The Sejm Presidium has introduced a draft amendment aimed at making the House’s rules of procedure more accessible to citizens. This change is intended to increase transparency in the legislative process and improve the quality of passed laws. Previously noted as a potentially revolutionary shift, the proposals from the Sejm Presidium are described as meeting one of the milestones negotiated with the European Commission.
The project was submitted to the Sejm last week and referred to the Committee on the Rules, Deputies and Immunities for its first reading. The changes seek to limit the use of accelerated procedures to clearly defined and exceptional cases. They also aim to broaden public involvement in law making and align with milestones agreed with the European Commission, focusing on reducing the ease of enacting laws without consultation, especially for parliamentary bills.
Under the proposed amendment, before a bill reaches its first reading, expert opinions from the Chancellery of the Sejm on anticipated regulatory effects will be requested. The plan requires the Marshal of the Sejm, upon receiving a parliamentary bill and before its first reading, to order its publication in the Sejm information system for public consultations. Public input on all draft laws would be allowed, with comments submitted through the system within 30 days.
Fast proposals would be possible only in exceptional cases. The President of the Sejm may order to skip or shorten public consultations, particularly if the project proponent requests it. Any reasons for withdrawing from consultations, changing the consultation date, or ending consultations early would be published in the Sejm Information System.
The Bureau proposes that the first reading should occur no earlier than the seventh day after the draft form is delivered to Members of Parliament, and the second reading no earlier than one week after the committee report is presented to members.
Applicants must attach a statement of reasons for submitted amendments, clarifying the purpose and need for the changes. When a bill proceeds to the second reading, it is referred back to the committees that examined it. Written proposed amendments and their justifications must also be available in the system.
In particularly justified cases, the procedures for bills and resolutions may be shortened. This can be decided by the Sejm with an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the legal number of deputies, or by a committee with an absolute majority as well.
MPs will also have more time to discuss the committee’s report, with discussion scheduled no earlier than the third day after the report is delivered to MPs in the Sejm, unless the Sejm decides otherwise.
The Sejm may, at the request of the Marshal of the Sejm, consider a Senate resolution rejecting a bill or an amendment proposed in a Senate resolution without referring it to a committee. The decision would be made by an absolute majority in the presence of at least half of the legal number of deputies.
The Bureau also proposes measures to increase the visibility of public hearings. The proponent’s representative must respond to the entities participating in the hearing within seven days after the hearing ends.
Public consultations will be conducted through an IT system
The members justify the changes by saying they are designed to limit accelerated procedures to rare, well-defined cases and to expand social participation in the legislative process. The reforms are described as meeting a milestone negotiated with the European Commission that supported Poland receiving European funds from the National Reconstruction Plan.
The authors state that public consultations will take place in an IT system that is part of the Sejm Information System. They highlight that due to personal data rules and the need to prevent illegal content such as hate speech, additional provisions will be added, including clarifications to the law on lobbying in the legislative process from July 7, 2005.
On May 8, Marshal of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia announced that the Presidium had issued a preliminary opinion on the draft changes and that an online platform would be created to allow every citizen to participate in legal consultations.
It will be fully public and include the process for tabling amendments at the committee level, he stated.
Completion of one milestone
According to a major news outlet, the Presidium’s proposals are meant to increase the transparency of legislative work.
Before the first reading, each bill will be subject to online public consultations in the Sejm system, and rapid work will occur only in exceptional cases. The outlet notes that all draft laws, including government ones, should undergo mandatory consultations. Other changes would require creating an assessment of regulatory effects and addressing the impact on the possibility of using the accelerated procedure in the Sejm.
The aim is to slow the legislative process and improve transparency. Beyond public consultations, the plan seeks to ensure that the accelerated path is used only in very rare scenarios, with a clearly justified justification for any exception, Dorota Niedziela, deputy speaker of the Sejm, commented to the source.
The proposals published by the Sejm Presidium are said to meet one of the milestones negotiated with the European Commission, enabling Poland to access European funds from the National Reconstruction Plan.
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olnk/PAP
Source: wPolityce