Rvs-Cde  Council of State
 

What is the procedure before the Legislation Section ?


Requests for an opinion are received at the Statutes and regulations registry, are enrolled and sent to the Auditors' Office.

A member from the Auditors' Office examines the dossier and, where appropriate, gets in touch with the "official designated by the Minister" who answers questions or objections concerning the text. The Auditor draws up a report which is a critical analysis of the text. He presents the report at the hearing of the Legislation Section. He attends the debates in the Chamber in an advisory capacity. The report includes in some cases a second part about the respect of legislative drafting rules, i.e. rules relating to the clarity and to the consistency in the presentation of the texts examined (choice of legal terminology, punctuation, order of Articles ... ).   

Documentalists from the Auditor's Office draw up a note to facilitate the Legislation Section's task. This documentation note contains texts on which the draft is based, those which it refers to or should refer to as well as precedents.

The Chambers of the  Legislation Section are entitled  to consult experts. They may also hear the official designated by the Minister.

At the sitting of the Legislation Section, the members of the Chamber examine the texts and deliver their opinion on the basis of the Auditor's report. The opinion is either dictated at the sitting to the Registrar who transcribes it afterwards before submitting it to the members of the Chamber  for approval, or a member of the Chamber (magistrate or assessor) is appointed to draw up a draft opinion which will be submitted at a later moment to the other members for approval. The final opinion is subsequently  sent by the Registrar to the Statutes and regulations Registry for administrative follow-up. It is then notified by the Registry to the requesting  authority.
 
What are the deadlines for delivering an opinion ?
Under what circumstances does the Legislation Section sit in extended composition ?

The organisation of the Legislation Section is governed by the following Articles of the Coordinated Laws (FR - NL) :

  • Art. 79
  • Art. 80
  • Art. 81
  • Art. 82
  • Art. 83
  • Art. 84
  • Art. 85
  • Art. 85bis
  
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