Law No. 12 of 1963 concerning the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly
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- Article 1The National Assembly shall consist of fifty members elected by universal, secret and direct election in accordance with the Election Law. Ministers who are not elected…
- Article 4The National Assembly shall determine the validity of the election of its members. An election shall not be deemed invalid except by a majority of the members…
- Article 5Every voter may request the annulment of the election held in his constituency, and every candidate may request this in the constituency in which he was a candidate. The…
- Article 6The President shall refer applications for annulment of the election to the Committee for Adjudicating Electoral Appeals and shall notify the Council thereof at the…
- Article 7The committee shall send a copy of the challenge to the member whose membership validity is challenged, so that he may present his grounds of defence to it in writing or…
- Article 8The committee may decide to summon the challenger, the person whose membership is challenged, or witnesses, request any papers from the Government for examination, and…
- Article 9If witnesses fail to appear before the committee after being legally served, or appear and refuse to answer, or testify untruthfully, the committee may request the…
- Article 10The committee shall submit its report to the Assembly within a period not exceeding one month from the date of its formation or the expiry of the period for challenges,…
- Article 12A member of the National Assembly may not, during his term of membership, be appointed to the board of directors of a company or have his appointment thereto renewed,…
- Article 13A member of the National Assembly may not combine membership of the Assembly with membership of the Municipal Council or the holding of public office, except for…
- Article 14If a member is in one of the cases of prohibited combination provided for in the preceding two articles, he must specify, within the eight days following the arising of…
- Article 19A member of the National Assembly is free to express opinions and ideas in the Assembly or its committees and may not be held accountable for doing so under any…
- Article 20During a session, except in cases of flagrante delicto, no investigation, search, arrest, detention or other criminal procedure may be taken against a member without the…
- Article 21The request for permission to lift a member's immunity shall be submitted to the Speaker of the Assembly by the competent minister or by the person wishing to bring his…
- Article 22Neither the committee nor the Assembly shall examine the existence or absence of evidence from a judicial standpoint. Rather, the examination shall be confined to…
- Article 26A member may not, during his term of membership, purchase or lease any State property, or lease or sell any of his property to the State or exchange it with the State,…
- Article 28At its first sitting, and for a term equal to its own, the National Assembly shall choose a Speaker and Deputy Speaker from among its members. If either position becomes…
- Article 29If the office of the Speaker of the Assembly or the Deputy Speaker becomes vacant for any reason, the Assembly shall select a replacement within three weeks from the…
- Article 33After the conclusion of the opening ceremonies of the ordinary annual session, the Assembly shall proceed to elect the members of its Bureau or complete their number in…
- Article 34Nominations for membership of the Bureau shall be submitted to the Speaker of the Assembly, who shall announce them to the Assembly. A member may endorse another person…
- Article 40The Secretary shall be responsible for supervising the preparation of the minutes of the Assembly's sittings, recording the names of members requesting the floor in the…
- Article 46Each committee shall elect a chairman and a rapporteur from among its members and shall have a secretary from among the Assembly's employees. In the absence of the…
- Article 47The Assembly’s committees may, through the Presidency of the Assembly, request from ministries, departments and public institutions the information and documents they…
- Article 48The Speaker of the Assembly shall send to the committees all papers relating to matters referred to them. Members of the Assembly have the right to inspect them and may…
- Article 50The competent Minister may attend committee meetings when a subject relating to his ministry is considered. He may be accompanied by one or more competent senior…
Articles 51 – 10024
- Article 51Committees shall convene upon an invitation from their chairmen or upon an invitation from the Speaker of the Assembly, and must be invited to convene if one-third of…
- Article 52The Assembly's adjournment of its sittings shall not prevent committees from convening to complete the business before them. The Speaker of the Assembly may call…
- Article 53Committees participating in the examination of one subject may hold a joint meeting with the approval of the Speaker of the Assembly. In this case, the chairmanship and…
- Article 54Committee meetings shall be secret. Minutes shall be drawn up for each meeting, summarizing the discussions and recording opinions, and shall be signed by the chair and…
- Article 55The committee shall submit to the Speaker of the Assembly a report on every subject referred to it, summarizing its work and stating its recommendations, within three…
- Article 57Any member who has an opinion or amendment concerning a matter referred to a committee of which he is not a member may send it in writing to the committee chairman for…
- Article 61The National Assembly shall have an annual session of no less than eight months, and this session may not be prorogued before the budget is approved.
- Article 65The Emir shall declare the prorogation of ordinary and extraordinary sessions.
- Article 66Any meeting held by the Assembly at a time or place other than those prescribed for its meeting shall be invalid, and decisions issued at it shall be void by operation…
- Article 67The Amir may, by decree, postpone the meeting of the National Assembly for a period not exceeding one month. Postponement may not be repeated during the same session…
- Article 77The Speaker may not participate in discussions unless he vacates his chair, and he shall not return to it until the discussion in which he participated has ended.
- Article 78No one may speak unless they have requested the Speaker's permission and he has granted it. The Speaker may not prevent anyone from speaking except on legal grounds. In…
- Article 79The person speaking may not be interrupted, nor may anyone's personal affairs be discussed unless supported by a conclusive judgment of a court.
- Article 80The Secretary shall record requests for the floor in the order in which they are submitted. Ministers and rapporteurs shall not be bound by this order, and shall always…
- Article 81The Speaker shall give the floor first to members whose names were registered with the Assembly's General Secretariat before the sitting, then to members who request the…
- Article 84The Assembly may, upon a proposal by the Speaker, the Government or the competent committee, or upon a written request submitted by at least five members, set a time for…
- Article 85The person speaking shall speak standing at his place or at the rostrum. Rapporteurs shall speak at the rostrum unless the Speaker requests otherwise.
