BELGIUM

THE BELGIAN CONSTITUTION

 

 

Section I
On the House of Representatives

 

Article 61

The members of the House of Representatives are elected directly by citizens who hate completed the age of eighteen and who do not fall within the categories of exclusion stipulated by law.

 

Each elector has the right to only one vote.

 

Article 62

The establishing of the constituencies or electoral colleges is governed by law.

 

Elections are carried out h! the system of proportional representation that the law determines.

 

The ballot is obligatory and secret. It takes place at the commune, except in the cases determined by law.

 

Article 63

§ 1. The House of Representatives is made up of one hundred and fifty members.

 

§ 2. Each electoral circumscription has as many seats as the number of the members of its population contains a multiple of the federal divisor, obtained by dividing the number of the population of the Kingdom by one hundred and fifty.

 

The remaining seats are attributed to the electoral circumscriptions which have the greatest surplus of population not yet represented.

 

§ 3. The sharing of the members of the House of Representatives among the electoral circumscriptions is allocated to the population by the King.

 

The size of the population of each electoral circumscription is determined every ten years by a census or by any other means defined by law. The King publishes the results within a period of six months.

 

During the three months of this publication, the king determines the number of seats attributed to each electoral circumscription.

 

The new distribution is applied as of the following general election.

 

§ 4. The law determines the electoral circumscriptions; it also determines the conditions required to be an elector as well as those for the carrying out of electoral operations.

 

Article 64

To be eligible, one must:

 

1°2°3°4°No other condition of eligibility can be required.

 

Article 65

The members of the House of Representatives are elected for four years.

 

The House is renewed every four years.

 

Section II

On the Senate

 

Article 67

§ 1. Without prejudice to Article 72, the Senate is made up of seventy-one senators, of whom:

 

1°) twenty-five senators elected in conformity with Article 61, by the Dutch electoral college;

 

2°) fifteen senators elected in conformity with Article 61, by the French electoral college;

 

3°) ten senators appointed by and within the Council of the Flemish Community, named the Flemish Council;

 

4°) ten senators appointed by and within the Council of the French Community;

 

5°) one senator appointed by and within the Council of the German-speaking Community;

 

6°) six senators appointed by the senators referred to in 1) and 3);

 

7°) four senators appointed by the senators referred to in 2) and 4).

 

§ 2. At least one of the senators referred to in Paragraph (1)(1,3,6) is to be legally resident, on the day of his election, in the bilingual Region of Brussels-Capital.

 

At least six of the senators referred to in Paragraph (1)(2,4,7) are to be legally resident, on the day of their election, in the bilingual Region of Brussels-Capital. If four or fewer of the senators referred to in Paragraph (1)(2) are not legally resident, on the day of their election, in the bilingual Region of Brussels-Capital, at least two of the senators referred to in Paragraph (1)(4) must be legally resident, on the day of their election, in the bilingual Region of Brussels-Capital.

 

Article 68

§ 1. The total number of senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 1°, 3°, 6°, is shared within each linguistic group on the basis of the electoral figure of the lists obtained at the moment of the election of the senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 1°, according to the system of proportional representation that is determined by law.

 

For the designation of the senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 3°, only the lists can be taken into consideration on which at least one senator referred to in Article 67, § 1, 1°, is elected and from the moment that a sufficient number of members elected on this list sit, according to the case, on the Council of the Flemich Community or the Council of the French Community.

 

For the designation of the senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 6° only the lists can be taken into consideration on which at least one senator referred to in Article 67, § 1, 1°, is elected.

 

§ 2. For the election of the senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 1°, the ballot is obligatory and secret. Voting takes place at the commune, except for cases determined by law.

 

§ 3. For the election of senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 1°, the law determines the electoral circumscriptions and the composition of the electoral colleges; it also determines the conditions which must he met in order to he an elector, as well as those for the carrying out of electoral operations.

 

The law determines the designation of the senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 3°, with the exception of the terms stipulated by a law adopted by the majority provided for in Article 4, last paragraph, which are determined by decree by the Community Councils, each one for matters of its concern. This decree must be adopted by a two-third majority of the votes expressed, on condition that the majority of the members of the Council concerned are present.

 

The senator referred to in Article 67, § 1, 5°The law determines the appointment of the senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 6°.

 

Article 69

In order to be elected or appointed as a senator one must:

 

1°) be Belgian;

 

2°) enjoy civil and political rights;

 

3°) have completed the age of twenty-one;

 

4°) be legally resident in Belgium.

 

Article 70

The senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 1° are elected for four years. The senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 6° are appointed for four years. The Senate is entirely renewed every four years.

 

The election of the senators referred to in Article 67, § 1, 1°, coincides with the election for the House of Representatives.

 

 

CHAPTER IV ON COMMUNITIES AND REGIONS

 

Article 116

§ 1. The Councils are composed of elected representatives.

 

§ 2. Each Community Council is composed of members elected directly as members of the concerned Community Council or as members of a Regional Council.

 

The application of Article 137 notwithstanding, each Regional Council is composed of members elected directly as members of the Regional Council concerned or as members of a Community Council.

