1. Motions

Article 158. - (1) A simple motion may be initiated by at least 50 Deputies, and shall state their position on a particular matter of domestic or foreign policy, or, as the case may be, on an issue having formed the subject of an interpellation.

(2) Before completion of debate on a simple motion, a Deputy who has endorsed it may not endorse another simple motion on the same matter.

(3) Initiation of censure motions shall take place under the terms stipulated under article 78 of the Rules of Procedure of the joint sittings of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

(4) The President of the Chamber shall disregard the simple motions that do not meet the requirements stipulated under paragraph (1) or those the object of which is typical of a censure motion.

Article 159. - (1) Simple motions shall be reasoned and shall be submitted to the Chairman during public sittings.

(2) After receiving a simple motion, the President of the Chamber shall immediately place it before the Government and notify the Chamber of it, then have it displayed at the Chamber of Deputies' headquarters.

Article 160. - (1) The President of the Chamber shall set the date of the debate on a simple motion, which may not exceed six days of its registration, and shall notify the Government to that effect.

(2) Simple motions on matters of foreign policy shall be subject to debate only if accompanied by the opinion of the Foreign Policy Committee and after consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Article 161. - Debate on a simple motion shall be held in compliance with the provisions stipulated under articles 139-153 and shall be approved based on the vote of a majority of the Deputies present.

Article 162. - After commencement of discussions on a simple motion, Deputies may no longer withdraw their endorsement of that motion, and the debate shall be concluded with the motion being put to the vote by the President of the Chamber.

Article 163. - Amendments may not be proposed to the simple motions under consideration.

Article 164. - If a simple motion is approved, the decision made by the Chamber shall be forwarded to the Government, which shall take into consideration the position stated in the content of that motion.

1. Questions

a) Common provisions

Article 165. - (1) Each Deputy may formulate written questions or put oral questions to the Government, Ministers or other heads of public administration bodies. He/She may require an oral or a written answer or both.

(2) A question shall consist of a simple request to answer whether or not a fact is true, whether or not an information is accurate, whether or not the Government or other public administration bodies will release to the Chamber the information and documents required by the Chamber of Deputies or by the Parliamentary Committees, or if the Government intends to rule on a particular matter.

Article 166. - (1) The President of the Chamber shall be entitled to dismiss questions that:

(2) If the Deputy who put a question to which he/she requested an oral answer is not in the meeting hall, the Member of the Government shall submit a written answer to the Secretary of the Chamber, who is in the Presidium.

(3) In well justified instances, if the Deputy who requested an oral answer is not able to be present in the meeting hall on the day on which, as he/she has been advised by the Secretary of the Chamber, he/she was scheduled for receiving an answer, but wishes to be given the opportunity to formulate possible objections to the answer given, he/she may request a deferral of reply only once. The Deputy's request for a deferral of answer shall be submitted to the designated Secretary of the Chamber and notified to the Minister for the Relation with Parliament.

(4) The questions to which no answer has been given shall be published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part II, at the end of each ordinary session.

b) Oral questions

Article 167. - (1) Between 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm on every other Monday, Deputies may put oral questions to Members of the Government. The oral questions shall be addressed by a Deputy to the Member of the Government who is competent in that field.

(2) The subject of oral questions shall be notified in writing and filed with the designated Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies no later than 2.00 pm on the Wednesday of the week preceding the one when the question is to be raised. The Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies shall inform the Minister for the Relation with Parliament on the oral questions to which Members of the Government are to answer during the meeting dedicated to such matters.

(3) The answers to oral questions shall be given within 15 days of the date of them being transmitted by the Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies.

Article 168. - (1) An oral question shall be presented briefly, in a time interval not to exceed two minutes. The competent Minister shall answer the question raised to him/her in no more than three minutes. After hearing the answer, the author of the question may intervene with precisions and comments, without exceeding two minutes. The Minister in question may exercise his/her right a to reply for the same time interval. No other intervention regarding that question may be made.

(2) A Member of the Government may only defer the answer to an oral question for the following week in well justified instances.

