Acts

Rules of Procedure

VIII. PROCEDURE OF ADOPTING LAWS AND OTHER NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DOCUMENTS

1. Documents Adopted by the National Assembly

Article 134

The National Assembly shall adopt: Bills, the budget, development plans, zoning plans, the end-of-year balance, Rules of Procedure, declarations, resolutions, recommendations, decisions, conclusions and authentic interpretations of any documents passed by it.

2. Proposing a Bill

Article 135

The Government, every Deputy, the Assembly of the Autonomous Province or at least 15,000 registered voters shall be entitled to propose Bills, other regulations and by-laws.

Article 132

Any entity authorised to propose a Bill shall submit the Bill in the form in which the law is to be adopted, along with an explanatory note.
The explanatory note must contain:
- Constitutional basis;
- Reasons for the adoption of the law;
- Explanation of the main legal institutions and individual solutions contained therein;
- Estimate of the funds required for the implementation of the law;
- General interest why the Bill is proposed to apply retroactively, if the Bill contains provisions foreseeing retroactive application;
- Overview of provisions to be amended and/or modified, if a Bill amending and/or modifying an existing piece of legislation is being proposed.
As a rule, the proposer of a Bill shall include in the explanatory note grounds for the law in legislation of the European Union and generally accepted guidelines of international law.
If a group of Deputies is the proposer, their proposal must indicate one representative of the proposer. If this has not been done, it shall be considered that the representative of the proposer is the first Deputy to have signed the proposal.

Article 137

The Chairperson of the National Assembly shall forward a Bill, immediately upon receiving it, to Deputies, appropriate Committees, and the Government, if the Government should not be the proposer.
If a Bill has not been prepared in accordance with the present Rules of Procedure, the Chairperson of the National Assembly shall ask the proposer to bring the Bill into line with provisions of the present Rules of Procedure, and shall specify in particular the discrepancy observed.
The proposer of the Bill may thereupon submit, within fifteen (15) days, the Bill, harmonised with provisions of the present Rules of Procedure, or ask in writing the National Assembly for its opinion on the issue, in case of disagreement with the opinion of the Chairperson of the National Assembly. The National Assembly shall be obliged to state its opinion on the issue at the first next sitting, before moving on to consider the agenda, and without a debate. Prior to voting, the proposer of the Bill shall be entitled to elaborate on his/her/its stand for a period of not more than five (5) minutes.
If the proposer of the Bill should not act in accordance with provisions of Paragraph 3 of the present Article, the Bill shall be considered withdrawn.

Article 138

Any Bill prepared in accordance with provisions of the present Rules of Procedure may be included in the agenda of a National Assembly sitting within not less than fifteen (15) days and not more than sixty (60) days as from the date of its submission.
In exceptional cases, the 60-day deadline may be exceeded, but by not more than thirty (30) days. The Chairperson of the National Assembly shall inform the Deputies about reasons for the extension.
Deadlines defined in Paragraph 1 of the present Article shall be held in abeyance when the National Assembly is not in regular sitting.

Article 139

Before being considered by the National Assembly, a Bill shall be considered by appropriate Committees, and by the Government, if the Government should not be the proposer.
The appropriate Committees and/or the Government, if it should not be the proposer, may propose to the National Assembly to accept or not to accept the Bill in principle in their submitted reports and/or opinions.
If the appropriate Committees and/or the Government should propose that the Bill be accepted in principle, they shall be obliged to specify whether they accept the Bill as a whole or with modifications, which they shall propose in the form of amendments.
The appropriate Committees and/or the Government shall forward to the National Assembly their reports or opinions, as a rule, within not less than five (5) days prior to the date of the opening of the National Assembly sitting at which the Bill is to be considered.
If the appropriate Committees and the Government should not forward reports or opinions, the Bill shall be considered without such reports and/or opinions.

