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Phases of the legislation process

The legislative stages of the laws starts at the moment they are ratified by the Council of  Ministers through the Parliament in both The House Of Senates and The House of Representatives and then approved by His Majesty The King, after that, published in the Official Gazette.

Firstly, Refer Draft Laws from the Government

The Prime Minister shall refer law drafts to the House Speaker attaching thereto the reasons necessitating their presentation to the House.


Presentation the law draft to the House Of Representatives

Any law draft may not be put to discussion and deliberation in the House unless a copy of the draft and he reasons necessitating the putting there of shall have been distributed to every Member at least three days before the start of its deliberation.

Should there be compulsive reasons necessitating its consideration urgently, the Speaker should put the matter to opinion. If the majority approves it, the draft shall be read publicly and discussed or referred to the competent committee in this capacity.

On the other hand, any law draft shall be read publicly in the House unless the House contends that its prior distribution to the Members suffices . If the House contends there is a need for said law , the Speaker shall put to opinion its referral to the competent committee. However, if the House decides to reject the law , it shall refer it to the Senate.


Thirdly, Studying the law draft in the committee

The committee may request the summoning of the relevant Minister, the motion sponsor or whoever it contends necessary to hear the opinion thereof. The committee may ask the Minister or any relevant official to provide it with the documents , instruments and information it requests and related to the subjects of discussion. Should the Minister or the relevant official refrain from attending or providing it with the requested information, or be absent without any excuse , the committee shall refer the matter to the House Speaker for presentation to the House in the first following sitting and to be given priority to the other business. Each of the relevant Minister or motion sponsor shall have the right to attend the committee meetings if he so requests. It shall notify him of the date of the meeting for the discussion of the issue related to him. Each of them shall have the right to take part in the discussion. Should there be numerous motion sponsors, they may deputize one of them to attend the meetings.


Fourthly, Discussion the draft law in a plenary session and voting on it

The reports of the committee shall be typed attaching the texts of the draft laws , their amendments , the necessitating reasons thereof , the committee proposals and any other proposals. Said reports shall be distributed to the Members at least five days before the start of their discussion unless the House decides to give the subject the capacity of urgency , in which case it shall discuss it immediately.

The law draft and the decision of the committee in its regard shall be read unless the House decides to disregard the reading sufficing itself with its prior distribution to the Members. After that, reading the articles of the draft shall be done article by article as original, amendment, the proposal of the competent committee and the written proposals submitted by the House Members which the committee has not taken into consideration. After the completion of the discussion of the article and the amendments submitted in its regard, voting shall be done. The Speaker shall start with those furthest from the original texts , then voting shall be done on the article.

After the completion of the voting on articles, opinion shall be taken on the draft law as in toto. The House may postpone opinion taking on the draft in toto to a forth coming sitting for the re-discussion of an article or more and voting thereon if this is so requested by the House Speaker , the Committee Chairperson, its Rapporteur, the Government, or ten of House Members.

If any law draft is presented to the House for the approval of a treaty or agreement of any kind whatsoever, it may approve it or reject it. It, also, may not enter any amendment to the provisions of the treaty or amendments. Nevertheless, the House may postpone the consideration of the law draft and draw the attention of the government to the omission that is in a treaty or agreement.


Fifthly, after completion the discussion and voting

Should the  majority decides to accept the draft or reject it , it shall be submitted to the Senate.


Sixthly, Submission the law to the Senate and studying it

After submission the law draft to the Senate, The Speaker of the Senate refers it to the competent committee in which it studies it and after completion of its studying, the committee submits its decision to the Speaker of the Senate, who by his capacity includes it on the agenda of the House of Senates to discuss it and then taking the appropriate decision. If the Senate approves the decision of the House Of Representatives, it sends to the Government to complete its constitutional procedures, however, if the law is amended or rejected ,it is returned to The House Of Representatives.


Seventhly, Status of returning the law from the Senate to the House of Representatives

If the Senate returns the law draft rejected, deliberation there of shall be done on two points: either the approval of the decision of the Senate or the insistence on the previous decision of the House of Representatives.

If the Senate returns the law amended , the following provisions shall apply:

  • Discussion shall be restricted to the articles disputed between the two Houses.
  • The House –in the discussion of the decision of the Committee or the law draft- shall vote on the insistence on the previous decision of the House of Representatives or the approval of the decision  of the Senate.

If the Senate insists on being at variance with the decision of the House of Representatives as returned to it, Article (92) of the constitution shall be applied.


Eighthly, Ratification of the Law by His Majesty The King

Every draft law passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives shall be submitted to the King for its ratification. The law shall come into force at its promulgation by the King and the lapse of  thirty days from of its publication in the Official Gazette unless there is a special provision in the law that it shall come into force from another date. If the King contends not to ratify the law, he may, within six months from the date of its submission to him, return it to the House coupled with the statement of the reasons for the non-ratification. If the two Houses passed it after returning to them by the approval of two-thirds of the members of whom each of the two Houses is composed, it should then be promulgated, and if the law is not returned ratified by the King within six months , it shall be considered as effective and ratified.

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