Venice Commission - Report on Bicameralism
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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.
In the elections held every three years, half of the 116 elected members and half of the 58 appointed members are renewed, i.e. 58 and 29 seats respectively, for a total of 87 renewed members. The Constitution limits the number of members of the Council to half the number of members of the National People's Assembly. The members of the ANP elected by direct universal suffrage for a five-year term. Regadring the dissolution of Parliament, which comprises two chambers, the Council of the Nation and the APN, it should be pointed out that only the latter (the lower house of Parliament) can be dissolved by the President of the Republic, under the terms of Article 151 of the Constitution, which makes no mention of the possibility of the Head of State dissolving the Council of the Nation.
Since the members of the Federal Council and their substitutes are elected by the Provincial Parliament for the duration of their respective legislative periods (Art. 35 para. 1 B-VG), the members of the Federal Council are not replaced all at once, but successively after every Provincial Parliamentary Election. Upper Austria has a legislative period of six years; in the other eight provinces of Austria it´s five years.
Cinq ans. Le mandat des 50 sénateurs des entités fédérées débute le jour de leur prestation de serment au Sénat et prend fin, après le renouvellement intégral du Parlement qui les a désignés (en principe tous les 5 ans). Le mandat des sénateurs cooptés (10 sénateurs sur 60) débute le jour de leur prestation de serment au Sénat et prend fin le jour de l'ouverture de la première session de la Chambre des représentants qui suit son renouvellement intégral.
The members/delegates of both chambers of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be eligible for four years. The House of Peoples may be dissolved by the Presidency or by the House itself, provided that the House’s decision to dissolve is approved by a majority that includes the majority of Delegates from at least two of the Bosniac, Croat, or Serb peoples. The House of Peoples elected in the first elections after the entry into force of this Constitution may not, however, be dissolved (Article IV(3)(g) of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dissolution of the House of Peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina has not happened so far. However, there were frequent situations where the mandate of the House of Peoples ended without new delegates being elected. In these cases, the House of Peoples worked in a technical mandate until the election of new delegates. In a case before the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, (Decision no. U-1/11), the issue raised was the applicant’s standing to request review of constitutionality because he was Deputy Chairman of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who was a technical mandate holder. When it comes to that issue, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina noted the following. “As to the allegation that the applicant […], the Deputy Chairman of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time of lodging the request was not authorized to submit the relevant request, the Constitutional Court recalls that in its the Decision on Admissibility and Merits U-2/11 (see Constitutional Court, Decision on Admissibility and Merits no. U-2/11 of 27 May 2011, […]), considered the same allegation and concluded that it was not well-founded taking into account the provisions of Article 1.3.a, 1.8 and 1.10 of the Election Law of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina nos. 23/01, 7/02, 9/02, 20/02, 25/02, 4/04, 20/04, 25/05, 52/05, 65/05, 77/05, 11/06, 24/06, 32/07, 33/08, 37/08 and 32/10). According to the previously mentioned provisions, the rights and obligations will commence on the day when the representative body has been constituted and when the elected holder of the mandate that has been elected in the direct and indirect elections has signed a declaration by which he/she will refuse or accept the mandate. As to the present case, it is undisputable that at the time of filing the request the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, being constituted by indirect elections, was not constituted in accordance with the results of general elections held on 3 October 2010. In addition, it is undisputable that its mandate, having started on 14 of March 2007, was running until the 14 of March 2011 unless the new House of Peoples was constituted until that date. This provision aims at securing the continuity of government and the permanence of the Parliamentary Assembly in the State, as the fact that bodies cannot be constituted after the elections, should not affect the ability to exercise power and thus affect the functionality of the state. Furthermore, the applicant is not a simple delegate to the House of Peoples but he fulfilled the very official function of deputy chair which is referred to 'the continuity of the functioning of the state' and thus to the right of action of persons authorized under Article VI(3)(a) of the Constitution of BiH. Namely, the Constitutional Court emphasizes that the constitutional task of authorized parties is not only “the authorization” to initiate proceedings for a review of constitutionality pursuant to the above referenced article but also implies a 'constitutional task' to do so. Indeed, the Constitution of BiH has entrusted these subjects, as the representatives of the highest state and entity authorities, a task to initiate an institutional mechanism that safeguards constitutionality, given that the Constitutional Court cannot ex officio perform this duty, as it acts exclusively on 'a principle of request'. Should these subjects be denied the right to do so in the period from new elections until the constituting of the relevant authority, it is obvious that there would be a gap in the protection of constitutionality, and it was certainly not the intention of the framers of the Constitution.”
Every four years, one-third or two-thirds of the Senate is renewed, i.e. 27 and 54 senators respectively.
Under the Constitution Act, 1867, Senators enjoyed life tenure. Section 29 of the Act was amended in 1965, however, to provide for retirement at 75 years of age. Thus hypothetically, a Senator appointed at the minimum age of 30 years of age could remain in the Senate for a term of 45 years, although given that most Senators are appointed at a more senior age, the average term a Senator serves is around 11 years.
