Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina

RULES OF PROCEDURE
OF THE ASSEMBLY OF AUTONOMOUS PROVINCE OF VOJVODINA

("The official Journal of AP Vojvodina", no. 60/2018  - revised text)

I GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

The Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (hereinafter: the Rules of Procedure) shall further regulate the organisation and manner of work of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (hereinafter: The Assembly) and other issues of relevance to the work of the Assembly.

Article 2

Nouns denoting official posts, positions and functions in the Assembly, shall be used in a form that expresses the gender of the person holding them.

Article 3

In the Assembly’s work, in addition to the Serbian language and Cyrillic script, Hungarian, Slovak, Croatian, Romanian and Ruthenian languages and their scripts shall be in the equal official use, in conformity with the Statute.

II CONSTITUTION OF THE ASSEMBLY

1. Convening the First Session of the Assembly

Article 4

The first session of the Assembly shall be convened by the Assembly President from the previous convocation within three days from the submission date of the report by the Provincial Electoral Commission on the conducted elections.

Should the Assembly President from the previous convocation fail to convene the session within the set time frame, the session shall be convened by the oldest Vice-President of the previous convocation within the next three-day deadline.

The session of the Assembly pending the election of the Assembly President shall be chaired by the oldest deputy present at the session, who shall be assisted in their work by the Secretary General of the Assembly.

Article 5

At the first Assembly session:

- the Commission for confirmation of deputies’ mandates shall be elected;

- the mandates of deputies shall be confirmed;

- Deputies’ groups shall be formed;

- the Assembly President shall be elected;

- at the President's proposal, the decision shall be made on the number of the Assembly Vice-Presidents, and they shall be elected;

- the Secretary General of the Assembly shall be appointed.

At the first Assembly session the working bodies of the Assembly may also be formed.

2. Verification of Deputies' Mandates

Article 6

Deputies shall acquire rights and duties on the date of verification of their mandates.

The mandate of a deputy shall be verified by the Assembly based on the certificate attesting to their election as deputy and the report of the Provincial Electoral Commission on the conducted elections.

The Assembly shall set up a Commission for confirmation of deputies’ mandates (hereinafter: the Commission), which shall consist of seven members.

The Commission's composition shall provide a proportional representation of deputies elected by the motion of political parties, a coalition of political parties, a coalition of a political party and group of citizens, or a group of citizens.

Article 7

The President and members of the Commission shall be proposed by the deputy chairing the Assembly session. The Commission shall be elected by a majority of votes cast by those deputies present.

Article 8

The Commission shall start its work immediately after being elected.

The Commission shall work at the session attended by the majority of its members and it shall take decisions by a majority vote of the total number of the Commission members.

Article 9

Based on the report of the Provincial Electoral Commission on the conducted elections, the Commission shall establish whether data from certificates attesting to the election of each deputy are identical to those contained in the report of the Provincial Electoral Commission and shall submit a report thereon in writing to the Assembly, which shall contain:

- motion for confirmation of each deputy’s mandate,

- the explained motion to postpone the confirmation of mandates of particular deputies.

The member of the Commission whose mandate verification has been proposed to be postponed may not participate in deciding on that motion.

Article 10

The Assembly shall review the Commission’s report and adopt it in its entirety unless the Commission has made a motion to postpone the mandate confirmation for particular deputies.

When the Commission in its report makes a motion to postpone the confirmation of mandate for a particular deputy, each such motion shall be voted on separately.

The Commission shall complete their work upon submitting their report to the Assembly.

Article 11

Should the Assembly postpone the verification of a deputy's mandate, it shall oblige the Provincial Electoral Commission to examine the validity of the certificate of election as a deputy and inform the Assembly thereof within eight days of the receipt of the Assembly decision.

The Assembly shall decide on the deputy mandate verification, under Paragraph 1 of the present Article, after considering the information of the Provincial Electoral Commission.

