Section 1
Sessions and documents of the Chamber of Deputies

Article 84. - (1) The Chamber of Deputies shall work in two ordinary sessions per year. The first session shall start in February and may not exceed the end of June. The second session shall start in September and may not exceed the end of December.

(2) The Chamber of Deputies shall also convene in extraordinary sessions, at the request of the President of Romania, the Standing Bureau or at least one third of the number of Deputies.

(3) A request to convene an extraordinary session shall be made in writing and shall comprise the agenda and the duration of the session. Should the Chamber fail to approve the agenda, an extraordinary session may not be held.

(4) The Chamber of Deputies shall be convened by its President. The President shall disregard the requests for convening an extraordinary session that do not meet the terms stipulated under paragraphs (2) and (3).

(5) During sessions, the Deputies shall work in plenary sittings, in Committees, in Parliamentary Groups, at their parliamentary offices, in their constituencies, or carry out other duties assigned by the Chamber of Deputies.

(6) Outside sessions, Deputies may work, by consent of the Standing Bureau, in Standing or Special Committees, or complete other duties assigned by the Chamber of Deputies.

(7) Outside sessions, Deputies may work in Parliamentary Groups, as instructed by or with the consent of their Group's leadership, and exercise their position at their parliamentary offices and in their constituencies.

Article 85. - The Chamber of Deputies shall adopt laws, decisions, simple motions, messages, statements, resolutions and other political documents in the presence of a majority of the Deputies, under the present Standing Orders.

Section 2
Agenda and working programme of the Chamber of Deputies

Article 86. - (1) The draft agenda and draft working programme of the Chamber of Deputies for the coming week shall be drawn up by the Standing Bureau.

(2) The Standing Bureau, on its own initiative or following a reasoned request by the initiator, may include in the draft agenda the debate on a draft law or a legislative proposal where the time limit for its report submission has become overdue.

Article 87. - (1) The agenda of the Chamber of Deputies shall comprise all the issues that are subject to the Chamber's debate and approval.

(2) Draft laws and legislative proposals shall be entered in the draft agenda within 5 days of their receipt by the Standing Bureau of the Committee notified on the subject matter, if the Chamber of Deputies is the first Chamber notified, and no later than 7 days for those where it is a decisional Chamber.

(3) Draft decisions shall be entered in the draft agenda no later than 5 days of the date of receipt by the Standing Bureau of the report drawn up by the Committee notified on the subject matter.

(4) When preparing and adopting the agenda in the legislative field, priority shall be given to the requests submitted by the Standing Committees' Bureaus, debates in urgent procedure, requests for adopting such procedure, draft laws and legislative proposals for which the Chamber of Deputies is the first Chamber notified and debates on the reports drawn up by the Mediation Committees.

(5) Other proposals or documents than the ones in the legislative field shall be submitted to the Standing Bureau, in order to be included in the draft agenda, at least two days before the Parliamentary Group Leaders Committee meeting, unless the law, the present Standing Orders or a decision by the Chamber of Deputies stipulate a shorter time limit.

(6) The requests by the President of Romania, the reports and declarations by the Prime Minister shall be given precedence on the agenda.

(7) A draft law or legislative proposal sent for re-examination under article 104 (3) shall be given precedence on the agenda, for debate in urgent procedure.

Article 88. - The working programme of the Chamber of Deputies shall be established in compliance with the agenda and may comprise measures to be taken to organise the Chamber's debates.

Article 89. - The draft agenda and the draft working programme shall be drawn up weekly and shall be approved by the Parliamentary Group Leaders Committee on the Wednesday of each working week of the Chamber, for the coming week.

Article 90. - In exceptional instances, the Parliamentary Group Leaders shall approve a change in the agenda or in the working programme, at the request of the Standing Bureau.

Article 91. - (1) The approved agenda and working programme shall be sent to the Deputies and the Parliamentary Groups both in writing and by electronic means, and shall be displayed at the Chamber of Deputies' premises on the same day on which they were approved by the Parliamentary Group Leaders Committee.

(2) The provisions of paragraph (1) shall apply accordingly where there are changes in or additions to the agenda or the working programme.

(3) In the first meeting of the Chamber, following a vote taken in the Parliamentary Group Leaders Committee, the Parliamentary Group leaders shall be entitled to present to the Chamber their Group's position on the agenda and the working programme.

Section 3
Legislative procedure

Article 92. - (1) In the exercise of its right to legislative initiative, the Government shall submit draft laws to the Chamber. Deputies, Senators, and the citizens stipulated under article 74 of the Constitution of Romania, republished, may place legislative proposals before the Chamber of Deputies. Such proposals shall be accompanied by a statement of reasons and drawn up in the form required for draft laws.

(2) Deputies may also present draft decisions of the Chamber of Deputies.

(3) In respect of the legislative proposals submitted under the terms of paragraph (1) the President of the Standing Bureau shall request the opinion of the Legislative Council and a viewpoint or information, as the case may be, by the Government, which need to be submitted within 15 days of the date of the request. The Government's viewpoint may also contain amendments.

(4) In respect of the legislative proposals submitted under paragraph (1) that entail changes in the provisions of the state budget or the state social securities budget, the President of the Chamber of Deputies shall be under obligation to request an information from the Government, under article 111 of the Constitution of Romania, republished, within the same 15-day time limit.

