Article 61, paragraph (1) of the Romanian Constitution requires that the
Chamber of Deputies structure and functioning have to be set by its own
Standing Rules. According to these rules, the internal structure of the Chamber
consists of: the Standing Bureau, the parliamentary committees, and the
parliamentary groups. The Standing Bureau is composed of: President, four
vice-presidents, four secretaries and four quaestors.
The President of the Chamber of Deputies is President of the Standing
Bureau as well. He is elected by secret ballot at the beginning of legislature
and for the whole mandate of the Chamber; the other members of the Standing
Bureau are elected at the beginning of each parliamentary session.
The Agenda Committee shapes the working schedule and the agenda of the
Chamber of Deputies; it is composed of the leaders of parliamentary groups.
The deputies can organize themselves into parliamentary groups, which
are structures of the Chamber of Deputies.
Deputies having run on the list of the same party or belonging to the
same political alliance join together in order to build up parliamentary
groups.
A parliamentary group has to have at least 10 deputies. Parliamentary
groups reflect the political configuration of the Chamber of Deputies.
The Chamber of Deputies has 16 standing committees. The standing
committees are working bodies of the Chamber.
In addition to standing committees, inquiry committees and other special
committees can be constituted.
The political groups profile engenders the political configuration of
the Chamber, which has to be, as strong as possible, at the foundation of
parliamentary committees. The role of the standing committees is to draw up
reports and provide notices on the documents that will be put on the agenda.
The General Secretariate runs the administration of the Chamber of
Deputies. The organizational structure of the General Secretariate is approved
by the plenum of the Chamber and the Standing Bureau approves the operational
structure of its units. The Standing Orders, as sanctioned by the Standing
Bureau, set up the attributions of the General Secretariate.
The General Secretariate is in charge with supporting the parliamentary
activity inside the Chamber and in constituencies, providing all the technical
and specialized assistance needed.
Generally the organization of the Chamber administration is structured
on the following fields:
I.
units
for parliamentary proceedings, as the most important activity of the
administration, including units for parliamentary proceedings organization and
development, parliamentary information, library, foreign and domestic relations
and other related activities;
II.
administrative
units, including food and transportation sectors;
III.
financial
and accounting units;
IV.
audit
and internal control units.
The main activities of the General Secretariate are to:
I.
support
the groundwork and development of parliamentary business;
II.
give
good reason for required financial, technical and personnel resources, as well
as for their efficient use, according to law;
III.
make
proposals concerning the Chamber interactions with public authorities, foreign
and home organizations and implement the endorsements, within the limits of its
authority;
IV.
perform
internal audit;
V.
achieve
the managing of supplies and of the supplementary units.
In order to support the groundwork and development of parliamentary
business, the General Secretariate should:
I.
provide
the Chamber of Deputies or both Chambers, as the case may be, with best
possible circumstances intended for their sittings; provide with bill records
and other documents that will be submitted to the Chamber;
II.
provide
the MPs. with guidance during bills debates in the plenum of the Chamber of
Deputies or of both Chambers, as the case may be; put down on paper draft laws
or laws, according to the passed texts and keep their record;
III.
provide
parliamentary standing committees with specialized assistance;
IV.
provide
Standing Bureau and Agenda Committee with guidance and technical assistance;
V.
provide
Standing Bureau, parliamentary groups and parliamentary committees members with
the required information and documentaries.
Liability pertaining to groundwork and development of parliamentary
business goes to the following units: Department for parliamentary activities,
Technical Secretariat and Directorate for parliamentary information.
Giving good reason for required financial, technical and personnel
resources, as well as for their efficient use means:
I.
keeping
correct financial records;
II.
making
proposals, within its competences, concerning public bids for supplies procurement and distribution;
III.
managing
the investments level, preparing and monitoring the investments works,
according to law;
IV.
providing
with necessary informational programs and communication resources;
V. providing General Secretariate units and constituencies with the required human resources, according to the approved tables of organization.
The following units are in charge with giving good reason for required
financial, material and personnel resources, as well as for their efficient
use, according to law: Directorate for human resources and payroll; Directorate
for public procurements; Directorate for deputies reimbursements, Financial and
accounting Directorate, General Directorate for development and Directorate for
information technology and communications.