Senators are elected for eight years and renewable by half every four years. The Chamber of Deputies is made up of 155 deputies elected for a four-year term by direct universal suffrage in 28 multi-member constituencies of between three and eight deputies, distributed after counting the votes using the D'Hondt method, with no electoral threshold.
Senators are elected to a six-year term of office (or less if the seat is vacated earlier, then the new senator is elected only for the remainder of the 6-year term). Every second year election for one-third of the Senators shall be held (Art. 16 para 2 of the Constitution). This makes Senate a continuous body that cannot be dissolved. This model does not coincide with the Chamber of Deputies, where all 200 members are elected at one time (commonly every 4 years). Moreover, a lower chamber may be dissolved.
The term of office is six (6) years (the members of the second chamber are renewed by half every 3 years). The duration does not coincide with the term of office of the deputies of the lower house, which is five (5) years. The second chamber cannot be dissolved, unlike the lower chamber.
The second chamber, the Bundesrat, is a permanent body. Thus, it follows the continuity rule. Its composition changes with every election in a Land (Landtagswahl). After every election in a Land the newly elected government appoints its representatives to the Bundesrat. As a consequence, the membership in the Bundesrat is based on the decisions of the governments of the Länder. If a member were to leave a government of a Land or that government decides to recall the member, the membership would end (Article 51subsection 1 Basic Law).
The term of office for a member of the Seanad is not more than five years. The terms of office of both members of the Dáil and the Seanad are linked through Article 18.8 of the Constitution of Ireland which mandates the holding of a general election for the Seanad not less than 90 days after a dissolution of the Dáil. Article 18.9 of the Constitution then states that, “Every member of Seanad Éireann shall, unless he previously dies, resigns, or becomes disqualified, continue to hold office until the day before the polling day of the general election for Seanad Éireann next held after his election or nomination.”
9. Both chambers have identical duration (since constitutional reform of 1963). The duration if of 5 years. Both of them can be dissolved. All the members are replaced all at once. There is no rotation system. After the termination of the Chambers the incumbent members continue to stay in office until the new chambers are elected (prorogatio art. 61 Const.).
The term of office of deputies of the Senate is six years, the term of office of deputies of the Majilis is five years (clause 5, article 50 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan).
In Mexico, Senators have a term of office of 6 years, with the possibility of being reelected for another term of 6 years. Senators have a longer term of office than federal Deputies, therefore, their terms are not coincident. Federal Deputies have a term of office of 3 years, with the possibility of being reelected for another 3 terms of 3 years each. Mexico does not follow the continuity rule, because the Senate is replace all at once every 6 years. The Mexican Senate cannot be dissolved, as long as the dissolution is not stablished by the Constitution.
Durée ? 6 ans Coïncide-t-elle avec celle de la chambre basse ? Non car la durée de la chambre basse est de 5 ans. La seconde chambre suit-elle la règle de la continuité (les membres ne sont pas remplacés tous en même temps, les nouvelles élections ne concernent qu'une partie de la chambre à la fois) ? Ils sont tous remplacés en même temps.
Duration: 4 years (Article 52(1) of the Constitution).
In both chambers, their term of office is 4 years. Elections are held at the same time. If the Sejm is dissolved, it is tantamount to shortening the term of office of the Senate. The Senate cannot decide on self-dissolution.
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).
The National Council is a representative body that cannot be dissolved prematurely. Its members have five-year mandates and it differs to the mandate of the National Assembly which has four year mandate. Elections to the National Council for all members are held in two days – one for the election of members of local interests and the other for the election of members of functional members.
The term of office of senators is 4 years (both for directly and indirectly elected senators). The Senate can be dissolved earlier by the President (prime minister) jointly or separately with the lower house. In practice, however, both chambers have always been dissolved jointly. Senate elections have therefore always been held on the same date as elections to the Lower House. Senators elected by regional parliaments also have a 4-year term of office from the time they are elected. They are elected after regional elections. Only when former senators resign or die, regional parliaments can appoint new senators before that term. Therefore, they also have a 4-year term of office, but the dates do not coincide with those of the other senators.
The National Council has a legislature of four years.
The tenure of both chambers is 5 years. The second chamber does not follow the continuity rule.
The term of office of the House of Lords does not coincide with that of the House of Commons. Members of the House of Lords are members for life save for Bishops who must retire as Bishops at 70 and therefore lose their entitlement to sit in the House.
Senators serve terms of six years each; the terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the seats are up for election every two years. There is no constitutional limit to the number of terms a senator may serve. Representatives instead serve two-year terms and are considered for reelection every even year. Both the House and the Senate are permanent chambers, i.e., they cannot be dissolved under any circumstances.
Algeria
Austria
Art. 35 para. 3 B-VG: After expiry of the legislative period of a Provincial Parliament or after its dissolution the members delegated by it to the Federal Council remain in office until such time as the new Provincial Parliament has held the election to the Federal Council.
The legislative period respectively the tenure of the members of the Federal Council do not coincide with those of the National Council, whose members are directly elected by the Austrian citizens every five years.