(5) If the Legislative Council or the Government should not submit its opinion, viewpoint or information, as applicable, within 15 days of the request, the Standing Bureau shall designate the Committee notified on the subject matter, the endorsement Committees, and the time limit for submitting the report on the legislative proposal in question and shall refer to them the draft for debate and for drawing up the report.

(6) If, during the debate, amendments occur in the Committee notified on the subject matter which impose changes in the provisions of the state budget or the state social securities budget, the President of the Committee shall be under obligation to request an information from the Government, under article 111 of the Constitution of Romania, republished, within a time limit that meets the deadline for report submission.

(7) As regards legislative proposals initiated by citizens, before sending them to the Deputies and notifying the competent Standing Committee on the subject matter, the President of the Chamber of Deputies shall call upon the Constitutional Court to verify that the constitutional terms are being met for the exercise of the right to a legislative initiative.

(8) Under article 75 of the Constitution of Romania, republished, the following shall be subject to the debate and adoption by the Chamber of Deputies, as a first notified Chamber:

(9) Under article 75 of the Constitution of Romania, republished, the following shall be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, as a decisional Chamber, for debate and adoption:

(10) The draft laws shall be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies and shall be accompanied by the Legislative Council's opinion.

* Text pronounced unconstitutional as regards the reference to article 55 (3) of the Constitution of Romania, republished, by the Constitutional Court Decision no. 602 of 14 November 2005, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 1 027 of 18 November 2005; it ceased its legal effects on 2 January 2006, pursuant to article 147 (1) of the Constitution of Romania, republished.

** Text pronounced unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court Decision no. 602 of 14 November 2005, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 1 027 of 18 November 2005; it ceased its legal effects on 2 January 2006, persuant to article 147 (1) of the Constitution of Romania, republished.

Article 93. - The Draft laws, legislative proposals and draft decisions of the Chamber of Deputies shall be distributed to the Deputies after having been presented to the Standing Bureau.

Article 94. - (1) At the beginning of each plenary sitting of the Chamber of Deputies, the Chairman shall announce that the documents stipulated under paragraphs (2) and (3) have been distributed to the Deputies, for their information.

(2) The following documents shall be distributed to the Deputies' pigeonholes: the working programme, the agenda, the information on draft laws, the legislative proposals and draft decisions of the Chamber of Deputies. The information shall state the title, the initiator, the Committees notified on the subject matter and the Committees which are to draw up an opinion, as well as the time limits for submission of the report and amendments.

(3) Deputies shall receive in their pigeonholes a list of the reports drawn up by the Committees notified on the subject matter, in the chronological order of their submission to the Standing Bureau, a list of the draft laws and legislative proposals adopted by the two Chambers and for which the right to notify the Constitutional Court may be exercised, under the law, a list of the contents of each Official Gazette of Romania and the complete texts of the simple motions and censure motions.

(4) At the express request of the Deputies, the specialised staff of the Chamber of Deputies shall have the content of the document stipulated under paragraphs (1) and (2) printed. Access to such documents shall be available also at the Deputies' constituency offices, which shall be equipped with a connection to the Chamber of Deputies database.

Article 95. - The draft laws, the legislative proposals, as well as the draft decisions of the Chamber of Deputies stipulated under article 94 shall be immediately referred by the Standing Bureau to the competent Standing Committees, for debate and endorsement, in observance of the provisions of article 92, as applicable.

Article 96. - (1) The initiator of a draft or legislative proposal may withdraw his/her draft or proposal before approval of the agenda on which it was included.

(2) If a legislative proposal belongs to more than one initiator, a written consent by all the initiators shall be necessary to withdraw that proposal.

Article 97. - (1) After examination of and debate on a draft law or legislative proposal, the Standing Committee or the Standing Committees notified on the subject matter shall draw up a report, within the set time limit.

(2) The report by the Committee notified on the subject matter shall propose the adoption, adoption with amendments, or rejection of a draft law or legislative proposal, and shall comprise the amendments admitted and the amendments rejected, stating their authors, the opinions of the other Committees, references on how the proposals contained in the opinion of the Legislative Council have been solved, references on the Government's viewpoint, whether there are financial implications on the state budget or on the state social securities budget, other opinions where applicable, specifications on the articles belonging to the decisional competence of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate, respectively, if the Chamber of Deputies is the decisional Chamber. For draft laws on the approval or rejection of ordinances, the neccessary measures to take in respect of the legal effects of the ordinance during its implementation period shall be laid down, where applicable.

(3) The report shall be referred to the Standing Bureau, which shall ensure that it is multiplied and distributed to the Government, Deputies and initiators, in compliance with the time limit stipulated under article 69 (2).

(4) In the instance stipulated under article 104* (3), the Committee shall draw up a report comprising the proposal for adoption or for adoption with amendments of the draft or legislative proposal.

* The number of the article was rectified in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 54 of 20 January 2006.

Article 98. - The drafts and legislative proposals endorsed under articles 95-97 shall be subject to debate in the Chamber in the order stipulated under the approved agenda, under the Standing Orders.

Article 99. - (1) Deputies, Parliamentary Groups or the Government, under the signature of a Member of the Government shall be entitled to submit amendments to the Committee notified on the subject matter, within the time limits stipulated under article 65 (4).

