SECTION IX
PROCEDURE IN MATTERS OF LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES
OF THE SENATE AND OTHER RESOLUTIONS
Article 76
1. The Senate shall undertake a legislative initiative procedure on a motion from committees or from at least 10 Senators.
2. The Marshal of the Senate shall inform the Marshal of the Sejm and the Prime Minister of the legislative initiative procedure being undertaken.
Article 77
1. A legislative initiative motion accompanied by a bill shall be submitted in writing to the Marshal of the Senate; the mover, presenting the bill, shall indicate a representative authorised to represent him during works on the bill.
2. An explanatory statement shall be included with a bill, which should contain:
1) an explanation of the objective of the act,
2) a presentation of the status quo in the area to be affected by the legislative motion,
3) an indication of the difference between the current and the projected legal status,
4) a presentation of the anticipated social, economic, financial and legal consequences of the legislative action,
5) a presentation of the premises behind the basic executive orders required by the act.
3. The Marshal of the Senate may ask the Senator representing the mover of the bill to supplement the text of the explanatory statement if it does not meet the requirements defined in para. 2.
Article 78
1. A consideration of bills shall take place in three readings.
2. The mover of the bill, up to the end of the second reading, may withdraw his proposal. A legislative initiative motion made by at least 10 Senators is considered as withdrawn if the number of Senators supporting the bill is less than 10.
Article 79
1. The Marshal of the Senate shall refer bills to the relevant committees including the Legislation Committee.
2. Committees, which have been sent a bill for consideration in the first reading of a draft bill, shall deliberate in joint sittings. These committees may request other committees to express their opinion about the bill or parts of the bill.
3. The representative of the mover of the bill is obliged to participate in committee sittings.
Article 80
1. The first reading of the bill shall be conducted no earlier than 14 days after the bill papers have been delivered to the Senators. Notification of a sitting of a committee is delivered to all senators no later than 7 days prior to a sitting.
2. Within no longer than 2 months after considering a draft bill the committees prepare a joint report in which they present a motion for:
1) acceptance of the draft without amendments,
2) acceptance of the draft with amendments in the form of the unified draft text,
3) rejection of the draft.
3. The report of the committees’ includes information on the conformity of the draft bill to the European Union law or specifying the extent and reasons for its non-conformity to that law, or a statement that the subject-matter is not governed by the European Union law.
4. The chairmen of the committee can appeal to the Marshal of the Senate for a prolongation in the deadline defined in para. 2.
5. A committee’s report is presented at a sitting of the Senate by a rapporteur senator selected from amongst its members.
Article 81
1. The second reading of a draft bill includes:
1) presenting the Senate with the reports from committees on the draft bill,
2) conducting a discussion and submitting motions.
2. Prior to entering into the discussion senators can submit questions lasting no more than 1 minute to the rapportuer in connection with a report presented, and to an authorised representative of the motion proposer, as specified in article 77, para. 1.
3. The second reading ends with the draft bill being referred to committees for them to take a position on the motions submitted during discussions, with the reservation of para 5.
4. The Senate refering a draft bill to committees can also set them a time limit for presenting an additional report.
5. If during a discussion no one submits a motion against the motion presented by committees in the report then the Senate immediately proceeds to the third reading.
Article 82
1. The third reading of a draft bill includes:
1) presenting the Senate with an additional report from committees, if the draft was sent to committee after the second reading,
2) voting.
2. A list of all the motions submitted during discussions is included in an additional report from committees. The provisions of article 52, para. 4 and 5 are applicable respectively.
3. Prior to taking a vote senators can submit questions to the rapporteur lasting no longer than 1 minute in connection with the additional report presented.
4. The motion proposer can withdraw his motion submitted during the second reading. The provisions of article 52, para.7 are applicable respectively.
5. The provisions of section V, chapter 3 are applicable respectively in voting on a Senate resolution regarding the introduction of a legislative initiative.
Article 83
1. A resolution on the introduction of a legislative initiative shall be submitted by the Marshal of the Senate to the Marshal of the Sejm. The following are included with the resolution:
1) an explanatory statement presenting in particular the financial effects of implementing the draft bill,
2) information on conformity of the act to the European Union law or specifying the extent and reasons for its non-conformity to that law, or a statement that the subject-matter is not governed by the European Union law,
3) an indication of the Senate’s representative authorised to represent him in work on the draft bill.
2. The Marshal of the Senate shall inform the Prime Minister about having introduced a legislative initiative in the Sejm.
Article 84
1. A draft resolution of the Senate may be tabled by a committee, Senators or a single Senator.
2. The Marshal of the Senate may demand from the mover an explanatory statement to the draft resolution.
3. Draft resolutions shall be considered in three readings.
4. The Marshal of the Senate, in particularly justified cases, may decide to shorten the deadlines specified in article 80, para. 1.
5. Article 77 para. 1, Article 79, Article 80,, para. 1, 2, 4, and 5, Article 81, and Article 82 shall be applicable respectively to proceedings with draft resolutions.
Article 85
The Senate may pass declarations, statements and appeals under the procedure for resolutions.