A deputy, whose mandate verification has been postponed, shall be entitled to attend Assembly sessions and participate in its work without the right to make decisions.

Article 12

The Assembly shall be constituted once the two-thirds of deputies’ mandates have been verified.

On the date the Assembly is constituted, the Deputies' mandates from the previous convocation shall be terminated.

3. Formation of Deputies' Groups

Article 13

Deputies’ groups shall be formed in the manner established by the present Rules of Procedure.

4. Election of the Assembly President

Article 14

At least 20 deputies may nominate a candidate for the President of the Assembly.

A deputy may take part in the nomination of only one candidate.

The nomination of a candidate for the Assembly President shall be submitted to the Chairperson in writing.

Article 15

The nomination shall contain the name and surname of the candidate, a short biography, party affiliation of the candidate, the name of the electoral list they were elected from, the name and surname of the nominator’s representative, an explanatory note, and the written consent of the candidate.

The Chairperson shall communicate to the deputies the received nominations of candidates for the Assembly President.

The nominator's representative shall be entitled to orally substantiate the nomination.

Article 16

A debate shall be held on the nomination of a candidate for the Assembly President.

After the debate is concluded, the Chairperson shall establish a list of candidates for the Assembly President in the alphabetical order of their surnames.

Article 17

The Assembly President shall be elected by open vote unless the Assembly decides to vote by secret ballot.

Voting shall take place according to the provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on voting by open ballot.

If more candidates have been nominated for the President, the vote shall be taken by a roll call of deputies.

When the Assembly decides to vote by secret ballot, voting shall take place according to the provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on voting by secret ballot.

Article 18

Voting for the Assembly President shall be administered by the Chairperson and in their work they shall be assisted by the two youngest deputies present at the session and the Secretary General of the Assembly.

A candidate for the Assembly President may not administer the vote nor assist the Chairperson in administering the voting process.

Article 19

The deputy who polls the majority of votes cast by the total number of deputies shall be elected Assembly President.
In cases when one candidate is nominated and they fail to win the required majority of votes, or two candidates are nominated, and neither should win the required majority of votes, the election procedure shall be repeated.

If several candidates are nominated and none wins the required majority of votes, the vote shall be repeated on the two candidates who polled the largest number of votes, or on candidates who polled the largest and simultaneously equal number of votes.

If an Assembly President is not elected in the second round either, the election procedure shall be repeated.

Article 20

When assuming their duties the Assembly President shall take the following oath before the Assembly:

"I do solemnly swear that I will observe the Constitution and law of the Republic of Serbia, the Statute of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina; that I will execute the office of the President of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in a conscientious, impartial and responsible manner, following the principles of democracy, citizens’ interests and interests of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and that I will protect the reputation of the Assembly".

Article 21

After being elected, the Assembly President shall take over the presiding of the session.

5. Election of Assembly Vice-Presidents

Article 22

Whenever the Assembly is constituted, it shall determine the number of its Vice-Presidents upon the motion of the President.

When proposing the number of Vice-Presidents, the number and size of deputies’ groups formed during the Assembly constitution shall be taken into consideration.

Article 23

At least 20 deputies may nominate one or several candidates for the office of the Assembly Vice-President, but only up to the number to be elected.

The nomination of a candidate for the office of Assembly Vice-President shall be submitted to the Assembly President in writing.

Article 24

The nomination shall contain the name and surname of the candidate, a short biography, party affiliation of the candidate, the name of the electoral list they were elected from, the name and surname of the nominator’s representative, an explanatory note, and the written consent of the candidate.

The Assembly President shall communicate to the deputies the nominations received.

The nominator's representative shall be entitled to orally substantiate the nomination.

A debate shall be held on the nomination of candidates.

After concluding the debate, the Assembly President shall establish a list of candidates for the office of the Assembly Vice-President in the alphabetical order of their surnames.

Article 25

Voting for the office of the Assembly Vice-President shall take place under the provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on voting for the election of the Assembly President.