(2) As regards the legislative proposals prepared by a special Parliamentary Committee, the amendments shall be submitted to the Committee within 7 days of them being announced in the plenum of the Chamber of Deputies. On the day of its announcement in the plenum, a legislative proposal shall be notified to the Government. After expiry of the time limit for the submission of amendments, the Committee shall be under obligation to draw up, within 5 days, an additional report on them, which shall be distributed to the Deputies. The legislative proposal may be placed on the agenda only after that time limit has expired.

(3) The amendments brought by the Deputies shall be reasoned, submitted in writing, and under the initiator's signature, to the Committee notified on the subject matter, and, if necessary, shall state the Parliamentary Group to which the initiator belongs.

(4) The Government's amendments shall be submitted to the Standing Bureau only under the signature of a Member of the Government, and shall be referred to the Committee notified on the subject matter.

(5) The date of amendment submission shall be the same as the date of its registration with the Committee or the Standing Bureau, as applicable, where a special record of all the amendments received shall be kept. On request, the author shall be issued a proof that the amendment has been received.

(6) The Committee notified on the subject matter or, as applicable, the Special Committee shall pronounce on the amendments submitted, in compliance with the time limit stipulated under paragraph (1) or (2). Should it deem it necessary, the Committee shall also request the opinion of another Committee on one or several amendments.

(7) The President of the Committee notified on the subject matter may request the Legislative Council to issue a viewpoint on a number of amendments. Such viewpoint shall be given within the time limit set by the Committee.

(8) As regards oral amendments presented in the plenum, in compliance with article 108 (3), the Committee's opinion shall also be given by the rapporteur orally, following the President of the Chamber's request.

(9) The President of the Chamber may not submit to debate or put to the vote an amendment on which the Committee has not pronounced, except for the instance stipulated under article 37 c).

Article 100. - (1) The general debate on a draft law or a legislative proposal shall be preceded by the initiator's statement of reasons for the draft's submission and by disclosure of the Standing Committee's report, presented by its President or by a rapporteur designated by the Committee.

(2) The President, the rapporteur and the members of the Committee may be assisted by parliamentary experts belonging to the Chamber of Deputies throughout the debates.

Article 101. - For the general debate on a draft or a legislative proposal, each Parliamentary Group may designate one representative. The President of the Chamber shall give the floor to the Representatives of the Parliamentary Groups in the order of their requests to speak. He/she may propose to the Chamber that the time allocated to the general debate be reduced.

Article 102. - The initiator of a draft or legislative proposal, the President of the Committee notified on the subject matter or the Rapporteur of that Committee shall be entitled to speak before the general debate is closed.

Article 103. - At the stage of a general debate on a draft or legislative proposal, no amendments may be proposed.

Article 104. - (1) If the report by the Committee notified on the subject matter proposes rejection of the draft, legislative proposal or draft decision of the Chamber of Deputies, the President shall ask the Chamber to pronounce by putting the matter to the vote after the general debate has been closed.

(2) The rejection proposal may be put to the vote in a special voting meeting.

(3) Should the Chamber of Deputies disagree with the rejection proposal, a debate per articles shall be held in a subsequent meeting, in wich, according to the agenda, the amendments deposited with the Commitee notified on the subject matter and listed in the report as rejected amendments shall be considered. The procedure shall be concluded with a proposal for adoption of the Chamber of Deputies' initiative or decision; otherwise, the President shall refer the report to the Committee notified on the subject matter, for reconsideration, and a deadline for drawing up a new report shall be set.

Article 105. - (1) As far as ordinances are concerned, an ordinance approval draft law shall be put to the vote, if the last report by the Committee notified on the subject matter should propose its approval or approval with amendments. If the Committee notified on the subject matter should propose rejection of the ordinance, the ordinance rejection draft law shall be put to the vote.

(2) After debating upon the last report drawn up, where the Chamber of Deputies is the decisional Chamber, if the plenum of the Chamber fails to pass the draft law regarding an ordinance, the draft in question shall be reconsidered in the following session, in the form in which it was originally placed before the Chamber, based on the last report drawn up by the Committee notified on the subject matter.

(3) If the decisional competence belongs to the Senate and it is ascertained that the plenum of the Chamber has not been able to pronounce on an emergency ordinance, the provisions of article 115 (5) of the Constitution of Romania, republished, shall apply.

Article 106. - The Chamber of Deputies shall only proceed to debate on the draft or legislative proposal per articles where the report by the Committee notified on the subject matter contains admitted or rejected amendments.

Article 107. - (1) When discussing the articles to which amendments have been made, the Deputies may take the floor to express their viewpoint. The representative of the Government or of the initiator and the rapporteur of the Committee notified on the subject matter may also take the floor.

(2) As a rule, a Deputy's speaking time on a text to be put to the vote in the Chamber of Deputies shall be 5 minutes. At the beginning of the debate on a draft law or legislative proposal, a different speaking time for interventions may be established. After the Deputies have spoken on a certain text, the project initiator and the Rapporteur of the Committee notified on the subject matter may take the floor.

(3) The Chairman may submit to the sitting's approval the closure of discussions on the article under debate.

