Relations between Parliament and the Government

- Constitution of Romania

CHAPTER IV - Relations between Parliament and the Government

ARTICLE 111 - Information of Parliament

(1) The Government and the other bodies of public administration shall be obliged, within the parliamentary control over their activity, to present the information and documents requested by the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate, or parliamentary committees, through their respective presidents. In case a legislative initiative involves the amendment of the provisions of the State budget, or of the State social security budget, the request for information shall be compulsory.

(2) Members of the Government are entitled to attend the proceedings of Parliament. If they are requested to be present, participation shall be compulsory.

ARTICLE 112 - Questions, interpellations, and simple motions

(1) The Government and each of its members shall be bound to answer the questions or interpellations raised by the deputies or senators, under the terms stipulated by the regulations of the two Chambers of the Parliament.

(2) The Chamber of Deputies or the Senate may carry a simple motion expressing their position as to a matter of domestic or foreign policy or, as the case may be, a matter having been the subject of an interpellation.

ARTICLE 113 - Motion of censure

(1) The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate may, in joint sitting, withdraw the confidence granted to the Government, by carrying a motion of censure by a majority vote of the Deputies and Senators.

(2) The motion of censure may be initiated by at least one fourth of the total number of Deputies and Senators, and shall be notified to the Government upon the date of its tabling.

(3) The motion of censure shall be debated upon three days after its presentation in the joint sitting of the Chambers.

(4) If the motion of censure fails to be passed, the Deputies and the Senators who signed it may not submit another one during the same session, except for the case the Governmentassumes responsibility in conformity with Article 114.

ARTICLE 114 - Assumption of responsibility by theGovernment

(1) The Government may assume responsibility before the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, in joint sitting, upon a programme, a general policy statement, or a bill.

(2) The Government shall be dismissed if a motion of censure, tabled within three days of the date of presenting the programme, the general policy statement, or the bill, has been passed in accordance with the provisions under Article 113.

(3) If the Government has not been dismissed according to paragraph (2), the bill presented, amended, or completed, as the case may be, with the amendments accepted by the Government, shall be deemed as passed, and the implementation of the programme or general policy statement shall become binding on the Government.

(4) In case the President of Romania demands reconsideration of the law passed according to paragraph(3), the debate thereon shall be carried in the joint sitting of the Chambers.

ARTICLE 115 - Legislative delegation

(1) Parliament may pass a special law enabling the Government to issue ordinances in fields outside the scope of organic laws.

(2) The enabling law shall compulsorily establish the field and the date up to which ordinances may be issued.

(3) If the enabling law so requests, ordinances shall be submitted to Parliament for approval, according to the legislative procedure, until the expiry of the enabling time limit. Non-compliance with the term entails discontinuation of the effects of the ordinance.

(4) The Government can only adopt emergency ordinances in exceptional cases, the regulation of which cannot be postponed, and have the obligation to give the reasons for the emergency status within their contents.

(5) An emergency ordinance shall only come into force after it has been submitted for debate in an emergency procedure to the Chamber having the competence to be notified, and after it has been published in the Official Gazette of Romania. If not in session, the Chambers shall be convened by all means within 5 days after submittal, or, as the case may be, after forwarding. If, within 30 days at the latest of the submitting date, the notified Chamber does not pronounce onthe ordinance, the latter shall be deemed adopted and shall be sent to the other Chamber, which shall also make a decision in an emergency procedure. An emergency ordinance containing norms of the same kind as the organic law must be approved by a majority stipulated under article 76 (1).

(6) Emergency ordinances cannot be adopted in the field of constitutional laws, or affect the status of fundamental institutions of the State, the rights, freedoms and duties stipulated in the Constitution, the electoral rights, and cannot establish steps for transferring assets to public property forcibly.

(7) The ordinances the Parliament has been notified about shall be approved or rejected in a law which must also contain the ordinance that ceased to be effective according to paragraph (3).

(8) The law approving or rejecting an ordinance shall regulate, if such is the case, the necessary steps concerning the legal effects caused while the ordinance was in force.