Article 140

Initially, a debate in principle shall be held on a Bill.
The National Assembly may decide to hold a joint debate in principle on several Bills on the agenda of the same sitting that are mutually conditioned, or if solutions contained therein are mutually linked; however, each proposal shall be voted on separately.
After the conclusion of debate in principle, the National Assembly shall move on to debate another Bill, or hold joint debate on the proposal of other documents, listed as other items on the agenda, and shall then move on to discuss particulars. Exceptionally, when the National Assembly is discussing the Bill on the budget of the Republic of Serbia, it shall move on to discuss the particulars of the Bill after completing discussion in principle.
At least twenty-four (24) hours must elapse from the completion of debate in principle to the opening of debate on particulars.
Appropriate Committees may submit amendments to a Bill in the period from the completion of debate in principle to the opening of debate on particulars.

Article 141

A debate on particulars shall take place by articles to which submitted amendments refer, as well as on amendments proposing inclusion of new provisions; total discussion time for each Deputies' Group per amendment shall not exceed fifteen (15) minutes.
Deputies who are not members of Deputies' Groups shall, by mutual agreement, decide on at most three participants in the debate on each amendment, of which shall each shall be granted the floor once for up to three (3) minutes. If no agreement should be reached, the floor shall be granted once for up to three (3) minutes to the first three Deputies requesting to be granted the floor.

Article 142

When debate on the particulars of on a Bill is completed, the proposer or the authorised representative of the proposer shall be entitled to a closing statement.

Article 143

The proposer of a Bill shall be entitled to withdraw the Bill until debate on the Bill at a National Assembly sitting has concluded.
Upon a proposal made by the proposer, and accompanied by an explanation, the National Assembly may rule to withdraw an item from the agenda of a running sitting until such time as discussion on the item commences at a National Assembly sitting, on condition that at least one hundred and twenty-six (126) deputies are present at the sitting.

Article 144

The National Assembly shall vote on Bills, development plans, zoning plans, the budget, the end-of-year balance, the Rules of Procedure, proposed declarations, resolutions, recommendations, decisions, conclusions and authentic interpretations of documents passed by the National Assembly, in their entirety and in particular, on Voting Day sittings.
If a proposed document has been adopted in principle, the National Assembly shall vote on amendments.
When a Bill contains provisions for which retroactive application has been foreseen, the National Assembly shall rule, when voting on these provisions, whether exists general interest exists for such retroactive application.
If the National Assembly should adopt several amendments, it may pause with the adoption of a Bill as one unit and ask the Legislative Committee to analyse it, from a legal and technical standpoint, in co-operation with the submitter of the Bill, or ask the appropriate Committee to harmonise adopted amendments with each other and with the text of the Bill.
In case conditions defined in Paragraph 4 of the present Article should arise, the Deputies shall be forwarded reports of the appropriate Committees and the Legislative Committee on perceived discrepancies, and an amendment to eliminate such discrepancies shall be submitted.
After voting on amendments, the National Assembly shall commence voting on a Bill as one unit.

3. Amendments

Article 145

A proposal to amend and/or modify a Bill - an amendment - shall be submitted to the Chairperson of the National Assembly in writing, with an explanatory note, after the date of submission of the Bill and not later than three (3) days prior to the date set for the sitting at which the Bill is to o be considered, except in case the National Assembly sitting is convened for earlier than the time foreseen by the present Rules of Procedure, in which case the deadline for submitting amendments shall be up to the commencement of the first debate in principle at the National Assembly sitting.
The proposer of an amendment may not submit more than one amendment to the same article of a Bill, either individually or together with other Deputies.

Article 146

Submitted amendments shall be forwarded by the Chairperson of the National Assembly to the proposer of the Bill, the Deputies, the appropriate Committees, and the Government.
Amendments not submitted in due time, as well as incomplete or offensively worded amendments, shall be discarded by the Legislative Committee, which shall report to the National Assembly thereon.
Discarded amendments may neither be discussed nor voted on.

Article 147

Prior to a National Assembly sitting, the proposer of a Bill, the appropriate Committees, and the Government shall be obliged to discuss amendments submitted to a Bill, and to inform the National Assembly which amendments they propose that the National Assembly should adopt, and which they propose should be rejected.