Each deputy may vote for not more than the number of candidates to be elected.

Article 26

The candidate who wins the majority of votes cast by the total number of deputies shall be elected the Assembly Vice-President.

If the number of candidates nominated is equal to the number to be elected, and the planned number or any of the Assembly Vice-Presidents have not been elected, the election procedure shall be repeated for the number of Assembly Vice-Presidents who have not been elected.

If the number of candidates nominated exceeds the number to be elected and the planned number of Assembly Vice-Presidents have not been elected, the vote shall be repeated for the number of Assembly  Vice-Presidents who have not been elected, from the remaining candidates.

If in the second round the planned number of Assembly Vice-Presidents is not elected, the election procedure shall be repeated for the number of Vice-Presidents who have not been elected.

Article 27

When assuming their duties the Assembly Vice-President shall take the following oath before the Assembly:

"I do solemnly swear that I will observe the Constitution and law of the Republic of Serbia, the Statute of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina; that I will execute the office of the Vice-President of the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in a conscientious, impartial and responsible manner, following the principles of democracy, citizens’ interests and interests of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and that I will protect the reputation of the Assembly".

6. Appointment of the Secretary General of the Assembly

Article 28

The Assembly shall have a Secretary General.

A candidate for the office of the Assembly Secretary General shall be nominated by the President of the Assembly.
The nomination shall include the first name and surname of the candidate, short biography, an explanatory note, and the consent of the candidate in writing.

The Assembly Secretary General shall be appointed for a period of four years. Upon the constitution of a newly elected Assembly, the Assembly Secretary General shall be appointed.

Any person with a law degree, who passed the state qualifying examination for the employees in the administration and has work experience of at least 5 years may be appointed the Assembly Secretary General.

III THE ASSEMBLY ORGANISATION

1. President, Vice-President, Secretary General, and Deputy General Secretary of the Assembly

а) Assembly President

Article 29

The Assembly President shall represent the Assembly; call an election for deputies; convene sessions of the Assembly and establish proposed agenda; convene meetings of the Assembly Collegium and preside the meetings; preside the Assembly sessions; see to the application of the Rules of Procedure; see to timely and coordinated work of working bodies; sign acts enacted by the Assembly; determine representatives of the Assembly in particular representative occasions; accept auspices on behalf of the Assembly and also perform other duties prescribed by the Statute, the Provincial Assembly Decision and the present Rules of Procedure.

Article 30

The term of office of the Assembly President shall last for a period of four years.

The term of office of the Assembly President shall terminate before its expiry: by resignation, being relieved of duty, or through the termination of their mandate of the deputy.

In the case of Paragraph 2 under the present Article the term of office of the Assembly President, pending the election of a new President, shall be performed by the oldest Vice-President.

The Assembly President shall tender their resignation to the Assembly in writing or verbally at the Assembly session.
The term of office of the Assembly President shall terminate on the date and the moment they tender their resignation.

No debate shall be held on the tendered resignation, the termination of office of President shall be acknowledged by the Assembly.

Article 31

The Assembly may relieve of duty the Assembly President before the expiry of the term of office for which they have been elected, under the procedure stipulated for the election of the Assembly President.

Article 32

In case the term of office of the Assembly President should terminate before the expiry of the term of office for which they have been elected, the Assembly shall, at the same session, but no later than the first next session, institute the procedure for the election of the Assembly President under provisions of the present Rules of Procedure.

b) Assembly Vice-President

Article 33

The Assembly Vice-President shall assist the Assembly President in performing duties falling within their purview and shall perform duties delegated to them by the President.

In case the Assembly President is temporarily absent or unable to perform their duty, one of the Assembly Vice-Presidents designated by the Assembly President shall stand in for them, and if the Assembly President has not designated any of the Vice-Presidents to stand in for them, the oldest Vice-President shall stand in for them.