The Federal Council cannot be dissolved. Moreover, the provisions of Art. 34 and 35 B-VG (composition and delegation of the members of the Federal Council) can only be amended – apart from the majority of votes requisite in general to the adoption of a resolution there – if in the Federal Council the majority of the representatives from at least four provinces have approved the amendment (Art. 35 para. 4 B-VG).
Belgium
La durée du mandat coïncide avec celle de la chambre basse ?
Le Roi a le droit de dissoudre la Chambre des représentants avant la fin de la législature, mais dans des limites étroites précisées lors de la révision de la Constitution de 1993. (article 46 de la Constitution)
La dissolution peut être décidée par le Roi dans chacune des situations suivantes :
si la Chambre, à la majorité absolue des ses membres, rejette une motion de confiance déposée par le gouvernement fédéral et ne propose pas au Roi, dans un délai de trois jours à compter du jour du rejet de la motion, le nom d'un successeur au Premier ministre
si la Chambre, à la majorité absolue de ses membres, adopte une motion de méfiance à l'égard du gouvernement fédéral et ne propose pas simultanément au Roi le nom d'un successeur au Premier ministre
si le gouvernement fédéral démissionne, et si en outre la Chambre donne son accord à la dissolution à la majorité absolue de ses membres.
La dissolution de la Chambre entraîne celle du Sénat.
La dissolution des deux Chambres et la convocation des électeurs sont en outre automatiques lorsqu'une déclaration de révision de la Constitution est publiée au Moniteur belge. (art. 195 de la Constitution)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
The House of Peoples is completely filled anew.
Brazil
In the case of one-third renewals, voting takes place in each constituency by first-past-the-post. When two-thirds of the seats are up for renewal, however, a pair of candidates is elected in each constituency, using a plurality-majority system. Voters have two votes, which they can distribute among the candidates of their choice. For the lower chamber, they are elected for four years. The two chambers cannot be dissolved.
Canada
Between 2006 and 2013, in its various Senate reform bills, the previous Conservative government proposed term limits of 8 years or 9 years. The possibility of renewal was also considered. However, in its advisory opinion in the Senate Reform Reference in 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that changing the tenure of Senators from what was still, effectively, active life, to a limited term, was beyond the power of the Parliament of Canada to enact and would require a constitutional amendment under the general amending procedure, requiring the authorization of not only the federal houses but a significant majority of provincial legislative assemblies.
With respect to dissolution, it is really the House of Commons that is dissolved (see section 50, Constitution Act, 1867) at the time of a general election, rather than the appointed upper house, but since the executive proclamation dissolving “Parliament” is directed to the members of both houses and discharges them from their duties, the Senate cannot meet until the next House of Commons is summoned (section 38, Constitution Act, 1867) and Parliament is assembled. As in the Commons, all legislative bills and other items on the Order Paper die, and all committees cease to exist, with the exception of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, and the Standing Committee on Ethics and Conflicts of Interest for Senators.
Dissolution has no effect on the tenure of office of Senators. As well, the Speaker of the Senate remains in place during the parliamentary dissolution period and until replaced.
Chile
Czechia
France
Germany
In contrast to the Bundestag, the Bundesrat cannot be dissolved.
In so far as the Bundestag is concerned, it does not have the right to dissolve itself but can be dissolved by the President in two scenarios: The election of the Federal Chancellor fails (Article 63 subsection 4 Basic law) or the vote of confidence fails (Article 68 Basic Law).
Ireland
Italy
Kazakhstan
Mexico
Morocco
La seconde chambre peut-elle être dissoute et, dans l'affirmative, qui et comment exerce ses compétences dans l'intervalle ? Veuillez signaler toute particularité.
Elle peut être dissoute par le Roi après un message adressé à la nation, des élections sont prévues dans les deux mois qui suivent, entretemps, rien n’est constitutionnellement prévu.
The Netherlands
Does it coincide with lower chamber? NO
Does the second chamber follow the continuity rule? NO
Can the second chamber be dissolved ? Purely theoretical, because its Members will be elected by the same members of the provinces.
Poland
Romania
Slovenia
Spain
When the Senate is in recess (because of holidays or because it is dissolved) a special committee (Diputación Permanente) ensures the competences of the Chamber. This committee is a traditional solution in Spanish parliamentarianism to safeguard the powers of the chamber and also exists in the lower house. The committee is composed of senators appointed by the parliamentary groups in the Senate (i.e. the political parties) and in the current legislature its number is 36 (although the minimum number constitutionally foreseen is 21) reflecting proportionally the party composition of the chamber. This Committee can only "guard the powers of the chamber", but cannot exercise any legislative powers. Its members will be considered senators from the dissolution of the chamber until the new chamber is legally constituted.
Switzerland
The Council of States does not have a legislature, and there is no continuity rule, as its members are elected by the cantons according to their own law. However, a term of four years is the rule in the cantons, and the elections are normally held at the same time as those for the National Council. As a result, their term of office generally coincides with that of the members of the National Council.
The second chamber cannot be dissolved.
Particularity: The Canton of Jura has introduced a term limit, according to which members in the Council of States can only twice be re-elected.
Tunisia
United Kingdom
United States of America