Tabling of Bills
83.
(1)
The President or the Council of Ministers may cause a bill to be presented by a
Minister before the National Legislative Assembly or the Council of States
subject to their respective competences.
(2)
A member of the National Legislature may table a private member bill before the
House to which he or she belongs on a matter that falls within the competence of
that House.
(3)
A private member bill shall not be tabled before the appropriate House save after
having been referred to the appropriate committee to determine whether it
involves an important issue of public interest.
(4)
The Inter-House Committee of the National Legislature may present a bill before
either House of the National Legislature subject to their respective competences.
Procedures for Presentation and Consideration of Bills
84.
(1)
Bills presented to either House of the National Legislature shall be submitted for
the first reading by being cited by title. The bill shall then be submitted for a
second reading for general deliberation and approval in principle. If the bill is
passed in the second reading, there shall be a third reading for deliberation in
detail and introduction of, and decision upon, any amendment. The bill shall then
be submitted in its final form for the final reading, at which stage the text of the
bill shall not be subject to further discussion and shall be passed section by
section and then passed as a whole.
(2)
After the first reading, the Speaker of the House concerned shall refer the bill to
the appropriate committee, which shall make a general evaluation report for the
purpose of the second reading. The committee shall also present a report on the
amendments that the committee might or might not have endorsed in the second
reading for the decision in the third reading; the Speaker of the concerned House
may also refer the bill once again to the appropriate committee to prepare a report
in a final draft in preparation for the final reading.
(3)
The Speaker of the concerned House or the appropriate committee may seek
expert opinion on the viability and rationale of the bill; an interested body may
also be invited to present views on the impact and propriety of the bill.
(4)
The House concerned may, by a special resolution, decide on any bill as a general
committee or by summary proceedings.
Assent of the President
85.
(1)
Any bill approved by the National Legislature shall not become a law unless the
President assents to it and signs it into law. If the President withholds assent for
thirty days without giving reasons, the bill shall be deemed to have been so
signed.
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