Article 34

The term of office of the Assembly Vice-President shall be terminated before its expiry: by resignation, being relieved of duty or through termination of the mandate of a deputy, under the procedure, and in the manner stipulated for the termination of office of the Assembly President.

v) Secretary General of the Assembly

Article 35

The Assembly Secretary General shall assist the Assembly President and Vice-Presidents in preparing and presiding sessions; manage the Assembly Service, see to the implementation of acts and conclusions enacted by the Assembly concerning organisation and operation of the Assembly, ensure proper conditions for work for the deputies, deputies’ groups and Assembly working bodies and perform other duties stipulated by the present Rules of Procedure.

The Secretary General shall be accountable to the Assembly and the Assembly  President for their work.

The term of office of the Secretary General shall terminate on the date of appointment of the Secretary General of a new convocation of the Assembly, on the date of tendering their resignation or of being relieved of office.

The Secretary General of the Assembly shall be relieved of duty under the procedure stipulated for their appointment.

Pending the appointment of a new Secretary General, the duty of Secretary General shall be performed by the Deputy Secretary General.

g) Deputy Secretary General of the Assembly

Article 36

The Assembly Secretary General shall have a deputy.

Deputy Secretary General shall assist Secretary General in the work and stand in for them in case of their absence or inability to perform their duties.

The Deputy Secretary General shall be appointed by the Assembly on the motion made by the Secretary General of the Assembly with the written consent of the Assembly President.

A person with a law degree, who passed the state qualifying examination for the employees in the administration and has work experience of at least five years may be appointed Deputy Secretary General of the Assembly.

The term of office of the Deputy Secretary General shall terminate on the date of the appointment of a new Deputy Secretary General, on the date of tendering a resignation or being relieved of duty.

The Deputy Secretary General shall be relieved of duty under the procedure stipulated for their appointment.

2. Deputies’ Group

Article 37

In the Assembly, a deputies’ group may be formed of at least five deputies.

A deputy may be a member of only one deputies’ group.

Article 38

A deputies’ group shall be formed in the following manner: a list of members signed by each member of the deputies’ group shall be submitted to the President of the Assembly. The president of a deputies’ group and their deputy shall be specially indicated on the list.

The president of a deputies’ group shall notify the Assembly President, in writing, of any changes in the composition of the deputies’ group.

When resigning from a deputies’ group, a deputy shall communicate to the President of the Assembly their signed statement of resignation.

When a new member joins a deputies’ group, the president of the deputies’ group shall communicate to the Assembly President their signed statement of joining.

Article 39

A deputies’ group shall be represented by the president of the deputies’ group. A deputies’ group shall have its deputy president of the deputies’ group, who shall stand-in for the president in case of their absence.

If a deputies’ group is represented by its deputy president or an authorised representative, they shall assume the powers of the president of the deputies’ group.

Article 40

A deputies’ group session shall be convened by the president of the deputies’ group, to analyse and discuss the issues under the competence of the Assembly.

The deputies’ group session may also be convened by the deputy president, based on the president’s authorisation, or if the president is prevented to do so due to the justified reasons.

3. Working Bodies of the Assembly

Article 41

Permanent and temporary working bodies shall be established in the Assembly.

Permanent working bodies are committees.

Temporary working bodies are committees of inquiry and commissions.

Article 42

The Assembly President may, on the motion made by the working body, engage scientific or expert institutions or individuals to study certain issues that fall within the purview of the working body.

а) Committees

Article 43

Committees shall be established as permanent working bodies to consider and review issues falling within the purview of the Assembly, to propose official documents, to carry out reviews of certain areas, and to perform other duties.

Article 44

The Assembly President, as agreed with the presidents of the deputies’ groups, shall propose candidates for the president and members of the Committees, proportionally to the number of deputies that these deputies’ groups have in the Assembly.

Article 45

The motion for the election of the president and the members of the Committee shall be voted on as one unit by open vote. The decision shall be made if the majority of the deputies present have cast their votes for it.

