CONSTITUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR-LESTE

TITLE III

NATIONAL PARLIAMENT

 

CHAPTER I

STATUS AND ELECTION

 

Section 92

(Definition)

 

The National Parliament is the organ of sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of East

Timor that represents all Timorese citizens and is vested with legislative supervisory and

political decision making powers.

 

    Section 93

(Election and composition)

 

 

1. The National Parliament shall be elected by universal, free, direct, equal, secret and personal suffrage.

2. The National Parliament shall be made up of a minimum of fifty-two and a maximum of sixty-five Members.

3. The law shall establish the rules relating to constituencies, eligibility conditions, nominations and electoral procedures.

4. Members of the National Parliament shall have a term of office of five years.

 

 Section 94

 (Immunities)

 

 

1. The Members of National Parliament shall not be held liable for civil, criminal or disciplinary proceedings in regard to votes and opinions expressed by them while performing their functions.

2. Parliamentary immunities may be withdrawn in accordance with the Rules of Procedures of the National Parliament.

 

 

CHAPTER II

COMPETENCE

 

Section 95

(Competence of the National Parliament)

 

1. It is incumbent upon the National Parliament to make laws on basic issues of the country’s domestic and foreign policy.

2. It is exclusively incumbent upon the National Parliament to make laws on:

a) The borders of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, in accordance with

Section 4;

b) The limits of the territorial waters, of the exclusive economic area and of the rights of East Timor to the adjacent area and the continental shelf;

c) National symbols, in accordance with item 2 of Section 14;

d) Citizenship;

e) Rights, freedoms and guarantees;

f) The status and capacity of the person, family law and inheritance law;

g) Territorial division;

h) The electoral law and the referendum system;

i) Political parties and associations;

j) The status of Members of the National Parliament;

k) The status of office holders in the organs of State;

l) The bases for the education system;

m) The bases for the health and social security system;

n) The suspension of constitutional guarantees and the declaration of the state of siege and the state of emergency;

o) The Defense and Security policy;

p) The tax policy;

q) The budget system.

3. It is also incumbent upon the National Parliament:

a) To ratify the appointment of the President of the Supreme Court of Justice and

of the High Administrative, Tax and Audit Court;

b) To deliberate on progress reports submitted by the Government;

c) To elect one member for the Superior Council for the Judiciary and the

Superior Council for the Public Prosecution;

d) To deliberate on the State Plan and Budget and the execution report thereof;

e) To monitor the execution of the State budget;

f) To approve and denounce agreements and ratify international treaties and conventions;

g) To grant amnesty;

h) To give consent to trips by the President of the Republic on State visits;

i) To approve revisions of the Constitution by a majority of two-thirds of the

Members of Parliament;

j) To authorize and confirm the declaration of the state of siege or the state of emergency;

k) To propose to the President of the Republic the submission to referendum of issues of national interest.

4. It is also incumbent upon the National Parliament:

a) To elect its Speaker and other members of the Chair;

b) To elect five members for the Council of State;

c) To prepare and approve its Rules of Procedure;

d) To set up the Standing Committee and establish the other parliamentary Committees.

 

Section 96

(Legislative authorization)

 

1. The National Parliament may authorize the Government to make laws on the following matters:

a) Definition of crimes, sentences, security measures and their respective prerequisites;

b) Definition of civil and criminal procedure;

c) Organization of the Judiciary and status of magistrates;

d) General rules and regulations for the public service, the status of the civil servants and the responsibility of the State;

e) General bases for the organization of public administration;

f) Monetary system;

g) Banking and financial system;

h) Definition of the bases for a policy on environment protection and sustainable development;

i) General rules and regulations for radio and television broadcasting and other mass media;

j) Civic or military service;

k) General rules and regulations for requisition and expropriation for public purposes;

l) Means and ways of intervention, expropriation, nationalization and privatization of means of production and land on grounds of public interest, as well as criteria for the establishment of compensations in such cases.

2. Laws authorizing legislation shall define the subject, sense, scope and duration of the authorization, which may be renewed.

3. Laws on legislative authorization shall not be used more than once and shall lapse with the dismissal of the Government, with the end of the legislative term or with the dissolution of the National Parliament.

