the transparency on the parliamentarians’ activities and on the
functioning of parliament been effective?
5.3 What is the degree of satisfaction of the citizens on the work of your parliament?
5.4 To what extent do the media provide a good coverage of parliamentary work?
5.5 To what extent are debates in the parliament and its committees open to the media
and the public?
5.6 What is the degree of intensity and success of the initiatives intended to interest
young people in the Parliament?
5.7 To what extent do you take part in the initiatives of opening the Parliament to the
external world (to publicize the Parliament)?
5.8 What is the degree of involvement offered to the citizens in the development of the
legislation (e.g. through citizen initiatives, referendum, and so on. ...)?
5.9 What is the degree of efficiency of the communication means of your parliament on
the public?
5.10 To what extent do the services of the General Secretariat facilitate public access to the
parliament?
5
Q 5.1
Q 5.2
Q 5.3
4
3
2
1
5 = to a very large
extent / at a very
high degree
4 = to a large
extent / at a high
degree
3 = fairly /
at a medium degree
Q 5.4
2 = to a low extent
/ at a low degree
Q 5.5
1 = to a very low
extent / at a very
low degree
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
72
Additional questions
What is the greatest improvement recently made in the fields above? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What is the most serious current deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... What are the actions
likely to correct these deficiencies? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
6. Information and communication technology in parliament (ICT)
6.1 To what extent has the use of new technologies in improving the efficiency of civil
servant worked?
6.2 To what extent has the access to new technologies improved the efficiency of the
Parliamentarians work?
6.3 To what extent has the administration continued to provide a modern technological
environment, and adapted to the needs of parliamentarians and civil servant?
6.4 To what extent do you think effective communication policy is implemented by your
parliament?
6.5 To what extent is the personal involvement of staff in the communication policy
necessary?
6.6 To what extent have new technologies helped to improve the accessibility of media
and citizens in the work of parliament, including in its debates?
6.7 To what extent has the use of new technologies made the activities and functioning
of your parliament transparent?
6.8 What is the degree of interest in the website as a central point of access to
information on activity in the parliament?
6.9 To what extent has the introduction of new information technologies within the
parliament resulted in greater efficiency and better readability of the role of parliament?
6.10 To what extent has the use of a parliamentary TV and parliamentary radio
contributed to a better understanding on Parliament and its mission?
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
5
Q 6.1
Q 6.2
Q 6.3
Q 6.4
Q 6.5
Q 6.6
Q 6.7
4
3
2
1
73
5 = to a very
large extent / at
a very high
degree
4 = to a large
extent / at a
high degree
3 = fairly /
at a medium
degree
2 = to a low
extent / at a
low degree
1 = to a very
low extent / at
a
very
low degree
Q 6.8
Q 6.9
Q 6.10
Additional questions
What has been the biggest recent improvement in the above? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What is the most serious ongoing deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What measures would be needed to remedy this deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
7. Participation of the Parliament on the Inter-parliamentary and International arena
7.1 To what extent are the civil servants of the Parliament informed on the interparliamentary and international activities (foreign delegations visits, international
conferences, existence of cooperation programme)?
7.2 To what extent the staff of your assembly (other than those in the services directly
involved in these activities) take part in international and inter-parliamentary activities
(Secretariat of inter-parliamentary friendship groups, foreign delegations and foreign
personalities, participation in colloquiums or training abroad or cooperation programme)?
7.3 To what extent are the civil servants of foreign activities involved in the preparation
and conduct of international and inter-parliamentary activities?
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
74
7.4 To what extent are the civil servants of the Parliament adequately trained to
participate in the parliamentary and international activities (foreign languages, information
on international realities and geo strategic issues, knowledge of foreign parliaments)?
7.5 What is the degree of relationship with your colleagues in other parliaments?
7.6 To what extent do the civil servants of the Parliament take part in cooperation
programs in the field of support to Parliaments (UNDP - IPU - World Bank)?
7.7 To what extent you consider necessary the use of new technologies to affirm the
visibility of your Parliament on the inter-parliamentary and international scene?
5
4
3
2
Q 7.1
Q 7.2
1
5 = to a very
large extent / at
a very high
degree
4 = to a large
extent / at a
high degree
Q 7.3
3 = fairly /
at a medium
degree
2 = to a low
extent / at a
low degree
1 = to a very
low extent / at
a very low
degree
Q 7.4
Q 7.5
Q 7.6
Q 7.7
Q 7.8
Additional questions
What has been the biggest recent improvement in the above? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... What is the most serious
ongoing deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What measures would be needed to remedy this deficiency? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Finally describe (comment on) any concern (question) that has not been addressed by
this questionnaire.

Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
75
Mr David NATZLER (United Kingdom) wanted to ensure that the questionnaire
produced something of value. Many of the questions were matters properly of opinion,
rather than fact. In section 2, the answers given by secretaries general would be rather
different from those of other staff, particularly on subjects such as pay and promotion. Other
questions suffered from being matters on which the administration of Parliament had no
perceptible effect, although some influence, such as transparency, and public engagement.
He detected a slight bias towards legislative work and IT. Many staff in most parliaments
were engaged in non-legislative scrutiny and control work, and this could be reflected in the
questionnaire. In many Parliaments, failings in non-IT technologies degraded the services
offered to Members more than IT: catering and office standards, for example. This emerged
from surveys of Members in the United Kingdom. He suggested that if secretaries general
could trust more junior staff to answer some of these questions, it would give a more
informative view of reality. Finally, he thought that there could be questions on the extent to
which the administration was evaluated externally, as this was expected by others. A
mischievous suggestion for such external input was evaluation by the other House of a
bicameral Parliament.
Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, reminded members of the history of parliamentary
self-evaluation, and of the Algerian experience of evaluation via the IPU, which had led them
to conclude that external evaluation and self-evaluation could be conducted simultaneously.
The questionnaire was at an early stage, and would benefit from the comments of different
Parliaments with different views. He invited colleagues to contribute in writing during the
course of the year.
Mr Alain DELCAMP (France) said that, other than certain detailed comments, the
questionnaire was a good basis for work, but that there was a problem of presentation. He
was not sure that self-evaluation of administrations was the best way forward, and such a
course of action could be seen as inherently prejudiced, given that administrations existed to
serve elected Parliaments with consequently greater legitimacy. It would be better presented
as a questionnaire of inquiry, which could be answered without needing to involve elected
politicians, which would make the process more complicated. He thought the purpose of the
questionnaire should be to establish to what extent the administration was adapted to its
purpose.
Dr V.K. AGNIHOTRI (India) agreed that time was needed to consider the draft
questionnaire. He observed that administrations were concerned with the delivery of
services: it was the quality of this delivery which needed to be assessed. He had been
involved in delivering against an ISO standard, and thought that such a model could be
adapted to a parliamentary service.
Dr Hafnaoui AMRANI, President, suggested that all members should consider the
questionnaire, in order to talk again about it at a future session.
Mr Vladimir SVINAREV (Russian Federation) presented the following contribution:
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
76
There is no need to argue the importance of active and universal use of information and
communication technologies in the practical work of the bodies of state authority, and
especially the legislative and representative power.
For the Russian Federation, the relevance of wide-scale use of modern information and
communication technologies in the work of government bodies is, in addition to other
factors, necessitated by the factor of distance. Eighty-three constituent entities of the
Federation making up our country are situated on a vast territory and are often located far
from the country’s capital, where the most important political decisions are made. The use of
information technology enables to eliminate this factor of distance and to further strengthen
the unity of the federal system in Russia. The regions are able to have an equal opportunity
for active and direct participation in the political process irrespective of their geographical
remoteness.
A special place in the information technology penetration of the work of the Council of
the Federation is occupied by the Russian Parliamentary Web Portal – a specialized
information system on the Internet.
The parliamentary portal ensures a single presence of the legislative branch of
government of the Russian Federation in the world wide web, transparency in their work,
and contains mechanisms for effective informational cooperation of legislative bodies at
federal and regional levels between themselves, with executive government bodies, as well
as with the citizens of the Russian Federation and foreign citizens and organizations.
The web portal is an integrating and accumulating environment for search, storage,
processing, analysis, circulation, and provision of information on legislation and the
legislative process in current Russia.
The new updated web portal not only provides the capability of a single search of
information from the web sites of both chambers of the Federal Assembly and legislative
bodies of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, but also accommodates live
discussion and questions to members of parliament, as well as surveys and voting.
A significant proportion of information on the Web Portal is unique, that is it is not
provided in other informational resources of the world wide web.
In the last two years, our staff has put a lot of work into modernizing the Parliamentary
Web Portal. In particular, new subsystems have been developed which provide visitors to
the portal with current information on legislative activity of constituent entities of the
Russian Federation, and allow the automation of the process of analysis of law-enforcement
practice in our country.
From the point of view of informational and functional architecture, the Parliamentary
Portal may be divided into the following functional blocks:
1. Parliamentarianism in Russia – contains articles and documents related to
legislature in the Russian Federation.
2. Unified Catalogue of Legislative Initiatives – contains information on legislative
initiatives of legislative bodies in Russia.
3. Catalogue of Members – contains information on the composition of legislative
bodies at the federal and regional levels.
4.
Law-Enforcement – contains information on law-enforcement practice on selected
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
77
subjects of legal regulation.
5. Forum – enables interactive discussion on the topic of parliamentarianism, work of
the legislature, expression of opinions on draft legislation.
6. Interactive Services – enables voting on multiple issues, surveys, search the contents
of the portal, sign up for the mailing list.
7.
Materials from the Media and Web Sites of Legislative Bodies
8. Analysis and Statistics – provides analytical and statistical data based on information
stored in the portal.
The Parliamentary Portal is an operational tool of comprehensive access to information on
the work of legislative bodies in Russia.
The full-scale use of the portal is conditioned on a number of factors. Today, not all
constituent entities of the Russian Federation make a full contribution to the process of filling
the Parliamentary portal with information. What is required is a universal modernization of
regional software to enable informational resources of constituent entities of the Russian
Federation to integrate with the Parliamentary Portal. This process will take a number of
years!
It follows that issues of coordination of legislative work of the federal centre and the
regions, of allowing access by the public to the information on their work are currently
being successfully handled by the use of the official Internet web site of the Council of the
Federation and corresponding web sites in the regions. A number of the regions are
cooperating with the Council of the Federation by participating in filling in the virtual
pigeon-holes of the official web site of the Council of the Federation with information
necessary for joint legislative work.
In addition, provisions of agreements entered into with the Regions allow the Council of
the Federation to publish on its web site responses, expert opinion, and other materials on all
draft legislation of constituent entities. Regional web sites are also being used in a similar
manner.
I would like to particularly stress that from 2005, on the initiative of the Council of the
Federation Chairman Sergei Mikhailovich Mironov, the Council of the Federation holds an
annual competition for the best web site of a legislative body of the Russian Federation. Web
sites are assessed using the criteria of quality of informational content, level of interactivity,
and ease of use.
The competition demonstrates that regional legislative assemblies are striving for
informational transparency, and timely and individual engagement with the public. The
general professional level of the web sites has also increased.
These achievements by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are yet another
step towards the creation of a single informational space for legislative bodies in Russia,
which aids the development and strengthening of a civil society.
If any of you would like to find out more about the work of the legislature in Russia, you
can log on to the Council of the Federation Internet web site at www.council.gov.ru, the
Parliamentary Portal at www.parliament.ru, the web site of the State Duma at
www.duma.gov.ru, as well as the web sites of legislative assemblies of constituent entities of
the Russian Federation.
78
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Mr OUM Sarith (Cambodia) presented the following written contribution:
Evaluation of the Senate’s Ten Year Achievement (Experiences from the Cambodian
Senate)
Today I have the great privilege to be here with you and to share the experiences that we
have received from the evaluating process. Evaluation is of course of great importance to all
institutions since it was intended to find out what an institution has done well, what it has
not done well and to seek strategies for future improvement. Similarly, parliaments also
need to assess their performance the same way.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express appreciation and our sincere thanks
to the Secretariat of the IPU for producing the Self Assessment Toolkit for Parliaments, and
the Parliaments and Democracy in the 21st Century publications to guide us through our
evaluation process. These two important documents provided us with valuable assistance at
the right time on the occasion of the Senate’s 10th anniversary where we needed to assess our
achievements over the previous ten years.
Please allow me to share with you our case studies as follow:
Objective
Through a decision made on 28 April 2009 by the Standing Committee of the Cambodian
Senate, an ad-hoc commission was established, whose members were the Chairpersons from
the 9 specialized commissions coming from all political parties, Directors of all Departments
and Experienced Officials. The ad-hoc commission was led by one Chair who was assisted
by one Vice Chair and one Secretary.
The evaluation was undertaken to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the
Cambodian Senate over the last ten years, relating to its three key functions: Legislation,
Oversights and Representation. It was also conducted to see what has been successfully
achieved and what has not, and to consider deeper reform of the implementation of these
functions, which shall enable the Senate to come into line with the standard of democratic
parliaments.
During the evaluation process, we received support and encouragement from the leaders
of the Senate and active participation from the Senators and senior officials, despite the fact
that some of them had expressed discontent to disclose the results of the evaluation to the
public, fearing that it might affect their work and prestige. In addition, several Senators
wanted to stick to the old working methods and did not want to support the evaluation
process.
Tools
The Cambodian Senate decided to take two useful documents produced by the InterParliamentary Union (IPU): Guidelines on Evaluating Parliament: A Self Assessment
Toolkit for Parliaments 2008, and the Second document on Parliaments and Democracy in
the 21st Century. These were used as fundamental background documents for the
evaluation.
The necessary fundamental methods for evaluation are as following:
Presentations on the Guidelines for Evaluating Parliament: A Self-Assessment
Toolkit for Parliaments 2008 and Parliaments and Democracy in 21st Century were given to
the working group of the Secretariat General, so as to provide them with the basics of
parliamentary evaluation.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
79
We used the above IPU-introduced toolkit to guide our evaluation and we answered
all the questions by reflecting our current situation and development against all the criteria
of democratic parliaments such as Representation, Transparency, Accessibility,
Accountability and Effectiveness.
The working group was then divided into two groups: The first group was in charge
of studying and answering questions from sections 1 to section 3 (The representativeness of
parliament, Parliamentary oversight over the executive and Parliament’s Legislative
Capacity) and the second group was in charge of answering questions from sections 4 to 6
(The transparency and accessibility of parliament, the accountability of parliament,
Parliament’s involvement in international policy)
The working groups drafted answers respectively and submitted them to the ad-hoc
commission for further improvement.
After receiving the draft answers from each of the working groups, the ad-hoc
commission then organized a three day seminar from 28 to 30 September 2009 which was
attended by Senators, international development partners and staff members from the
Secretariat General to seek further recommendations to be later be submitted to the Standing
Committee for final approval.
The content of the evaluation result was ultimately approved by the Standing
Committee on 12 October 2009.
Outcome and Recommendation
Through a debate on the results of the evaluation on the Senate’s ten year achievements,
the ad-hoc commission, the working group from the Secretariat General of the Senate and
the whole seminar discovered some of the major weak points from the questions in the
evaluation documents which have to be improved, these were:
Section 1: The Representativeness of parliament
1.2
Representativeness of women in the composition of the Senate
1.9 Effectiveness of parliament as a forum for debate on questions of public
concern
Section 2: Parliamentary oversight over the executive
2.3 Capacity of the Senate to influence and scrutinize the national budget through
its stages
2.5
Capacity of the Senate to hold no elected public bodies to account
Section 3: Senate’s legislative capacity
3.1 The capacity of the Senate to process and subject draft legislative to full
and open debate in the Senate
3.2 Effectiveness of the commissions’ procedures for scrutinizing and
draft legislation
amending
all
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
80
Section 4: The transparency and accessibility of the Senate
4.5 Opportunities for electors to express their views and concerns directly to
representatives, regardless of party affiliation
their
Section 5: The accountability of the Senate
5.3 Effectiveness of the system in ensuring the observance of agreed codes
by members
of
conduct
5.7 Systematic monitoring and reviewing of levels of public confidence in the Senate
Section 6: Senate’s involvement in international policy
6.1 Effectiveness of the Senate to scrutinize and contribute to the government’s foreign
policy
6.2 Adequacy and accuracy of information available to the Senate about the
government’s negotiating positions in regional and universal/global bodies
All the issues we discovered above were related to the legal and procedural framework as
stated in the constitution, internal regulations, senate election law, statutes of the Senators
and roles, duties and competencies of the 9 specialized commissions and those of the
Secretariat General of the Senate.
In order to direct further performance implementation of the Senate, the ad-hoc
commission came up with some recommendations, along with some important measures for
the Senate’s reform, to be submitted to the Standing Committee for consideration as follows:
Recommendations for the Senate
1. Continue to strengthen its representative role more effectively by visiting the local
commune/sangkat and organizing public consultations in the localities in order to collect
opinion and data from the local communes regarding new law requirements, and the impact
of the implementation of the existing laws in a timely manner so as to increase the
confidence of the voters.
2. Continue consultations with the League of commune/sangkat councils, association of
commune/sangkat councils and councils of the capital city, other cities, provinces and
districts on decentralization and de-concentration and other issues involving administration
at the national level through the implementation of 4 mechanisms as follow:
A-Organizing forums in 8 regions
B-Organizing forums
commune/sangkat
between
woman
Senators
and
woman
members
of
council in the regions
C-Organizing forums for the League of Commune/sangkat councils and the association
of commune/sangkat councils in the capital and provinces and report to the Standing
Committee of the Senate
D-Organizing annual national forums between the Senate and the league of
commune/sangkat councils, association of commune/sangkat councils in the capital and
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
81
provinces and other institutions involved with the policy of decentralization and deconcentration.
3. Continue to strengthen the Senate’s legislative and oversight role through capacity
and skill development programs delivered to the Senators and supporting staff, especially
the capacity to collect and analyze and give recommendations draft legislation.
4. Continue to focus on problems of the voters in the regions and people all over the
country in order to find solutions for them by referring to the three key roles of the Senate.
5. Every specialized commissions of the Senate shall have to strengthen and broaden
relations with national institutions, civil society organizations and other international
organizations so as to exchange information from each other more effectively.
6. Conduct public surveys to find out the major needs of the voters and to increase
confidence of the people all over the country.
7. Review and study unofficial procedures previously used by the Senate and add them
into internal regulations to make a more systematic structure
8. Specialized commissions shall have to keep reports of their own field so as to be able
to report to the Standing Committee of the Senate and the Senate’s sessions.
9. Specialized commissions shall have to make their own program and working plans
more clearly and accurately.
10. Learn to express opinions and give recommendations on various legal texts in either
reports or meeting sessions of the Senate.
11. While in Senate’s sessions or giving recommendation on legal texts, there should be
at least one representative from each political party that has seats in the Senate to stand up
and express their opinions or make other suggestions reflecting their respective political
stances.
12. Consider establishing a political group.
Recommendations for the Secretariat General
13. Continue to provide better quality and effective services to the institutions
14. Continue to seek assistance support from development partners and other friendly
parliaments for institutional development.
15. Make structural reforms relating to its own administration, roles, duties and
responsibilities in order to give better services to the Senate, in accordance with the
international standard of democratic parliaments.
16. Update the strategic framework and plan of action in order to promote the capacity of
Cambodian Senate.
The above recommendations are just initial steps. As regards the medium and long-term
strategies, the ad-hoc commission realized that it would have to further continue its research
on legal provision and procedures as stated in the constitution, internal regulations, Senate
election law, statute of Senators, and roles, duties and competencies of the specialized
commissions and the Secretariat General. It would also have to study standards and
parliamentary procedures in a regional and global framework in order to come up with
effective measures and changes for better institutional development.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
82
Conclusion
The document evaluating the Senate’s ten year achievements is of great importance for
the Senate to continue its mission to serve the greater national interest, the voters and all the
Cambodian people with high responsibility, quality and effectiveness in order to become an
institution that is truly representative of the nation and voters in the future. In addition to
the above commitments, the Cambodian Senate faces many challenges such as the lack of
human resources and facilities which are basic elements that we need to help steer us to
successfully achieve our goals. Given a chance to be here with all of you, I wish to appeal to
all our development partners and friends to continue your valuable support and we would
be most grateful to welcome any new development assistance from our friends.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
PRESENTATION BY GHERARDO CASINI
—
Global Centre for ICT in Parliament
83
84
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
85
86
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
87
88
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198

