| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Parlement fédéral - Federaal Parlement - Föderales Parlament / Federal Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Sénat - Senaat - Senat / Senate |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Chambre des Représentants / House of Representatives
|
| NATURE |
| Nature of the mandate |
· Free representation (Art. 42 of the Constitution, co-ordinated text of 17.02.1994, with amendments up to 20.05.1997) |
| Start of the mandate |
· - Senators directly elected by the electorate: on the day of elections;
- community senators, designated by the Community Boards, and co-opted senators, designated by the other senators: on the day of designation,
subject to the resolutive condition of non-validation of powers or failure to take the oath.
|
| Validation of mandates |
· Validation by the Senate (Art. 48 of the Constitution)
· Procedure: (Art. 2 of the Standing Orders of the Senate)
|
| End of the mandate |
· Ordinary renewal (Art. 239 of the Electoral Code):
- Senators elected directly by the electorate: on the day of new elections
- Community senators: on the day set for their replacement
- Co-opted senators: on the eve of the first meeting of the renewed Senate
· Extraordinary renewal (early dissolution of Parliament): on the day of dissolution
|
| Can MPs resign? |
Yes |
· Yes, of their own free will
· Procedure (Art. 234 of the Electoral Code): notification of resignation is given by letter addressed to the President of the Senate or, when Parliament is in recess, to the Minister of the Interior.
· Authority competent to accept the resignation: the Senate's agreement is not required.
|
| Can MPs lose their mandate ? |
Yes |
(a) Loss of mandate by judicial decision: a senator who, following a judicial decision forfeits of his civil and political rights, no longer meets all the eligibility requirements and must be considered as having automaticaly resigned.
(b) Loss of mandate for incompatibility:
- Temporary loss due to the MP's being appointed minister by the King (Art. 50 of the Constitution)
- Definitive loss due to the MP's being appointed by the Govern-ment to any other salaried post than that of minister (Art. 51 of the Constitution)
|
| STATUS OF MEMBERS |
| Rank in hierarchy |
· Within Parliament:
1. The Board, including leaders of political groups, ranked according to responsibilities exercised within the Board or, by default, by order of parliamentary seniority
2. Senators who are former Ministers, ranked according to parliamentary seniority
3. Other senators, ranked according to parliamentary seniority
· Outside Parliament: the official order of precedence ranks the President of the Senate in the fourth position (within this rank, the precedence between the President of the Senate and the President of the House falls to the oldest). The members of Boards and questors occupy the 102nd position, MPs who are former Presidents of legislative Chambers and former Ministers occupy the 103rd rank,while other MPs occupy the 104th rank (with precedence for senators within this rank).
|
| Indemnities, facilities and services |
· Diplomatic passport for the former President of teh Senate. The other senators benefit from a passport with a protection arrangement
· Basic salary: BEF 2,579,672 per year (as of 01.01.1998)
+ Expense allowance: BEF 722.308 per year
+ Representation allowance (for Board members): Amount varies according to the office held, and for leaders of groups according to the numerical importance of the group
· Exemption from tax for the expense allowance
· Pension scheme
· Other facilities:
(a) Secretariat/assistant
(b) Postal and telephone services
(c) Travel and transport
|
| Obligation to declare personal assets |
Yes |
|
| Parliamentary immunity - parliamentary non-accountability |
· The concept exists (Art. 58 of the Constitution).
· Parliamentary non-accountability is limited to words spoken or written by MPs and votes cast within Parliament.
· Derogations: imputation of wrongful intentions/offensive personal allusions (Art. 50 of the Standing Orders of the Senate; see Discipline) and violations of Art. 70bis of the Standing Orders of the Senate (see Discipline and Code of Conduct)
· Non-accountability takes effect on the day when the mandate begins and offers, after the expiry of the mandate, protection against prosecution for opinions expressed during the exercise of the mandate.
|
| Parliamentary immunity - parliamentary inviolability |
· The concept exists (Art. 59 (1) of the Constitution).
· It applies only to criminal proceedings, covers all offences and protects MPs only from dismissal or from a direct summons to appear before a court or tribunal and from arrest, but not from the opening of judicial proceedings against them or from their homes being searched.