(3) If the Government Member to whom the question was addressed is not present, the answer shall be given in the following week's meeting dedicated to oral questions. The President of the Chamber of Deputies shall inform the Prime Minister of the deferred answers.

c) Written questions

Article 169. - (1) Any Deputy shall be entitled to put to the Government, its Members, or to other heads of the public administration bodies, written questions that shall be deposited with the designated Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies.

(2) Deputies who put written questions shall state whether they wish to receive a written or an oral answer or both.

(3) The written questions shall be forwarded to the Member of the Government and the other public authorities by the designated Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies.

Article 170. - (1) Answers to written questions shall be sent to the Deputies within 15 days. Both the written questions and their answers shall be posted on the web site of the Chamber.

(2) The questions requiring an oral answer given at the rostrum of the Chamber of Deputies shall be entered in the agenda in the order of receipt of the answers to them, but no later than 15 days of the date of them being filed.

(3) The answers to the questions stipulated under paragraph (2) shall be given during the 30 minutes following the time period allocated to oral questions. An answer may not exceed three minutes. If the answer to a question generates a reply by the person having raised the question, the time for reply shall not exceed three minutes.

(4) The written answers to written questions shall be handed over, by the representative of the authority having raised them, to the Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies in charge of questions and interpellations.

Article 171. - Should the time allocated to answers to questions be insufficient, the answers that have not been presented shall be entered in the agenda of the following Monday's sitting.

Article 172. - No Deputy may put more than two questions during the same sitting.

3. Interpelations

Article 173. - (1) Interpellations shall be made in writing, and state their subbject matter, without any further developments.

(2) An interpellation shall consist of a request made to the Government by a Parliamentary Group, or by one or several Deputies, for explanations on the Government's policy on important matters of its domestic or foreign activities. The Government and each of its Members shall answer the interpellations within two weeks at the most. For justifiable reasons, the Chamber may grant a new deadline.

(3) Interpellations shall be read in Monday's public sitting, dedicated to questions, between 7.30 pm and 8.00 pm, after which they shall be submitted to the President of the Chamber in order for them to be forwarded to the Prime Minister.

Article 174. - (1) Interpellations shall be recorded, in the order of their presentation, in a special book and displayed at the Chamber's headquarters.

(2) Interpellations shall be developped on Monday's sitting, which alternate with the sittings dedicated to questions. On the Mondays dedicated to answers to interpellations, the sittings shall take place between 6.30 pm and 7.30. The length of an interpellation may not exceed five minutes.

(3) In the sitting dedicated to debates on interpellations, a Parliamentary Group may not present more than one interpellation. If the time dedicated to interpellations allows it, a Parliamentary Group may also make a second interpellation.

Article 175. - (1) In the meeting dedicated to interpellations, the person making the interpellation, and then the Prime Minister or his Representative, who may be a Minister or a Secretary of State, shall be given the floor. The answer to an interpellation shall not exceed five minutes. The author of the interpellation may intervene with additional questions and comments, without exceeding two minutes. The Prime Minister or his Representative who answers the interpellation shall be allocated two minutes to exercise his/her right to a reply. After that, no other interventions may be accepted in relation to that interpellation.

(2) The Ministers being called upon or the Secretaries of State designated by them shall attend the sitting dedicated to answers to interpellations.

Article 176. - The Chamber of Deputies may adopt a simple motion to express its position on the issue having made the subject of an interpellation.

Article 177. - Every two weeks, on the Monday that is dedicated to answers to interpellations, between 6.00 pm and 6.30 pm, the Deputies may call upon the Prime Minister. Their interpellations shall have to deal with the Government's policy on important matters of its domestic or foreign activities.

(2) The interpellations which are to be addressed to the Prime Minister shall be submitted to the designated Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies by 2.00 pm on the Wednesday of the week preceding the Prime Minister's answers.

Article 178. - Interpellations shall be addressed in the order of their submission to the designated Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies. An interpellation shall not exceed three minutes. The Prime Minister shall answer an interpellation in no more than five minutes. After hearing the answer, the author of the interpellation may intervene with additional questions and comments, without exceeding two minutes. The Prime Minister shall be allocated two minutes to exercise his/her right to a reply. After that, no other intervention may be made in relation to that interpellation.