Making proposals concerning the Chamber relations with public
authorities, foreign and home organizations and implementing the endorsements,
within the limits of its authority mean:
I.
giving
the Chamber’s units specialized assistance in setting up their multilateral
relationships with international parliamentary organizations and also the
Chamber of Deputies and its General Secretariate bilateral relationships with
other parliaments;
II.
accomplishing
protocole activities for official delegations or foreign guests reception and
organizing some internal protocol procedures;
III.
giving
the Chamber of Deputies units specialized assistance in defining its internal
relations with the media, the NGOs, the civil society, as well as with
citizens.
The activity of making proposals concerning the Chamber relations with
public authorities, foreign and home organizations and implementing the
endorsements, within the limits of its authority, is performed by the following
departments: General Directorate for foreign relations and protocole,
Directorate for communication, press and public relations.
Certain
attributions regarding the relations with public authorities, domestic and
foreign organizations are also accomplished by the Chamber of Deputies
President Chancellery, the technical body of the Foreign Policy Committee and
the technical body of the Committee for the investigation of abuses, corrupt
practices and for petitions, by the staff of the parliamentary offices within
constituencies and by the Secretary General Office.
The Department for administrative and logistic services, Directorate for
transportation and International Conference Centre perform activities of
supplies and services administration.
The General Secretariat of the Chamber of Deputies is organized on
following levels:
I.
departments
and general directorates;
II.
independent
directorates and directorates within departments and general directorates;
III. units, sections, sectors and offices usually within directorates; the structure display includes some independent units, composed merely of executive personnel; they are organized within directorates and run directly by heads of these directorates.
In order to accomplish the duties established by the members of the
Standing Bureau, the leaders of the parliamentary groups and the deputies, different
structures are set up as follows:
a) The Chancellery of the Chamber of Deputies’ President, by the
President of the Chamber of Deputies;
b) The cabinets of the Standing Bureau members and their secretariates,
by each of the members of the Standing Bureau;
c) The Secretariate for the Parliamentary Groups, by the leader of each
parliamentary group;
d) staff of deputies, hired for activities in the constituencies, by
each deputy.
The staff number for activities in the constituencies, their positions and
attributions are established by each of the deputies; these staff are paid from
the lump sum received by each deputy.
The personnel belonging to the General Secretariate of the Chamber of
Deputies has the same statute as the contractual personnel from the budgetary
sector. The payment and other rights due to the personnel of the General
Secretariate of the Chamber of Deputies are established by a special law. The
limits of the basic salary are those of the contractual personnel from the
budgetary sector.
The staff nomination of the General Secretariate of the Chamber of
Deputies is made by order of the Secretary General, after a contest, according
to the law.
The nomination of the general directors is made by the Secretary General
of the Chamber of Deputies with the prior notice from the Standing Bureau.
The staff nomination of the Presidential Chancellery is made on
recommendation of the President of the Chamber of Deputies.
The staff nomination of the cabinets of the Standing Bureau members is
made on the recommendation of each member of the Standing Bureau.
The staff nomination of the parliamentary groups is made on
recommendation of the leader of that parliamentary group.
The staff nomination of the parliamentary bureaux from the
constituencies is made on proposal of that deputy.
The Secretary General concludes with these nominated staff individual
employment contracts according to the Labor Code.
According to the Standing Orders of the Chamber of Deputies provisions,
the Standing Bureau manages and controls the services of the Chamber of
Deputies.
The vice-presidents and the secretaries of the Standing Bureau
coordinate certain domains of activity of the General Secretariate of the
Chamber of Deputies, according to the decision taken by the Standing Bureau.
The quaestors accomplish checking and controlling duties on the
financial and budgetary activities, as well as on patrimony management.
Bureaux and chairmen of the Chamber of Deputies committees accomplish
leading duties concerning the personnel activities of the committees.
The leaders of the parliamentary groups manage and control the personnel
activity of their parliamentary group.
The leading structure of the General Secretariate of the Chamber of
Deputies is compound of the:
a) Secretary General, Deputy–Secretary General;
b) general directors, directors of independent directorates and chief
accountant;
c) directors within departments and general directorates;
d) heads of services, sections, sectors and bureaux.
The powers of these leading persons are established by order of the
Secretary General.
The Secretary General is nominated and released by a Chamber of Deputies
decision, on proposal made by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, and
adopted by the majority of the present deputies.
As long as the office of Secretary General is or becomes vacant, his
attributions, competences and responsibilities are passed to and exercised by
the Deputy–Secretary General.
The Secretary General leads the General Secretariate personnel.
The personnel which activates at the Chamber of Deputies’ President
cabinet, the cabinets of the Stating Bureau members, the secretariates of the
parliamentary groups and at the parliamentary committees is subordinated to the
Secretary General only with respect to professional training and internal rules
of conduct.
The Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies leads the General
Secretariate activity and is responsible for its proper unfolding.
The Secretary General is the main credit officer and has the competences
and responsibilities established by law.
The Secretary General accomplishes the attributions established by acts,
decisions, resolutions adopted by the Chamber of Deputies or by the Standing
Bureau.
The Secretary General leads the General Secretariat staff.
The Secretary General is responsible in front of the Chamber of Deputies
and of the Standing Bureau concerning the way of accomplishing of his
competences and duties.
The Secretary General co-ordinates mainly the activity related to the
ensuring the conditions for the preparation and unfolding of the parliamentary
works.
For certain issues, the Secretary General is assisted by the
Deputy–Secretary General.
The Deputy–Secretary General coordinates mainly the administrative
activity, and the investments.
The Deputy–Secretary General is subordinated to the Standing Bureau and
to the Secretary General and is responsible in front of them for the
accomplishment of his competences and duties.
As for the time being the Secretary General position became vacant and
his attributions were handed-over to the Deputy-Secretary General, the
attributions in the parliamentary area connected, mainly, to the legislative
activity of the Parliament and to the functioning of the Chamber of Deputies
structures are co-ordinated by the Deputy-Secretary General who delegated them
to the Head of the Department for Parliamentary Activities.
The size and structure of the technical body of the parliamentary
committees are established for each committee by the approved tables of
organization.
The technical body of the parliamentary committees has a double
subordination:
a) a direct subordination to the committees chairman and bureau;
b) a functional subordination to the leadership of the directorate and
department.
The Chamber of Deputies has a number of 345 deputies.
The Chamber of Deputies meets in two ordinary sessions, but may also
meet in extraordinary sessions.
In the current legislature, for the period December 2000 - June 2003,
the Chamber of Deputies has held 253 plenary sessions and 59 joint sessions
with the Senate.
The Parliament of Romania adopts laws, decisions and motions, in the
presence of the majority of its members. The laws adopted by the legislative
body are constitutional (modifying the Constitution), organic and ordinary
laws. The procedure of adopting the laws is the same for each of the Chambers
of the Parliament.
The organic laws and decisions concerning the Standing Orders of the
Chambers are adopted by the majority vote of its members.
The ordinary laws and decisions are adopted by the majority vote of the
members present in each Chamber.
The law on amending the Constitution (the constitutional laws) is
adopted by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate with the majority of at least
two thirds of the members in each Chamber.
During the first 5 sessions of the current legislature (December
2000–June 2003) the Chamber of Deputies adopted 2565 laws, of which: 1193 in
2001; 912 in 2002; and 460 during the 2003 first session.
The standing committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the main fields
of activity are the following:
1. Committee for Economic Policy, Reform, and Privatization
- restructuring of the economy at
macro-economic level and at sectorial level; reconstruction development programmes;
economic forecast; specific means and institutions of the market economy;
issues of prices and competition; free enterprise; privatization; economic
activity of the Authority for Privatization and Administration of the State
Shares, of the financial investment companies, of the autonomous regies and of
the trading companies with fully state-owned or joint ventures; capital import
and export;
- other
issues concerning the strategy of economic development and reform policy.
Number of meetings in February - June 2003 session: 42.
2.
Committee for Budget, Finance and Banks
- the state budget and the budgetary execution; the state social
insurance budget and its execution; financial policy; taxes and duties system,
insurance and reinsurance; monetary balance, monetary circulation, credits and
credit system, interest, discount; stock exchange and commercial papers;
external loans of the State or guaranteed by the State; investments from
budgetary credits.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 42.
3.
Committee for Industries and Services
- industry and its branches; transport, telecommunications, trade (home
and foreign), tourism: consumers' protection; strategy of development of
industries and services; ensuring the resources of raw materials and energy for
the national economy; development of small and medium-sized enterprises in
industry and services; specific problems of privatization in industry and
services, of development of the private sector in these branches; the
commodities exchanges for industrial goods and services; investment strategies;
quality of industrial goods and of services; standards and brands; protection
of investments and brands; technical progress and technological development;
efficiency and competitive capacity of the goods and services on the home and
foreign market.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 42.
4.
Committee for Agriculture, Forestry, Food Industry and Specific Services
- programmes in the field of agriculture, horticulture, animal breeding,
fishery, forestry, hunting fund; specific problems of privatization in
agriculture; free initiative, forms of ownership, of association, of crediting,
of leasing; the management of the land resources; the activity of the companies
and autonomous regies with state or mixed capital in agriculture, forestry and
food industry; services for agriculture, land improving, food industry and
forestry.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 42.