Article 108. - (1) Discussion of the articles shall start with both the admitted and the rejected amendments submitted to the Committees.

(2) During debates, the Deputies, the Government or the Parliamentary Groups may wish to discuss the amendments rejected by the Committee notified on the subject matter or the amendments submitted to the Committee, in compliance with the provisions of the present Standing Orders.

(3) In the plenum of the Chamber, technical-legislative correlation, and grammatical or linguistic amendments may be formulated. The amendments shall be submitted in writing to the Chairman and the Rapporteur of the Committee notified on the subject matter.

(4) No fundamental amendments may be placed before the plenum of the Chamber.

Article 109. - Where debate on the amendments reveals that they have a major impact on that draft law or legislative proposal, the President of the Chamber of Deputies may refer the texts under scrutiny to the Committee notified on the subject matter and set the deadline for the presentation of its viewpoint. In such an instance, the authors of the amendments shall be entitled to be heard in the Committee. The Government representatives shall have the same right.

Article 110. - (1) Debate on amendments shall consider first those amendments containing a proposal to remove some of the texts in the article considered, and then the amendments containing a proposal to amend and complete the article in question.

(2) The amendments shall be put to the vote in the following order: firstly, the proposals for removing texts, secondly, the proposals for amending and/or completing texts, tabled by the Committee notified on the subject matter, thirdly, the rejected proposals, included in the Committee report, for amending and/or completing texts, and lastly, the proposals for technical, legislative, grammatical and linguistic correlation.

(3) The Chamber shall pronounce by putting each individual amendment to the vote, unless the adoption of a particular amendment precludes the adoption of the others.

(4) The texts of articles to which no amendments, objections and remarks have been formulated shall be deemed adopted. The texts of articles to which amendments have been formulated or to which objections and remarks have been made shall be adopted with the vote of a majority of the Deputies present.

(5) Where the Chamber of Deputies is the decisional Chamber, if all the amendments to an article are rejected, the text as worded by the initiator or by the Senate shall be put to the vote.

(6) The result of the vote - the number of votes "in favour", "against", and the number of abstentions - shall be announced by the chairman and recorded in the verbatim report.

(7) The article, as resulting from the approval of the texts, shall be put to the vote in its entirety, and approved with the vote of a majority of the deputies present.

Article 111. - (1) A draft law or legislative proposal, in the form resulting from the debate per articles, shall be submitted to the Chamber for approval if the lawful quorum requirements are met.

(2) The final vote may be taken in a sitting dedicated to that purpose, in compliance with the working programme approved. If the debate per articles has not been concluded by the date of the final vote sitting, as set in the agenda, the vote shall be rightfully postponed.

(3) A draft law or legislative proposal to which no amendments have been brought by the date of the voting sitting shall be immediately put to the final vote, after the initiator has presented the reasons supporting it, and the committee notified on the subject matter has presented its report, as well as after hearing the viewpoints of the representatives of the parliamentary groups.

Article 112. - In the instance stipulated under article 37 (c), the debate shall be held under the common legislative procedure, and shall take into consideration all the amendments submitted to the committee within the time limit stipulated under the present Standing Orders, as well as those formulated during debates, under article 108 (3).

Article 113. - (1) Under article 75 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of Romania, republished, the Chamber of Deputies, as a first notified Chamber, shall pronounce on a draft law or legislative proposal within 45 days of the date of its submission to the Standing Bureau. The extremely complex codes and laws shall constitute an exception to this, as the Chamber shall pronounce on them within 60 days of the date of their submission to the Standing Bureau, as well as the emergency ordinances, for which the time limit is 30 days of the date of their submission to the Chamber of Deputies.

(2) On the date of expiry of the time limits stipulated under paragraph (1), the draft laws or legislative proposals shall be deemed adopted by the Chamber of Deputies and shall be referred to the Senate under the signature of the President of the Chamber of Deputies.

(3) The amendments, opinions and, where applicable, the report that has not been debated in the plenum shall be referred to the Senate as a documentary material.

Article 114. - The provisions of articles 93112 shall also be applicable to the draft laws received from the Senate, where the Senate is the first Chamber notified and the Chamber of Deputies is the decisional Chamber.

Section 4
Urgency procedure

Article 115. - (1) At the initiator's request, following a proposal by the Standing Bureau or a Parliamentary Group, the Chamber of Deputies may adopt draft laws or legislative proposals in urgent procedure.

(2) The initiator's request, proposals by the Standing Bureau and Parliamentary Groups shall be submitted for approval to the Parliamentary Group Leaders Committee.

(3) The draft laws dealing with the harmonisation of the Romanian legislation with that of the European Union and the Council of Europe, as well as draft laws regarding the approval or rejection of emergency ordinances shall be rightfully submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, for debate and adoption in urgent procedure.

(4) The urgency procedure shall apply also where the Chamber of Deputies has adopted, as a first notified Chamber, a provision in the draft law that, having not been accepted by the Senate, falls within the Chamber's decisional competence, and was referred back to it for reconsideration. The urgency procedure shall apply also where the Senate, as a decisional Chamber, has adopted, in a draft law, a provision over which the Chamber has decisional competence.