Mr Gherardo CASINI explained that invitations had been sent to all Speakers of
Parliaments, but that the invitation letter was also on the Internet.
Mr Andres LOMP (Australia) asked if any of the sessions would be webcast or recorded.
Mr Gherardo CASINI said that the entire conference would be recorded and made
available on the Global Centre’s Youtube channel.
Mr Louis-Claude NYASSA (Cameroon) asked whether the conference would be held in
New York or in Washington DC.
Mr Gherardo CASINI said that the conference would take place in Washington DC in the
Capitol Visitor Centre.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
89
CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES ARISING OUT OF OATH
TAKING BY MEMBERS OF A NEW LOK SABHA
(HOUSE OF PEOPLE)
—
P.D.T. ACHARY
Secretary General of the Lok Sabha (India)
Members of a legislature take oath or make affirmation before the designated authority
before they take their seats in the House. This is a solemn ceremony in which the newly
elected members swear that they will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution and
uphold the sovereignty and integrity of the country and faithfully discharge the duty of a
Member. The form of oath may vary, but the substance remains more or less the same in all
Parliaments. The Constitution or a statute provides for oath or affirmation and prescribes
the form thereof. It also designates the authority before whom the Members can take oath.
The Constitution or law provides penalty too for taking the seat without taking oath or
making affirmation. The Parliamentary Practices by Erskine May says that any Member of
the House of Commons who votes or sits during any debate without having taken oath is
subject to penalty and his seat is also vacated. The Constitution of India also provides for
penalty of Rs. 500/- each day for sitting or voting before taking oath. But it does not provide
for the vacation of seat of the Member who does so.
In India after a general election when the House meets, the first two days are devoted to
oath taking. The third day speaker is elected and the next day the President addresses both
Houses assembled together. Under Article 99 of the Constitution of India, the authority
before whom the Members have to take oath is the President or a person appointed by him
for the purpose of administering oath. This Article does not specify the place where oath can
be taken. However, traditionally Members take oath in the Chamber of the House of the
People.
The issue which arises out of this practice is whether the two days' sittings for oath taking
can be treated as sittings of the House.
Under the Article of the Constitution quoted above the President can himself administer
oath. If the President himself administers oath, he will do it only in the Presidents' House
where the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers are administered oath. The Members
are administered oath in the President's House it cannot certainly be treated as a sitting of
the House of the People. Since the Constitution does not specify any place for oath taking
90
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
the President can select any place for this purpose. If any such place is chosen and the oath
is administered there, it cannot be treated as a sitting of the House. So, merely because the
newly elected Members assemble in the Chamber of the House of the People, the oath-taking
cannot be treated as a sitting of the House. But, in the Indian Parliament the first two sittings
where the oath is taken are treated as sittings of the House.
Under the Rules of Procedure of the House a sitting of the House is duly constituted when
it is presided over by the Speaker or any other person authorised to sit under the Rules or the
Constitution. The Constitution of India clearly says that Members take oath before the
President or a person appointed by him for the purpose of administering oath. He does not
and cannot perform any other function except administering oath. The House meets to
transact business. It cannot meet for any other purpose. However, in the Indian Parliament
the person appointed to administer oath is also vested with the functions of the Speaker in
the absence of a duly elected Speaker under another provision of the Constitution. Thus, it
may be said that the House during the oath taking is presided over by a person authorised
by the Constitution and in that sense it can be called a valid sitting of the House. But, the
question arises whether oath-taking is a business of the House. Taking oath is a
constitutional duty of a Member and administering it is the function of the President. It
cannot therefore be a business of the House. So, if it is not a business of the House, there
cannot be a sitting of the House. A House sitting and doing something which is not its
business is alien to the concept of a valid sitting of a legislature. From the above analysis of
the law it becomes clear that oath-taking cannot be treated as a business of the House.
This question is important in the Indian context because under the Indian Constitution the
duration of the House of the People is five years which is counted from the date appointed
for its first meeting. So, the first meeting assumes importance. Is the first day the one when
oath-taking begins or the day when the Speaker is elected on completion of the oath-taking?
Yet another problem arises here. Article 87 of the Indian Constitution says that at the
commencement of each session after each General Election the President shall address both
Houses assembled together. This provision shows that the session can begin only with the
President's Address or in other words no business can take place before the President
addresses the House. In India the election of the Speaker takes place before the President
addresses the Houses. Election of Speaker is a business of the House and therefore the
House has to meet before the 'commencement' to transact this business.
So, the issue is whether the sitting for oath taking can be treated as a sitting of the House
and therefore the first sitting of the House or whether the day the Speaker is elected can be
called the first sitting of the House as that is when the first business is transacted or whether
the day when the President addresses the Houses can be called the first sitting of the House
as the Constitution calls it the “commencement” of the session.
This issue was raised by the Secretariat of the House of the People at the time of the
constitution of the new House after the recent election in India. The Ministry of Law and the
Attorney General of India have taken the traditional stand that oath-taking is a sitting of the
House. But their opinions have not settled this issue. This issue is not one which has the
potential for creating any constitutional crises. Nevertheless, it is felt that it raises some
interesting points which can engage our attention.”

