Venice Commission - Report on Bicameralism

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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?

Algeria

For the Council of the Nation, candidates must be at least 35 on the day of the election (2021 electoral law). The members of the APN must be at least 25.

Austria

Art. 35 para. 2 B-VG provides that members of the Federal Council must be eligible for the Provincial Parliament. Thus, the age limit to elect and be elected to the Federal Council is determined by the electoral regulations of the nine provincial parliaments. All of them entitle the right to vote to Austrian citizens who have completed their sixteenth year of life on the day of election and the right of being elected to people who have completed their eighteenth year of life on the day of election. These provisions concerning the age limit to elect and be elected to the Federal Council coincide with the provisions regarding the National Council (see Art. 26 para. 1 and 4 B-VG).

Belgium

Les sénateurs doivent être agés de dix-huit ans accompli (art 69, 4° de la Constitution)
Coïncide-t-elle avec celle de la chambre basse ? Oui.
Existe-t-il d'autres conditions d'éligibilité que celles prévues pour les membres des chambres basses ? Non. Pour être député ou sénateur, il faut être Belge, jouir des droits civils et politiques, être âgé de 18 ans accomplis et être domicilié en Belgique. Il s’agit d’une énumération limitative: la Constitution détermine qu'aucune autre condition d’éligibilité ne peut être requise. (articles 64 et 69 de la Constitution).

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The act regulating the organization and work of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the Rules of Procedure of the House of Peoples) and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina do not prescribe an age limit for election and appointment to the House of Peoples.

Brazil

21 years old for the lower chamber. The requirements are the same for the second chamber.

Canada

To be appointed to the Senate of Canada, one must have attained “the full age of Thirty Years” (see section 23, Constitution Act, 1867). Generally, Senators tend to be significantly older than the constitutional minimum age at the time of appointment. As for the lower house, in 1970, the Canada Elections Act reduced the age to vote and to be eligible for election to the House of Commons, from 21 to 18 years of age.

Chile

Candidates must : be a Chilean citizen with the right to vote ; have completed secondary education; be at least 35 years old; not be a member of parliament.

Czechia

There is a minimum age limit of 40 years to be elected to the second chamber which does not coincide with the Chamber of Deputies, where passive suffrage is limited by the age of 21. The right to vote to both chambres is limited by the age of 18. There are no other requirements for election than those for members of a lower chamber.

France

The minimum age for election to the second chamber is 24 years, while for the lower chamber it is 18 years. This is the only difference in the electoral system; all other eligibility rules are identical between the two chambers of the Parliament. There is no particular age rule for the electoral college (voters can therefore vote in senatorial elections from the age of 18).

Germany

There is no age limit to become a member of the second chamber. Concerning the Bundestag, the lower chamber of Parliament, the Constitution (Article 38 subsection 2 Basic Law) does not provide a specific age limit either. Thus, every German citizen who is 18 years old can be elected.

Ireland

Membership of Seanad Éireann is open to all Irish citizens over the age of 21. This coincides with the age limit for Dáil Éireann. The requirements for election to the Seanad are the same as that of Dail.

Italy

7. After the Constitutional reform n. 1 of 2020:
for the Chamber of Deputies: citizens of 18 years can elect; 25 years of age is required to be elected (art. 56 and 48 Const)
For the Senate: citizens of 18 years can elect; 40 years of age is necessary to be elected (art. 58 and 48 Const.)

Kazakhstan

A deputy of the Parliament can be a person who is a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan and has permanently resided on its territory for the last ten years. A deputy of the Senate may be a person who has reached thirty years of age, has a higher education and work experience of at least five years, permanently residing in the territory of the relevant region, city of republican significance or the capital of the Republic for at least three years.
A deputy of the Majilis may be a person who has reached twenty-five years of age. (Clause 4, Article 51 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan).

Mexico

In Mexico, the citizenship is acquired at 18 years old and from that moment individuals have the right to vote in every type of public election, including the Senate. Regarding the age limit to elect Senators, in Mexico there is no limit, because voting rights can be exercised at any age once someone is 18 years old. To be elected as Senator in Mexico, individuals must be at least 25 years old, additionally, there is no age limit to be elected as Senator. The requirements to be elected as federal Deputy and to be elected as Senator are the same, besides the age, because for the Senate, as stated before, the age is 25 years old, while to be elected as federal Deputy, someone must be at least 21 years old.

Morocco

18 ans révolus.
Coïncide-t-elle avec celle de la chambre basse ? Oui tout à fait. Existe-t-il d'autres conditions d'éligibilité que celles prévues pour les membres des chambres basses ? Elles sont identiques.

The Netherlands

18 years (Articles 55/56 of the Constitution).
Same as lower chamber
NO other requirements for election than those for members of lower chambers

Poland

A senator in Poland may be a citizen who has reached the age of 30 and has the right to vote. in the case of the Sejm, the minimum age is 21 y.o.

Romania

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).

Slovenia

The right to vote for elections to the National Council is different comparing to the one for elections to the National Assembly and for the President of the Republic. When only comparing the National Assembly and the National Council, the main reason for this is that the latter is a representative of different social interests whereas the National Assembly represents the people. It is understandable that not everybody that has the right to vote for the National Assembly representatives has the same right to vote for the National Council representatives and that this right is reserved to members of the interest groups that are later represented. The right to vote for members of the National Council is limited to people that are 18 years old and participate in certain activities, are in working relationship (representatives of functional interests) or have a permanent accommodation in a certain constituency (voting of local interests representative).

The right to vote representatives of local and functional interests in the National Council can be direct or indirect. When the representatives of functional interests are voted, only representatives of interest organizations or members within the interest organization (university senate, executive board, board of directors) which has the authority to elect people in the election body, have the indirect right to vote. The elected people in the elective body – the electors – have the direct right to vote.

The right to vote when voting representatives of local interests is even more complex than voting representatives of functional interests. Everyone that has a permanent accommodation in a certain constituency has in a broader sense the indirect right to vote representatives of local interests in the National Council, because they have the right to elect members of the municipal council in a municipality that is a part of a certain constituency. Members of the municipality council have the indirect right to vote in a narrow sense and the electors of each constituent that are elected in the electoral body have the direct right to vote for representatives of the National Council.

While the right to vote to National Assembly is reserved for Slovenian citizens only, non-Slovenian citizens have the right to vote to the National Council in some scale; if they have a job in Slovenia that belongs to one of the interest fields, or if they are in a working relationship.

Spain

There are no differences between the lower and the second chamber in this issue.

Switzerland

According to cantonal law, anyone who is eligible to vote may be elected to the Council of States. In the cantons, the minimum age to be elected to the second chamber is 18 years, and there is no maximum age. Particularity: In Glarus, the minimum age to elect is 16 years; its members of the Council of States retire from office at age 65.

Tunisia

The age limit of candidature for the lower chamber is twenty-three years on the day of the presentation of his candidacy. Any citizen of Tunisian nationality, aged eighteen and over and meeting the conditions set by the electoral law, is a voter.

United Kingdom

There is no upper age limit to sit in either the House of Lords or the House of Commons. To be a Member the House of Commons there is a minimum age of 18. To be a Member of the House of Lords there is a minimum age of 21.

United States of America

The Constitution sets out three qualifications for Senators: (1) they must be at least 30 years old; (2) they must have been citizens of the U.S. for at least nine years; and (3) they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to represent at the time of their election.

The qualification requirements for Senators are more stringent than those for House Representatives. Representatives must 1) be at least 25 years old; (2) have been a citizen of the U.S. for at least seven years; and (3) they must be inhabitants of the states they seek to represent at the time of their election.