Article 116. - (1) Deputies, Parliamentary Groups, or the Government may present written reasoned amendments, which shall be referred to the Committee notified on the subject matter, within the time limits set under article 65 (4) from the approval of urgency procedure. The opinion by the Legislative Council shall be referred to the Committee notified on the subject matter, under the Law for urgency procedure.

(2) The time limit for report submission shall be set by the Standing Bureau.

Article 117. - After receiving the report by the Committee notified on the subject matter, the Standing Bureau shall give priority to placing on the draft agenda the draft law, the legislative proposal or the provisions referred to in article 115 (4).

Article 118. - (1) At the stage of general debate, each Parliamentary Group is entitled to only one intervention, and the length of a representative's speech may not exceed 5 minutes.

(2) After conclusion of the general debate, the President of the Chamber shall ask the President of the Committee notified on the subject matter or its Rapporteur, as the case may be, for proposals regarding the time needed for debate on the report. The time proposed shall be submitted for approval by the plenum of the Chamber and then the Chamber shall proceed to the debate per articles.

Article 119. - When discussing each article for which amendments have been made, the debate procedure stipulated under articles 107114 shall apply. During debates no amendments may be brought.

Article 120. - (1) The debate on a draft law or legislative proposal in urgent procedure may not exceed the time approved by the Chamber, following the proposal by its president, after consulting the Bureau of the Committee notified on the subject matter.

(2) If the time approved for debates has expired, the debate shall be closed and the President of the Chamber shall put to the vote each amendment comprised in the report of the Committee notified on the subject matter and each amended article. No further interventions shall be allowed. The Chamber shall then proceed to the final vote, which may take place in a special voting sitting.

Section 5
Voting procedure

Article 121. - The laws, decisions, and simple motions shall be adopted by the Chamber of Deputies by putting them to the vote. The laws adopted by the Chamber of Deputies may be constitutional laws, organic laws and ordinary laws.

Article 122. - Any amendment, other legislative text or request that is to be approved shall be deemed adopted if, following a request by the President of the Chamber, there are no objections.

Article 123. - (1) A Deputy's vote shall be private. It may be open or secret.

(2) An open vote shall be cast by electronic means, by a show of hands or by roll-call. The open vote shall be cast, as a rule, by electronic means. The other open vote procedures shall be approved by the Chamber, following a proposal by the Chairman or a group leader.

(3) A vote by electronic means, by a show of hands, or by roll-call shall have the following meanings: "in favour", "against", or "abstention". If a group leader should challenge the correctness of the count of the votes, and if the plenum of the Chamber approves the resumption of the vote, the President shall proceed accordingly using the voting procedure approved by the Chamber.

(4) The secret vote shall be cast by means of ballot papers, balls or by electronic means.

(5) As a rule, the vote shall be open. The vote shall be secret in the following instances: if the Standing Orders stipulate so and if the Chamber decides so, following a proposal by the Chairman or by a Group Leader.

(6) In case of a secret vote cast by ballot papers or balls, a Committee shall be established to at count and validate the votes. The Committee shall be comprised of one representative of each Parliamentary Group, assisted by the two Secretaries of the sitting.

Article 124. - (1) If the vote by electronic means is open, it should be posted on the web site of the Chamber of Deputies for each Member of Parliament, where the vote is final or where the plenum of the Chamber expressly decides so.

(2) The open votes cast by each Deputy in the Standing Bureau on the latter's decisions and in the Parliamentary Committees, for the vote for report approval, shall be put down in the verbatim report or, as the case may be, in the sitting written report.

Article 125. - (1) The roll-call voting procedure is as follows: the President shall explain the matter put to the vote and the meaning of the words: "in favour", "against" and "abstention"; one of the Secretaries shall read the Deputies' full names, and each Deputy shall answer: "in favour", "against" or "abstention".

(2) After concluding the roll-call, the full names of the Deputies who have not answered shall be repeated.

Article 126. - The vote using balls shall take place as follows: a white ballot box and a black ballot box shall be placed before the President of the Chamber of Deputies. The Deputies shall come, one by one, before the ballot boxes, after receiving from the Secretaries two balls, one white and the other black, which they shall place in the two ballot boxes. A white ball placed in the white ballot box and a black ball placed in the black ballot box shall mean an "in favour" vote, whereas a black ball placed in the white ballot box and a white ball placed in the black ballot box shall mean an "against" vote; for a "null vote", both balls shall be placed in the black ballot box. The Standing Bureau shall decide on the means to ensure the secrecy of voting.

Article 127. - (1) The vote by electronic means shall be accomplished by plugging one of the contacts representing a "vote in favour", a "vote against" or an "abstention". The result of the electronic vote shall be displayed following the Chairman's instructions. If the Chairman, assisted by the two secretaries, should notice malfunctions in the circuit connection, he/she shall ask the plenum to repeat the ballot using a different voting procedure. A Group Leader may also notify the Chairman of such malfunctions.

(2) The device enabling a Deputy's access to the electronic voting means shall be personal. Its use by another Deputy shall be forbidden. Failure to comply with this interdiction shall entail the sanction stipulated under article 213 (1) e).

Article 128. - (1) As regards the ballot-paper voting procedure, the ballot-paper shall state the candidates' full names, the positions they stand for, and, as the case may be, the Parliamentary Group to which they belong or which has proposed them.

