| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Parlement / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Assemblée nationale / National Assembly |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Sénat / Senate
|
| NATURE |
| Nature of the mandate |
· Free representation (Art. 27 (1) of the Constitution of 04.10.1958, version published on 23.02.1996) |
| Start of the mandate |
· Upon appointment which comes when the results are declared (MPs take up office when the term of the outgoing MPs ends) |
| Validation of mandates |
· No validation, except in case of challenge. In this case, the Constitutional Council rules on the regularity of the election (Art. 59 of the Constitution).
· Procedure |
| End of the mandate |
· On the day when the legal term of the House ends, i.e. the third Tuesday in June of the fifth year following the election of the National Assembly (Art. L.O. 121 of the Electoral Code). In case of early dissolution, the mandate ends on the day of dissolution. |
| Can MPs resign? |
Yes |
· Yes, of their own free will (Art. 6 (1) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly)
· Conditions (Art.6 (1) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly)
· Procedure (Art. 6 (2) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly): resignations must be addressed in writing to the President of the National Assembly, who brings them to the attention of the Assembly at the first following sitting and notifies the Government.
· Authority competent to accept the resignation: the President of the National Assembly |
| Can MPs lose their mandate ? |
Yes |
(a) Loss of mandate for incompatibilities concurrent holding of more than one public office/failure to take the oath (compulsory resignation):
(1) With respect to incompatibility if the deputy has voluntarily preferred his professional activities to the exercise of his parliamentary mandate and has not resigned from the latter
(2) With regard to concurrent holding of more than one public office if the deputy has not regularised his situation within the time limit set and when the mandate at the origin of the situation of concurrently held offices is a parliamentary mandate such as being a member of the European Parliament (art. L.O. 2000 -294)
(3) Failure to fulfil the obligation to make one of the two compulsory declarations of assets
- Procedure
(b) Loss of mandate following a judicial decision (forfeiture):
- Members whose ineligibility comes out after the declaration of results and expiry of the deadline during which they may be contested or who, during their mandate, find themselves in one of the cases of ineligibility foreseen by the Electoral Code (Art. L.O. 136 (1) of the Electoral Code), shall forfeit their status of deputy without further consideration.
- Procedure |
| STATUS OF MEMBERS |
| Rank in hierarchy |
· Within Parliament:
- Vice-Presidents and questors: the order of precedence, in case of a vote, is determined by the date and the round of voting in which they were elected or, if they were elected in the same round of voting, by the number of votes they obtained. In case of a tie in the same round of voting, the oldest member shall have precedence. If there is no vote, precedence derives from the order of presentation chosen by the leaders of the groups (Art. 11 (2) and (3) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly).
- Committee Vice-Presidents: there is no order of precedence between Committee Vice-Presidents (Art. 39 (6) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly. |
| Indemnities, facilities and services |
· No diplomatic or official passport·
. Basic salary + Housing allowance + Duty allowance: FF 41,510.70 + Expense allowance: FF 34,692/per month·
. Exemption from tax for the duty allowance. The basic salary and the housing allowance are taxable under the same regime as wages and salaries (Art. 43 of Law N° 92-108 of 03.02.1992).
· Pension scheme
· Other facilities:
(a) Secretariat/official housing
(b) Assistants: credit, for the benefit of deputies, earmarked for the payment of collaborators, which came to FF 41,175 as of 01.10.1997
(c) Official car: car fleet (some 20 vehicles), failing which possi-bility of using Paris taxis
(d) Postal and telephone services
(e) Travel and transport |
| Obligation to declare personal assets |
Yes |
|
| Parliamentary immunity - parliamentary non-accountability |
· The concept does exist (Art. 26 (1) of the Constitution.·
· Parliamentary non-accountability is limited to acts relating to parliamentary functions, with regard to both substance and venue.·
· Derogations: insult, provocation or threat against other deputies, the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, members of the Government and the assemblies foreseen by the Constitution, insult of the Assembly or its President (Art. 71 (5), and 73 (4) to (5) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly; see Discipline).·
· 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 does exist (Art. 26 (2) of the Constitution).·
· It applies only to criminal proceedings, covers all offences and protects MPs only from arrest and from being held in preventive custody, not from the opening of judicial proceedings against them or from their homes being searched.·
· Derogations: parliamentary inviolability does not apply in cases of a flagrante delicto crime or misdemeanor or final sentencing (Art. 26 (2) of the Constitution).·
· Parliamentary inviolability does not prevent MPs from being called as witnesses before a judge or tribunal.·
· Protection is provided from the start to the end of the mandate. As parliamentary inviolability does not in general provide protection against prosecution, it also fails to cover judicial proceedings instituted against MPs before their election.·
· Parliamentary immunity (inviolability) can be lifted (Art. 26 (2) of the Constitution). The authorisation given by the Board is only valid for the facts mentioned in the request:
- Competent authority: the Board of the National Assembly
- Procedure (Art. 9 (bis) of Order N° 58-1100 of 17.11.1958 relating to the functioning of parliamentary assemblies; Art. 16 (1), (2) and (4) of the General Rules of the Board): MPs may ask to be heard by the delegation of the Board, but do not have other means of appeal.