Article 148

In the course of voting on particulars, amendments in writing may be submitted only by the proposer of the Bill, the appropriate Committees, and the Government, and only if the amendment is needed due to the adoption of another amendment beforehand

Article 149

On Voting Day sittings, after adopting Bills in principle, the National Assembly shall vote on amendments submitted in the order of articles of the Bill.
If more than one amendment has been submitted to a single article of a Bill, the vote shall first be taken on any amendments proposing the deletion of the article, and only then on any amendments proposing modifications to the entire article.
Any amendments submitted by the proposer of the Bill which have been endorsed by the appropriate Committees and by the Government, as well as amendments endorsed by the proposer, the appropriate Committees, and the Government, shall become integral parts of the Bill, and the National Assembly shall not vote on them individually.
The National Assembly shall vote individually on each amendment not endorsed by the proposer of the Bill, the appropriate Committees, or the Government.

4. Adoption of the Budget

Article 150

The budget of the Republic for the following year shall be adopted not later than by the end of the second regular sitting of the National Assembly.
The Bill on the budget of the Republic ('the proposed budget'), along with an explanatory note, shall be submitted by the Government.
The explanatory note to the proposed budget shall include:
- Constitutional basis for the adoption of the budget,
- Explanation of proposed allocation of funds by budget user (expenditures);
- Explanation of the structure of revenues of the Republic budget.

Article 151

Before debate at the sitting of the National Assembly, National Assembly Committees shall consider the proposed budget, and shall submit their reports and proposals, accompanied by explanatory notes, to the Finance Committee.
The Finance Committee shall consider the proposed budget and any Committee reports, and shall submit a report thereof to the National Assembly.

Article 152

The proposed budget shall be discussed at a National Assembly sitting in principle and in particular.
The proposed budget shall be voted on, in principle and as one unit, at a Voting Day sitting.
The Chairperson of the National Assembly may convene a Voting Day sitting for a proposed budget during the course of a sitting, without waiting for debate in principle and in particular on other items on the agenda to finish.

Article 153

Amendments and modifications to the budget of the Republic in the course of the year shall be made according to provisions of the present Rules of Procedure governing the procedure for adopting the budget.

Article 154

Unless otherwise foreseen by provisions of the present Schedule, provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on the procedure for adopting Bills shall apply accordingly to the procedure for adopting the budget.

5. Adoption of Development Plans and Zoning Plans

Article 155

Proposals of development plans shall be submitted by the Government, along with explanatory notes and appropriate supporting documentation.
Before being debated at a National Assembly sitting, a proposed development plan shall be considered by National Assembly Committees, which shall forward their reports and proposals, accompanied by explanatory notes, to the Committee on Development and International Economic Relations.
The Committee on Development and International Economic Relations shall consider the proposed development plan and any Committee reports, and shall forward its report thereof to the National Assembly.

Article 156

Proposed zoning plans shall be submitted by the Government, along with explanatory notes and appropriate supporting documentation.
Before being debated at a National Assembly sitting, a proposed zoning plan shall be considered by National Assembly Committees, which shall forward their reports and proposals, accompanied by explanatory notes, to the Committee on Urban Planning and Construction.
The Committee on Urban Planning and Construction shall consider the proposed development plan and any Committee reports, and shall forward its report thereof to the National Assembly.

Article 157

Unless otherwise foreseen by provisions of the present Schedule, provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on the procedure for adopting Bills shall apply accordingly to the procedure for adopting development and zoning plans.

6. Adoption of Authentic Interpretations of Laws

Article 158

Motions for the adoption of authentic interpretations of laws may be made by any entity authorised to propose Bills.
If the Legislative Committee should assess that the motion is justified, it shall prepare a proposal of the authentic interpretation and shall forward it to the submitter of the proposal and to the National Assembly.
If the Legislative Committee should assess that the motion is not justified, it shall inform the proposer and the National Assembly thereof.
The National Assembly shall vote on proposals submitted by the Legislative Committee defined in Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the present Article.
If the National Assembly should not accept the view of the Legislative Committee that the authentic interpretation is not justified, it shall order the Legislative Committee to prepare a proposal of an authentic interpretation.

Article 159

Unless otherwise foreseen by provisions of the present Schedule, provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on the procedure for adopting Bills shall apply accordingly to the procedure for adopting authentic interpretations of laws and other documents adopted by the National Assembly.