(2) The votes for appointment to positions shall be cast using ballots-papers, unless the law or the Standing Orders stipulate a different voting procedure.

(3) A Deputy shall vote "in favour" by leaving untouched the full name of the person proposed on the ballot; he/she shall vote "against" by crossing the full name of the person proposed.

(4) Ballots-papers shall be inserted in ballot boxes.

(5) The ballots-papers that do not comply with the design presented, those not bearing the control stamp and those on which the number of candidates whose names have not been crossed exceeds the number of positions for which the election is held shall be null and void.

Article 129. - (1) Constitutional laws shall be adopted with the vote of a majority of at least two thirds of the number of Deputies.

(2) Organic laws and decisions on the Standing Orders of the Chamber of Deputies shall be adopted with the vote of the majority of Deputies.

(3) Ordinary laws and decisions made in the law-making process shall be adopted with the vote of a majority of the Deputies present, provided that the lawful quorum requirements are met.

(4) If the Constitution of Romania, republished, or the Standing Order provides for a majority of votes of at least two thirds and the President notices the impossibility of meeting the majority beforehand requirements, he/she shall defer the voting, setting the day and time for it to take place. A new deferral of the voting may not exceed 30 days.

(5) Unless the present Standing Orders provide otherwise, the other documents of the Chamber of Deputies shall be adopted with the vote of a majority of the Deputies present.

(6) Before the voting takes place, the President may ask for the quorum to be checked by roll call, by electronic means or by counting by the secretaries. The Deputies who do not exercise their right to vote, but who were present in the sitting hall, shall count in the preserviled number for establishing the quorum.

(7) If a majority of the Deputies are not present in the sitting hall, the President shall defer the voting until the legal quorum requirements are met.

Article 130. - (1) In the event of a tie, the voting shall be repeated.

(2) The President of the Chamber shall cast his/her vote after the Deputies present have cast theirs.

Article 131. - During the voting, the Deputies shall not be granted the right to take the floor, if not to speak on the process of the secret voting procedure.

Article 132. - The draft laws and the legislative proposals rejected by the Chamber of Deputies as a decisional Chamber may not be submitted for debate again during the same session, except for the instances stipulated under article 104.

Article 133. - (1) The draft laws and legislative proposals adopted or rejected by the Chamber of Deputies as a first notified Chamber shall be endorsed by its President.

(2) The draft laws and the legislative proposals adopted or rejected by the Chamber of Deputies as a first notified Chamber shall be referred to the Senate, as a decisional Chamber, stating the provisions that pertain to the decisional competence of the Chamber of Deputies, if the case arises. The Government shall be notified of this.

(3) A law adopted by the Chamber of Deputies on which the Senate has pronounced as a first notified Chamber or, as the case may be, as a decisional Chamber for some of the provisions, signed by the President of the Chamber of Deputies and the President of the Senate, shall be communicated to the Government, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the People's Advocate, as well as to the Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies and the Secretary General of the Senate, 5 days before being sent for promulgation, with a view to ensuring exercise of the right to notify the Constitutional Court. If the law is adopted in urgent procedure, the deadline shall be two days.

(4) The date on which the adopted law was forwarded the Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies shall be passed on to the Deputies, within 24 hours of.

(5) After reaching the deadlines stipulated under paragraph (3), the law shall be sent, under the signature of the President of the Chamber of Deputies, to the President of Romania, in view of promulgation.

Article 134. - (1) In the instances of unconstitutionality ascertained under article 146 a) of the Constitution of Romania, republished, the Chamber of Deputies shall re-examine the provisions in question, where it is the first Chamber notified, with a view to reconciling the unconstitutionality instancesthem with the decision of the Constitutional Court, based on the report by the Legal, Discipline and Immunities Committee. The same procedure shall apply where the provisions in question are being sent from the Senate, where it is the first Chamber notified.

(2) The report by the Legal, Discipline and Immunities Committee shall include proposals for the removal of or amendment to the provisions pronounced unconstitutional by the decision of the Constitutional Court. The report by the Committee shall be debated under the provisions of articles 99-112. On the occasion of the reexamination, the Chamber of Deputies shall make the necessary technical-legislative correlations, and after the re-examined provisions are adopted, they shall be forwarded to the Senate.

(3) In the event of notification of unconstitutionality of the international treaties or of other agreements submitted to the Parliament for ratification, under article 146 b) of the Constitution of Romania, republished, the parliamentary procedure shall be suspended, and then resumed after the decision by the Constitutional Court has been published.

(4) In the instances of unconstitutionality ascertained under article 146 b) of the Constitution of Romania, republished, the Chamber of Deputies may not ratify the international treaty or agreement pronounced unconstitutional.

(5) In the instances of unconstitutionality ascertained under article 147 (1) of the Constitution of Romania, republished, the legal effects of the provisions pronounced unconstitutional in the laws, regulations and ordinances approved by the law shall cease 45 days after the decision by the Constitutional Court has been published; for this period of time such provisions shall be rightfully suspended. With a view to harmonising those provisions with the provisions of the Constitution of Romania, the Chamber shall re-examine the texts pronounced unconstitutional based on the report by the Legal, Discipline and Immunities Committe.

(6) The texts pronounced unconstitutional shall be firstly re-examined by the first Chamber notified.