Mr Bhim CHARAN ROY (Bangladesh) suggested oath-taking away from the Chamber
in order to avoid the problem of who should preside over the sitting. In the Bangladeshi
Parliament, the oath room was within the precincts, but away from the Chamber.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
91
Mr Baye Niass CISSÉ (Senegal) asked about the legal consequences of a member failing
to honour the terms of his oath, and what these terms were, as stated in the Constitution or
elsewhere.
Mr Raja Muhammad AMIN (Pakistan) said that in his country, the problem of who
presided was solved by keeping the previous Speaker of the House in place until the oath
had been taken by all members.
Mrs Fatou Banel SOW GUEYE (Senegal) said that in her country there was no
requirement for Members to take an oath, and reiterated Mr Cisse’s questions.
Mrs Doris Katai Katebe MWINGA (Zambia) explained that in her country, the election
of the Speaker preceded oath-taking by Members of Parliament, so that the Speaker could
preside. She suggested that an amendment to the Indian constitution might be necessary.
Mr Marc BOSC (Canada) said that in his country, Members could not enter the Chamber
until they had taken the oath, administered by the clerks, over a period of weeks preceding
the opening of Parliament, when the sitting was deemed to have begun.
Mr Abdelhamid Badis BELKAS (Algeria) asked if there was a Constitutional Council in
India.
Mr Alphonse K. NOMBRÉ (Burkina Faso) said that, as in Senegal, there was no oathtaking in his country. He asked if there was any means of validating the mandate other than
oath-taking.
Mr Ibrahim MOHAMED IBRAHIM (Sudan) said that in his country, the oldest Member
presided over the first sitting, at which oath-taking and the election of the Speaker took
place.
Mr David NATZLER (United Kingdom) feared that the Westminster system was to
blame for the Indian situation. In his country, a small number of Members refused to take the
oath and therefore could not sit. It was a statutory obligation that the oath-taking took place
in the House, presided over by the Speaker. The oath-taking was definitely considered as a
sitting of the House. He expected that the date of the first meeting of a Parliament (as
specified in the Bill of Rights 1689) in India would be defined in the proclamation of
dissolution, and might be a different date from that of the first sitting.
Mr Zingile DINGANI (South Africa) described the South African system of oath-taking,
under which there was also an option to make an act of affirmation.
Mr Christoph LANZ (Switzerland) said that in his country it would be unimaginable for
any state authority other than the Parliament itself to administer the oath, which was a
symbolic act rather than a legal one, administered to all of the members en bloc.
92
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Mr P.D.T. ACHARY (India) replied to the comments made. He was fascinated by Mr
Natzler’s distinction between meetings and sittings. Unfortunately, in the Indian
constitution, the two terms were used interchangeably. In India, the oath-taking was an
obligation, not a formality. The President in India was a part of Parliament, and it was on
this basis that he administered the oath. Unfortunately, in India unlike in Canada, the clerk
was not allowed to administer the oath; his role was merely to stand and sit each time a
Member was called. The content of the oath was provided for in the Constitution, and
required Members to express faith in the Constitution, the integrity of the nation and the
law, and to faithfully discharge his duties. It was not clear what consequences there would
be if the oath was violated.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
93
CONTEMPT OF THE HOUSE BY MEMBERS OF
PARLIAMENT – THE ZAMBIAN EXPERIENCE
—
Doris Katai Katebe MWINGA
Clerk of the National Assembly (Zambia)
INTRODUCTION
Members of Parliament are expected to observe a certain standard of conduct both inside
and outside the House in order for them to effectively carry out their functions with dignity.
Their behaviour thus should at all times enhance the dignity of Parliament and its Members
in general. The conduct of Members should not be derogatory to the dignity of the House or
in any way inconsistent with the standards which Parliament expects of its Members. This
paper will be looking at the Contempt of the House by Members of Parliament. The paper
will consider the meaning or the definition of contempt of the House and what would
constitute contempt. The paper will cite examples from Zambia to illustrate the meaning of
contempt of the House.
According to Article 86(1) of the Constitution of Zambia, the National Assembly may,
subject to the other provisions of the Constitution, determine its own procedure.
Furthermore, Article 87(1) of the Constitution provides that the National Assembly and its
members shall have such privileges, powers and immunities as may be prescribed by an Act
of Parliament. The aforegoing provisions are the bedrock of provisions in the National
Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act Cap 12 of the Laws of Zambia, the National Assembly
Standing Orders and the Parliamentary Handbook which have been promulgated pursuant
to these provisions of the Constitution and thereby set out the standard of conduct of
members of the National Assembly as well as of others in relation to the proceedings of the
House.
DEFINITION OF CONTEMPT OF THE HOUSE
In many jurisdictions, contempt of Parliament is directly comparable with contempt of
court. Contempt of Parliament is the act of obstructing the Parliament in carrying out its
functions, or of hindering any Member of Parliament in the performance of his or her duties.
94
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Actions which can constitute contempt of Parliament may vary, but in Zambia, contempt
of the House is stipulated in part III and part IV of the National Assembly (Powers and
Privileges) Act, Cap 12 of the Laws of Zambia. This includes things such as:
(i) deliberately misleading a House of Parliament or a Parliamentary Committee,
refusing to testify before, or to produce documents to the House or Committee;
(ii) attempting to influence a Member of Parliament, for example, by bribery or threats;
(iii) showing disrespect in speech or manner towards the Speaker;
(iv) committing any act of intentional disrespect to or with reference to the proceedings of
the Assembly;
(v) publishing any false or scandalous libel on the Assembly, any paper or any report
which willfully misrepresent in any proceedings of the Assembly or any Committee; and
(vi) creating a disturbance in or near Parliament House.
IMPLICATIONS OF CONTEMPT OF THE HOUSE
The need for the House to function in an orderly manner is the reason why many
jurisdictions have put in place parliamentary privileges and immunities. Parliamentary
privileges and immunities refer to peculiar advantages which guarantee the effectiveness of
Parliament and without which Parliament would not function properly and thus Erskine
May defines parliamentary privilege as:
the sum of the peculiar rights enjoyed by each House collectively as a constituent part of the High
Court of Parliament, and by Members of each House individually, without which they could not
discharge their functions, and which those possessed by other bodies or individuals.
Since contempt of the House affects the ability of any legislature to function properly,
there is need for the House to have full control over all its privileges and ensure that they are
not abused or misused, the result of which would be a total breakdown of order and
discipline in the House. This applies to both Members and outsiders. It is, therefore, a breach
of parliamentary privilege and contempt of the House for a Member of the House or outsider
to make speeches, or to publish any libel on the character or proceedings of the House or its
committees, or on any Member of the House for or relating to his/her character or conduct
as a Member of Parliament.
RULES OF PARLIAMENTARY ETIQUETTE & DECORUM
In Zambia, while the House is sitting, Members are expected to observe Rules of
Parliamentary Etiquette. These are based on conduct of business in the House and on rulings
by the Speaker from time to time. The rules of Parliamentary Etiquette and Decorum are
provided in the Standing Orders and National Assembly Handbook and are also based on
traditions and practices of Commonwealth Parliaments and on rulings of the Speaker from
time to time. These rules compliment the need to adhere both the etiquette of the House and
mitigation of contempt of the House. They include:
(i) (a) the official dress for male Members of Parliament shall be a lounge suit, a pair of long
trousers, a tie and jacket, toga or a safari suit (not khaki except uniform for Members of the Defence
Forces) with long or short sleeves and a scarf or tie.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
95
(b) the official dress for female Members of Parliament shall be a formal dress, dress suit or skirt
suit, chitenge dress or suit, short or long sleeved and below the knee, or formal executive trouser suit
(excluding khaki and denim).
(ii) A Member is not to enter the Chamber while the National Anthem is being played, or
when the Speaker is reading the Prayer or the Speaker or Deputy Speaker or the Chairman of
the Committee of the Whole House is on his feet.
(iii) Every Member is required to stand at attention while the National Anthem is being
played.
(iv) No Member should engage in any act with intent to insult or bring into contempt and
ridicule the National Assembly.
(v) A Member is not to read any book, newspaper or letter in the House except those in
connection with the business of the House.
(vi) A Member is not to interrupt any Member who is speaking by disorderly expressions,
hissing, making running commentaries, other interruptions like clapping or noises in any
disorderly manner. Occasional interruptions by orderly interjections are allowed to clear a
point or to seek information on a speech or to challenge a statement; for agreeing, say "Hear!
Hear!" for disagreeing, say "Question." Continuous interruptions mar the proceedings and
dignity of the House.
(vii) A Member is to bow to the Chair on entering or leaving the Chamber, and also when
taking or leaving his seat.
(viii)
A Member is not to pass between the Chair and a Member speaking.
(ix) Members have to take their seats as soon as the Speaker rises to speak, or calls out
"order!" Members are not to cross the floor, walk, stand, enter or leave the Chamber when
the Speaker is on his feet.
(x) A Member should always address the Chair. The practice of exchanging arguments
with other Members is not parliamentary.
(xi) A Member is to keep to his or her place while addressing the House. Whenever a
Member not occupying his or her usual seat rises to ask a supplementary question or to
make a speech, the Speaker may not call upon such a Member. However, if a Member
speaking from his or her place is inaudible to other Members or the transcribers, he or she
may be asked to speak from a seat near a microphone.
(xii) A Member is to maintain silence when not speaking in the House. Members should
not converse between themselves in the Chamber, but if it becomes necessary, they may do
so in a very low voice, so as not to disturb the proceedings. Members may also not talk or
crack jokes with each other.
(xiii)
A Member is not to applaud when a distinguished visitor enters the galleries.
(xiv)
A Member while speaking is not to make any reference to the visitors in the
galleries. Reference to the presence of strangers in the visitors’ Gallery is always held to be
out of order.
(xv) It is out of order for a Member speaking on the floor of the House to refer to matters
which are before the courts of law, or under Police and security investigations. These are
referred to as Sub-Judice.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
96
(xvi)
The proceedings and debates of the Assembly are always in the English
language. Members are at all times expected to use temperate and decorous language whilst
in the House. Unparliamentary language is inadmissible.
(xvii)
A Member is not to resort to hunger-strike or other demonstrations, perform
religious functions or address a meeting in the precincts of Parliament Buildings except on
permission from the Speaker.
EXAMPLES
PERSPECTIVE
OF
CONTEMPT
OF
PARLIAMENT
FROM
THE
ZAMBIAN
In the past, a number of Honourable Members of Parliament in Zambia have contravened
the powers and privileges of Parliament contained in Cap 12 of the Laws of Zambia. The
House in Zambia has had to protect its privileges through parliamentary disciplinary
procedures. The National Assembly of Zambia use the National Assembly (Powers and
Privileges) Act, Cap 12 of the Laws of Zambia, Standing Orders, National Assembly
Handbook and parliamentary authorities such as Erskine May’s book and Kaul M.N. and
Shakdher S.L.’s book entitled Practice and Procedure of Parliament. To illustrate how the
Zambian Parliament has put to practice the contempt of Parliament and the attendant
powers and privileges provisions, the following cases are cited:
1. Ruling on the Complaint against Member of Parliament for Namwala
Constituency Major Robbie M. Chizhyuka, MP
A complaint was brought to the attention of the House by the Government Chief Whip
Hon. Vernon J. Mwaanga, MP, that Major R.M. Chizhyuka, MP on the sitting of the House
on Wednesday, 11th February, 2009 after the Minister of Tourism, Environment and Natural
Resources, Hon Catherine Namugala, MP, had given a ministerial statement on the situation
of the settlers in Sichifulo Game Management Area. It was alleged that during time for
questions on points of clarification, the Member of Parliament conducted himself in an
extremely disorderly manner by making loud interjections and when ordered to withdraw
from the House by the Chair, he continued with loud interjections and shouting as he
defiantly walked out of the Chamber contrary to Parliamentary etiquette.
The Committee on Privileges met to consider the matter and found that:
a)
Major R.M. Chizhyuka, MP, breached parliamentary etiquette and rules of debate
provided in the National Assembly Members’ Handbook, 2006 Edition; and
b)
he was disorderly in his conduct thereby showing disrespect to the Chair because
he continued heckling.
He was thus found guilty of breaching parliamentary etiquette and rules of debate and
disorderly conduct showing disrespect to the chair. It was resolved by the Committee to
suspend Major RM Chizhyuka, MP from the service of the National Assembly for a period of
sixty (60) days in accordance with the provisions of section 28 of the National Assembly
(Powers and Privileges) Act, Cap 12 of the Laws of Zambia, which states that:
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
97
“where any member commits any contempt of the Assembly, whether specified in
section nineteen or otherwise the Assembly may, by resolution, either direct the Speaker to
reprimand such members or suspend him from the service of the Assembly for such period
as it may determine….”
2. Ruling on the Complaints by Mrs J.C. Mumbi, Member of Parliament for Munali
Constituency and Mrs Elizabeth Chitika-Mulobeka, Member of Parliament for
Kawambwa Constituency against Each Other
This case refers to the incidence where the two (2) female Members fought within the
precincts of Parliament. After consideration of the case by the Committee, the following
issues were raised:
a)
Members fighting within the precincts of Parliament;
b)
Members using abusive language against each other;
c)
Members insulting each other;
d)
Members taking issues that happened within Parliamentary precincts to the
media, without the permission of the Speaker;
e)
A Member attempting to institute court proceedings without the authority of
the Hon Speaker; and
f)
libel on a Member by another Member.
They were found to have breached the privilege and contempt of the House and
parliamentary etiquette. They breached Section 19(e) of the National Assembly (Powers and
Privileges) Act, Cap 12 of the Laws of Zambia, which provides that:
“any person shall be guilty of an offence who causes an obstruction or disturbance within
the precincts of the Assembly Chamber or during a sitting of the Assembly or of a
Committee thereof.”
Both Members were found guilty of the following offences:
(a) fighting within the precincts of Parliament;
(b) use of abusive language against each other;
(c) insulting each other; and
(d) making speeches or statements to the media on a matter that occurred within the
precincts of Parliament without the authority of the Hon Mr Speaker.
In addition, Mrs J.C. Mumbi Phiri, MP was also found guilty of the following breaches:
(i) libel against Mrs Elizabeth Chitika-Mulobeka, MP, for stating that she should
undergo an HIV test; and
(ii) attempting to institute court proceedings against Mrs. Elizabeth Chitika-Mulobeka,
MP on an event which occurred within the precincts of Parliament without the authority of
the Hon Mr. Speaker.
They were both found guilty of breaching parliamentary privilege and etiquette, were in
contempt of the House, and were therefore suspended from the service of the House in line
with the provisions of Section 28 of the National Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act, Cap
98
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
12 of the Laws of Zambia as follows: Mrs. JC Mumbi Phiri, MP ninety (90) days; and Mrs.
Elizabeth Chitika-Mulobeka, MP for thirty (30) days.
3. Ruling on the Complaint against Monze Parliamentary Constituency Mr Jack Jacob
Mwiimbu, MP by Hon. Daniel Munkombwe, MP, Provincial Minister for Southern
Province
The case arose from a complaint raised by the Provincial Minister for Southern Province,
Hon Daniel Munkombwe, MP against the Hon. Member of Parliament for Monze
Constituency, Mr. J.J. Mwiimbu, MP on the remarks attributed to him in the Post Newspaper
issue No. 4415 of Tuesday, 18th November, 2008, under the headline “Government must
apologise to Catholics over Munkombwe’s remarks – Mwiimbu”. It was alleged that he
made the following statement that was reported in the newspaper article “Government must
apologise to the Catholic over Daniel Munkombwe’s irresponsible remarks that the church
leaders are being arrested for being political agents of genocide.” He was further reported to
have said “it was foolish and irresponsible for Munkombwe to allege that the Catholic could
cause genocide in Zambia….to be frank, it is utterly foolish and irresponsible for
Munkombwe to say such a statement against the Catholic Church. Any sane leader cannot
allow such a statement to escape off his lips. The Catholic Church is a partner and champion
of democracy and cannot be an agent of genocide. If it was not for the Catholic Church, most
educated Zambians would not be making such careless statements”. The Deputy Minister
complained that his freedom of speech and debate in the House was being unduly put in
question.
After examining the facts of the case and the various authorities, the Committee
established that Mr J.J. Mwiimbu, MP committed the following breaches:
a)
by going to the press to discuss a Member’s debate on the Floor of the
House, he breached Section 3 of the National Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act, Cap 12
of the Laws of Zambia which states as follows:
“there shall be freedom of debate in the Assembly. Such freedom of debate shall not be liable to be
questionable in any court or place outside the Assembly.”
b)
his action was tantamount to an attempt to influence a Member otherwise
than by way of debate in the House and had, as its motive, the intention to deter Hon. D.
Munkombwe, MP, debating freely in the House in general, and performing his duties as a
Member of Parliament, in particular. An attempt to intimidate a Member indirectly on what
he says on the Floor of the House is a breach of privilege and contempt of the House.
c)
By using unparliamentary language in his allegation against the Deputy
Minister outside the Assembly on a matter that arose from a debate in the House, breached
parliamentary etiquette.
d)
Mr Mwiimbu, MP was in breach of the rule against intentional disrespect
to the House in accordance with the provisions of Section 19(e) of the National Assembly
(Powers and Privileges) Act, Cap 12 of the Laws of Zambia.
He was found to have breached parliamentary procedure and privilege and was in
contempt of the House by questioning the debate of another Member outside the House. The
Committee noted that his offence warranted suspension from the House in accordance
National Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act, Cap 12 of the Laws of Zambia; however
they Committee noted that he was a first offender and that he needed leniency. The
Committee resolved to have the Member severely reprimanded at the Bar of the House.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
99
4. Ruling on the Complaint against Hon. Given Lubinda, MP over his utterances on
MUVI Television
In this case, the complaint was raised by the Government Chief Whip that Hon Given
Lubinda, MP had cast aspersions on the proceedings of the House when he appeared on a
live interview on MUVI Television, where he stated that the Hon Mr. Speaker did not
properly explain the procedures and the impact of the voting on the three Emolument Bills
and as such Patriotic Front Members who voted for these Bills were misled into doing so.
The case was handled by the Committee on Privileges, Absences and Support Services.
Having considered submissions from witnesses, watched the video of the interview and
consulted the various authorities, the Committee established breaches of privilege by Mr. G.
Lubinda, MP:
a)
he was found to have cast aspersions on the Hon Mr. Speaker when he alleged
that the flow of debate was confusing;
b)
he further cast aspersions on the Hon Mr Speaker when he claimed that some
Members did not know what they voted for, and yet the Hon. Mr Speaker had taken time to
guide the House before the voting. This also cast aspersions on the Members who were
perceived negatively by the public as being confused and unknowledgeable;
c)
further, aspersions were cast on the Hon Mr. Speaker when he alleged that the
Hon Mr. Speaker allowed a division without the amendments of two of the Bills being
moved by the Vice-President and Minister of Justice, Hon G. Kunda, MP.
d)
he misrepresented the proceedings of the House when he alleged that the Vice
President and Minister of Justice did not move any amendment to the Ministerial and
Parliamentary (Emoluments) Bill and the Constitutional Office (Emoluments) Bill.
He was found to have breached Sections 19(d) and (e) and section 25(b) of the National
Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act, Cap 12 of the Laws of Zambia, which states as
follows:
19(d) “any person shall be guilty of an offence who shows disrespect in speech or manner
towards the Speaker; or
19(e) “any person shall be guilty of an offence who commits any other act of intentional
disrespect to or with reference to the proceedings of the Assembly or a Committee of the
Assembly or any person presiding at such proceedings.”
25(b) “any person who publishes any false or scandalous libel on the Assembly or any
report which willfully misrepresents in any way any proceedings of the Assembly or any
Committee shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable upon conviction to a fine not
exceeding five thousand penalty units or to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a
period not exceeding twelve months, or to both.”
The Committee resolved to impose a reprimand on Mr G. Lubinda, MP and a charge of
K250, 000 as a refund to the National Assembly for the money spent to procure the video of
the interview from the MUVI Television station viewed by the Committee during its
deliberations.
100
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
CONCLUSION
This paper has established the rules of procedure followed in dealing with various forms
of contempt of the House in the National Assembly of Zambia. However, it must be
understood that in many legislatures including Zambia, contempt of the House and the
procedure followed to deal with this is derived from various sources which includes:
Parliamentary Practice and Procedure, Constitutional and statutory provisions of a country,
Standing Orders of the House and rulings from the Chair.