· Derogations: parliamentary inviolability does not apply in cases of flagrante delicto (Art. 59 (1) of the Constitution).
· Parliamentary inviolability does not prevent MPs from being called as witnesses before a judge or tribunal.
· Protection is provided only during sessions. It also covers, in principle, judicial proceedings instituted against MPs before their election.
· Parliamentary immunity (inviolability) can be lifted (Art. 59 (1) of the Constitution):
- Competent authority: the Senate
- Procedure: in this case, MPs are not heard. They do not have means of appeal.
· Parliament cannot subject the prosecution and/or detention to certain conditions, but the Constitution foresees some additional procedural rules and the Senate can only in party agree to a request for lifting of immunity.
· Parliament can suspend the prosecution and/or detention of one of its members (Art. 59 (5 and 6) of the Constitution):
- Competent authority: the Senate
- Procedure (Art. 59 (5 and 6) of the Constitution)
· In the event of preventive custody or imprisonment, there have not been any precedents to date to determine whether the MPs concerned can be authorised to attend sittings of Parliament.
|
| EXERCISE OF THE MANDATE |
| Training |
· There is no training/initiation process on parliamentary practices and procedures for MPs. Nor is there handbook of parliamentary procedure. |
| Participation in the work of the Parliament |
· It is not compulsory for MPs to be present at plenary sittings or committee meetings. |
| Discipline |
· The rules governing discipline within Parliament are contained in Art. 13, 49 to 53 and 70bis of the Standing Orders of the Senate.
· Disciplinary measures foreseen:
- Interruption and point of order (Art. 49 (1) of the Standing Orders of the Senate)
- Withdrawal of speaking rights (Art. 49 (2 and 3) of the Standing Orders of the Senate)
- Deletion from the minutes of the remarks which are out of order (Art. 51 of the Standing Orders of the Senate)
- Call to order with naming (art. 52 (1) of the Standing Orders of the Senate)
- Call to order with naming and entry in the record (Art. 52 (1) of the Standing Orders of the Senate)
- Temporary exclusion (Art. 52 (1 and 4) of the Standing Orders of the Senate)
- Temporary exclusion (Art. 52 (1 and 4) of the Standing Orders of the Senate
- Exclusion for the remainder of the sitting (Art. 52 (2 and 4) of the Standing Orders of the Senate)
- Suspension from the sitting and exclusion during the next ten sittings (Art. 52 (3 and 4) of the Standing Orders of the Senate)
· Specific cases:
- Imputation of wrongful intention, offensive personal allusion (Art. 50 of the Standing Orders of the Senate): call to order with naming
- Uproar (Art. 53 of the Standing Orders of the Senate): suspension of the sitting
- Disclosure of information obtained on the occasion of an in camera sitting of a committee of inquiry (Art. 70bis of the Standing Orders of the Senate; see Code of conduct): warning or reprimand; exclusion from the committee of inquiry
· Competent body to judge such cases/to impose penalties:
- All cases except disclosure of information obtained: the President. He gives, as the case may be, the duty guard the necessary orders for the execution of his decisions.
- Disclosure of information obtained on the occasion of an in camera meeting of a committee of inquiry: the Committee of inquiry; the Senate
· Procedure: recourse is possible through the Bureau of the Senate (except in case of disclosure of information obtained; for this see Code of conduct - Procedure).
|
| Code (rules) of conduct |
· This concept does not exist in the country's juridical system, but there is a relevant provision (Art. 70bis of the Standing Orders of the Senate; see also Discipline).
· Penalties foreseen for violation of this rule (Art. 70bis (3) of the Standing Orders of the Senate):
- Warning or reprimand
- Exclusion from the committee of inquiry
· Competent body to judge such cases/to impose penalties:
- Warning or reprimand: the Committee of inquiry
- Exclusion from the committee of inquiry: the Senate
· Procedure (Art. 70bis (2 to 6) of the Standing Orders of the Senate): in these cases, MPs can be heard. They have no means of recourse.
|
| Relations between MPs and pressure group |
· There are no legal provisions in this field. |