Article 135. - (1) The re-examination of the law by the Chamber of Deputies, following a request by the President of Romania, in accordance with article 77 (2) of the Constitution of Romania, republished, shall take place no later than 30 days of the receipt of the request. The law shall be re-examined first by the Chamber of Deputies where it is the first Chamber notified.

(2) The request of the President of Romania for the re-examination of a law shall be examined by the Standing Committe notified on the subject matter about the draft law or the legislative proposal; the committe shall draw up a report and shall make proposals on the objections raised in the re-examination request.

(3) The report by the commission along with the re-examination request shall be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies for debate following the rules of the legislative procedure.

Article 136. - If a mediation should be necessary, it shall be conducted under the provisions of the regulations, and the report by the Mediation Committe shall be included in the agenda of the Chamber, according to the procedure stipulated under articles 86-110.

Article 137. - (1) The report by the Mediation Committe shall be debated in each Chamber.

(2) Under the procedure of debating a law per articles, only the solutions proposed by the Mediation Committe, and wich are different from those originally adopted by the Chamber shall be put to the vote. In all instances, the report by the Mediation Committe shall be approved with a majority of votes necessary for adopting the law in its final form. The reports by the Mediation Committe shall be approved in the sittings dedicated to the final vote on draft laws.

(3) If the Deputies and Senators approve the law text in the form proposed by the Mediation Committee, the provisions of article 133 (3) shall apply.

Article 138. - If the Mediation Committee should not reach an agreement on the divergent issues or if one of the Chambers should reject the report by the Mediation Committee, entirely or partially, the provisions of article 83 shall apply.

Section 6
Progression of a sitting of the Chamber of Deputies

Article 139. - The sittings of the Chamber of Deputies shall be public and broadcast online, unless, at the request of the President or a Parliamentary Group and based on the vote cast by a majority of the Deputies present it is ruled that certain meetings should be secret.

Article 140. - (1) The public sittings of the Chamber of Deputies may be attended by diplomats, representatives of the press, radio and television channels, as well as other guests, based on accreditations or invitations endorsed by the Secretary General of the Chamber, under the terms established by the Standing Bureau. Citizens may attend the proceedings of the Chamber of Deputies based on passes distributed on request, in the order in which the requests are received, within the number of seats available in the lodges designated for the public.

(2) Members of Government or their representatives shall be entitled to attend the Chamber's sittings. If their attendance should be requested, their presence shall be mandatory.

(3) In the debates on draft laws initiated by the Government, the competent Minister or the Secretary of State for the Relation with Parliament in the Ministry responsible shall be under obligation to attend the sitting; otherwise, the draft law shall be withdrawn from the agenda.

(4) The persons attending the meeting shall maintain silence and refrain from any display of approval or disapproval. Otherwise, they shall be removed from the hall by the public security force made available to the President.

(5) The President of the Chamber, at the request of a Deputy or on his/her own initiative, may, after having consulted the Chamber, make official statements regarding clearly inaccurate information (such as omissions, distortions, etc.) about the proceedings of the Chamber, or regarding comments that might cause harm to the image of the parliamentary institution.

(6) The Division for Communication, Media, and Public Relations of the Chamber of Deputies shall present a daily press review to the Standing Bureau Members, the Parliamentary Groups Leaders, and the Presidents of the Standing Committees.

Article 141. - (1) The Deputies shall be under obligation to attend the Chamber's sittings and sign in on the list of presence, kept by one of the secretaries.

(2) A Deputy who is unable to attend a sitting for objective reasons shall be under obligation to inform the Standing Bureau, in a written statement of reasons, endorsed by his/her group leader, stating the reasons that prevent him/her from participating.

(3) Should a Deputy be unable to explain the reasons of his/her absence, an amount of money representing the 21^st part of his/her monthly emolument shall be withheld per each day of absence, in addition to the travel allowance due to him/her.

Article 142. - (1) The Deputies shall carry out their activities on a weekly basis in the plenum, in Committees, in Parliamentary Groups and in their Constituency Parliamentary Offices. As a rule, the 5th and 6th days of the week shall be reserved for activities in the constituencies in which Deputies were elected.

(2) Following a proposal by the Standing Bureau, and based on approval by the Committee of Parliamentary Group Leaders, the working programme may be altered.

(3) Following a well reasoned request by the Chairman or a Parliamentary Group Leader, made at the beginning of a working sitting in the plenum, the agenda or the working programme may be altered based on the Chamber's approval.

Article 143. - (1) The sitting of the Chamber of Deputies shall be opened by the President of the Chamber of Deputies. In the absence of the President, he/she shall be replaced by one of the Vice-Presidents, by rotation.

(2) The Chairman shall be under obligation to state whether the lawful quorum requirements have been met, to announce the agenda and the working programme.

(3) The President must be assisted by two Secretaries designated by rotation, one of whom shall belong, as a rule, to the opposition.

Article 144. - (1) The Chamber of Deputies shall adopt laws, decisions and simple motions in the presence of the majority of Deputies.

(2) Under the legislative procedure, the provisions of paragraph (1) shall apply only to the vote for adoption of a law in its entirety, and where, under the present Standing Orders, the rejection of a draft law or legislative proposal is put to the vote.

