Article 7

Article 7: The senate
1) Composition
i) The Legislature of Mauravia consists of one chamber called the Senate.
ii) Senators are chosen by the citizens for a fixed term (e.g. 2–4 years).
iii) The Speaker of the Senate shall be elected by a two-thirds majority of the total membership of the Senate. Upon election, the Speaker shall discharge the duties of the office impartially and shall not hold any executive office or party leadership position during the tenure of the Speakership.
iv) The Leader of the largest political party not participating in the Government shall be recognized as the Leader of the Opposition.
v) The Senate consists of the elected officials and the opposition seated in opposite to each other with the speaker moderating the debate
2) Main powers
The Senate have the authority to:
i) Enact, amend, and repeal laws.
ii) Elect or approve the Prime Minister.
iii) Hold the Government accountable.
iv) Pass constitutional amendments (subject to your referendum requirements).
v) Confirm constitutional appointments, if your constitution requires it.
vi) Approve declarations of emergency, if applicable.

3) Passing of bills
a) Members of the Senate, consisting of members of the government, Senators, and members of the region as defined by the constitution, shall initiate legislation in the region.

b) The introduction of a law before senate shall take form of a post in the regional RMB, with a dispatch containing the full text of the law. It is possible to informally publish draft legislation in order to develop the law in a collaborative manner before formal introduction in Senate. The government may hold the right to discuss bills it initiates in the Council of Ministers before they are formally introduced in Senate.

c) Any member of the Senate may introduce a law in Senate. The member introducing the bill is called the rapporteur of the bill. Bills introduced by a member of the government shall have the government as rapporteur.

d) Senate can legislate on four types of legislation:
i. Constitutional amendments, to add, repeal or edit articles or Articles in the Constitution. They are particularly important and must be treated with care by lawmakers;
ii. Institutional laws, which organise the functioning of the institutions in a more precise way, in completion of the Constitution. These laws have a special status;

iii. Laws, which include all legislation within the area of competence of the Senate apart from constitutional amendments and institutional laws;
d) Treaties, setting the region's relations with other regions or political entities.
iv. The rapporteur must specify the type of legislation they are introducing in Senate. The Speaker may correct the status of the legislation if they find it inadequate. In case of disagreement, the rapporteur may refer the matter to the Supreme Court so that it may decide on the status of the text in view of its content and legality. The rapporteur may also specify the requested debate time.
v. Foreign affairs are the reserved domain of the government. Only the government shall be allowed to introduce treaties in Senate, after eventual talks and agreements with foreign dignitaries.

vi. Every bill must be introduced with an official title, mentioning its status, optionally with an alternative title. Bills can be divided into three levels:
a) Articles (mandatory): every bill must consist of one or several articles, written 'Article' followed by the number, mandatory.

b) Sections (optional): every section, unless it is unique in the bill, must have a title. An article can be divided into several sections, written only with their number and title, mandatory.

c) Articles (mandatory): every article and section must contain Articles, which constitute the actual statement of the law. Articles must be written in sentences, and may contain lists, numbered or not.

vii. Amendments and repeals of legislation are subject to the same rules as other bills.

4)Final adoption of a bill.

1. If a bill is adopted by the Senate, it shall become regional law, as soon as the Supreme Court approves the legality of the law, and unless the Elders vetoes it.

2. . The Elders shall be granted a one-week time period to validate or veto a law.

3. . If a law has been validated by the Senate, the Elders shall be granted a seven-day time period, during which they may apply their constitutional veto right.
If the Elders vetoes the law, the Senate shall be granted a four-day time period, during which it may apply its constitutional right to override a veto of the Elders A Senator may propose a Senate motion (petition motion) to override the veto, and Senators shall have until the end of the four-day time period to support it to pass the bill