7. Adoption of Other Documents

Article 160

Proposed Rules of Procedure, declarations, resolutions, recommendations, decisions or conclusions may be submitted any entity authorised to propose Bills, in writing, and accompanied by an explanatory note.
Proposed documents defined in Paragraph 1 of the present Article shall first be forwarded to the Deputies, and a separate debate shall be held thereon.
Unless otherwise foreseen by provisions of the present Schedule, provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on the procedure for adopting Bills shall apply accordingly to the procedure for adopting other regulations and by-laws adopted by the National Assembly.

8. Urgent Procedure

Article 161

A Bill may exceptionally be adopted under urgent procedure.
Urgent procedure may be resorted to only for the adoption of a Bill governing issues and relations resulting from unforeseeable circumstance, while failure to adopt such Bill under urgent procedure could cause adverse effects to human life and health, national security, and the work of agencies and organisations.
The proposer of the Bill shall be obliged to specify, in a written explanatory note accompanying the Bill, the adverse effects that would result from a failure to adopt the Bill under urgent procedure.

Article 162

A Bill may be included in the agenda of a National Assembly sitting under urgent procedure if it should be submitted not later than twenty-four (24) hours prior to the scheduled commencement of that sitting.
A Bill governing issues in the field of defence and security proposed to be adopted under urgent procedure may be included in the agenda of a National Assembly sitting even if submitted on the date of the sitting up to two (2) hours prior to the scheduled commencement of the sitting; if the Government is the proposer, the Bill may be included in the agenda even if it is submitted in the course of a National Assembly sitting, on condition that the sitting is being attended by at least one hundred and twenty-six (126) Deputies.
Exceptionally, a proposal for the election, appointment, dismissal or termination of office, a proposal to authorise the remand in custody of a judge or public prosecutor, as well as a motion of no confidence in the Government or an individual Government Minister, may be included in the agenda of a National Assembly sitting in the course of the sitting, on condition that the sitting is being attended by at least one hundred and twenty-six (126) Deputies. The Chairman of the National Assembly shall convene a Voting Day sitting for proposals to authorise the remand in custody of a judge or public prosecutor, and proposals for a vote of no confidence in the Government or an individual Government Minister, immediately after conclusion of discussion on the item of the agenda, without waiting for discussion on other items of the agenda to finish.
The National Assembly shall vote, without debate, on each proposal to include items in the agenda under urgent procedure, when establishing the agenda, or in the course of the sitting, immediately upon receiving the proposal, on condition that the sitting is being attended by at least one hundred and twenty-six (126) deputies.
The Chairperson of the National Assembly shall be obliged to forward a Bill proposed to be discussed under urgent procedure to the Deputies and the Government, if it should not be the submitted, immediately upon its receipt.

Article 163

If appropriate Committees should not submit their reports, or if the Government should not submit its opinion, a Bill shall be debated without such reports and/or opinions.
An amendment to a Bill being discussed under urgent procedure may be submitted at the latest up to the commencement of discussion on the Bill.
The proposer of a Bill, the appropriate Committees, and the Government shall be allowed to put forward their views on the amendments.

9. Master Texts and Publication of National Assembly Documents

Article 164

The seal of the National Assembly shall be placed on the master text of any Bill, other regulation, or by-law of the National Assembly, as well as on the master text of any authentic interpretation.
The text of a Bill, other regulation or by-law, or authentic interpretation adopted at a National Assembly sitting shall be considered the master text of that Bill or other regulation, by-law, or authentic interpretation.
Master texts of Bills, other regulations or by-laws of the National Assembly, and authentic interpretations shall be stored at the National Assembly.
The preparation, sealing, storing, and keeping records of master texts shall be the responsibility of the Secretary of the National Assembly.

Article 165

Documents defined in Article 134 of the present Rules of Procedure adopted by the National Assembly shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia.
The publication of Bills, other regulations or by-laws of the National Assembly, and authentic interpretations shall be the responsibility of the Secretary of the National Assembly.
The Secretary of the National Assembly shall provide corrections of mistakes in published texts of Bills, other regulations or by-laws, and authentic interpretations based on the master text of the Bill, other regulation or by-law, or authentic interpretation.