Ms Heather LANK (Canada) talked about issues of contempt in committees. There had
been tension on one Canadian committee between government and opposition Members,
who had then directly and individually raised questions of privilege with the Speaker in the
Chamber. She also asked for more information about the Speaker’s role in vetting Members’
approaches to the media.
Mr David NATZLER (United Kingdom) distinguished between the powers of the
Zambian Parliament, set out in an Act of Parliament, and those of the Westminster
Parliament, which were not statutory and could not be adjudicated in the courts. Had any of
the penal sanctions imposed by the Zambian Parliament been challenged in the courts, given
the lack of a fair and impartial quasi-judicial hearing?
Mr Alain DELCAMP (France) described the sanctions available within the French
Parliament, ranging from censure to brief suspension without pay. However, it was not
possible to suspend French Members of Parliament for longer than three days. Members
could not be sanctioned for words of criticism against the Parliament. Only the
Constitutional Court could question the decisions of Parliament.
Dr V.K. AGNIHOTRI (India) noted the distinction in India between unruly and
unethical conduct. There was a very tolerant view taken towards the former. However, in the
case of unethical conduct, such as taking money for asking questions in the House, severe
sanctions could be imposed, to the point of expulsion, a right which had been upheld by the
courts.
Mr Austin ZVOMA (Zimbabwe) mentioned a case in his country in which a Member
successfully appealed against the Parliament’s decision to suspend him without pay. In
another case, the Speaker had tried to prevent a party disciplinary committee from taking
sanctions against a Member for actions in Parliament. Whether parties could take such
sanctions against their Members was hotly disputed.
Mr Raja Muhammad AMIN (Pakistan) asked whether there was any law against a
government functionary committing a contempt of the House.
Mr Brendan KEITH (United Kingdom) asked whether the punishment fitted the crime.
Some of the sanctions mentioned in Mrs Mwinga’s paper did not seem to be justified by the
offence. Mr Keith was involved in investigating the case of two Members who had allegedly
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
101
been paid to table amendments to legislation, and who were found guilty. It was proposed
that they should be suspended from the service of the House for the rest of the session – an
action which had not been taken since 1642. The recommendation had been challenged, and
the Attorney General had advised that the House did not have the power to suspend
Members. The House had suspended them in any case.
Mr Peter Charles OMOLO (Kenya) said that in his country, privilege applied only within
the Assembly itself. Members had never fought in the plenary hall itself.
Mrs Doris Katai Katebe MWINGA (Zambia) replied, by clarifying that the Speaker was
normally the first point of complaint, and he would refer a serious matter to the Privileges
Committee. Proceedings in the Zambian Parliament were generally accurately reported in
the media, but sometimes Members took reports made to them on trust. Where the sanctions
imposed might seem excessive, this was normally because the Members concerned had been
reprimanded previously. The courts had ruled that Parliament did not have the power to
expel Members or imprison members of the press, but that it did have the power to impose
other sanctions, such as suspension. There were lessons to be learnt from the distinction
made in India between unruly and unethical conduct. The Privileges Committee was
normally perceived as objective. On two rare occasions, the leader of government business
had had to apologise on the floor of the House – he lost his office shortly afterwards. In
Zambia, the parties were advised that Members could not be punished for what they had
said in the House – so parties looked for other excuses to punish them.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
103
NON-EGALITARIAN BICAMERALISM: THE CASE
STUDY OF THE SENEGALESE PARLIAMENT
—
Fatou Banel SOW GUEYE
Secretary General of the Senate (Sengal)
INTRODUCTION
Bicameralism draws its legitimacy from its capacity to council the representation of
various interests and to improve the parliamentary work and the double control of the
governmental action.
Bicameralism is seen in new democracies not only as a vector of strengthening democracy
but also and especially as a focal point of politics stability and balance.
Since the Constitutional Act of February, 12, 2007 (Act 2007-06), Senegal has renewed with
Bicameralism which has profoundly changed the Senegalese institutional landscape. By
assuring the representation of local collectivities and Senegalese living abroad, the Senate
leans on a sociological basis different from that of the National Assembly.
In Senegal the Senate was implemented for the first time on January 24, 1999, then
suppressed for economical reasons after a Constitutional referendum organized on January
7, 2001.
Yet, it is also tremendous to notice that the reconsideration of the Second Chamber is
more often linked to hostile political circumstances rather than a real reconsideration of the
importance of bicameralism.
Between a fully egalitarian bicameralism and a non egalitarian bicameralism, Senegal has
chosen an intermediary formula, which even though it seems balanced for several reasons (I)
still remains non egalitarian.
I. A quite balanced Bicameralism
It is to be noted that some powers conferred to the National Assembly are expanded to
the Senate. Thus the Second Chamber has a perceptive power (A) as well as a real control
power (B).
104
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
(A) The Senate has a real perceptive power
The Second Chamber participates on the one hand at the legal function (a) and on the
other on the Constitution revision (b).
(a). The Senate participation at the legal function
According to the Constitution (Act 80), the bills presented by Senators, shall be
formulated (4) in a written form and sent to the Senate president. The latter shall inform the
Senate about it and shall inform the president of the republic about it before passing them
(bills).
Besides, Senators have amendment rights. However, with regards to the financial Act,
proposals and amendments made by senators (as well as MPs) shall only be admissible when
their adoption would consequently; either reduce public resources, or the creation or the
worsening of government cost, unless these bills and amendments come with proposals of
currency compensation (Act 80 Constitution).
If during the legal procedure, a proposal or amendment is not in the area of the law, the
Prime Minister as well as the other members of the government can oppose the
inadmissibility.
In the event of a disagreement, at the request of either the president of the Assembly or
the Senate, the Constitutional Council shall decide within eight days.
(b) The Senate participation at the Constitutional review
With the re-establishment of the Senate, the Senegalese institutional disposal underwent
some changes.
In fact, now each of the two institutions (the Assembly and the Senate) shall first vote the
bill before it goes to a referendum unless the president of the republic decides to submit to
the only institution summoned to the congress (National Assembly and Senate gathered to a
majority of 3/5 of the popular votes).
(c) The Senate has a real function problem
The Second Chamber exercises a control on the governmental activity. This control can be
done either directly or through the courts.
a) Direct control
The parliamentary control shall be exercised through structures and techniques that all
have as objective the executive supervision in a sense that complies better with the nation’s
aspirations.
It is about organs or structures through which the parliament can be brought to exercise
its powers.
Besides the office or the conference of presidents who deal with administrative tasks only,
commissions, the parliamentary groups and the plenary assembly.
It is about contemplating procedures enabling to the parliament the right of exercising a
control to the governmental activity through certain techniques.
The rationalization of the parliamentary control brought the constituents to arrange
techniques enabling the MPs to have a right of control on the defined policy and
implemented by the executive.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
105
The Act 81 of the fundamental Charta enables Senators to ask oral and written questions
to the members of the government on current affairs with or without debates. Which is a lot
of sources of information to the MPs.
b) Inspection calling upon legal action
Despite the principle of the separation of the three powers namely the executive, the
legislature and the judicial, the Senate has relationships with the justice because the High
Tribunal Court is composed of members elected by the National Assembly and the Senate
after each renewal of these Assemblies.
That jurisdiction shall judge the President of the Republic in case of high treason and the
members of the government in case of crimes or offences committed in the exercise of their
functions.
Besides a number of Senators at least equal to the half of the Senate members can seize the
Constitutional Council of an appeal aiming at declaring a law anti constitutional.
In addition, if the Senate is consulted by the President of the Republic, in relation to a
referendum (Act 51) of the Constitution, and that it can play a role in the implementation of
exceptional powers (Act 52 of the Constitution), we can think that there is in fact a
bicameralism to use the terms of the Senegalese constituent in the preamble of the law
bearing creation of the Senate.
However, the Bicameralism instituted in Senegal is not egalitarian at all.
In fact, the election of MPs to the direct suffrage give them a stronger position which is the
result of the Constitutional dispositions by having more important powers than the Senate,
be it in terms of competences (A) or the control of the action of the government (B).
(A) Inequality in matters of legislature Competences
For the passing of the law, a kind of commuting is scheduled between the two chambers,
but once examined by the Senate during a first reading, the bill is not returned to the Senate
for a second reading if the National Assembly did not accept the amendments of the Senate
or override at the rejection of law by the Senate, there is no more obligation of vote in
identical terms by the two Chambers, also for ordinary laws, the bill is submitted first to the
National Assembly, when the bill is adopted by the National Assembly, it is transmitted to
the Senate which shall decide within a deadline of twenty days after receipt of the bill.
If the Senate adopts a law identical to that of the National Assembly. The law is sent to the
President of the Republic without delay for promulgation.
In case of disagreement between the National Assembly and the Senate, or if the Senate
did not take a decision within the reasonable dates, the National Assembly can decide for
good.
In addition, the opening date of the ordinary session is set by the National Assembly after
having the opinion of the President of the Senate.
Besides as for the financial law, the Parliament has a 60-day-deadline for its examination
including 35 days for the National Assembly and 15 only for the Senate. In case of
disagreement on the aforementioned law between the two Chambers, it is urgently
transmitted to the National Assembly which has the last word about the issue.
For promulgation, the law is only submitted to the National Assembly. It is important to
point out that when the President of the Republic asks for a new deliberation of the Act
106
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
before its promulgation, it is submitted to the National Assembly. This supremacy is also to
the National Assembly by the Constitution during the control phase.
(B) Inequality in Control Matters
The efficiency of a control is always conditioned by its effectiveness.
If necessary the control shall lead to a sanction.
For these reasons, certain governments arrange for mechanisms of the government’s
responsibility before the National Assembly.
In Senegal, in case of a serious crisis, the National Assembly can bring the government to
resign through the vote of a motion of censure (motion of no confidence), the motion of the
signatures of 1/10 of the members of the lower chamber that is around 15 MPs.
If the motion is passed to the absolute majority, the Prime Minister shall be doomed to
give to the President of the Republic, the resignation of his/her government.
The Senate becomes a mere spectator of the tragedy being played before it, without being
involved and cannot be dissolute.
A declaration of war shall only be authorized by the National Assembly.
Conclusion
Yet, a real political will can bring to an end such unsteadiness, that is to say the
implementation of a real parliamentary commuting, coupled with the settlement of a real
parity joint committee could undoubtedly establish a fair balancing prerogative of the two
Chambers of the Parliament, namely the National Assembly and the Senate.
The adoption of a bill through commuting between the two Chambers shall remain the
normal way of adopting laws.
In fact, in a procedural context, where each of the Assembly legislates separately, the
existence of a joint parity Commission or a mediation Committee, an innovation of many
contemporary democracies, is of great efficiency, as it has succeeded in joining two
objectives, which at first might seem contradictory:

On the one hand, the normal play of a balanced bicameralism where each Chamber
can make their point of view stand;

On the other, favor the rapprochement of positions should a disagreement happen
during the commuting.
The importance of a Commission is precisely; to be able to make some MPs and Senators
meet, in a smaller environment, some MPs and Senators whose mission shall be to find
compromises and accept concessions, then better able to seek the consent of the two
Chambers.
It is fundamental to underline that the Commission is an extra opportunity for the Senate,
because when a disagreement occurs between the two chambers, this procedure phase
avoids the last word to be quickly given to the National Assembly. Until the last minute of
the legislative procedure, it confirms a better recognition of the principles of bicameralism.

Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
107
Mr Brendan KEITH (United Kingdom) acknowledged that there were disadvantages to
bicameralism, not least the potential for conflict between the Houses, which might require an
acknowledged sense of which House was subordinate to the other. He asked how
commissions of reconciliation between the two Houses worked in practice.
Mr Alphonse K. NOMBRÉ (Burkina Faso), whose country had a unicameral parliament,
asked whether the imbalance of financial responsibilities between the two chambers in
bicameral parliaments remained relevant.
Mrs Doris Katai Katebe MWINGA (Zambia), whose country also had a unicameral
parliament, said that each time there was a constitutional review, the idea of bicameralism
was mooted. In Zambia, the chiefs were the drivers of this proposal, but in general it was felt
that one Parliament was trouble enough. She suggested that duplication of powers was a
difficult consequence of bicameralism.
Ms Heather LANK (Canada) asked whether senators in Senegal were nominated or
elected. In Canada, the fact that senators were nominated meant that they did not impose
their powers when in conflict with the elected lower House. If the upper House were to be
elected, conflict would be a far harder problem to resolve.
Dr V.K. AGNIHOTRI (India) said that in his country, provincial upper Houses had come
and gone in different states. He warned that upper Houses that pressed their powers too
hard tended to get abolished.
Mr Alain DELCAMP (France) said that the organisation of Parliaments was a pragmatic
issue. He asked generally why countries had established upper Houses despite the risk of
conflict. He also asked a specific question about the procedure for passing bills in Senegal.
He wondered in addition whether the general financial crisis could justify the abolition of
upper Houses. He encouraged Mrs SOW GUEYE by saying that the situation she described
in Senegal had been experienced in France in 1946, and through patient negotiation had been
righted over a number of years. He described the commission process for dealing with
disagreements as like conciliation processes required before a divorce could be obtained. He
suggested that the power to overturn a government was largely symbolic, and upper Houses
did well without it.
Mrs Fatou Banel SOW GUEYE (Senegal) described the semi-shuttle system which
existed in Senegal, whereby the Senate could send a bill back to the lower House once, but
after that the lower House had the final say. She would prefer a joint commission process to
give the Senate more equal power. She saw the Senate as an additional check on the quality
of legislation, which improved democracy. Of the 100 senators in Senegal, 65 were appointed
by the President (himself elected), and 35 elected by indirect universal suffrage. One
advantage of the appointment system was a better gender balance among Senators, and the
opportunity to achieve representation for minority and other interest groups. The Senate in
Senegal had been abolished in the past mainly for economic reasons, but also for political
reasons. Bills could emanate from the Senate, and be sent to the President via the National
Assembly.
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
THE PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM OF ANGOLA
—
Pedro Agostinho DE NERI
Secretary General of the National Assembly (Angola)
I. Introduction
After five hundred years of colonization, Angola became independent on November 11, 1975,
having established organs of the sovereignty of the new State, among which the Council of the
Republic originated from the First Parliament. Filled with legislative functions, it was the
responsibility of this Council of Revolution to approve, among others, the Constitutional Law of
the country that established the political system, which was in force, as of the party state system.
However, in 1980 the People’s Assembly was established, whose composition reflected a
party state system nature of the regime prevailing at the time in Angola and was composed of
180 parliamentarians. This has resulted in 1991 with a Law of Constitutional Revision N° 12/91
that created the political, economic and social regime, existing in the country.
Thus, a multiparty system was established, following the Bicesse Agreement, which was
signed on the 13th May 1991 between the Government of Angola and UNITA Party, with the aim
of, inter alias, holding multiparty legislative elections, which were held on September 29–30,
1992.
Eighteen political parties took part in these elections and resulted in the establishment of the
National Assembly of Angola, whose parliamentarians were conferred authority on the 26th of
November in the same year. The following day, the first ordinary session of the first multiparty
system of Parliament of the Republic of Angola was held. In second multiparty legislative
election held in September 2008. The parties represented by the members of parliament and
their respective seats are as follows: 129 from the ruling party (MPLA), 70 from UNITA, 6 from
PRS, 5 from FNLA, 3 from PLD and 1 each from PSD, PRD, AD COALITION, PDP - ANA,
PNDA, FDA and PAJOCA political parties. In September 2008, the second legislative election
was held and the ruling party (MPLA) won 191 seats, UNITA 16 seats, PRS 8 seats, FNLA 3 seats
and NEW DEMOCRATIC COALITION party 2 seats.
109
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
II. Composition of the National Assembly
The National Assembly is elected through a system of proportional representation, by
universal suffrage, direct, equal, secret and periodic elections. 130 Parliamentarians are elected
by the National constituency, 90 by the Provincial Constituencies and 3 by the constituency of
Angolan Communities overseas. It is to be noted here that, the parliamentarians of this last
constituency were not elected, because of logistic reasons. The National Assembly shall only be
composed of 220 Parliamentarians.
III. Organization and Functioning
Each legislative term has four years term of office or equivalent to four legislative sessions or
parliamentary years. The legislature starts with first session of the newly elected assembly in a
bid to avoid the constitutional gap. To this end, each legislative session, comprises several
plenary sessions including other meetings.
The normal period of the functioning of the National Assembly is from 15 October to 15 July.
It may convene extraordinary meetings, if necessary. This period of functioning of the National
Assembly, contrasts with its antecessor, which is the People’s Assembly, that met in biannual
ordinary session. We can say that with the institution of the National Assembly, we have
witnessed effective professionalism of the exercise of the parliamentary term.
The competencies of the National Assembly, summarizes in its legislative powers, overseer
and representative.
Regarding its organ, among the principal organs of the National Assembly are: the Plenary,
the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Standing Committee and other committees.
As the supreme organ of the National Assembly, the plenary is the gathering of all
parliamentarians. Its competencies represent the competences of the National Assembly.
The Speaker of the National Assembly is a Parliamentarian elected by secret ballot to chair
the assembly having been nominated by the political parties with majority seat once he obtains
the absolute majority vote of the Parliamentarians to undertake his functions. The Speaker’s
term offices is correspondent with the legislative term. The National Assembly has already
recognized three Speakers, since the First Legislature.
In accordance with the Constitutional Law and the Rules of Procedure, the Speaker of the
National Assembly, represents the National Assembly, looking after the safeguard of its dignity,
chairs and coordinates its work and exercises the administrative authority on all parliamentary
staff.
The Speaker of the National Assembly has his own political and administrative
competencies, required for this post. The Speaker acts in the place of the President of the
Republic provisionally in the absence or incapacity of the latter and this makes the Speaker, as
the second personality in the hierarchy of the State.
The Bureau of the National Assembly has its Chairperson, four Vice-Chairpersons and four
Secretaries. In the plenary meetings, they are composed of only the Chairperson, two ViceChairpersons and two Secretaries. Besides the Rules of Procedure which stipulate that the
110
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
plenary session should be chaired by the Vice-Chairpersons in rotation basis, in the absence of
the Chairperson, they are also involved in the management of the parliamentary issues, due to
the fact that the Speaker of the National Assembly has delegated the Vice-Chairpersons for
following up the specific issues of parliamentary activity.
The Standing Committee is the organ that replaces the National Assembly from its normal
period of functioning, in case of its dissolution. The committee is composed of fifteen
Parliamentarians, namely the Speaker of the National Assembly, who also chairs the committee,
two Deputy Speakers of the National Assembly designated by two major Parliamentary
Caucuses and twelve elected Parliamentarians with the nomination of the Parliamentary groups
based on the principle of proportionality.
The term of office of the Standing Committee is equivalent to the legislature, maintaining its
functions until the constitutive session of the newly elected Assembly.
Although its function is in transition, the Standing Committee is mandated to political and
administrative competencies, among which are emphasized: following up the activities of the
Government and Administration, promoting, in extraordinary manner, the convening of the
National Assembly, out of its normal period of functioning, organizing the opening of legislative
session and authorizing the President of the Republic to declare state of emergency, war and
make peace.
The Committees of the National Assembly are organs responsible for following up the
activity of governance in the fields of its specialty. They are classified as standing, eventual, and
special committees.
The Standing Committees are formed in the 1st legislative session and their term is
equivalent to that of the parliament. There are currently 9 and can’t exceed 12. Regarding the
Eventual Committees, they stand for specific issues and extinguish after their fulfillment. One
of the variation of these Committees, are the Inquiry Parliamentary Committees, which have
the objective of evaluating the activity of the Government and administration. During the first
Legislature, the National Assembly has recognized the formation of the eventual committees
such, as the Committee for Peace and National Reconciliation.
The Special Committees are those dealing with several issues of the above mentioned
committees and have the mandate of achieving special objectives. The example of this
committee, is the current Constitutional Committee, which is responsible for the drafting of the
future Constitution of the Republic of Angola and its formation was unanimously approved by
the National Assembly on December 15, 2008.
The Constitutional Committee is composed of 45 permanent Parliamentarians and 15
substitute Parliamentarians with the aim of examining the draft of the Constitution, submitted
by the political parties represented in the National Assembly. This constituent process relies on
the active participation of other organs of the State, political parties without parliamentary
representation, Civil Society Organizations and Citizens. In the technical framework, the
Constitutional Committee is assisted by a Technical Committee, composed of 19 experts
designated by the political parties represented in the National Assembly.
As regards to technical support, the Standing Committees have been assisted individually by
a small group of experts linked to the permanent staff of the National Assembly and
111
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
collaborators. This model of assistance to the Committees was not adequate and this led to the
establishment of the Office of Parliamentary Studies as an organ to provide all the technical
support required by the Committees in the legislative process. The Recruitment of the experts
for this Office is underway since the month of August of the current year. It is hoped that the
parliamentary activity at the level of Committees would grow significantly.
The other key stakeholders in the activity of the National Assembly are the Parliamentary
Caucuses composed of Members of Parliament elected by the same political party or coalition of
political parties. The requirements for the establishment of the Parliamentary Caucuses are
provided in the Rules of Procedure and the most important is the definition of the necessary
quantum, minimum of three Parliamentarians. Or those political parties that have at least three
Parliamentarians able to establish Parliamentary Caucus without prejudice to the opportunity of
MPs from those political parties that don’t have the minimum requirement to create a “Mixed
Parliamentary Caucus”.
As it was in the First Legislature and similar to that of the Group of Seven (G7), it is
composed of 7 political parties, each represented by 1 MP. The parties are: FDA, PAJOCA, PDP
ANA, PNDA PRD, PSD and AD Coalition.
Although there are five political parties in the National Assembly, there are only four
Parliamentary Caucuses, due to the fact that the NEW DEMOCRATIC COALITION is
composed of two Members of Parliament.
Yet, in the Parliamentary Caucuses, the Rules of Procedure approved in 2003, provide the
possibility for the MPs to quit their role in some Parliamentary Caucuses. As a result, they
should not be unique representatives of the political party or Coalition of political parties,
coalition that has been dissolved, preserving its mandate in the condition of independent, as
long as they are not affiliated to other political parties.
It is important to note here that the Parliamentary Caucuses decide freely on matters related
to its organization and functioning and their leaders take part in the Conference of Chairpersons
of the Parliamentary Caucuses. It is a consultative organ of the Speaker of the National
Assembly, who has the power to evaluate issues related to the regular functioning of the
Assembly, including the schedule of plenary meetings, as well as the setting out of the agenda of
the meeting.
The National Assembly is still composed of the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus, dealing with
issues of gender. One of the priorities of the action of this group, is to advocate in favor of
increasing the level of the representation of women in the decision making organs, that
culminated in the approval in 2005 of a new law of the Political Parties, providing that the
statutes of the political parties, shall include provisions on the representation of gender at a
minimum level of 30%.
In fact, before elections in the month of September 2008, the representation level of women in
the Parliament had only 14% which means 31 Parliamentarians of a total of 220
Parliamentarians.
After the holding of those legislative elections, 85 Parliamentarians were elected, of a total of
220 Parliamentarians, that corresponds to 38, 63 of which one of them, occupies for the first time,
one of the Vice–Chairmanships of the National Assembly.
112
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Furthermore, the National Assembly intervene, in the designation of the holder of other posts
of the sovereignty, it is external by itself, namely the Higher Judicial Council, the Constitutional
Court, Ombudsman Office and the National Electoral Commission. This designation is done by
secret vote.
Regarding the Higher Judicial Council, five of its jurists are appointed by the National
Assembly. With regard to the Constitutional Court, three of the seven judges are elected by the
National Assembly with the majority vote of 2/3rd of MPs. The Ombudsman is an independent
public organ with the objective of protecting the rights, liberty and safety of citizens.
Parliamentary Administration
In addition to the political component already mentioned, the National Assembly and its
Committees are assisted, as provided in Article 104 of the Angolan Constitution, by a permanent
body of experts, administrative staff recommended or contracted on a temporary basis.
To this end, there is a difference between the National Assembly and its committees. On the
one hand, is the administrative machine that supports their activities and on the other hand,
resulting from the recognition of the normal development of the parliamentary activity, is
intrinsically tied to the existence of the administrative support apparatus.
The legal framework regulating the organization and functioning of the parliamentary
administration is defined in the parliamentary organic legislation (Law n° 5/93 of May 28 –
Organic Law of the National Assembly) that sets out the principles of the autonomy of
administration, finance and property.
The National Assembly has got hierarchical services (Secretary of the National Assembly)
functioning under direct supervision of its Speaker and Secretary General.
Generally, these services have the objective of assuring technical and administrative support
to the organs of the National Assembly and Parliamentarians in two important fields:
Legislative and Administrative - protocol.
In the legislative field, there are activities enabling the National Assembly, its organs, and
parliamentarians to fully perform their functions in the legislative matter (legislative process)
and the overseeing of the governmental action.
In the administrative - protocol field, looks after the interests of the organs of the National
Assembly and Members of Parliament, necessary technical and material conditions, such as the
organization of conference rooms, remuneration, medical assistance and protocol support.
The following bodies and services are involved through the entire process:

Secretary General

Office of the Parliamentary Studies

Office of the Legal Counsel

Directorate for Parliamentary Support
113
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198