- Article 87If the Speaker calls a speaker to order twice in one sitting and he then repeats conduct warranting a call to order in the same sitting, the Speaker may propose to the…
- Article 88A speaker may not use improper expressions or expressions that impair the dignity of persons or bodies or harm the supreme interests of the country, or commit an act…
- Article 89The Assembly may impose on a member who disrupts order or fails to comply with the Assembly's decision prohibiting him from speaking one of the following penalties:— a-…
- Article 90If order is disrupted and the Speaker is unable to restore it, he shall announce his intention to suspend the sitting. If order is not restored, he may suspend it for a…
- Article 92A record shall be prepared for each sitting, setting out in detail all the proceedings of the sitting, the matters presented therein, the discussions held, the decisions…
- Article 99If a legislative proposal or draft law is submitted that is related to another proposal or draft law pending before one of the committees, the Speaker shall refer it to…
- Article 100If there are multiple draft laws or proposed laws on the same subject, the earliest shall be deemed the original, and all others shall be deemed amendments thereto.
Articles 101 – 15024
- Article 104The second deliberation on a bill may not take place until at least four days have elapsed after the conclusion of the first deliberation on it, unless the Assembly…
- Article 106After discussion of the article and the amendments submitted concerning it has concluded, the amendments shall be put to a vote first. The Speaker shall begin with the…
- Article 107If the Assembly adopts a provision in an article that would entail amending an article it has previously approved, it may return to discussion of that article. The…
- Article 111If, between sessions of the National Assembly or during its dissolution, something occurs requiring urgent measures that cannot be delayed, the Amir may issue decrees…
- Article 117The National Assembly may express wishes to the Government on public matters. If the Government is unable to act upon these wishes, it must explain the reasons for this…
- Article 119If a proposal for a resolution or an expression of wish is rejected, it may not be resubmitted until four months have elapsed since that rejection. If a proposal for a…
- Article 121Every member may address questions to the Prime Minister and the ministers to clarify matters falling within their competence, including inquiries about a matter unknown…
- Article 123The Speaker shall communicate the question submitted in accordance with the preceding Article to the Prime Minister or the competent Minister immediately upon its…
- Article 124The Prime Minister or the Minister shall answer the question at the sitting designated for its consideration. The Prime Minister or the competent Minister may request…
- Article 125Only the person who addressed the question may comment on the answer, and the comment shall be brief and made once only.
- Article 126The Government may, on its own initiative or on the occasion of a question addressed to it, request discussion of a particular matter relating to the State’s general…
- Article 127The person submitting a question may not convert it into an interpellation at the same sitting.
- Article 128The preceding procedures concerning questions shall not apply to questions addressed to the Prime Minister or the ministers during the discussion of the budget or any…
- Article 130If the questioner withdraws his question, every member shall have the right to adopt it, and in this case the Council shall continue its consideration thereof.
- Article 131Questions addressed to the Prime Minister or Ministers between sessions shall be answered by them in writing to the Speaker of the Assembly, who shall communicate the…
- Article 133Every member may address interpellations to the Prime Minister and the ministers concerning a matter within their respective competences.
- Article 137Interpellations concerning the same subject or closely connected subjects shall be joined and discussed at the same time, with the approval of the Prime Minister or the…
- Article 138After the discussion of the interpellation has concluded, the Speaker shall present the motions submitted to him concerning it. If there are no motions, he shall…
- Article 139Every member may request from the Prime Minister or ministers information relating to the interpellation before the Assembly. This request shall be submitted in writing…
- Article 140The Assembly shall consider interpellations after questions, with priority over all other items on the agenda, unless the Assembly decides otherwise.
- Article 142An interpellation shall lapse when the person to whom it is addressed leaves office, when the membership of the person submitting it ceases, or upon expiry of the…
- Article 143An interpellation may lead to the question of confidence in the Minister being put before the Assembly. The question of confidence in the Minister shall be put at his…
- Article 149Where the requests referred to in the preceding article are submitted after distribution of the agenda or during the sitting, they may not be considered except with the…
- Article 150The Assembly may in all cases decide to refer the request to one of the committees to examine it and submit a report on it before deciding upon it.
Articles 151 – 20011
- Article 153Petitions and complaints received by the Assembly shall be entered in a general register under serial numbers according to their date of receipt, stating the submitter's…
- Article 156The committee shall examine the petitions and complaints referred to it and state to the Assembly its reasoned opinion on the matter, proposing that they be shelved or…
- Article 157Every member may inspect any petition or complaint whenever he so requests of the committee chairman, and may obtain a copy thereof without divulging its confidential…
- Article 165Anyone wishing to speak on a subject concerning a section of the budget must register his name after distribution of the report on it and before discussion of it, unless…
- Article 166A department or position existing under a legal system in force may not be abolished, nor may an existing law be amended, by cancelling or amending appropriations…
- Article 167In submission to a vote, priority shall be given to the motion to cancel the appropriation, then the motion to reduce it, then the motion to approve the appropriation…
- Article 168If two amendment requests are submitted and differ in the number, the request with the larger number shall be put to a vote.
- Article 173After the issuance of the law concerning the Assembly's budget, the appropriation allocated to it in the State budget shall be deposited with the entity selected by the…
- Article 174The provisions prescribed in the preceding two articles concerning the Assembly's budget shall apply to the National Assembly's supplementary appropriations.
- Article 178In the event of the dissolution of the Council, the General Secretariat shall be attached to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
- Article 182The press must be faithful in reporting and summarizing the Assembly's sittings. Every member shall be entitled to request correction of errors by a written letter that…