House of Commons (Czech Republic)

See also: House of Commons

The Sněmovna (complete name: Poslanecká sněmovna Parlamentu České republiky ) is the House of Commons and the Lower House of the Czech Republic. After having occupied the Rudolfinum in the Inter-war period, it sits street Sněmovní, in the district of Malá Strana with Prague.

Sněmovna as a Lower House of a sovereign independent State is as young as the Czech Republic. The first elections were held in 1996: from 1993 to 1996 they are the Czech deputies elected with the Czechoslovakian House of Commons who sat.

200 deputies elected for four years by the vote for all (poll proportional of list to a turn) sit at the House of Commons.

Linguistic preamble

The Sněm indicates the diet a long time States of the crown of Bohemia. “ Sněmovna ” is built on this root with the rental suffix “ - ovna ”.

As in French with the “ room of the deputies”, by Métonymie, the “sněmovna” ended up indicating the Institution.

Attributions

Sněmovna has the functions and the traditional capacities of a Lower House of a Western democratic country: it invests the government on a proposal from the President of the Republic, can censure this one, profits from the capacity from legislative initiative and vote the laws. In the event of conflict with the Senate it has preeminence on this one in second reading. At the end of two unfruitful attempts at nomination, it is to the President of the Room that the prerogative falls, normally reserved to the President of the republic, to propose a government.

Dissolution

Sněmovna can be dissolved only by the President of the Czech Republic, but this capacity of dissolution is not discrétionnaire and its exercise is not possible that when one of the four following conditions is filled:

  • third successive refusal of the nomination of a government (thus after the refusal of the government presented by the President of the Parliament);
  • when Sněmovna does not come to a conclusion within three month on a bill about which the government engaged its responsibility;
  • adjournment exceeding the 120 days;
  • when it cannot deliberate within a three months deadline, if there were not adjournment and if there were convocations repeated for its meeting.

Sněmovna never yet was dissolved. The constitutional law 69/1998, while modifying the electoral system, made even less probable the supervening of the third and fourth conditions.

Organization

Sněmovna is chaired by a president elected by the Parliament, which is assisted by five vice-presidents. As it is of use, work of the House of Commons is organized by committees and commissions which follow each one a particular subject (social affairs, European education, culture, businesses…). In the event of need the House of Commons can decide to constitute boards of inquiry.

The current president (at January 20th, 2007) is Miloslav Vlček (Parti social democrat Czech). The vice-presidents are:

  • Miroslava Němcová (civic democratic party)

  • Lubomír Zaorálek (Left social democrat Czech)
  • Jan Kasal (democratic Christian union)
  • Lucie Talmanová (civic democratic party)
  • Vojtěch Filip (Communist party of Bohemia and Moravie)

The Czech deputies enjoy the parliamentary Privilege whose the elected officials profit traditionally from the parliamentary democracies. The amount of their M.P.'s salary is definitely lower than those of the countries of Western Europe and North.

Composition

Composition after the elections of the June 2nd and 3rd 2006

  • civic Democratic party (right liberal) - 81 deputies
  • Left social democrat Czech (social democrats) - 74 deputies
  • Communist party of Bohemia and Moravie - 26 deputies
  • democratic Christian union (center right) - 13 deputies
  • Left ecologist - 6 deputies

See the complete listing of the 200 deputies.

Last polls

Elections of 1996

Elections of 1998

  • Left social democrat Czech - 74 deputies
  • civic Democratic party - 63 deputies
  • Communist party Bohemia and Moravie - 24 deputies
  • democratic Christian union - 20 deputies
  • Union Freedom (center liberals) - 19 deputies

Elections of 2002

  • Left social democrat Czech - 7O appointed
  • civic Democratic party - 58 deputies
  • Communist party Bohemia and Moravie - 41 deputies
  • democratic Christian union - 13 deputies
  • Union the democratic Freedom-Union (center pro Europeans) - 13 deputies

Legislative effort

In January 1990, if the Communist regime falls, nothing is ready at the legislative level to make so that the economy of the Czech Republic functions according to the market economy. It is necessary to reform the Code of the trade, the Code of the taxes, etc the Room of the deputies, sticks with zeal to the task:
  • 161 laws passed on average in the Eighties
  • 610 laws passed on average in the three years which follow the Révolution of velvet
  • 330 laws passed on average in the remainder of the Nineties
  • 570 laws passed on average between 2000 and 2006 in order to prepare the integration in the European Community and to catch up with the community asset

The legislative effort is, one sees it, considerable as well for the deputies as for the undertaken Czech which must constantly be maintained up to date of a legislation in constant change.

External bonds

  • Official site

Sources and references

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