Directorate for Administration and Finance

Directorate for Documentation and Computer Science

Directorate for Public Relations, Protocol and International Relations

Office of Support to the Cores

Computer Science Center

Health Services

Security Services
To conclude, we can assert here that in consideration of some constraints that we are facing,
mainly related to human resources, we need qualified manpower as well as the organizational
issues. The Parliamentary Administration has fulfilled with its role of assuring Administrative
and technical support to the August Chamber of Laws of the Republic of Angola.
Therefore, we are convinced that it will be necessary to exert intensive efforts in a bid to
significantly improve the parliamentary services, through dedicating special attention to the
following aspects among others:
a) Continuing with the process of recruiting specialized staff for organic units, with a view
to improve the quality of work rendered to different organs of the National Assembly.
b)
Increasing training programs in the field of Parliamentary Administration;
c) Installing computer system that ensures integrated management of the Legislative and
Administrative Process of the National Assembly, with a view to modernize the Parliamentary
Activity.
d) Making physical inventory and accounting of the assets of the National Assembly and its
legal regularization
114
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
ANNEX Nº 1
Table nº 1 (Statistic chart as per categories/posts in 2009 (Headquarters))
Nº
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
12
14
15
16
17
18
19
Categories
Director
Deputy Director
Adm. of Congress Centre
Chef de Cabinet
Heads of Division
Heads of service
Advanced Technicians
Experts
Technical Education staff
Administratives
Overseers
Workers
Drivers
Cleaners
Men
6
3
14
2
14
12
24
16
6
3
17
3
120
Women
2
1
1
2
4
9
1
9
54
22
4
2
31
142
Total as per
category
8
1
1
5
18
11
15
21
78
38
10
5
17
34
262
%
3,42
0,38
0,38
1,90
6,84
4,18
5,70
7,98
29,65
14,44
3,80
1,90
6,46
12,92
Table nº 2 (Statistic chart as per Academic qualifications, 2009 (Headquarters))
Nº
Category
Doctor (PHD)
Master ‘s Degree
Bachelor’s Degree
Attendance at Higher Education
High School Course or Equivalent
Incomplete Course (9th to 11th
Grade)
Tertiary Education (7th and 8th
Grade)
Secondary Education (5th and 6th
Grade)
Primary Education (from 1st to 4th
Grade )
Total as per category
1
4
20
59
65
%
0,38
1,52
7,60
22,43
24,71
8
3,04
45
17,11
10
3,80
51
19,39
263
115
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Table nº 3 (Statistic chart as per categories / posts in 2009 (Branches))
N.º
1
7
12
14
15
16
18
19
Categories
Provincial Secretaries
Advanced Technicians
Experts
Technical education staff
Administratives
Overseers
Drivers
Cleaners
Men
14
3
2
32
18
3
8
2
Women
3
1
14
16
14
Total as per
categories
17
4
2
46
34
3
8
16
130
%
Table nº 4 (Statistic chart as per academic qualifications, 2009 (Branches))
Nº
Category
Bachelor’s Degree
Attendance at Higher Education
High School Course or Equivalent
Incomplete Course (9th to 11th
Grade)
Tertiary Education (7th and 8th
Grade)
Secondary Education (5th and 6th
Grade)
Primary Education (from 1ª to 4 ª
Grade)
Without Academic qualifications
Total as per catogory
5
11
43
%
11
10
18
19
13
130
116
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Table nº 5 (Distribution of the Staff by groups of age in 2009 (Headquarters and Branches))
Nº of
Employees
Headquarters
AGES
18 to 30
31 to 40
41 to 50
51 to 60
61 to 70
71 to 80
More than 80
years old
Total
6
47
112
80
16
3
0
263
TOTAL %
Nº of
Employees
Branches
AGES
18 to 30
31 to 40
41 to 50
51 to 60
61 to 70
71 to 80
More than 80
years old
Total
7
52
18
43
7
4
0
130
TOTAL %
117
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
ANNEX 2
2006
DESCRIPTION
EXPENDITURE ON
STAFF
EXPENDITURE ON
GOODS AND
SERVICES
BUDGETED
PAID-UP
2007
G. E.(%)
BUDGETED
2008
PAID-UP
G.
E.(%)
BUDGETED
PAID-UP
G.
E.(%)
3.009.316.922,00
1.989.272.873,16
66,10
2.281.925.449,00
2.190.611.497,34
96,00
5.326.950.218,26
5.158.167.112,65
96,83
3.485.861.048,00
3.198.940.545,39
91,77
3.861.142.118,00
3.296.777.178,23
85,38
4.025.888.989,00
3.283.303.444,68
81,55
CAPITAL
EXPENDITURE
2.563.858.408,00
1.807.729.700,37
70,51
1.262.921.871,00
189.343.141,76
14,99
557.115.500,00
83.130.155,95
14,92
TOTAL
9.059.036.378,00
6.995.943.118,92
77,23
7.405.989.438,00
5.676.731.817,33
76,65
9.909.954.707,26
8.524.600.713,28
86,02

118
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Mr Marc BOSC, Vice-President, thanked Dr Pedro Agostinho DE NERI for his
communication and invited members present to put questions to him.
Mr Louis-Claude NYASSA (Cameroon) asked about the state of democracy in Angola, in
particular the number of political parties represented in the National Assembly.
Mr Alphonse K. NOMBRÉ (Burkina Faso) asked what Dr DE NERI meant by
“professional” Members of Parliament. Secondly, he asked how independent the
parliamentary administration was of the executive.
Mr Baye Niass CISSÉ (Senegal) asked about the nature of the mandate of the bureau of
the National Assembly.
Mr David NATZLER (United Kingdom) asked how it was that over 40 per cent of the
parliamentary staff were more than 50 years old.
Dr Pedro Agostinho DE NERI (Angola) said that there were 120 parties, of which four
were represented in the Parliament. Many parties did not achieve enough votes in 2008 to be
represented or receive state financial support. Before 2008, under a one-party state, many
parliamentarians had had other careers outside parliament, and were thus not considered as
professional politicians. Now politicians were prohibited from pursuing other careers. The
National Assembly was autonomous of the Government in terms of finance and staff. The
number of older staff was explained by the fact that thirty years’ service was required to
receive a pension, and many staff had interrupted service because of the political instability
that had prevailed in Angola for many years.
119
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
THE DEMOKRATIEWERKSTATT IN THE AUSTRIAN
PARLIAMENT – TAKE PART, INFLUENCE, PLAY
YOUR PART
—
Georg POSCH
Secretary General of the Parliament (Austria)
Democracy Workshop at Palais Epstein
An educational programme about

parliamentary structures

to develop and expand media competence

to promote self articulation
The democracy workshop offered by the Austrian Parliament is intended to promote an
understanding of democracy and an interest in politics. The programme is designed as a
workshop and place for experimenting with different approaches to political topics. In six
different workshops, children and young people aged between eight and fourteen can learn
through playing how democracy works. The experience and insights they gain are
incorporated in film, radio or newspaper contributions which are then published on the
parliament’s children’s internet site www.demokratiewerkstatt.at.
Besides teaching the basic principles of democracy and imparting a knowledge of
parliamentary processes, the goal is to explain two other important prerequisites for political
participation: media competence and a willingness to state one’s opinion!
Workshops in the democracy workshop
The six workshops each have a different focus. The following workshops are offered
under this programme:

Political workshop
121
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198

Media workshops – newspaper, internet, radio and film

Workshop with parliamentarians

Participation workshop

“A Journey through Time” workshop

The “Europe” workshop
This broad spectrum of topics allows different interests and different approaches to the
subject of democracy to be addressed. In these workshops, there is so much to discover, to
experience and experiment with that children and young people feel motivated to attend
other workshops.
Democracy workshop pass
When they attend a democracy workshop, children receive a democracy workshop pass.
This pass confirms the child’s participation in the various workshops. Students can attend
the various workshops as a class group or as individuals (with free workshops).
As a tangible means of identification, the democracy workshop play-pass is a significant
factor in motivating children to take advantage of the programmes offered by the democracy
workshop, also outside of school. Students who get stamps in all the pass fields are true
democracy workshop professionals.
The workshops offered by the democracy workshop, all of which are included in the pass,
encourage students to stay engaged with democracy and politics in general.
The democracy workshop offers:
Workshops
Length 3.5-4 hours
Place
Palais Epstein, Dr. Karl Renner-Ring 1, 1010 Vienna
Choice of 6 workshops
Political workshop
Media workshops – newspaper, radio and film, Internet
Workshop with parliamentarians
Participation workshop
“A Journey through Time” workshop
The “Europe” workshop
Core themes
“Tracking down a law”
“Manipulation through information”
“Are the laws there for everyone?”
“My opinion matters!”
Discovering the Republic in Parliament
Getting to know the European Union
122
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
End products
The information and experiences are processed and discussed
together and then incorporated in media contributions (newspaper, radio, film, internet). The
results are available for download on the web page.
Number of participants One school class – 25 to 30 participants (max.); no more than
two workshops take place concurrently.
Topics
The information and topics are presented in age-specific format.
Three age groups
8-10 years old, 11-12 years old, 13-14 years old
Preparation
none necessary
Educational approach
Self-sufficiency, personal goal, tangible result, co-determination
and sense of achievement are the key criteria for the didactic
work in the democracy workshop. Deliberately doing things
oneself raises awareness; this is why the information is
presented such that students can experience it. At the end of the
workshop, the goal is always a personal product (newspaper,
radio broadcast, film, archival contribution…)
These tangible results improve comprehension. When implementing the results of their
workshop, the children and young people can choose between different tools and means of
expression. Their success and the experience of working and doing research together make
the students identify more keenly with the project that they have had a say in shaping.
Organization
The workshops are conducted by play and media educators;
responsibility for supervision rests with the escorting
teachers.
Six workshops in the democracy workshop
Political workshop (Topic: Tracking down a law)
Laws. How are they made and why? The path a law takes through parliament is
presented as an interactive expedition. The approach is adjusted to suit the topic. The topic is
presented suitably for children, i.e. expressed in children’s terms, made comprehensible
through as many senses as possible and presented in games. Divided into various expedition
teams, children explore the circumstances, and the basic legal and parliamentary terms. The
results are written up in a report and presented to the entire class.
Media workshops (Topic: Manipulation through information)
In the media workshops, everything revolves around the media, their important role in
democracy, about opinion-forming and processing information.
The children work with the medium, learning the different steps and tasks needed to
formulate a media report, from commission to research, from editing to technical processing
of the report. The children divide up the work within their groups.
123
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Working with certain topics stimulates the critical interest of the children and enables
them to recognize different accounts and the way a statement may vary in the different
media reports. In work assignments, the children actively and independently prepare media
reports (e.g. a self-portrait in a self-interview, first positive and then negative; finding out
from existing reports what has been left out, what has been emphasized; creating
headlines…) and themselves manipulate information in different ways. The goal is to make
children aware that as media consumers they should not absorb information passively but
actively, which will then allow them to maintain a more critical attitude to information.
Workshop with parliamentarians (Topic: Are the laws there for everyone?)
Have rights! For whom are the laws there? Can laws be changed? What does parliament
have to do with it? - Through playing games, children and young people learn the basics of
the Austrian legal system. They are helped in this venture by experts and parliamentarians.
The results are turned into film, radio or newspaper reports and presented at the end of the
workshop.
Participation workshop (Topic: My opinion matters!)
The participants play out different opinion-making processes and through this game
develop ideas on where and how they can make their opinion matter in everyday life. In the
course of the game, participants gather information on the topics of opinion formation, codetermination and coordination options. The highlight of the activity is the voting on the
topic at the end of the game. After this voting, the results of the game are worked up in the
form of new input for the game from the individual teams. In this way, children plan the
game for other children.
“A Journey through Time” workshop (topic: Discovering the Republic in Parliament)
What work does Parliament do? What is a constitution? How does the separation of
powers function? How can voters influence the state? What work does the Government do?
How was the Republic founded? What was the Cold War, and what significance did it have
for Austria?
In the course of a time-travel workshop, students will work in small groups to learn about
issues that were critical to the development of the Republic of Austria from 1918 to the
present day. In the workshop, an ex-tended cycle of events will emerge that will be
visualized and processed in an overall picture. The highlight and grand finale will be a
presentation of participants’ own media contributions.
The Europe Workshop (topic: Getting to know the European Union)
How did the European Union come into being? Which areas is it important for EU
member states to work to-gether in? How do the decisions of the European Union affect on
one’s own life?
Participants in the Europe Workshop work together in small groups to examine the basic
concepts of the European Union and the cooperation of member states. Media contributions
(radio, newspaper or film) are created from the information and results obtained, and the
124
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
contributions presented at the end of the work-shop. The Europe Workshop is designed to
help students familiarize themselves with various aspects of the European Union and
cooperation within it. The highlight and grand finale will once again be a presentation of
participants’ own media contributions.
Schedule for the democracy workshop 2008 (subject to change)
1. Workshops for groups (schools, day care groups, youth associations …)
Monday to Friday, 8.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., afternoon times from 1.30 p.m. are available on
request!
2. Public workshops for individuals
Generally on the first Saturday of every month, 1.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Registration:
Telephone: 01/40110-2930
E-mail: anmeldung@demokratiewerkstatt.at
Cost: none
Additional information: www.demokratiewerkstatt.at
Note:
During the democracy workshop sessions, the responsibility for supervision rests with the
adult escorts! The film, recording and image materials developed during the workshop and
the television recordings, films and photographs made by the children can be published by
the Parliamentary Administration in public media of any kind, worldwide, for an unlimited
period and without charge.