· Parliament cannot subject the prosecution and/or detention to certain conditions.
· Parliament can suspend the prosecution and/or detention of one of its members (Art. 26 (3) of the Constitution):
- Competent authority: the National Assembly
- Procedure (Art. 26 (4) of the Constitution, Art. 80 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly, Art. 16 (3 and 4) of the General Rules of the Board)·
· In the event of preventive custody or imprisonment, the MPs concerned cannot 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.
· Handbooks of parliamentary procedure:
- Compendium of texts applicable to the authorities
- Standing Orders of the National Assembly |
| Participation in the work of the Parliament |
· It is not compulsory for MPs to be present at plenary sittings. However, taking into account cases of delegation of vote, votes on motions of censure and excuses, if during a session an MP fails to take part in at least two-thirds of the public votes, this shall lead to the forfeiture of one-third of the office-holder's salary for a duration equal to that of the session. If the same MP has taken part in less than half of the votes, this forfeiture is doubled (Art. 162 (3) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly).·
· In committees, attendance is compulsory (Art. 42 (1) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly).·
· Penalties foreseen in case of failure to fulfil this obligation (Art. 42 (3) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly)
· Body competent to judge such cases/to impose penalties: the President of the National Assembly |
| Discipline |
· The rules governing discipline within Parliament are contained in title I, chapter XIV of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly (Art. 70 to 79).
· Disciplinary measures foreseen (Art. 70 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly):
- Call to order (Art. 71 (1) to (3) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly)
- Call to order with entry in the record and one month's forfeiture of one-fourth of the basic salary (Art. 71 (4) to (6) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly)
- Simple censure with one month's forfeiture of one-fourth of the basic salary (Art. 72 and 75 to 76 (1) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly)
- Censure with temporary exclusion and two month's forfeiture, of half of the basic salary (Art. 73, 75 and 76 (2) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly)·
· Specific cases:
- Assault (Art. 74 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly): all penalties foreseen
- Suspension of freedom to debate and to vote (Art. 77 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly): censure with temporary exclusion and six month's forfeiture of half of the basic salary; referral of the case to the Chief Prosecutor
- Electoral fraud (Art. 77 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly): one month's forfeiture (six in the event of a repeat offence), of one-fourth of the basic salary
- Criminal acts (Art. 78 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly): notification of the National Assembly; notification of the Chief Prosecutor
- Abuse of office and acceptance of an imperative mandate (Art. 79 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly): all penalties foreseen
- Insult, provocation, threat or contempt (Art. 71 (5) and 73 (4) and (5) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly): call to order with entry in the record one month's forfeiture of one-fourth of the basic salary; censure with temporary exclusion and two month's forfeiture of half of the basic salary·
Competent body to judge such cases/to impose penalties:
- Call to order: the President
- Censure: the National Assembly
- Assault: the Board
- Suspension of freedom to debate and vote: the National Assembly; the President
- Electoral fraud: the Board
- Criminal acts: the President; the Board
- Abuse of office and acceptance of an imperative mandate: according to penalty
- Insult, provocation, threat or contempt: the President; the National Assembly· Procedure:
- Call to order (Art. 71 (1) and (3) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly)
- Censure (Art. 73 (7) and 75 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly)
- Specific cases |
| Code (rules) of conduct |
· This concept does not exist in the country's juridical system but there are some relevant provisions and laws (Art. 79 of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly (see Discipline), Art. 150 and 151 of the Electoral Code, Organic Law N° 88-226 and Law N° 88-227 of 11.03.1988 relating to financial transparency in political life, Law N° 93-122 of 29.01.1993 called the Anti-Corruption Law, Law on the financing of political parties, Law on concurrent holding of more than one office, etc.). |
| Relations between MPs and pressure group |
· Prohibitions protecting the free mandate |
