Venice Commission - Report on Bicameralism

Disclaimer: this information was gathered by the Secretariat of the Venice Commission on the basis of contributions by the members of the Venice Commission, and complemented with information available from various open sources (academic articles, legal blogs, official information web-sites etc.).

Every effort was made to provide accurate and up-to-date information. For further details please visit our site : https://www.venice.coe.int/

Romania

1.Has the country always had a bicameral parliamentary (or congressional) system? If not, from when did the country adopt a bicameral system? Is there a public debate about keeping bicameralism or moving to a unicameral system? Why? What are the terms of the debate? What is the public perception of the usefulness and acceptability (legitimacy) of the second chamber?

The constitutional framework of Romania has undergone multiple changes over time. After the fall of the communist regime, Romania has adopted, by a national referendum, held on 8 December 1991, a democratic Constitution, which established a bicameral Parliament (composed of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate). A consultative referendum on the adoption a unicameral system (and also reducing the number of the members of the Parliament) was approved in 2009, but not implemented. There are no immediate plans to implement the result of the referendum, nor is there currently a significant public debate on the topic.

2.What is the population of the country? What is its size?

The population of Romania is 19 053 815 (in accordance with the census held in 2022), the surface of Romania is 238, 397 km².

3.What form of state and form of government has the country? Please provide details with reference to relevant constitutional provisions. a) Unitarian or federal/regional/other form of decentralization; b) Parliamentary, presidential, semi-presidential or mixed

The form of the State is commonly described as a semi-presidential republic, given its main features; thus, the President is elected by universal vote; the Government is designated by the President, but approved by the Parliament and is accountable before the Parliament; the executive power can be described as dual, given the significant roles of both the President and the Prime-minister.

4.How many members are in the lower house?

The Chamber of Deputies has 330 members.

5.How many members has the second chamber?

The Senate has 135 members.

6.How are members of the second chamber selected? Please describe: a) direct/indirect/mixed suffrage (if the suffrage is indirect or mixed, who elects or appoints the second chamber? b) territorial or other criteria; i) region/provinces/municipalities/others; ii) professional categories/ethnic/age/other; c) candidates’ independence from/affiliation with political parties; d) in case of indirect election, is there an imperative mandate or a similar practice?

The Senate is elected by direct suffrage, on a territorial basis; the electoral circumscriptions are represented by the counties (județe), the territorial - administrative units in which Romania is divided; the political parties and the organizations of citizens belonging to national minorities are entitled to file lists of candidates with the electoral bureaus of the circumscriptions; individual candidatures may also be filed (see article 52 of Law no 208/2015)

7.Age. What is the age limit to elect and be elected or appointed to the second chamber? Does it coincide with the lower chamber? Are there other requirements for election than those for members of lower chambers?

The minimum age limit for the Senate is 33 years, while for the Chamber of Deputies is 23 years; apart from the age limit, the requirements for election are similar in respect of deputies and senators (see article 37 of the Constitution).

8.Gender. Are there any requirements to achieve gender parity between men and women in the composition of the second chamber or is there any gender quota system? If so, is there a similar requirement or gender quota system for the lower chamber?

The list of candidates must ensure the representation of both genders, but there is no specific gender quota (see article 52 of Law no 208/2015).

9.Term of office or tenure. Duration? Does it coincide with lower chamber? Does the second chamber follow the continuity rule (members are not replaced all at once, new elections concern only part of the chamber at a time)? Can the second chamber be dissolved and if yes, who and how exercises its competences in the meantime? Please report any particularity.

The members of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate are elected for a term of office of 4 years; in both chambers all members are replaced following new elections; after consultations with the presidents of both Chambers and the leaders of the parliamentary groups, the President of Romania may dissolve the Parliament under certain conditions (if no vote of confidence has been obtained to form a government within 60 days after the first request for the investiture was made, and only after rejection of at least two requests for investiture; elections for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are to be held within three months from the expiry of the term of office or from the date of the dissolution of the Parliament) (see article 63 and article 89 of the Constitution).

10.Congruence. Is it common for the second chamber to have a similar party composition (majority-minority) to that of the lower chamber?

It is quite common for the second chamber to have a similar political composition as that of the lower chamber (as the rules for the election of the chambers are basically the same).

11.Status. Are there differences between the legal status of members of the two chambers, and if so, what (e.g., immunity, conflict of interest)?