 

Section 97

   (Legislative initiative)

 

1. The power to initiate laws lies with:

2. The Members of Parliament;

3. The parliamentary groups;

4. The Government.

5. There shall be no submission of bills, draft legislation or amendments involving, in any given fiscal year, any increase in State expenditure or any reduction in State revenues provided for in the Budget or Rectifying Budgets.

6. Bills and draft legislation that have been rejected shall not be re-introduced in the same legislative session in which they have been tabled.

7. Bills and draft legislation that have not been voted on shall not need to be reintroduced in the ensuing legislative session, except in case of end of the legislative term.

8. Draft legislation shall lapse with the dismissal of the Government.

 

 

Section 98

(Parliamentary appraisal of statutes)

 

 

1. Statutes other than those approved under the exclusive legislative powers of the

Government may be submitted to the National Parliament for appraisal, for purposes of terminating their validity or for amendment, following a petition of one-fifth of the Members of Parliament and within thirty days following their publication. This timeframe shall exclude the days when the functioning of the National Parliament is suspended.

2. The National Parliament may suspend, in part or in full, the force of a statute until it is appraised.

3. The suspension shall lapse after the National Parliament has held 10 plenary meetings without taking a final decision.

4. Where termination of validity is approved, the statute shall cease to be in force from the date of the publication of the resolution in the Official Gazette, and it shall not be published again in the same legislative session.

5. The parliamentary appraisal of a statute shall lapse if, after such a statute has been submitted for appraisal, the National Parliament takes no decision on it, or, having decided to make amendments; it does not approve a law to that effect before the corresponding legislative session ends, provided fifteen plenary meetings have been held.

 

 

 CHAPTER III

ORGANISATION AND FUNCTIONING

 

Section 99

(Legislative term)

 

 

1. The legislative term shall comprise five legislative sessions, and each legislative session shall have the duration of one year.

2. The regular period of functioning of the National Parliament shall be defined by the Rules of Procedure.

3. The National Parliament convenes on a regular basis following notice by its Speaker.

4. The National Parliament convenes on an extraordinary basis whenever so deliberated by the Standing Committee, at the request of one third of Members or following notice of the President of the Republic with a view to addressing specific issues.

5. In case of dissolution, the elected National Parliament shall commence a new legislative term, the length of which shall be increased by the time needed to complete the legislative session in progress at the date of the election.

 

Section 100

(Dissolution)

 

 

1. The National Parliament shall not be dissolved during the 6 months immediately following its election, during the last half-year of the term of office of the President of the Republic or during a state of siege or a state of emergency, on pain of rendering the act of dissolution null and void.

2. The dissolution of the National Parliament does not affect the continuance in office of its Members until the first meeting of the National Parliament after the ensuing election.

 

 Section 101

(Attendance by Members of the Government)

 

 

1. Members of the Government have the right to attend plenary sessions of the National

Parliament and may take the floor as provided for in the rules of procedures.

2. Sittings shall be fixed at which members of the Government shall be present to answer questions from Members of Parliament in accordance with the Rules of Procedure.

3. The National Parliament or its Committees may request members of the Governments to take part in their proceedings.

 

 

 CHAPTER IV

STANDING COMMITTEE

 

Section 102

 (Standing Committee)

 

 

1. The Standing Committee shall sit when the National Parliament is dissolved or in recession and in the other cases provided for in the Constitution;

2. The Standing Committee shall be presided over by the Speaker of the National

Parliament and shall be comprised of Deputy Speakers and Parliament Members designated by the parties sitting in the Parliament in accordance with their respective representation.

3. It is incumbent upon the Standing Committee:

a) To follow-up the activities of the Government and the Public Administration;

b) To co-ordinate the activities of the Committees of the National Parliament;

c) To take steps for the convening of Parliament whenever deemed necessary;

d) To prepare and organize sessions of the National Parliament;

e) To give its consent regarding trips by the President of the Republic in accordance with Section 80;

f) To lead relations between the National Parliament and similar parliaments and institutions of other countries;

g) To authorize the declaration of the state of siege or the state of emergency.