Rules of Procedure Act 1975
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Rules of Procedure Act 1975 |
| Long title: | Federal Act of July 4, 1975 on the Rules of Procedure of the National Council |
| Abbreviation: | GOG-NR (unofficial) |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Republic of Austria |
| Legal matter: | substantive constitutional law |
| Reference: | Federal Law Gazette No. 410/1975 |
| Date of law: | July 29, 1975 |
| Effective date: | October 1, 1975 § 86: July 1, 1976 |
| Last change: |
Federal Law Gazette I No. 62/2015 of May 29, 2015 |
| Legal text: | GOG-NR in the RIS |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version ! | |
The Federal Law on the Rules of Procedure of the National Council (in the current version of the Rules of Procedure Law 1975 ; unofficially GOG-NR) is a federal law that regulates the handling of the items to be discussed in the Austrian National Council and its committees and sub-committees, the rights and obligations of the members of the parliament and the organs as well as the regulates the organizational processes of the National Council.
Law with special resolution requirements
The Rules of Procedure Act is a federal act and, like most laws, applies until it is expressly amended. Spontaneous changes in the rules or the cavity to prevent the rights of minorities by the majority, changes of the Rules of Procedure Act, according to Art. 30 para. 2 of the Federal Constitution of Deputies only be decided by a two-thirds majority in the presence of at least half. The same majority requirements apply as for constitutional laws. A first reading is also mandatory. The decision in the third reading may only be made twenty-four hours after the conclusion of the second reading ( § 108 GOG-NR).
In the case of changes to the National Council's rules of procedure , the Federal Council , the second legislative body of the Confederation, has no right to participate in accordance with Art. 42 Para. 5 B-VG.
content
The Rules of Procedure Act regulate detailed questions relating to the handling of business in the National Council and implement the very general provisions of the Federal Constitutional Act . The main task of the National Council is federal legislation ; the Federal Council participates in the legislation in accordance with the Federal Constitutional Act.
The chairmanship of the National Council is exercised by the three Presidents of the National Council , with the (first) President of the National Council taking precedence over the second President and the third President. The President of the National Council also acts as the "host" of the parliament building in Vienna and heads the parliamentary administration . The three presidents are elected by the House's plenary. Your deselection is not yet planned; their function ends (as in the main committee or the standing subcommittee of the main committee) with the election of their successors in the following legislative period ( Section 6 (1) GOG-NR). Massive criticism of the former Third President Martin Graf has led to discussions about introducing the option of voting out. It is convention that the strongest political group should propose the president and the nominee be elected, even if he does not belong to any ruling party. The presidents are supported by at least three MPs elected as filers and five as secretaries and by the Parliamentary Directorate (including stenography). The extensive parliamentary library is available to the members of parliament. In contrast to the German Bundestag , the National Council does not have its own services for specialist research on behalf of MPs ; Critics complain that this means that parliament usually has less expertise than the government it is supposed to control.
The Presidium of the National Council, in cooperation with the Parliamentary Directorate, takes care of the premises in which the parliamentary groups or members' clubs carry out their work and where members of the parliament have offices. Since there is not enough space for it in the parliament building, u. a. the neighboring Palais Epstein was adapted by parliament.
In the first session of the legislative period, the previous President of the National Council takes the chair until the new President is elected ( Section 3 (2) GOG-NR). Members of parliament have to prove their correct election to the parliamentary directorate by means of the ballot slip issued by the main electoral authority in the Federal Ministry of the Interior before they receive a parliamentary legitimation and are sworn in in plenary. The first chamber of parliament is currently composed due to the 2013 National Council election .
The National Council elects the main committee and other permanent and temporary committees to provide preliminary advice on legislative initiatives and to investigate grievances in the federal administration (see below). All elections take place by majority vote, but it is convention that representatives of the opposition are also elected to the National Council Presidium and to committees.
The negotiations in the plenary session of the National Council are reproduced in printed form in the stenographic minutes of the National Council . They are made available electronically for the forerunners of the National Council and for the First Republic up to 1934 from the National Library on ALEX - Historical Legal and Legal Texts Online , Section Parlamentaria. The shorthand records from 1920 to 1934 and since 1945 can be found on Parliament's website.
Specific aspects of the Rules of Procedure
Historical significance of the parliamentary rules of procedure
On March 4, 1933, all three presidents resigned during a National Council meeting in order to be able to vote in a vote. At that time the rules of procedure did not provide any rules for this case; the MPs parted without the meeting being formally ended. The Federal Government Dollfuss used this incident to speak of the self-elimination of parliament and to prevent the continuation of the session on March 15th. There was authoritarian rule until 1938 , then Nazi rule without a parliament until 1945. The National Council, which had been in existence again since December 20, 1945, only took the opportunity in 1975 to learn the lesson from the process and, in Section 6, Paragraphs 2–4 of the GOG-NR, the oldest MPs present in Vienna in the event of the resignation of all three presidents to oblige, without being asked to act, to convene the National Council and to hold presidential elections.
Continuation of negotiation items
The fact that all unfinished agendas of the National Council became irrelevant when it was dissolved has long been seen as a grievance. For example, the referendum against interceptors, which was launched from July 29 to August 5, 2002, was no longer dealt with by the National Council despite 624,807 signatures (the hurdle is 100,000 signatures) because it lapsed because of the National Council election held on November 24, 2002.
The legal situation has changed since April 1, 2009. Items pending in the National Council (motions) continue to expire at the end of the legislative period; Popular initiatives , citizens' initiatives , reports from the Court of Auditors and federal financial statements as well as reports from the Ombudsman's Office are now excluded from this ( Section 21 (1a) GOG-NR).
Committees of inquiry
Pursuant to Section 33 of the Rules of Procedure Act, the National Council can set up a committee of inquiry by majority vote if it wishes to investigate issues that are in the public interest. Since January 1, 2015, a committee of inquiry must also be set up if this is requested by 46 members (i.e. a quarter of the MPs). In this way, a longstanding demand was implemented to set up committees of inquiry into minority rights. In the German Bundestag and in the German state parliaments, but also z. B. in the Salzburg state parliament this right has existed for a long time and also served as a model for the new regulation in the rules of procedure law.
The facilitation of the establishment of committees of inquiry was accompanied by a reform of the procedural rules. For example, a procedural judge and a procedural lawyer are at the side of the head of the investigative committee and are supposed to support him in his tasks. In addition, the minority that initiated the proceedings can appeal to the Constitutional Court if, in their opinion, the majority is hindering the investigation. This is to prevent the government factions from being able to block investigative committees that they dislike with their majority.
So that the National Council cannot be paralyzed by a minority with investigative committees, a member of parliament who has made a minority request for a committee to be set up may only support a further request after it has ended. The majority of the National Council can, however, continue to set up any number of committees of inquiry.
Other special regulations
- Right to speak for outstanding personalities as well as for members of the European Parliament (§ 19a, since 2015)
See also
- Legislative procedure (Austria)
- Federal Constitution (Austria)
- Federal Constitutional Law
- National Council President (Austria)
Web links
- Rules of Procedure of the National Council on the website of the Austrian Parliament.
Individual evidence
- ^ Stenographic minutes on Parliament's website.
- ↑ interceptor petition site of BMI .
- ↑ Referendum against interceptors (1291 dB). parlinkom.gv.at.
- ↑ Federal Law Gazette I No. 99/2014
- ↑ Werner Zögernitz on the legal situation in comparison ( Memento of the original from August 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 27 kB)
- ↑ a b Committee report on the amendment to the committees of inquiry
- ^ Rules of procedure for parliamentary committees of inquiry
