Chapter II. The Legislative Power
Article 18.
The people shall exercise the legislative power through the Chamber of Deputies, the Chamber of Advisors, or by means of a referendum.
The members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by universal, free, direct, and secret vote in accordance with the methods and conditions set by the Electoral Code.
Article 19.
The Chamber of Advisors is composed of advisors whose number shall not exceed that of two-thirds of the members of the Chamber of Deputies. The Electoral Code shall determine the procedure for setting the number every six years, on the basis of the number of members o f the Chamber of Deputies in office.
The members of the Chamber of Advisors shall be designated as follows:
One or two members from each governorate according to population, shall be elected at the regional level, from among the elected members of local authorities.
One-third of the members shall be elected at the national level among employers, farmers and workers. Candidates shall be proposed by the concerned professional organizations, from lists comprising at least twice the number of seats allocated for each category. Seats are distributed equally among the concerned sectors.
The members of the Chamber of Advisors are elected by free and secret ballot by the elected members of local authorities.
The Electoral Code defines the methods and terms concerning the election of the members of the Chamber of Advisors.
The remaining members of the Chamber of Advisors are appointed by the President of the Republic from prominent figures and national competences.
The members of the Chamber of Advisors must not be bound by local or sectorial interests.
Concurrent membership of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Chamber of Advisors is not allowed.
Article 20.
Any citizen of Tunisian Nationality for at least five years, eighteen years-old completed and meeting the conditions provided for by the electoral law shall be an elector.
Article 21.
Any voter born of a Tunisian father or mother and who is at least twenty-three years of age on the day he submits his candidacy, is eligible for election to the Chamber of Deputies.
A candidate to the Chamber of Advisors must be born of a Tunisian father or mother; he must also be at least forty years of age on the day he submits his candidacy, and he must be a voter.
These conditions apply to all the members of the Chamber of Advisors.
A candidate to the Chamber of Advisors must also have, as the case may be, a professional capacity entitling him to stand as candidate for the sector of employers, fanners or wage-earners.
Each member of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Chamber of Advisors shall, before assuming his functions, take the following oath:
“I swear by God the Almighty to serve my country loyally, to respect the Constitution and to pledge allegiance exclusively to Tunisia.”
Article 22.
The Chamber of Deputies is elected for five years during the last thirty days of its mandate.
The term for the members of the Chamber of Advisors is six years. Half of its composition is renewed every three years.
Article 23.
Should war or imminent peril make it impossible to hold elections, the current mandates of the Chamber of Deputies or of the Chamber of Advisors are extended by a law adopted by the Chamber of Deputies, until such time as it is possible to proceed with the elections. In this case, the extension applies to the remaining members of the Chamber of Advisors.
Article 24.
The headquarters of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Chamber of Advisors shall be located in Tunis and its suburbs. However, under exceptional circumstances, one of the chambers or both of them may hold their sessions at any other location within the territory of the Republic.
Article 25.
Every deputy is the representative of the entire Nation.
Article 26.
A member of the Chamber of Deputies or a member of the Chamber of Advisors may not be prosecuted, arrested, or tried for opinions expressed, proposals made , or acts carried out in the exercise of his mandate within each chamber.
Article 27.
No member of the Chamber of Deputies or of the Chamber of Advisors may, during his mandate, be prosecuted or arrested for a crime or misdemeanor, so long as the concerned chamber has not lifted the immunity protecting him.
In the event of flagrante delicto, however, a deputy may be placed under arrest. The concerned chamber must be informed without delay. The detention is suspended if the concerned member so requests.
During its recess, the concerned chamber is replaced by its bureau.
Article 28.
The Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors exercise the legislative power, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
The power to initiate laws is shared equally by the President of the Republic and the members of the Chamber of Deputies. Priority is given to bills submitted by the President of the Republic.
Bills submitted by the members of the Chamber of Deputies are not acceptable if their adoption leads to the reduction of public resources or adds news costs or expenses.
These provisions apply also to amendments introduced into the bills.
The Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors may authorize the President of the Republic, for a set period of time and for a specific purpose to issue decree-laws which he submits, as the case may be, to ratification by the Chamber of Deputies or by both chambers, upon expiration of that period.
The Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors adopt organic law bills by an absolute majority of their respective members, and adopt ordinary laws bills by a majority of the members present. This majority must not be less than one-third of the members of the concerned chamber.
A bill for an organic law may not be submitted to deliberation by the Chamber of Deputies until two weeks after it has been tabled.
Laws considered to be of an organic nature are those specified by Articles 4, 8, 9, 10, 33, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 and 75 of the Constitution. The Electoral Code is an organic law.
The Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors adopt draft finance laws and bills concerning regulation of the budget under the terms provided for by organic budget law. If on December 31 the Chamber of Advisors does not adopt the draft finance laws whereas the Chamber of Deputies adopts them before that date, the laws are submitted to the President of the Republic for promulgation.
The budget must be adopted on December 31 at the latest. If the two chambers have not voted on the budget by that date, the provisions of the draft finance laws may be implemented by decree, in renewable quarterly installments.