Article 179. - Under well justified circumstances, the Prime Minister's interpellation may be postponed for no longer than one week.

Article 180. - (1) At the request of one or several Parliamentary Groups or of the Prime Minister, political debates may be held, once a month, in the plenum of the Chamber of Deputies, with the Prime Minister's attendance, on matters of major interest to the political, economic and social life.

(2) The request shall be submitted to the Standing Bureau in writing, stating the proposed matter for debate.

(3) The Standing Bureau shall inform the Prime Minister, or the Prime Minister shall inform the Standing Bureau, respectively, and set the date for the debate, which may not exceed six days of the request submission.

(4) The Prime Minister's attendance at the requested debate is mandatory.

(5) A Parliamentary Group may only request one political debate per session. The Prime Minister may request no more than two political debates per session.

4. Information of the Chamber of Deputies and of Deputies

Article 181. - The Chamber of Deputies and the Deputies shall be entitled to obtain from the public administration bodies the information necessary for carrying out their activities.

Article 182. - (1) A Deputy may ask the elected bodies of the central and local public administration, by means of a request submitted to the President of the Chamber of Deputies or the President of the Standing Committee to which he/she belongs, for any information or documents, in the form of certified copies, that are useful for carrying out his/her activities. Should such request refer to state secrets of special importance, it may be rejected. Such rejection shall be notified to the Chamber of Deputies, which will rule on it in a secret sitting.

(2) Should the information or documents requested concern state secrets, the Government shall notify the Chamber of Deputies about it, and the Chamber shall rule on in a secret sitting, under the law.

(3) The documents shall be returned after consultation.

5. Petitions

Article 183. - (1) Anyone shall be entitled to address the Chamber of Deputies with petitions.

(2) The petition shall be submitted in writing and signed, stating the petitioner's or one of the petitioners' address.

Article 184. - The petitions shall be recorded in a register, in the order of their receipt, stating the registration number, the full name and address of the petitioner, and the subject of the request. The electronic form of the register shall be posted on the web site of the Chamber of Deputies.

Article 185. - (1) The registered petitions shall be referred to the Committee for the Investigation of Abuses, Corruption and for Petitions, and to other Standing Committees, for debate and solving.

(2) Any Member of the Chamber may become acquainted with the content of a petition, by addressing the President of the notified Committee to that effect.

Article 186. - (1) The notified Committee shall decide, within ten days, on whether to send the petition to a competent public authority or classify it.

(2) The solution adopted shall be brought to the petitioner's knowledge.

Article 187. - (1) The Committe for the Investigation of Abuse, Corruption and for Petitions shall present to the Standing Bureau, every six months, and to the Chamber, at the beginning of each session, a report on the petitions received and on their solutions.

(2) The report shall mention the solutions found by the public authorities to the petitions referred to them for solving.

(3) The public authorities that have received petitions to solve shall be under obligation to send the solutions adopted to the Committee, within one month of the receipt of the petition.

6. Political statements

Article 188. - (1) On Tuesday every week, the first 90 minutes of the sitting shall be set aside for the Deputies' political statements.

(2) The 90 minutes shall be distributed per Parliamentary Groups belonging to the Majority, Parliamentary Groups belonging to the Opposition and per Deputies who do not belong to such Groups. If the allocated time should not be exhausted, the Chairman may continue to give the floor, in compliance with the same rule.

(3) Every week, the speaking order shall alternate between Parliamentary Groups.

(4) The duration of a speech may not exceed three minutes.

Article 189. - (1) Deputies shall deposit their request of leave to speak on current matters until Monday, 8.00 pm, with the designated Secretary of the Chamber of Deputies, except for unexpected circumstances.

(2) Requests to deliver various speeches dedicated to anniversaries, commemorations, etc., shall be deposited one week in advance, until Monday, 8.00 pm, with the designated Secretary.

Article 190. - If the topics and content of a speech are related to the Government's activities and policies, the relevant excerpt from the verbatim report shall be forwarded to the Minister for the Relation with Parliament.