Article 46

Unless otherwise determined by the present Rules of Procedure, a Committee shall have a president and 10 members.

In the first session, the Committee shall elect the deputy president of the Committee from among its members.
A deputy may be a member of as many as three Assembly Committees.

Article 47

The Assembly President, on the motion made by a deputies' group, shall make a motion to the Assembly to relieve of duty a Committee member from among the members of the deputy group, before the expiry of their term of office, and shall make a motion for an election of a new Committee member.

The Assembly shall decide on the dismissal and election of a new member of the Committee following the communication of the motion made by a deputies’ group.

Article 48

A Committee may appoint its Sub-committee and the Committee president may appoint a working group to examine a certain issue that falls within its purview.

A Sub-committee may have no more than seven members, on condition that the majority of members are Committee members.

Experts from the field for which the Sub-committee or a working group has been established may be appointed in a Sub-committee or working group.

Article 49

The Committee shall enact an annual programme of activities and communicate it to the Assembly President.

The programme shall be enacted at the beginning of the year, on the motion made by the Committee president.

The Committee may make motions for the annual working plan of the Assembly no later than December 1st of the current year, for the annual working plan for the coming year.

Committee Session

Article 50

A session of a Committee shall be convened by the Committee President

The Committee President shall be obliged to convene a session of the Committee at the request of at least 1/3 of Committee members, or the request of the Assembly President. Should the Committee President fail to do so by the requested deadline, the Committee session shall be convened by Deputy Committee President, or by the Assembly President.

Committee Sessions shall take place in the seat of the Assembly.

If there are justified reasons, the Committee sessions may also take place outside the seat of the Assembly.

The Committee shall work in a session attended by the majority of Committee members and shall decide by the majority of Committee members present.

A call for a session of the Committee shall be communicated to the Committee members no later than five days before the date set for the Committee session.

The convocation, material for the Committee session, and minutes from the previous Committee session shall be communicated to the Committee members in electronic form.

In addition to the issues on the agenda, the Committee may also discuss other matters that fall within its purview with the aim of informing the Committee.

Exceptionally, a call for a session of the Committee may also be communicated within a shorter period, but with the provision that the Committee President shall be obliged to explain reasons for doing so at the Committee session.

In case a call for a session is arranged in a shorter period of time, the materials shall be submitted no later than 24 hours before the Committee session, except in the case when the Assembly session is convened according to Article 79 Paragraph 3 of the Rules of Procedure.

Article 51

A Committee member shall be obliged to attend a Committee Session.

In case a Committee member is unable to attend a Committee session, they shall be obliged to inform the Committee President about it and give reasons for non-attendance, promptly.

A deputy who is not a member of the Committee may attend a Committee session and take part in it, without, however, having the right to vote.

When motions for decisions and amendments to motions for decisions are discussed at a Committee session, the movers of such amendments and motions or their authorised representatives shall be invited to attend the session.

Representatives and commissioners of the Provincial Government shall take part in the work of the Committee.
Other professionals, upon being invited, may also take part in the activities of the Committee.

When carrying out tasks within its purview, the Committee may, through its President, request from the Provincial Administration authorities data and information of relevance to the activities of the Committee.

Article 52

After the discussion is over, the Committee shall submit to the Assembly a report containing its opinion i.e. proposals. The Committee shall designate its Rapporteur who shall, if necessary, present the report and the position of the Committee at an Assembly session.

At the request of a particular Committee member, their personal opinion presented at the Committee session shall feature separately in the Committee report and they shall be entitled to present it at the session of the Assembly.

Article 53

Minutes shall be kept at each Committee session.

The minutes shall include the names of present and absent Committee members and names of other participants in the session, motions made in verbal and written form, standpoints of the Committee, the outcome of every voting, as well as names of the Rapporteurs designated by the Committee.

The minutes shall be adopted at the following session and shall be signed by the President and the Secretary of the Committee, and the Assembly stamp shall be affixed.