5.
Committee for Human Rights, Cults and National Minorities Issues
- human and citizen's rights; issues related to minorities; freedom of
conscience; issues related to religious cults; freedom of expression through
other means than press.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 42.
6.
Committee for Public Administration, Territorial Planning and Ecological
Balance
- local autonomy; administrative reforms; administrative-territorial
organization: status of the civil servant; urban systems; urban and rural
networks; local public finances; ecological systems and ecological balance;
quality of air, water and soil; protection of flora, fauna and human
settlements; recovery of the deteriorated areas; technologies for the control
and elimination of polluting emissions; administration of waters; territorial
planning; constructions.
Number of meetings in February - June 2003 session: 42.
7.
Committee for Labour and Social Protection
- individual labour relations (individual labour contract, working time,
leaves, work safety, wages system, labour jurisdiction, legal status of
employed woman); collective labour relations (collective negotiation,
collective agreement, jurisdiction of collective labour conflicts); legal
status of unions and of employers' organizations; social insurance system
(pensions, indemnities, unemployment benefits, state allowance); social
assistance (material assistance, gratuities); material assistance for deprived
persons; aged people, disabled persons, minors and others; issues related to
employment.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 42.
8.
Committee for Health and Family
- protection of population's health; sanitary assistance; forms of
organization of sanitary network; social matters of family, mother and child,
aged and disabled persons; demographic problems.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 42.
9.
Committee for Education, Science, Youth and Sport
- education of all forms and degrees; scientific research; sports
activity; youth's problems; protection of intellectual property.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 42.
10.
Committee for Culture, Arts and Mass Information Means
- institutions of art and culture; protection of the national cultural
values; activity of press and other mass media.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 42.
11.
Committee for Legal Matters, Discipline and Immunities
- the constitutionality of draft laws and of legislative proposals; regulations
in the field of civil, penal and contravention law, and also of civil, penal
and administrative procedure, as well of judicial organization; other
regulations with prevailing juridical character; issues related to
parliamentary discipline, incompatibilities and immunities.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 39.
12.
Committee for Defence, Public Order and National Security
- matters regarding defence, public order and national security.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 46.
13.
Committee for Foreign Policy
- matters and programmes of foreign policy of Romania; bilateral
dialogue with the similar committees of the parliaments of other countries and
of international parliamentary bodies; endorsement of treaties, conventions and
other international instruments to which Romania adheres; the hearing of the
persons proposed to be appointed in the position of ambassador of Romania
abroad, followed by an advisory opinion.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 43.
14.
Committee for the Investigation of Abuses, Corrupt Practices and for Petitions
- examination of the petitions received and investigation of the abuses
pointed out in those petitions; effecting an inquiry on the intimated abuses,
cases when the Chamber orders that as a result of the submission, according to
the regulations, of an application in the Chamber.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 42.
15.
Committee for Standing Orders
- interpretation of the Standing Orders; record and regularity of the
parliamentary customs; elaboration and submitting of proposals to the Standing
Bureau for the modification of the Standing Orders; the examination and
operative notification of the Chamber and of the Standing Bureau about the
parliamentary proceedings in other states or parliamentary pan-European
assemblies; the examination of the notifications sent by the Chamber, the
Standing Bureau or by the President of the Chamber with regard to the actions
for the implementation of the Standing Orders and the presentation of the
standpoint in the Chamber of Deputies.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 1.
16.
Committee for Information Technologies and Communications
- technology of information and communications, specific advanced
technologies in the field, lining up with the international regulations and
standards, the intellectual property in the field.
Number of meetings in February -
June 2003 session: 40.
The units within the structure of the General Secretariate of the Chamber
of Deputies provide specialized assistance and draw up the specific documents
in order to examine the legislative initiatives within the parliamentary
committees and for their debate in the plenary session of the Chamber of
Deputies, or in the plenary sessions of the two Chambers; provide information
and documentation for the Chamber of Deputies members; ensure the secretarial
works for the Chamber of Deputies structures and for the General Secretariate.