Mr Baye Niass CISSÉ (Senegal) asked for more information about the Austrian Youth
Parliament, and how schools were involved in the programme of activities he had described.
Dr Ulrich SCHÖLER (Germany) asked whether politicians took an interest in the
programme, and whether the Austrian media had reacted negatively to the workshop on
media bias and manipulation.
Ms Tatjana KRAŠOVEC (Slovenia) asked which parliamentary services and which
institutions beyond Parliament were involved in preparing for the workshops.
Mr Assadullah FALLAH (Afghanistan) described the Afghan Youth Parliament.
125
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Mr Andres LOMP (Australia) wondered to what extent students automatically copied
the confrontational style that many current politicians exhibited.
Mr Vladimir SVINAREV (Russian Federation) described the activities in this area being
carried out by the Russian Parliament, including a Youth Parliament, and a Blue Planet
environmental symposium for children. He asked if there was a connection between the
work carried out in the Austrian Parliament and learning in schools and universities.
Mr Doris Katai Katebe MWINGA (Zambia) asked how the media workshops carried out
in Austria affected their views of Parliament.
Dr Georg POSCH (Austria) explained that the workshop activities were mainly
conducted outside school time. There was a synergy of activity between the workshops and
school activity. Austria had a Youth Parliament that met regularly, but the workshops were
more effective and democratic as an educational tool. Youth Parliaments tended to be elitist,
because only the best pupils were generally sent to take part, whereas all kinds of children
were involved in the workshops. Politicians did intervene, but without any unwelcome
influence. The media were actively and positively involved in the workshops. The media
workshops were designed to show children how the media influenced their understanding
of Parliament. In answer to Mr LOMP’s question, the participation workshop dealt with
compromise as well as confrontation. The Public Relations office of the Parliament led the
work in this area, but other sections were also involved. Experts from universities, the media
and the Ministry of Education were consulted on the programme. It was hoped they could
assist with providing a wider range of materials suitable for children, and in developing a
teacher-training programme on the understanding of Parliament.
126
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
IMPACT OF DISSOLUTION OF LOK SABHA (LOWER
HOUSE) ON LEGISLATIVE AND OTHER BUSINESS
—
V.K. AGNIHOTRI
Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha (India)
I
Introduction
Under a dynamically evolving Constitution, dissolution of an elected representative
institution after completion of a certain tenure is a recurring process, imparting legitimacy to
the existence and functioning of that institution. This is more so in a democratic set-up in
which every institution has to undergo a test of public scrutiny and authentication
periodically to ensure and reaffirm its representative and participative character. In India,
the Parliament is the pivotal institution of our democracy. It performs a multitude of
representative, legislative and oversight functions. Being the highest representative body,
the Parliament represents the sovereign will of the people. It is, therefore, paramount that
public trust is reinforced and the credibility of the institution of Parliament, in general, and
of the Members, in particular, is enhanced in the estimation of the people. Periodic renewal
of the tenure of the Parliament through elections lends democratic credence to the
institution. It is in this context of democratic renewal and regeneration that the dissolution
of the Lower House of Indian Parliament assumes critical significance.
Being a directly elected body, the Lower House of Indian Parliament, known as the Lok
Sabha, epitomizes the representative character of Indian democracy. The vitality of Indian
system of governance depends on how fine-tuned the Lok Sabha is with the prevalent public
opinion of the nation and whether it is representative enough to reflect the multitude of
interests and aspirations of the people at large. Dissolution, in a way, paves the way for the
Lok Sabha to seek fresh public mandate, to find out whether people repose faith in their
current elected representatives or would choose others, who they think would be better able
to articulate their concerns and mirror their aspirations.
127
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
II
Constitutional and Statutory Provisions on Dissolution of Lok Sabha
The Parliament consists of the President and the two Houses known as the Council of
States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha). While the Rajya Sabha is the
Upper House comprising the representatives of the States and Union Territories elected by
the elected Members of the State Legislative Assemblies in accordance with the system of
proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, the Lok Sabha
comprises directly elected representatives to the Lower House of the Parliament of India.
The Rajya Sabha is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution. However, one-third
of its Members retire biennially. But the each Lok Sabha is formed for a five year term and
continues as such unless sooner dissolved or extended by a Proclamation of Emergency, which
may extend the term for a period of one year at a time. The end of life of the Lok Sabha
either on the expiration of the period of five years from the date appointed for its first
meeting or by an order made by the President is termed as ‘dissolution of the House’.
When dissolved, Lok Sabha cannot again assemble until after the General Elections.
Under section 14 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a General Election to Lok
Sabha can be held six months in advance of the expiration of the life of the existing House,
although the new House is constituted only after dissolution of the existing House. Article 83
of the Constitution mentions in clear terms the tenure of both the Houses of Parliament.
83. (1) The Council of States shall not be subject to dissolution, but as nearly as possible
one-third of the members thereof shall retire as soon as may be on the expiration of every
second year in accordance with provisions made in that behalf by Parliament by law.
(2) The House of the People, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from
the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer and the expiration of the said period of
five years shall operate as a dissolution of the House:
Provided that the said period may, while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, be
extended by Parliament by law for a period not exceeding one year at a time and not
extending in any case beyond a period of six months after the Proclamation has ceased to
operate.
On the expiry of the term of the House, it stands dissolved by virtue of the provision of
the Constitution itself and the President is bound to issue the order of dissolution on the date
of expiry of the term of the House.
Apart from this, under the Cabinet system of Government followed in India, the Council
of Ministers, through the Prime Minister, has the right to seek a dissolution of the House
even before the expiry of its current term on the grounds that it has lost its majority in the
House and that the House does no longer represent the will of the electorate.
The power to advise the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha is a potent weapon in the
hands of the Prime Minister to keep his party intact and acts as a deterrent against its breakup……..The President, if he decides not to accept such advice must find an alternative Prime
Minister, who can command a majority in Lok Sabha and then seek his advice and act
accordingly43.
Article 85 of the Constitution states this provision:
M.N. Kaul and S.L. Shakdher, Practice and Procedure of Parliament (with particular reference to Lok
Sabha), Fifth edition, 2001, pages 188-89.
43
128
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
85.
(1) The President shall from time to time summon each House of
Parliament to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but six months shall not intervene
between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next
session.
(2) The President may from time to time –
(a) prorogue the Houses or either House;
(b) dissolve the House of the People.
III Constituent Assembly Debate on Dissolution of Lok Sabha
The power of the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha on the advice of the Prime Minister
was also debated at length in the Constituent Assembly. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar reposed full
faith in the discretionary power given to the President in this regard:
….. the President of the Indian Union will test the feelings of the House whether the
House agrees that there should be dissolution or whether the House agrees that the affairs
should be carried on with some other leader without dissolution. If he finds that the feeling
was that there was no other alternative except dissolution, he would as Constitutional
President undoubtedly accept the advice of the Prime Minister to dissolve the House. … I
think we could trust the President to make a correct decision between the party leaders and
the House as a whole44.
IV Legislative Procedure and Implication of Dissolution
Legislation or passing of Bills is one of the primary functions of the Parliament. A Bill is a
statute in draft and cannot become law unless it has received the approval of both the
Houses of Parliament and the assent of the President of India. Articles 107 to 117 of the
Constitution of India deal with various stages of the procedure for legislation, i.e., for the
passing of Bills of different kinds into Acts of Parliament. A Bill is ‘pending’ in Parliament
from the moment of its introduction in either House till it is passed by both Houses and
receives the President’s assent. Procedurally, the Bills are classified as (i) Ordinary Bills; (ii)
Money Bills and Financial Bills; (iii) Ordinance Replacing Bills; and (iv) Constitutional
Amendment Bills. Except Money Bills and Financial Bills of certain category, which can be
introduced only in the Lok Sabha, a Bill may originate in either House of Parliament. A Bill
undergoes three readings in each House of Parliament. The First Reading consists of the
Introduction of a Bill after adoption of a motion for leave to introduce a Bill in either of the
Houses. With the setting up of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees
in 1993, invariably all Bills, barring Ordinance replacing Bills, Bills of innocuous nature and
Money Bills, are ordinarily referred to these Committees for examination and report.
FIRST READING
Introduction of a Bill
Publication of the Bill in Official Gazette
SECOND READING
44
Constituent Assembly Debates, Book No. 3, Vol. No. VIII (16 May 1949 to 16 June 1949), page 107.
129
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
FIRST STAGE
SECOND STAGE
In the first stage there is discussion on the
Clause by clause consideration of
principles and provisions of the Bill and a motion is the Bill as introduced or as reported
passed that:by the Select/ Joint Committee
it be taken into consideration by the House; or
Amendments given by Members
to various clauses are moved at this
stage
it be referred to Select Committee of the House;
or
it be referred to Joint Committee of the Houses
with the concurrence of the other House; or
it be circulated for eliciting public opinion
THIRD READING
Discussion on the motion that the Bill (or the Bill as amended) be passed or returned to
the originating House (i.e. to the Lok Sabha in case of a Money Bill)
After a Bill has been passed by one House, it is sent to the other House where it goes
through the same procedure. However, the Bill is not again introduced in the other House,
but it is laid on the Table of the other House which constitutes its first reading there.
There is a possibility of disagreement between the two Houses on a Bill. Such a
disagreement may arise when (i) a Bill passed by one House is rejected by the other House;
or (ii) the Houses have finally disagreed as to the amendments to be made in the Bill; or (iii)
more than six months elapse from the date of reception of the Bill by the other House
without the Bill being passed by it. To resolve the deadlock on a Bill between the two
Houses, the Constitution, under Article 108, makes provision for the joint sitting of both
Houses which may be summoned by the President. If at the joint sitting of the two Houses,
the Bill is passed by the majority of the total number of Members of both Houses present and
voting, it shall be deemed to have been passed by both Houses. There is no provision for a
joint sitting of both Houses on Money Bill or Constitutional Amendment Bills.
After a Bill has been passed by both the Houses, it is presented to the President for his/
her assent. The President can assent or withhold his/ her assent to a Bill or he/ she can
return a Bill, other than a Money Bill, for reconsideration. If the Bill is again passed by the
Houses on its being returned by the President, with or without amendment, and presented
to the President for assent, he/ she shall not withhold assent therefrom. But, when a Bill
amending the Constitution passed by each House with the requisite majority is presented to
the President, he/ she shall give his assent thereto.
130
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Thus, it becomes clear that in India the legislative procedure requires full involvement of
both the Houses of Parliament and in the absence of concurrence of one of them, except in
the case of Money Bills, the entire procedure is stalled.
Of the two Houses of Parliament, though the Lok Sabha is the only one subject to
dissolution, it has a profound impact on the entire parliamentary functioning. The fallout of
the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, more so if it is untimely and mid-term, spells a brake on all
forms of legislative business being carried out in the House. Though India has a bicameral
system in place with provision for continuity of legislative business, the scope of the Upper
House in carrying out legislation becomes limited and constrained in the absence of the
House of the People. As aptly put, dissolution “passes a sponge over the parliamentary
slate”.
All business pending before it or any of its committees lapses on dissolution. No part of
the records of the dissolved House can be carried over and transcribed into the records or
registers of the new House45. In short, the dissolution draws the final curtain upon the
existing House.46
From both the conceptual and procedural angles, dissolution of Lok Sabha profoundly
impacts the legislative output. The Government of the day presents draft bills before the
Parliament and secures their passage through majority in the Parliament. Thus, in a way, a
Bill is an instrument of expression of legitimacy and mandate of the Government. Since with
dissolution the democratic mandate is lost, the Lok Sabha also loses all its rights to deal with
any legislative business. The right to initiate legislative proposals vests with the new
Government that comes to power after the elections.
V
Historical Perspective on Lapsing of Bills
In the early 1920s, the position in the Central Legislative Assembly was that a Bill passed
by one House and transmitted to the other House did not lapse upon the dissolution of the
House which had passed it. If the other House passed the Bill, it would become law on
receiving assent of the Governor-General. The question then arose as to what the position
would be of a Bill where the other House, instead of merely agreeing, made amendments to
the Bill. To meet this contingency, Rule 36C was framed in 1924 which provided:
On the dissolution of either Chamber all Bills which have been introduced in the Chamber
which has been dissolved or have been laid on the Table in that Chamber under Rule 25, and
which have not been passed by the Indian Legislature, shall lapse.
The Government of India Act, 1935 had clear provisions regarding fate of the Bill at the
time of dissolution of the Lower House. Sub-sections (4) and (5) of Section 30 of the said Act
state as below:
30. (4) A Bill pending in the Council of State which has not been passed by the Federal
Assembly shall not lapse on a dissolution of the Assembly.
Th e ex cep t io n s, h o we ver, a re: Rep or ts of Pa rl ia me nta r y Co m m it tee s a n d
a ss ura nc es b y M i n i ste rs.
46 M.N. Kaul, ‘Effect of Dissolution upon Pending Business in Parliament’ in The Journal of
Parliamentary Information, Vol. IV, No. 1, 1958, page 19.
45
131
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
(5) A Bill which is pending in the Federal Assembly or which having been passed by the
Federal Assembly is pending in the Council of State shall, subject to the provisions of the
next succeeding section, lapse on a dissolution of the Assembly.
VI Constitutional Provisions on Lapsing of Bills
Clause (4) and (5) of Article 107 of the Constitution of India substantially reproduces the
afore-mentioned sub-sections of the Government of India Act, 1935. Besides, clauses (4) and
(5) of Article 107, there is no other provision in the Constitution concerning the effect of
dissolution of the House of the People on pending business.
107. (4) A Bill pending in the Council of States which has not been passed by the House of
the People shall not lapse on a dissolution of the House of the People.
(5) A Bill which is pending in the House of the People, or which having been passed by
the House of the People is pending in the Council of States, shall, subject to the provisions of
article 108, lapse on a dissolution of the House of the People.
Further, Article 108 deals with Joint sitting of both Houses in certain cases for the passage
of Bills.
108. (5) A joint sitting may be held under this article and a Bill passed thereat,
notwithstanding that a dissolution of the House of the People has intervened since the
President notified his intention to summon the Houses to meet therein.
VII Effect of Dissolution on the Bills Pending before the Houses
The provisions laid down by the aforesaid articles regarding effect of dissolution on Bills
pending before the Houses can be summarized as follows:
(i) Effect of dissolution on the Bills pending before the Lok Sabha

Bills which, after having been introduced in the Lok Sabha, are pending in
the House on the date of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha will lapse.

Bills originating in and passed by the Rajya Sabha and transmitted to the
Lok Sabha will also lapse if they remain pending in the Lok Sabha on its
dissolution.

Similarly, the Bills originating in and passed by the Lok Sabha and
pending therein will also lapse on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.