Shorthand notes shall be taken at a Committee session if so is requested by the Committee.

Article 54

The Committees shall cooperate among themselves.

The Committees may hold a joint session related to the issues of common interest.

On the issues from Paragraph 2 of this Article, a Committee shall make decisions separately.

Article 55

The Committees shall be:

1. Committee on Constitutional and Legal Issues regarding the Status of the Province,

2. Committee on National Equality,

3. Committee on Cooperation with the National Assembly Committees in Realisation of Competences of the Province,

4. Committee on Regulations,

5. Economy Committee,

6. Agriculture Committee,

7. Committee on Urban Planning and Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection,

8. Committee on Budget and Finance,

9. Committee on Education and Science,

10. Committee on Youth and Sports,

11. Committee on Health, Social Policy, Labour, Demographic Policy and Social Child Care,

12. Committee on Culture and Information,

13. Committee on Petitions and Motions,

14. Committee on Organisation of Administration and Local Self-Government,

15. Committee on Administrative and Mandate Issues,

16. Committee on Establishing Equal Authenticity of Provincial Legislation in Languages in Official Use,

17. Security Committee,

18. Committee on European Integration and Interregional Cooperation,

19. Committee on Gender Equality.

Article 56

Committee on Constitutional and Legal Issues Regarding the Status of the Province shall: consider issues of realisation of the constitutional status of the Province, motion to amend the Statute, deliberate and determine a motion for an act to change the Statute; deliberate motion to call a referendum by the Assembly in accordance with the Rules of Procedure; determine a motion for an act on the features and use of the symbols and traditional symbols of the AP of Vojvodina, principal issues of the Statute application, motion that the Assembly should be a mover for legislation and amendments to laws enacted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia (hereinafter: the National Assembly) in the area of realisation of the constitutional and legal status of the Province.

The Committee shall be made up of 15 members, of whom four shall be prominent scientists and experts.

The Assembly President shall be the President of this Committee.

Article 57

The Committee on National Equality shall consider motions for decisions and general acts with the purpose to monitor exercising the full equality between persons belonging to national minorities – national communities and those belonging to Serbian ethnic group that is guaranteed by the Constitution; propose measures in the areas of education, culture, information and official use of languages and scripts and other issues; monitor exercise of the rights of the national minorities – national communities in accordance with the national legislation and international standards in the area of national equality.

The working body has a president and 14 members, four of which are, according to their titles, presidents of the committees that cover the fields of education, culture, information, official use of languages and scripts, and security.

Article 58

The Committee on Cooperation with the National Assembly Committees in Realisation of Competences of the Province shall monitor, cooperate, and encourage activities relating to the enactment of laws that regulate matters of provincial interest. The Committee shall incorporate the competent Assembly Committees’ suggestions concerning enactment or amendment of National laws, and cooperate with the competent committees of the National Assembly.

Article 59

The Committee on Regulations shall consider motions for provincial Assembly decisions, other regulations and general acts from the standpoint of their compliance with the Statute and the legal system and motions for laws, other regulations and general acts which are proposed by the Assembly to the National Assembly for enactment, make motions for enactment and amendment of the Rules of Procedure, provide proposal for the interpretation of particular provisions of the Rules of Procedure, make motion for the authentic interpretation of the decisions and other general acts enacted by the Assembly, consider the Constitutional Court information to institute the procedure for assessing the constitutionality and legality of regulations that have been enacted by the provincial authorities and determine the response to the Constitutional Court, make motion to the Assembly for initiation of proceedings before the Constitutional Court for assessing the constitutionality and legality of laws and regulations that violate the rights of the Province established by the Constitution and the Statute and determine the consolidated text of the decision.

The Committee shall consider the submitted amendments regarding their compliance with the legal system and the Statute and shall dismiss, with a conclusion, amendments that are incomplete or contain offensive content.