The incompatibilities and the rules on parliamentary immunities are similar in respect of both deputies and senators (see article 71 and article 72 of the Constitution).

12.Rules of procedure. How are the rules governing the second chamber established? Are they different from the lower chamber’s and what are the most relevant differences? Are the internal regulations controlled by the constitutional judge?

The rules of procedure of each chamber are established by their own Regulation (Regulament); the Constitutional Court may adjudicate on the constitutionality of these Regulations (see article 64 and article 146 of the Constitution).

13.Powers/competences: Are the powers and competences the same in the two chambers (symmetrical bicameralism)? If the bicameralism is asymmetrical, what are the powers of the second chamber? Please describe: i) financial; ii) legislative; iii) oversight/control; iv) other specific powers, in particular as regards constitutional reforms, confidence motions, international treaties, etc; v) interim powers (e. g. in case of dissolution of the first chamber). a) Distinguish issues which are not submitted at all to the second chamber/where the final decision is taken by the first chamber/where the second chamber has a limited veto right etc. Please address these questions the other way round if the second chamber has more powers than the first one; b) Are there specific appointments that must be done solely by the second chamber? If so, the appointment must be done by supermajority/qualified majority/simple majority/absolute majority? c) What kind of parliamentary initiative can the first and second chamber exercise? d) What happens in case of disagreement (in case of asymmetrical as well as of symmetrical bicameralism); how many readings before the final decision? Does a mixed commission meet? e) To which chamber are draft laws and other drafts to be examined by Parliament or the legislature submitted first? f) Is the government responsible to the second chamber (when it is before the first one)? g) Are decisions taken by a joint meeting of both chambers and, in the affirmative, which ones? h) Does the second chamber have a specific role in emergency situations?

13) a
The Senate acts as the first notified chamber for legislation concerning certain matters, for which the Chamber of Deputies acts as the decisional chamber; conversely, for other matters, the Chamber of Deputies acts as the first notified chamber, and the Senate acts as the decisional chamber.

Thus, the Senate, acting as the first notified chamber, debates and adopts the draft laws and legal initiatives in the following fields:

Draft laws and legal initiative at the level of ordinary type laws; Draft organic type laws concerning: territory; citizenship; national symbols; equality of status; right to private property; the oaths taken by deputies and senators; the electoral system, the organisation and functioning of Permanent Electoral Authority; the organisation, functioning and financing of the political parties; organisation and carrying out of the referendum; the regime concerning the total or partial mobilization of the armed forces and of the state of war; the regime of the state of siege and of the state of emergency; crimes and penalties; collective pardon or amnesty; status of public officers; the general legal regime of ownership and inheritance; the general legal regime concerning labor relations, trade unions, employers and social protection; the status of national minorities; the general legal regime of religious organizations; prolongation of the term of office of the President of Romania in case of war or disaster; public property; the Economic and Social Council.

The Senate, acting as the decisional chamber, debates and adopts the draft laws and legal initiative in the following fields:

Draft laws for the ratification of treaties or other international agreements and legislative measures necessary the application of such treaties or agreements; Draft organic type laws on: organization and functioning of the public radio and TV services and the parliamentary control thereof; the right of association; the redress for persons wronged by a public authorities – administrative litigation; national defense; organization and functioning of the Ombudsman (Avocatul Poporului); the organization and functioning of the Government and of the Supreme Council for National Defense, organization and functioning of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, and of the Court of Accounts; general organization of education; organization of the local public administration, of the territory, as well as the general regime of local autonomy; the Legislative Council; the role and structure of the Government; incompatibilities concerning members of the Government; setting up autonomous administrative units; the defense system; basic principles of the local public administration; the institution of the Prefect; the status of judges; the courts; the use of native language and interpreters in justice; the competences of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary; the Court of Accounts; the structure of the Constitutional Court.
(See article 75 of the Constitution and the respective Regulations of the chambers)

13 b)
The Senate validates the mandates of 14 members of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, elected by the Council, and elects 2 representatives of the civil society to sit in this Council (see article 133 of the Constitution).

13 c)
Both senators and deputies may exercise their right to legislative initiative, by forwarding to the competent chamber the draft legislation (see article 74 of the Constitution).