 

Article 117

Council members are elected for a period of five years. The Councils are completely renewed every five years.

 

Unless a law, adopted by majority vote as described in Article 4, last paragraph, should specially otherwise. Council elections are to take place on the same day and are to coincide with European Parliamentary elections.

 

Article 118

§ 1. Elections described in Article 116, § 2, as well as the composition and functioning of Councils are fixed by law. But for the German-speaking Community Council, this law is adopted by majority vote as described in Article 4, last paragraph.

 

§ 2. A law, adopted by majority vote as described in Article 4, last paragraph, establishes those maners relative to the election, composition, and functioning of the French Community Council, of the Walloon Regional Council and of the Flemish Community Council, which are regulated by their respective Councils, either by decree or by ruling as described in Article 134, according to the case. This decree and this ruling as described in Article 134 are adopted by a wo-thirds majority vote, provided that a majority of members of the Council concerned are present.

 

Article 122

Members of each Community or Regional Government are elected by their Councils.

 

 

CHAPTER VIII ON PROVINCIAL AND COMMUNAL INSTITUTIONS

 

Article 162

Provincial and communal institutions are governed by the law.

 

The law applies the following principles:

 

1°) the direct election of provincial and of communal Council members;

 

2°) the attribution to provincial and communal Councils all that which is in the provincial or communal interest, without prejudice to the approval of their actions in cases and following that manner determined by law;

 

3°) the decentralization of attributions in favor of provincial and communal institutions;

 

4°) the publicizing of provincial and communal Council meetings within the limits established by law;

 

5°) the publicizing of accounts and budgets;

 

6°) the intervention of overseeing authorities or of the federal legislative power, to prevent violations of the law or harm to public interests.

 

In application of a law adopted by majority vote as described in Article 4, last paragraph, the organization and application of administrative overseeing may be determined by Community or Regional Councils.

 

In application of a law adopted by majority vote as described in Article 4, last paragraph, the decree or the ruling described in Article 134 establishes the conditions and the manner in which several provinces or communes may associate themselves or co-operate. However, the convening of several provincial or communal Councils for joint deliberation may not be allowed.

 

 

TITLE IX

THE TAKING OF EFFECT AND TRANSITORY DISPOSITIONS

 

IV. The next Council elections, in keeping with those dispositions of Articles 115, § 2, 116, § 2, 118 and 119, with the exclusion of Article 117, take place on the same day as the next general elections to the House of Representatives. The following Council elections, in keeping with Articles 115, § 2, 116, § 2, 118 and 119 take place on the same day as the second European Parliamentary elections following the taking of effect of Articles 115, § 2, 118, 120, 121, § 2, 123 and 124.

 

V. Prior to the next elections to the House of Representatives, Articles 116, § 2, 117, and 119 are not applicable.

 

§ 1. Prior to the next complete renewal of the House of Representatives, notwithstanding the dispositions of Articles 43, § 2, 46, 63, 67, 68, 69, 3°

 

a) Federal legislative power is collectively exercised by the King, by the House of Representatives, and by the Senate.

 

b) The King has the right to dissolve both Houses simultaneously, and the dissolution act implies voter convocations for within forty day and House convocations for within two months.

 

c) There are 212 members of the House of Representatives, and the federal divisor can be obtained by dividing the population of the Kingdom by 212.

 

d) The Senate is composed:

 

1°2°These members may not belong to the assembly which elects them, nor may they have been a part of the electing assembly for a period of two years prior to the election date.

 

3°These members are designated by the senators elected by virtue of 1°.

 

The election of senators elected by virtue of 2° is carried out using the proportional representation system determined by law.

 

Should it become necessary, following 31 December 1994, to replace a senator elected by the Brabant provincial Council, the Senate elects a member in accordance with those conditions established by law. With respect to this law, the House of Representatives and the Senate are competent on an equal footing.

 

e) In order to be elected senator one must. notwithstanding Article 69, 1°and 4°

 

f) Senators are elected for a period of four years.

 

g) Ministers may have a participatory voice in debates only in that House of which they are members.

 

They have access to both Houses, and must be heard upon their request.

 

The Houses may demand the presence of ministers.

 

h) The King may pardon a minister or the member of a Community or Regional Government condemned by the Court of Cassation only following the request of one of the two Houses or of that Council concerned.

 

i) Judges of the Court of Cassation are appointed by the King on two double lists, one being presented by the Senate, the other by the Court of Cassation.

 

j) Every year, the Houses vote on the budget and rule on Government accounts.

 

k) The State Audit Office submits the general State accounts, with observations to the House of Representatives and to the Senate.

 

VI. § 1. Until 31 December 1994, and in derogation to Article 5, paragraph 1, the provinces are: Antwerp, Brabant, West Flanders, East Flanders, Hainaut, Liège, Limburg, Luxemburg, and Namur.

 

§ 2. The next provincial elections shall coincide with the next communal elections and shall take place on the second Sunday of October 1994. Inasmuch as the law described in § 3, paragraph 1 has taken effect, electors shall be called upon on that same Sunday for the election of the Flemish Brabant and of the Walloon Brabant provincial Councils.