Legislative Procedures In Parliament

- Constitution of Somalia

Title Four: Legislative Procedures In Parliament

Article 79. Draft Legislation

(1) According to the Constitution, a draft legislation consists of the proposal of draft law, including:

(a) Reviewing, replacing, and proposing amendments to the Constitution;

(b) Writing and preparing a new draft law;

(d) Reviewing an existing law.

(2) The debate on draft legislation for reviewing this Constitution shall be initiated at the House of the People of the Federal Parliament.

(3) The debate on any draft law may be initiated at either House of the Federal Parliament.

Article 80. Initiating New Laws

(1) Draft legislation at the National Level may be initiated by:

(a) The Council of Ministers; or

(b) At least 10 members of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, except draft legislation that concerns the annual budget which shall be initiated only by the Council of Ministers.

(2) Draft legislation may be presented to the Upper House of the Federal Parliament by

(a) At least one representative of a Federal Member State; or

(b) Any committee of the Upper House of the Federal Parliament.

Article 81. Political Resolutions

(1) Both Houses of the Federal Parliament can initiate draft legislation.

(2) Only the House of the People of the Federal Parliament has the authority to reject draft legislation.

(3) If there are differences with regard to draft legislation between the two Houses of the Federal Parliament, either House may call for a joint committee of both Houses to attempt to resolve the differences and to suggest a harmonised draft legislation to both Houses in the spirit of intergovernmental cooperation as stipulated in Article 51 and 52 of this Constitution.

(4) Only the House of the People of the Federal Parliament may send draft legislation to the President of the Federal Republic for his signature and its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 82. Draft Laws Initiated in the House of the People of the Federal Parliament

(1) When the House of the People of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law, it may take any of the following courses of action:

(a) To pass it in unchanged form, or pass it with amendment(s) and then submit it to the Upper House of the Federal Parliament for approval;

(b) To reject it and inform the Upper House of the Federal Parliament of the reasons for the rejection.

(2) When the Upper House of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law passed by the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, it may take any of the following courses of action:

(a) To pass it the way it has been submitted, and send it back to the House of the People of the Federal Parliament;

(b) To amend the draft law, and send it back to the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, with reasons for the amendment(s);

(c) To reject the draft law, and send it back to the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, with reasons for its rejection.

(3) When the House of the People of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law passed by the Upper House of the Federal Parliament, it shall send it to the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, for his signature, and its publication in the Official Gazette.

(4) When the House of the People of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law that has been amended by the Upper House of the Federal Parliament it can do either of the following:

(a) To accept the amendment on the draft law, and then submit it to the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia for his signature, and its publication in the Official Gazette;

(b) To reject the amendment and over-rule the decision of Upper House of the Federal Parliament through a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the total membership of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, and then submit it to the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, for his signature, and its publication in the Official Gazette.

(5) When the House of the People of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law that has been rejected by the Upper House of the Federal Parliament, it can do either of the following:

(a) To accept the rejection and drop the draft law;

(b) To over-rule the rejection of the Upper House of the Federal Parliament with a two-thirds

(2/3) majority vote of the total membership of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament and then submit it to the President of the Republic for his signature and its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 83. Draft Laws Initiated in the Upper House of the Federal Parliament

(1) When the Upper House of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law, it can do either of the following:

(a) To pass it the way it is, or pass it with amendment(s), and then submit it to the House of the People of the Federal Parliament for approval;

(b) To reject it, and inform the House of the People of the Federal Parliament of the reasons for the rejection.

(2) When the House of the People of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law that has been passed by the Upper House of the Federal Parliament, it may act in any of the following ways:

(a) To accept it the way it was submitted by the Upper House of the Federal Parliament and then submit it to the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, for his signature, and its publication in the Official Gazette;

(b) To amend it and send it back to the Upper House of the Federal Parliament, with reasons for the amendment(s);

(3) When the Upper House of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law that has been amended by the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, it may act in any of the following ways:

(a) To accept the amendment to the draft law without voting and then send it back to the House of the People to submit it to the President of the Republic so as to sign it and then publish it in the official Gazette;

(b) To reject the amendment and over-rule the decision of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the total membership of the House, and then send it back to the House of the People of the Federal Parliament.

(4) When the Upper House of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law that has been rejected by the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, it may do either of the following:

(a) To accept the rejection, and drop the draft law;

(b) To over-rule the rejection of the House of the People through by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of its total membership, and then send it back to the House of the People of the Federal Parliament.

(5) When the House of the People of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law which it has amended, and the amendment has been accepted by the Upper House of the Federal Parliament, it shall submit the draft law to the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia for his signature, and its subsequent publication in the Official Gazette

(6) When the House of the People of the Federal Parliament receives a draft law which it has amended or rejected, and its decision has been over-ruled by the Upper House of the Federal Parliament, it may take do either of the following:

(a) To over-rule the decision of the Upper House of the Federal Parliament by a two- third

(2/3) majority vote of the total membership of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament, and drop the draft law;

(b) To accept the decision of the Upper House of the Federal Parliament, and submit the draft law to the President of the Federal Republic for his signature and its publication in the Official Gazette.

(7) If the two Houses of the Federal Parliament differ on a draft Law, when the draft Law reaches the level mentioned in section 4 or 6, either of the Houses can request for the formation of a joint committee of the two Houses in order to settle the difference and come up with a draft Law that both Houses agree on based on the general principles of intergovernmental cooperation as stipulated in Article 51 and 52 of this Constitution.

Article 84. Disseminating and Keeping Records of Laws

The secretaries of the Houses of the Federal Parliament and the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Somalia shall be responsible for keeping records of laws passed by the Federal Parliament, and for their publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 85. Assent to Legislation

Draft legislation becomes law once it has been passed in accordance with the legislative procedure as stipulated in this Chapter, signed by the President of the Federal Republic, and published in the Official Gazette.

Article 86. Challenging Legislation

(1) Legislation that has been passed in accordance with the legislative procedure, as stipulated in this Chapter, may only be challenged if it contradicts the Constitution.

(2) Legislation that has been passed in accordance with the legislative procedure, as stipulated in this Chapter, may be challenged by:

(a) All members of the Upper House of the Federal Parliament or one representative of a Federal Member State;

(b) A third of the members of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament;

(d) Ten thousand (10,000) or more registered voters.

(3) Legislation that has been challenged, in accordance with Clause 1 and 2 of this Article, must be presented to, and decided upon, only by the Constitutional Court.

(4) If the Constitutional Court dismisses a challenge to the legislation, the expenses shall be met by the party that has brought the matter to the Constitutional Court.

(5) The procedure for challenging legislation, and deciding upon it, shall be stated in the laws regulating the judiciary.