constituteproject.org PDF generated: 18 Apr 2016, 15:15 When Parliament meets in joint session, the meeting shall be chaired by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and in case of his/her absence, by the President of the Senate. The President of the Republic, after consultation with both Bureaux of the Chambers of Parliament and the Supreme Court, may establish other matters that may be considered jointly by both Chambers. • Length of legislative sessions Article 71 The Chambers of Parliament shall hold three (3) ordinary sessions of two (2) months each:   1°. the first session shall commence on February 5th ;   2°. the second session shall commence on June 5th ;   3°. the third session shall commence on October 5th . Where the commencement date of a session falls on a non working day, the opening of the session shall be postponed to the following day; or, if the following day is a holiday, to the next working day. • Extraordinary legislative sessions • Standing committees Article 72 Each Chamber of Parliament meets in an extraordinary session upon convocation by its Speaker or President, as the case may be, after consultation with other members of the Bureau or upon the request of the President of the Republic on the Cabinet's proposal or that of a quarter of members of the Chamber. An extraordinary joint session of Parliament may be convened by common agreement between the Speaker and the President of the Chambers, or at the request of the President of the Republic or that of one quarter (1/4) of members of each Chamber. The extraordinary session shall handle only the issues for which it has been convened and which have previously been brought to the notice of members of the Chamber or the Parliament before commencement of the session. The session shall close upon conclusion of consideration of matters on the agenda for which the session was convened. An extraordinary session shall not exceed fifteen (15) days. • Legislative committees Article 73 Each Chamber of Parliament shall adopt an Organic Law establishing its internal rules. • Standing committees Rwanda 2003 (rev. 2010) Such Organic Law shall determine inter alia:   1°. the powers of the Bureau of each Chamber;   2°. the number, duties, powers and procedure of appointment of standing committees, without prejudice to the right of each Chamber to establish ad hoc committees; Page 21