Article 29.
The Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors meet each year in ordinary session beginning during the month of October and ending during the month of July. However, the first session of the legislature of the Chamber of Deputies begins during the fortnight following its election. The same deadline applies during the renewal of half of the members of the Chamber of Advisors.
In case the beginning of the first session of the legislature of the Chamber of Deputies coincides with its recess, a fifteen-day session is open.
During the summer recess, the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors meet in extraordinary session at the request of the President of the Republic or of the majority of the members of the Chamber of Deputies, to look into a specific agenda.
Article 30.
Both the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors elect, from among their members, standing committees which work without interruption, even during the recess of the two chambers.
Both the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors elect, from among their members, committees to examine the draft development plan, and other committees to examine the draft finance laws. Besides, each chamber elects, from among its members, a special committee for parliamentary immunity and a special committee for the drafting or modification of the internal regulation.
Article 31.
During the recess of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors, the President of the Republic may issue decree-laws which will be submitted, as the case may be, for ratification by the Chamber of Deputies or by the two chambers, during the ordinary session following the recess.
Article 32.
The President of the Republic shall ratify treaties.
Treaties concerning the State’s borders, commercial treaties, treaties related to international organization, treaties concerning financial commitments of the State, as well as treaties including provisions of a legislative nature or relating to the status of persons, may be ratified only after being approved by the Chamber of Deputies.
Treaties come into force only following their ratification and provided they are applied by the other party. Treaties ratified by the President of the Republic and approved by the Chamber of Deputies have a higher authority than that of laws.
Article 33
Bills presented by the President of the Republic shall be submitted, as the case may be, to the Chamber of Deputies or to both Chambers.
The President of the Chamber of Deputies shall notify the President of the Republic and the President of the Chamber of Advisors whenever a bill is adopted by the Chamber of Deputies. The notification shall be accompanied by the text adopted.
The Chamber of Advisors shall finish the examination of the bill adopted by the Chamber of Deputies within a maximum period of fifteen days.
If the Chamber of Advisors adopts the bill without introducing any amendments, the President of this Chamber shall submit the bill to the President of the Republic for promulgation, and shall inform the President of the Chamber of Deputies thereof. The notification shall be accompanied by the text adopted.
In case the Chamber of Advisors does not adopt the text within the period defined in paragraph 3 of the present article, the president of the Chamber of Deputies shall submit the bill adopted by the Chamber of Deputies to the President of the Republic for promulgation.
If the Chamber of Advisors adopts the bill with amendments, the President of the Chamber of Advisors shall submit the bill to the President of the Republic and informs the President of the Chamber of Deputies thereof.
A joint parliamentary committee composed of members of the two chambers shall be established, on a proposal from the government, with a view to preparing, within a week, a joint text approved by the government, including the provisions on which there is disagreement between the two chambers.
If there is agreement on a joint text, it shall be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies for final consideration within a week. However, the text may be amended only following approval by the government.
The President of the Chamber of Deputies shall submit to the President of the Republic, for promulgation, and as the case may be, either the bill that the Chamber has adopted without having accepted the amendments, or the bill as amended, in case of its adoption by the Chamber.
If the joint committee fails to agree on a joint text within the set period, the President of the Chamber of Deputies submits to the President of the Republic the bill adopted by this chamber for promulgation.
The procedures provided for in paragraphs 2 and 4 of the present article applies to the bills presented on the initiative of the members of the Chamber of Deputies. In case the Chamber of Advisors introduces amendments, a joint committee composed of members from the two chambers shall be established to draft, within a week, a joint text including the provisions on which there is disagreement. In case a joint text is adopted, this text shall be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies for final decision. In this case, paragraph 8 of the present article shall apply.
The recesses of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Advisors suspend the deadlines provided for in the present article.
The organization of the work of each of the two chambers is defined by law and by internal regulations. The law also defines relations between the two chambers.
Article 34.
Texts pertaining to the following are adopted in the form of laws:
- the general conditions for enforcing the Constitution, other than those to be specified by organic laws;
the creation of different categories of public establishments and enterprises; citizenship, individual status and obligations; procedure before different orders of courts; determination of crimes and misdemeanors and the applicable sentences; as well as penal infractions subject to prison sentences; amnesty; the tax base, tax rates and tax collection procedures, except where the Finance and tax laws delegate specific powers to the President; the system of currency issuance government borrowings and financial commitments; basic guarantees accorded to civilian and military officials.
The law sets the basic principles for the following:
- the system of property and real rights;
education; public health; labor law and social security.
Article 35.
Subjects other than those falling within the domain of the law come under the general regulatory power. Texts related to these subjects can be modified by decree upon recommendation by the Constitutional Council.
The President of the Republic may object to the inadmissibility of any bill of law or amendment presented in the field of general regulatory power. In this case, he submits the issue to the Constitutional Council, which hands down its decision within ten days of receiving it.
Article 36.
The development plan shall be approved by law.
The law authorizes State resources and expenditures under the terms specified in the organic budget law.