13d)
If one of the chambers adopts a draft law or a legislative proposal in a different wording than that approved by the other chamber, the presidents of the chambers initiate, by means of o commission, composed on the basis of parity, a mediation procedure. The mediation commission tries to eliminate the existing divergence, by drafting a single text. The proposals of the mediation commission are included in a report which is subjected to debate and adoption in each of the two chambers, in separate sessions. In case both chambers agree on the report, the law is sent to promulgation.

In case the mediation commission fails to agree on the issues in respect of which a divergence exists, or one of the Chambers does not approve the report of the mediation commission, totally or partially, the texts in contention are debated in the joint sessions of the chambers, in accordance to the regulation on those sessions.

(See article 75 of the Constitution and the respective Regulations of the chambers)

13 e)
See above the answer at 13 a)

13 f)
The Government is politically accountable to the Parliament (not only one of the Chambers) for its activity. The Government and each of its members are under a duty to respond to the questions or interpellations formulated by deputies or senators. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, in joint session, can withdraw the confidence given to the Government by passing a censure motion by the vote of a majority of the deputies and senators (see articles 109, 112, and 113 of the Constitution).

13 g)
The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate convene in joint sessions for: the receipt of the message of the President of Romania; the approval of the State budget and of the State social insurance budget, of the rectification laws and of the budget execution account; the declaration of the total or partial mobilization; the declaration of the state of war; the suspension or the cessation of the military hostilities; the approval of the national defence strategy of the country; the examination of the reports of the Supreme Council of National Defence; the appointment, at the proposal of the President of Romania, of the directors of the intelligence services and the exercise of control over the activity of these services; the appointment of the Ombudsman; the establishment of the status of the deputies and senators, establishing the allowance and other rights they have; the re-examination of the State budget law and of the state social insurance budget law and also the re-examination of the law adopted in joint meetings, by engaging the responsibility of the Government; the adoption of the projects or of the proposals of revision of the Constitution in the case in which through the mediation procedure the chambers do not reach an agreement; the swearing in of the President of Romania; the indictment of the President of Romania for high treason; the suspension of the President of Romania or of the person who ensures the interim in the exercise of the function in the case in which he/she committed serious acts which violate the provisions of the Constitution; the approval of the state of siege or of the state of emergency, in the entire country or in some territorial administrative units, decreed by the President of Romania; the debate on the Government’s program and list and granting the vote of confidence; the withdrawal of confidence in the Government by adopting a censure motion; the development of the procedure regarding the engagement of the Government’s accountability over a program, a general policy declaration or a draft law; the appointment and the revocation of the Court of Accounts’ members; the appointment in other functions which, according to the law, falls within the competence of the Parliament; the adoption of the laws on the accession of Romania to the constitutive treaties of the European Union and of the North Atlantic Treaty; the adoption of declarations, messages or other acts having an exclusively political character; the presentation of the Constitutional Court’s decision regarding the national referendum’s results; the receiving of the representatives of other States or the representatives of international bodies; the celebration of national holidays or of some commemorations; the establishment of common inquiry commissions or other special commissions; the adoption of the Conduct Code of deputies and senators; the debate of conflicting legislative texts as a result of the impossibility to reach an agreement in the mediation commission or of the non-approval, in full or in part, of the mediation commission’s report by one of the chambers, and also the adoption of a final text on issues in contention; other situations in which the permanent bureaus of the two chambers consider their convocation in joint meeting to be necessary.

(See article 65 of the Constitution and the Regulation on the joint sessions of the chambers)

13 h)
Within at most 5 days from the beginning of a state of siege or a state of emergency, the President of Romania submits to the Parliament a request for the approval of the adopted measures. If the Parliament does not approve the establishment of a state of siege or a state of emergency, the President must promptly revoke the relevant decree, any measures instituted ceasing their validity. Prolongation by the President of a state of siege or state of emergency, or an extension or reduction of the area of the application must also be approved by the Parliament (see Governmental Emergency Ordinance no 1/1999 on the regime of the state of siege and of the state of emergency).

14.Is there a form of intergovernmental conference of regions in your country (conference of ministers or presidents of regions, Landers, states members of the federations)? Does it interact with the second chamber? How often does it meet? What is its specific relevance?

No organ such as an intergovernmental conference of the regions functions in Romania; the county councils have formed the National Union of the County Councils of Romania, which is a non-governmental organization.