If a Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha and passed by the House is
transmitted to the Rajya Sabha and the Rajya Sabha makes amendments to the Bill
and it is returned to the Lok Sabha for its concurrence on the amendments made by the Rajya
Sabha, it will lapse on the date of dissolution of the Lok Sabha, if the Bill is not disposed of
by the Lok Sabha prior to its dissolution.
As many as thirty-one Government Bills and more than two hundred Private Members’
Bills were pending in the Lok Sabha at the end of the Fourteenth Lok Sabha in February
2009. These included important legislations like the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority Bill, 2005; the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2005; the State Bank of India
(Amendment) Bill, 2006; the National Highways Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2008, a
number of Constitution (Amendment) Bills, etc. Since the House was dissolved in May 2009,
all these Bills got lapsed.
132
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
(ii) Effect of Dissolution on the Bills pending before the Rajya Sabha
The effect of dissolution on the functioning of the Rajya Sabha needs particular mention
as it itself is not subject to dissolution. The hallmark of the Rajya Sabha is the principle of
continuity as a permanent House, and a continuing institution in our parliamentary
framework. However, in practice, the absence of the Lower House makes the Upper House
defunct in various ways. Dissolution of the Lok Sabha seriously affects the legislative
business pending before the Rajya Sabha in numerous ways, as follows:
 A Bill which originated in the Rajya Sabha and is still pending there or Bills
introduced in the Rajya Sabha and passed by the House but not transmitted to the
Sabha, will not lapse on account of dissolution.
Lok
 Bills originating in the Rajya Sabha, which having been passed by the
House and
transmitted to the Lok Sabha and are pending there, will lapse on the dissolution of the
Lok Sabha. The number of Bills that lapsed
under this category is given below47:
47
First Lok Sabha
02
Second Lok Sabha
01
Third Lok Sabha
06
Fourth Lok Sabha
13
Fifth Lok Sabha
03
Sixth Lok Sabha
04
Seventh Lok Sabha
06
Eighth Lok Sabha
06
Ninth Lok Sabha
04
Tenth Lok Sabha
01
Eleventh Lok Sabha
01
Twelfth Lok Sabha
05
Thirteenth Lok Sabha
03
Fourteenth Lok Sabha
01
Yogendra Narain, (ed.), Rajya Sabha At Work, 2006, page 180.
133
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
 A Bill which is pending in the Rajya Sabha after having been passed by the
Lok
Sabha, will lapse on the date of dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
The number of Bills that
lapsed under this category is given as under48:
Second Lok Sabha
02
Fourth Lok Sabha
02
Sixth Lok Sabha
04
Seventh Lok Sabha
01
Eighth Lok Sabha
04
Tenth Lok Sabha
04
Eleventh Lok Sabha
01
Twelfth Lok Sabha
04
Fourteenth Lok Sabha
08
 Similarly, if a Bill which originated in the Rajya Sabha and was transmitted to the
Lok Sabha is pending before the Rajya Sabha after having been returned by the Lok Sabha
with amendments, it will also
lapse on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
The Architects Bill, 1968, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 7 May 1970. The Lok Sabha
returned the Bill to the Rajya Sabha with amendments on 3 December 1970. The Bill as
amended was pending till the Lok Sabha was dissolved on 27 December 1970. The Bill thus
lapsed.49
 A Bill returned by the President to the Rajya Sabha for reconsideration by
both
the Houses does not lapse, if the dissolution of the Lok Sabha takes
place without the
Houses having reconsidered the Bill.
The Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill, 1986, as passed by the Houses of Parliament
was submitted to the President for his assent on 19 December 1986. The Bill remained
pending before him till the dissolution of the Eighth Lok Sabha on 28 November 1989. The
President returned the Bill to the Rajya Sabha for reconsideration of the Houses on 7 January
1990. The Ninth Lok Sabha was dissolved on 13 March 1991; the Tenth Lok Sabha was also
dissolved on 15 May 1996. The Bill remained in the Rajya Sabha for reconsideration of the
Houses.50
Ibi d .
Ibid., page 180.
50 Ibid., page 181.
48
49
134
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
VIII
Impact of dissolution of Lok Sabha on the functioning of the Committees
Before discussing the impact of dissolution on Parliamentary Committees, I would like to
stress on the fact that Parliamentary Committees act as mini legislatures in the Indian
parliamentary system. They provide the podium where parliamentarians from different
political parties adopt a non-partisan perspective to scrutinise any particular issue of public
importance. Any Bill or subject referred to the Committee (particularly the Departmentrelated Parliamentary Standing Committee or DRSCs) by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the
Speaker, Lok Sabha, as the case may be, is examined in detail and various recommendations
are made to the Government keeping in view the larger public interest. In the course of such
examinations, views of various experts from the concerned fields are taken into account. The
proceedings of the Committees are held in camera, i.e. they are not open to public. The
Parliamentary Committees have vast powers to enquire and examine whether the
Government has acted in conformity with its obligations under the approved policies and
whether the money sanctioned has been well spent. The Reports of the Standing
Committees have persuasive value. In case of a Bill, if the Government accepts any of the
recommendations of the Committee, it may bring forward official amendments at the
consideration stage of the Bill, or may withdraw the Bill reported by the Standing Committee
and bring forward a new Bill after incorporating the recommendations of the Standing
Committee.
Dissolution of Lok Sabha puts a brake on the functioning of these Committees too. All
business pending before the DRSCs (which are joint committees of the two Houses) and
Parliamentary Committees of the Lok Sabha lapses upon dissolution of the Lok Sabha as the
Committees themselves stand dissolved. Rule 285 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of
Business in Lok Sabha states:
285. A Committee which is unable to complete its work before the expiration of its term or
before the dissolution of the House may report to the House that the Committee has not been
able to complete its work. Any preliminary report, memorandum or note that the Committee
may have prepared or any evidence that the Committee may have taken, shall be made
available to the new Committee.51
Likewise, where a Report completed by a Committee when the House is not in session is
presented by its Chairman to the Speaker and before its presentation to the House in the next
session, the Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Report is laid by the Secretary-General on the Table
of the new House at the first convenient opportunity. While laying the Report, the Secretary
General makes a statement to the effect that the Report was presented to the Speaker of the
preceding Lok Sabha before its dissolution. At a glance, the impact of dissolution of the
Lower House on various Parliamentary Committees can be summarized as below:
(i) Effect of dissolution on the Bills pending before Department-related Parliamentary Standing
Committees of Rajya Sabha
Bills introduced in the Rajya Sabha and referred to the Department-related Parliamentary
Standing Committees, which are under the administrative control of the Rajya Sabha, do not
lapse even though the Committees become defunct on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, Twelfth edition, Lok Sabha Secretariat,
page 104.
51
135
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Therefore, on reconstitution of these Committees, Bills that are pending before such
Committees need not be referred again and are taken up suo motu by them.
Bills introduced in the Lok Sabha and referred to the DRSCs, which are under the
administrative control of the Rajya Sabha lapse when the Lok Sabha dissolves.
(ii) Effect of dissolution on the Bills pending before Department-related Parliamentary Standing
Committees of Lok Sabha
Bills introduced in the Lok Sabha and referred to the DRSCs, which are under the
administrative control of the Lok Sabha, will lapse on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, even
if the Committee has presented its Report to the Chairman or the Speaker, as the case may
be, before the dissolution. The presentation of Report does not have any effect, as the Bill on
which Report has been presented will be treated as lapsed due to the dissolution of the Lok
Sabha.
Bills introduced in the Rajya Sabha and referred to the DRSCs, which are under the
administrative control of the Lok Sabha, need to be referred again to those Committees on
their reconstitution after formation of the new Lok Sabha.
(iii) Effect of dissolution on the Bills pending before Joint Committees
On dissolution of the Lok Sabha, the Joint Committee set up by the Lok Sabha on a Bill
introduced therein will also dissolve and as such the Members of the Rajya Sabha serving on
such Committee will also cease to be the Members of the Joint Committee. Thus a Bill
introduced in the Lok Sabha and referred to the Joint Committee will lapse. By the same
logic, a Joint Committee set up by the Rajya Sabha will also become defunct on the
dissolution of the Lok Sabha. In both the cases the status of the Joint Committee becomes
defunct. However, a Bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha and referred to the Joint Committee
set up by the Rajya Sabha will not lapse on the date of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
An ad hoc Joint Committee of Parliament also becomes defunct on the dissolution of the
Lok Sabha.
(iv) Exceptional circumstances in which Bills do not lapse on dissolution of Lok Sabha
When the President has notified his intention to summon a joint sitting of the Houses to
consider a Bill upon which the two Houses have disagreed, such a Bill does not lapse on the
dissolution of the Lok Sabha if the summons are issued by the President prior to the
dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
A Bill, which has been passed by both the Houses of Parliament and has been sent for
obtaining the President’s assent, does not lapse on dissolution of the Lok Sabha. However,
on this point there is no express provision in the Constitution.
It has, however, been held that such a Bill does not lapse on dissolution of Lok Sabha.
Further, if such a Bill is returned by the President for reconsideration, the successor House
can reconsider it and if it is passed by the successor House (with or without amendments), it
will be deemed to have been passed “again”52.
In Purshothaman Nambiar v. State of Kerala, it was held that a Bill pending assent of the
Governor or President is outside clause (5) of Article 196 and cannot be said to lapse on the
dissolution of the Assembly. [Article 196(5): A Bill which is pending in the Legislative
M.N. Kaul and S.L. Shakdher, Practice and Procedure of Parliament (with particular reference to Lok
Sabha), Fifth edition, 2001, page 192.
52
136
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Assembly of a State, or which having been passed by the Legislative Assembly is pending in
the Legislative Council, shall lapse on a dissolution of the Assembly.]
The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 1991 as
passed by the Lok Sabha was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 13 March 1991. The Ninth Lok
Sabha was dissolved the same day. The Bill was submitted to the President for assent on 18
March 1991 by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. The President withheld the assent to the Bill on 6
March 1992 and the Rajya Sabha was informed accordingly on 9 March 1992.53
IX Dissolution and Legislative Logjam
In this perspective, a look at the constitution and subsequent dissolution of Lok Sabha
since 1952 would make it clear that untimely, irregular and frequent dissolutions of the
Lower House lead to political instability and put a brake on the Governmental policies and
programmes of the day. Since the first Lok Sabha was formed in 1952 after the first General
Elections in April of that year, there have been five instances when Lok Sabha could not
complete its full tenure and were dissolved prematurely. The details are as under:
No. of Lok Sabha
Start of term
End of term
4th Lok Sabha
Mar 1967
Dec 1970
6th Lok Sabha
Mar 1977
Aug 1979
9th Lok Sabha
Dec 1989
Mar 1991
11th Lok Sabha
May 1996
Dec 1997
12th Lok Sabha
Mar 1998
Apr 1999
India witnessed a spate of coalition Governments after the General Elections of 1967.
Starting with 1989, there have been several minority governments at the Centre, evolved
either through formal coalition arrangements or, at times, through informal understanding
or through 'support from outside' by political parties not participating in the Government. It
has been argued that coalition politics has ushered in an era of instability and frequent
dissolution of the Lower House. From 1989 to 2004, in a span of 15 years, there have been six
General Elections, i.e., the tenure of the Lok Sabha during these years was less than three
years on an average. Untimely dissolution of the Lok Sabha has also contributed to lapsing
of large number of Bills.
Conclusion
Although the dissolution of the Lower House brings in a stalemate of the legislative
business, it also paves the way for a fresh beginning. Dissolution of the Lok Sabha followed
by General Election and formation of a new Lok Sabha with requisite public mandate, at
53
Yogendra Narain, (ed.), Rajya Sabha At Work, 2006, page 180-81.
137
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
regular intervals, is the hallmark of Indian democracy. Normally, through effective
coordination between the two Houses, the Government of the day can prioritise its
legislative business and ensure high legislative output without being adversely affected by
the dissolution of the Lower House. In other words, if the Government of the day is inclined
to ensure the passage of a particular Bill, it is rather unlikely that the provisions of the
Constitution regarding lapsing of Bills on dissolution of the Lok Sabha will come in the way.
However, premature dissolution of the Lok Sabha due to political instability can result in
considerable legislative logjam, adversely impacting on public policy formulation for good
governance. The Founding Fathers of the Indian Constitution had provided an alternative
mechanism in the form of the Rajya Sabha to salvage the Bills being lapsed on the dissolution
of the Lok Sabha, if they were introduced in the Rajya Sabha, in order to maintain legislative
continuity. In the larger public interest, this alternative mechanism needs to be made more
robust and strong. The Government of the day must show political acumen besides
constitutional morality, visionary thinking and commitment to public good in dealing with
constitutional and parliamentary procedures and processes concerning passage of Bills.

Mr Raja Muhammad AMIN (Pakistan) said that there was the same process in his
country as Dr AGNIHOTRI had described. However, ordinances lapsed after four months.
He asked how ordinances were dealt with in India.
Mr Mohammad Kazim MALWAN (Afghanistan) asked whether in India, as in
Afghanistan, there was a time limitation on the passing and consideration of bills by either
House.
Mr Bhim CHARAN ROY (Bangladesh) asked how bills were transmitted to Standing
Committees from the upper House in India.
Dr V.K. AGNIHOTRI (India) explained that in India, ordinances lapsed fifteen days after
the summoning of Parliament, unless they had by then been converted into an Act. Such bills
tended to be highly party political. There was no time limit for passing legislation in India
otherwise, except in the case of money bills, which had to be considered by the upper House
within fifteen days. With the approval of the presiding officers of both Houses, bills, as soon
as they were introduced, could be referred to Standing Committees. Some minor bills or
those implementing urgent international obligations were not so referred.
138
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
THE GABONESE EXPERIENCE OF PARLIAMENTARY
IMMUNITIES
—
FÉLIX OWANSANGO DEACKEN
Secretary General of the Senate (Gabon)
An English version was not provided.

Mr Assadullah FALLAH (Afghanistan) asked who initiated the process of withdrawing
parliamentary immunity from a Member of Parliament in Gabon.
Mr Alphonse K. NOMBRÉ (Burkina Faso) said that his country had also witnessed floorcrossing (nomadism), which had on occasion altered the balance of power in Parliament. His
Assembly had set up an ad hoc committee to try to resolve this issue. Under the Constitution,
a distinction was made between a Member who resigned from his party, who would lose his
mandate, and a Member expelled by his party, who would keep this mandate.
Mr Abdelhamid Badis BELKAS (Algeria) asked how the revocation of a parliamentary
mandate took place in practice, and described the situation in his country, under which
Members could not lose their mandate if they changed political party.
Mr Louis-Claude NYASSA (Cameroon) said that in his country several MPs’ immunity
had been lifted – indeed they had been imprisoned - following organised mass
embezzlement, but that they would not lose their immunity simply for changing political
allegiance.
139
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
Mr Said MOKADEM (Maghreb Consultative Council) suggested the issue of floorcrossing as an issue for a general debate at a future meeting.
Mr Baye Niass CISSÉ (Senegal) asked how the vacancy left by exclusion or resignation of
a Member in Gabon was subsequently filled.
Mr Alain DELCAMP (France) welcomed the pragmatic approach taken in the
communication. He asked whether the current constitutional position in Gabon was being
revisited.
Mr Peter Charles OMOLO (Kenya) asked whether parliamentary immunity lapsed when
a person was no longer a Member.
Mr Felix OWANSANGO DEACKEN (Gabon) explained that the Chief Justice of the
Constitutional Court declared a seat vacant. There needed to be a fresh election within two
months. With respect to court proceedings, the prosecutor contacted the bureau of the
Chamber, which organised for the Member in question to be interrogated by them so that
they could decide whether to lift parliamentary immunity. If someone was found in
flagrante delicto, such a process was not necessary – the police would become involved at
once. Following the change of President in Gabon, various constitutional issues were likely
to be revisited, including a term limit for Presidents. Recently a member of the government
(no longer a member of Parliament) was prosecuted for a number of misdemeanours, and
was unable to claim immunity as a result.
140
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION
Aims
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Agreement drawn up with the Swiss federal authorities, is the only world-wide organisation
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141
Const. Parl. Inf. 59 (2009), 198
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142