(3) Verification that the quorum requirements have been met shall be requested by the President only in the final voting meetings, immediately before the vote, on his/her own initiative or at the request of a Parliamentary Group Leader.

(4) Should the quorum requirements not be met, the meeting shall be suspended and the President shall state the date and time when proceedings are to be resumed. Resumption of proceedings shall also be done by derogation from the approved agenda, and in observance of the succession laid down in it.

(5) The President of the Chamber of Deputies may require that all the Deputies currently inside the premises of the Chamber should report for voting. Otherwise, they shall be deemed absent, with all the consequences that derive from this.

Article 145. - The President of the Chamber or the Vice-President that replaces him/her shall run the debates, ensure that the agenda is observed during debates, and that the Standing Orders are complied with.

Article 146. - (1) The Secretaries shall draw up lists of Deputies who ask leave to speak.

(2) The Deputies shall take the floor in the order in which their names have been entered in the list, with leave by the President of the Chamber.

(3) The ministers present in the Chamber may be given the floor at all stages of the debates, whenever they should request it.

Article 147. - No one may take the floor unless permitted by the President. The persons who take the floor in the Chamber shall speak at the rostrum or from another place where a microphone is installed.

Article 148. - (1) Following a proposal by the Chairman or by a Parliamentary Group Leader, the plenum of the Chamber of Deputies may reduce the speaking time according to the matter under debate, by putting such measure to the vote.

(2) The Deputies and the other persons who take the floor shall be under obligation to refer only to the matter for the discussion of which they have asked leave to speak, except for political statements, which shall be made during the time interval allocated to them, according to the schedule. Otherwise, the Chairman shall summon them and, should they not comply, withdraw the floor from them and cut off the sound in their microphone.

Article 149. - (1) Outside the legislative or political debates that are held in the Chamber, according to the agenda, a Deputy may ask leave to speak on matters of procedure, for the right to a reply, or to communicate a matter of personal interest to the plenum.

(2) When a Deputy requests the floor on matters of procedure or for the right to a reply, the President shall be under obligation to give him/her the floor without delay.

(3) A Deputy may request the floor for matters of procedure only if he/she should consider that, at that time of the debate, certain provisions of the Standing Orders have been breached, provisions to which he/she shall refer in his/her intervention.

(4) A Deputy may request the right to a reply if, at that time of the debate, incorrect or offensive allegations were made against him/her on the microphone of the Chamber of Deputies. The right to a reply shall be formulated in such a manner as not to generate a new right to a reply.

(5) A Deputy may request the floor in order to present a problem of personal interest which is related to his/her capacity as a Deputy, and the Chairman shall give him/her the floor at the beginning or the end of the plenary sitting.

(6) The speeches made in compliance with the provisions of paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) shall not exceed two minutes.

Article 150. - (1) The Chairman or the leader of a Parliamentary Group may request closure of debate on a matter placed before the Chamber.

(2) The proposal for closure of debate shall be adopted based on the vote by a majority of the Deputies present.

Article 151. - (1) Uttering insults or slanders either at the rostrum of the Chamber of Deputies or in the meeting hall during a plenary sitting or in a Committee meeting shall be prohibited.

(2) Dialogue between a speaker at the rostrum and the persons in the hall shall be prohibited.

Article 152. - The Chairman shall call to order the Deputies who disturb the debate or cause disorder. Should the disturbance persist, he/she may interrupt the sitting and may order the exclusion from the hall of the persons who prevent in any way the normal conduct of the proceedings.

Article 153. - (1) The debates in the sittings of the Chamber of Deputies shall be recorded by electronic means and in verbatim reports.

(2) The verbatim reports shall be posted on the web site of the Chamber of Deputies and published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part II, within ten days, except for those concerning secret meetings.

(3) A summary of the Standing Bureau meetings and of the Committee meetings shall be posted on the web site of the Chamber of Deputies within ten days at the most, except for secrets meetings.

(4) Deputies shall be entitled to verify the accuracy of a verbatim report, by confronting it with the electronic recording, no later than five days of the meeting date.

(5) The Deputies shall not be entitled to obtain a copy of the verbatim report before it is published in the Official Gazette of Romania.

Section 7
Procedure of commencement of a criminal investigation of Members of the Government

Article 154. - The Chamber of Deputies shall be entitled to request that a criminal investigation be commenced on Members of the Government.

Article 155. - (1) The debate on the request stipulated under article 154 shall be based on a report prepared either by a Standing Committee, following an enquiry carried out under the terms of article 71, or by a Special Enquiry Committee established for that purpose. If the Minister in question is also a Deputy, the request shall be forwarded for examination to the Legal, Discipline and Immunities Committee, which shall draw up a report to be placed before the Chamber.

(2) The reports stipulated under paragraph (1) shall have precedence on the draft agenda.

(3) The request shall be adopted with the vote of at least two thirds of the number of Deputies.

Article 156. - If the Chamber of Deputies should decide to request that a criminal investigation be commenced, the President of the Chamber shall submit a request for commencement of a criminal investigation to the Minister of Justice, under the law. He/she shall also notify the President of Romania of a possible suspension from office of the Member of Government whose criminal investigation has been requested.

Article 157. - The provisions of articles 123-153 shall apply accordingly.