The units
with attributions in the accomplishment of the activity connected to the
parliamentary works are the following:
a) Department for parliamentary activities; ensures the preparation of
the Chamber of Deputies parliamentary works unfolding, or that of the two Chambers,
as well as of the parliamentary committees.
b) Directorate for technical secretariate; ensures the preparation of
the Chamber of Deputies Standing Bureau works, of the Standing Bureaux of the
two Chambers and of the Agenda Committee; supervises the accomplishment by the
units of the General Secretariate of the tasks resulting from the Chamber of
Deputies and of the Standing Bureau decisions, as well as from the Chamber of
Deputies President's written dispositions; accomplishes certain attributions
connected to the activity concerning the parliamentary works.
c) Directorate for parliamentary information; elaborates specific
studies and researches and provides with documentation the parliamentary
structures.
Certain attributions concerning the parliamentary works are also
accomplished by the personnel carrying out their activity at the Chamber of
Deputies President's Chancellery, at the Standing Bureau members' cabinets, at
the parliamentary groups' secretariates, at the Secretary General Cabinet, as well
as at the constituencies offices; their attributions are established by each
head of unit, or by deputies, as the case may be.
One of the main activities of the Chamber of Deputies General
Secretariate consists in ensuring the necessary conditions for the preparation
and unfolding of the parliamentary works.
The activity of the Chamber of Deputies General Secretariate concerning
the preparation and unfolding of the parliamentary works is carried ont by:
a) preparing and ensuring the necessary conditions for the proper
unfolding of the Chamber of Deputies sessions and of those of the two Chambers;
ensuring the record of the bills and other documents submitted to the Chamber
of Deputies debate;
b) providing the specialized assistance related to the debate of the
bills in the Chamber of Deputies plenary sessions or the two Chambers' plenum;
processing or drawing up of bills, respectively of laws on the basis of the
texts adopted by the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, or by the two
Chambers' of the Parliament plenum;
c) providing the specialized assistance for the activity of the
parliamentary committees;
d) ensuring the specialized assistance and the secretariate activity of
the Standing Bureau and of the Agenda Committee;
e) providing the information and documentation for the Standing Bureau
members, for the parliamentary groups and the parliamentary committees.
The activity of the Chamber of Deputies General Secretariate for setting
up the necessary conditions for the preparation and unfolding of the
parliamentary works is carried out by: the Department for parliamentary
activities, the Technical secretariate and the Directorate for parliamentary
information.
The process of Romania’s accession to the European Union requires the
alignment of the Romanian legislation to the European legislation, the
Parliament of Romania making efforts in this direction.
Thus, according to the Chamber of Deputies Standing Orders, all the
bills concerning Romania’s legislation harmonization with that of the European
Union are adopted by right under emergency procedure. At the same time, at the
beginning of each session, the Government submits the legislative priority
programme for the respective session to the Parliament; this programme contains
the legislative priority bills meant to ensure the necessary legal framework
for the accomplishment of the objectives of
Romania’s planning process for the integration into the European Union.
The Department for parliamentary activities follows permanently the
situation of these bills adoption and their stage in the legislative process
and informs weekly in this respect the Chamber of Deputies President and the
Minister for the relation with the Parliament, who directly monitorizes this issue together with
the Ministry of European Integration.
1. Means of ensuring
security
The Chamber of Deputies activity is carried on in the
Palace of Parliament.
Security in the Palace of Parliament is provided by electronic systems
and specialized security bodies.
The
As State specialized service, the Service for protection and guarding is
responsible with the
The Directorate for order and guarding, as specialized service of the
Chamber of Deputies General Secretariate, assures the inside order and the
protection of the Chamber of Deputies President.
The two structures cooperates on the basis of a joint regulation,
approved by these institutions leaderships.
2. Access to the
building
Deputies and Senators have access on the basis of the Deputy/Senator
identification card.
The access of the Chamber General Secretariate staff is permitted on the
basis of the magnetic card, which, at the same time, constitutes the badge to
be worn at sight.
The official foreign delegations, made up of ministers, members of
diplomatic missions accredited in
The persons invited by the members of the Standing Bureau, standing
committees, parliamentary groups, by the Secretary General, Deputy-Secretary
General or by the General Secretariate units are accompanied by a
representative of the Directorate for order and guarding and, respectively,
that of the General Secretariate units which invited them.
The access of the media representatives is granted through a sole
entrance, on the basis of the accreditation cards issued for the Chamber of
Deputies.
The public’s access to the Chamber of Deputies plenary sittings is
granted through a sole entrance on the basis of a nominal list; in the sittings
room, the place reserved to the public is at gallery.
- Staff training
Sistematically, the National Institut for Administration organizes
training programmes for the central and local administration staff and for the
parliamentary administration staff as well.