ITALIAN CONSTITUTION
61 - 75

Article 61 [Reelections]
(1) The reelection of new chambers must take place within seventy days from the dissolution of the previous ones. The first session has to be take place no later than twenty days after elections. (2) The previous chambers retain their powers until the new chambers meet.

Article 62 [Sessions]
(1) Sessions commence on the first days of february and october that are no holidays. (2) Each chamber may be summoned in extraordinary session on the initiative of its speaker, the president of the republic, or of one third of its members. (3) If a chamber is summoned for an extraordinary session, the other chamber also convenes.

Article 63 [Speaker]
(1) Each chamber elect a speaker and members of the speaker's office from among its members. (2) The speaker and the speaker's office of the house of representatives preside when the parliament convenes in joint session.

Article 64 [Rules of Procedures]
(1) Each Chamber adopt its rules of procedure by a majority of its members. (2) Sessions are public, but the chambers or the parliament in joint session may decide to sit in private. (3) Decisions of the chambers and of the parliament require the presence of a majority of the members and the consent of a majority of those present, notwichtstanding special majorities required by the constitution. (4) Government members, even if not members of the chambers, have the right to attend sessions and are required to be present if summoned. They have to be heard on their request.

Article 65 [Ineligibility and Incompatibility]
(1) Conditions of ineligibility or incompatibility with the office of deputy or senator are defined by law. (2) Nobody may be a member of both chambers at the same time.

Article 66 [Qualifications for Admission]
Each chamber decide about the electoral admissibility of its members and about instances of ineligibility and incompatibility.

Article 67 [Free mandate]
Members of parliament represent the nation; they are free from imperative mandate.

Article 68 [Indemnity, Immunity]
(1) Members of parliament may not be called to answer for opinions expressed or votes cast in the exercise of their office. (2) Members of parliament may not be subjected to searches of their person or homeshall without prior authorization by their chamber, nor arrested or otherwise deprived of personal freedom, nor kept in a state of detention, except on an irrevocable conviction or caught in the act of a crime for which arrest is mandatory. (3) The same authorization is required to subject members of parliament to any form of interception of their conversations or communications, and in order to seize their mail or correspondence.

Article 69 [Allowance]
Members of parliament receive an allowance defined by law.

Section II Lawmaking
Article 70 [Legislative Power]
Legislative power is exercised jointly by the chambers.

Article 71 [Initiative]
(1) The right to initiatives belongs to the government, to each member of the chambers, and to those organs and bodies assigned by constitutional law. (2) The people may introduce public initiatives consisting of a bill drafted in articles and supported by at least 50,000 voters.

Article 72 [Legislative Proceedings]
(1) Every bill introduced to one of the chambers is first examined by a committee as defined by the rules of procedures and then adopted by the chamber article by article and with a final vote. (2) The rules of procedure establish an abbreviated procedure for bills declared urgent. (3) They may also establish when and how the examination and approval of bills may be delegated to committees, including standing committees, composed in a way reflecting the relative size of groups in parliament. In such cases, a bill must be submitted to the full chamber if the government, one-tenth of the chamber's members, or one-fifth of the committee so demand, or it must be submitted to the committee for a final vote preceded only by statements of vote. The rules of procedure define the manner in which the committees' deliberation is made public. (4) The ordinary procedure for the deliberation and decisionmaking by each chamber has to be followed for bills on constitutional or electoral matter and for those delegating legislative power or authorizing the ratification of international treaties or approving the budgets and the final balance.

Article 73 [Promulgation]
(1) Laws are promulgated by the president within a month after having been adopted. (2) If each chamber declares a bill urgent with a majority of its members, it has to be promulgated within the time set in the bill. (3) Laws have to be published immediately after they were promulgated; they enter into force on the fifteenth day after their publication unless the laws establish a different time.

Article 74 [Request for New Deliberation]
(1) Before promulgation, the president may ask for further deliberation by message to the chambers giving the reasons for such request. (2) The law has to be promulgated if the chambers adopt the bill once more.

Article 75 [Referendum]
(1) When requested by 500,000 voters or by five regional councils, a popular referendum decides on total or partial repeal of a law or other acts with legal force. (2) No such referenda are allowed for tax or budget laws, amnesties, pardons, or ratification of international treaties. (3) Citizens entitled to vote for the house of representatives may also participate in a referendum. (4) The referendum succeeds if a majority of those eligible have participated and if the proposal has received a majority of the valid votes. (5) The law establishes procedures for referenda.

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