In its report, the Committee shall give its opinion on the compliance of an act with the legal system of the Republic of Serbia and the Statute of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.

Article 60

The Economy Committee shall consider motions for decisions, strategic and other documents in the field of regional economic development, tourism, hospitality industry, spas and treatment centres, industry and crafts, road, river and rail traffic, fairs and other economic events that are of importance for the AP of Vojvodina; monitor the implementation of programmes of measures and activities on the establishment of balanced regional economic development; the Vojvodina tourism strategy implementation; monitor implementation of policy in the field of telecommunications and enactment of the Strategy for Development of Telecommunications in the Republic of Serbia; consider issues in the field of protection of copyright and related rights in the production of and trade in goods; the deployment of incentives and other means intended for economic development; monitor, stimulate and coordinate the activities in the area of ownership transformation, consider initiatives and motions pertaining to ownership transformation and organisational restructuring of a company, economic policy measures and other measures and activities in the field of ownership transformation, and consider other issues in the field.

Article 61

The Agriculture Committee shall consider a motion for the programme for the development of agriculture and villages and measures for stimulating development, motions for decisions and other general acts, and other issues in the field of agriculture and rural development, food industry, livestock, and veterinary medicine, water management and waters, forestry, wildlife management, aquaculture, bee-keeping, use and upgrading of agricultural land and other areas.

Article 62

The Committee on Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection shall consider motions for programmes, decisions, and general acts and other issues in the field of urban planning, spatial planning, and housing and utilities, regulation and use of construction land, environmental protection, and its improvement and sustainable development, conservation, monitoring and development of natural values and goods created by nature and human activities, preventing and eliminating pollution of natural resources, other ways and sources of threat to the environment, environmental protection and sustainable development in the field of fisheries and fish stock management in the fishery waters, as well as issues in other fields.

Article 63

The Committee on Budget and Finance shall consider the motion for the Provincial Assembly Decision on the budget, reports on the execution of decisions on the budget and the motion for the Provincial Assembly Decision on the final account of the budget, motions for decisions on the AP of Vojvodina’s borrowings, motions for the decisions on the establishment of organizations, agencies, public enterprises, and institutions to perform tasks of the AP of Vojvodina and other issues in the field of finance.

Article 64

The Committee on Education and Science shall consider motions for decisions and general acts and motions for a programme of development of activities in the field of preschool, primary, secondary, university education and upbringing, informal adult education, pupil and student accommodation, scientific and technological development, and other issues in the field of education and upbringing, scientific-research activities, development of science and the transfer of scientific achievements, development of new technologies and their application. The Committee shall consider motions for establishing a network of primary and secondary schools and motions for the establishment of educational institutions and consider issues related to facilitation of the conditions for education of persons belonging to other ethnic groups and national minorities - national communities in their languages.

Article 65

The Committee on Youth and Sports shall consider motions for decisions and general acts and motions for a programme of development of activities in the field of sports and youth, physical and technical culture.

Article 66

The Committee on Health, Social Policy, Labour, Demographic Policy and Social Child Care shall consider motions for decisions and general acts that regulate matters of Provincial interest in health and health insurance and improve health care, health and pharmaceutical services in the territory of the AP of Vojvodina, consider a proposal for health institutions network plan, monitor the professional work of the Institute of Public Health and the operations of the spas and health resorts in the territory of the Province and other issues in the field of health care. The Committee shall consider the motions for decisions and general acts in the field of social policy, monitor and study the situation in the area of providing social security for refugees, exiled and displaced persons, consider programs for social development, measures to conduct and implement them, and social welfare, care of veterans and invalids, and civilian invalids of war and other issues related to social welfare, employment, labour and safety at work; consider motions for decisions and general acts, the demographic development programme proposals, monitor its implementation, and the issues related to family protection and custody, social child care and facilitation of the conditions for performance of the activities.

Article 67

The Committee on Culture and Information shall consider motions for decisions and general acts and other issues related to the development and improvement of public information and broadcasting, consider the content of the Assembly’s web page, consider issues related to informing the public about the work of the Assembly and other issues from this field, and regulation and protection of public interests of citizens of the AP of Vojvodina and issues related to the operation of media in the languages of national minorities - national communities, propose to the Assembly individuals to be nominated members of a shareholders company proportionally to the participation in the capital, and consider issues related to the operation of the Public broadcasting service of Vojvodina. The Committee shall consider the issues related to ensuring proper conditions to enable public informing also in the languages of ethnic groups and national minorities – national communities in the Province. The Committee shall consider motions for decisions and general acts and programme proposals for development activities in the field of culture, protection of cultural heritage, film, endowments, funds, and foundations, library activities and other issues in the field of utilisation, improvement and management of cultural heritage, consider Cultural Development Programme of the AP of Vojvodina, consider motions for decisions and general acts and other issues relevant to ensuring the development of the culture of people belonging to minority national communities, and consider motions for establishing a network of libraries.

Article 68

The Committee on Petitions and Motions shall consider petitions and motions that are referred to the Assembly and propose to the competent authorities measures and activities to resolve the issues presented in them, and inform the applicants about it, review the reports on the activities of the Commissions for Petitions and Complaints of the local self-governments in the Province, and other issues in the field of petitions and motions relevant to solving the problems of the citizens in the Province.

The Committee shall notify the Assembly at its request or upon its initiative about its observations about petitions and motions.

Article 69

The Committee on Organization of Administration and Local Self-Government shall consider motions for decisions and general acts and other issues in the field of organization, improvement of the work of the provincial administration authorities; the Provincial Ombudsman, the Province property; the electoral system in the Province; official use of the language and script. The Committee shall monitor and analyse the situation in the field of local self-government and inter-municipal cooperation; consider measures and development programmes which promote the building of the local self-government system; encourage inter-municipal linking; consider issues in the field of regional development and the establishment of Regional Development Agencies and other issues in this field.

Article 70

The Committee on Administrative and Mandatory Issues shall: consider certificates of deputies election and the report of the Provincial Electoral Commission on results of elections and submit to the Assembly a report with a motion to confirm the mandate, reasons for a mandate termination of particular deputies and submit a report thereof to the Assembly, establish a draft decision on the appointment of the President, Deputy President, Members and Secretary of the Provincial Electoral Commission and their deputies, enact the acts that regulate the issues pertaining to status and material position and rights of deputies and individuals elected and appointed by the Assembly; enact the acts on remuneration for scientists and experts engaged in the activities of the Assembly and the Committees, enact individual acts on exercising the rights of deputies and the elected, appointed, or designated persons in the Assembly and the Assembly Service; and provide their opinion on other public functions that would be performed by these individuals; determine the budget of the Assembly in accordance with the Provincial Assembly decision on the Assembly, enact financial plan of the Assembly and the Assembly Service, enact an act on the internal order in the Assembly building and other general acts that regulate other issues important for the organisation and method of work of the Assembly and the Assembly Service, at the motion of the Secretary General, grant consent to the Rulebook on Internal Organization and job posts systematisation in the Assembly Service, perform appointments, and also perform other duties determined by the regulations, general acts and this Rules of Procedure.

Article 71

The Committee on Determination of the Sameness of the Provincial Regulations in the Languages that are in Official Use shall determine the sameness of texts of regulations, decisions, and general acts enacted by the Assembly in the languages whose official use has been established by the Statute and in Serbian language and shall inform the Assembly about it.

The Committee shall form sub-committees for the languages of national minorities – national communities.

Article 72

The Security Committee shall consider issues concerning the security of citizens in the Province, realise cooperation with the organizational units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs established for the areas that are located in the territory of the Province, and consider other relevant issues.

Article 73

The Committee on European Integrations and Inter-Regional Cooperation shall  participate in regional cooperation with international regional organisations and institutions, and in the border cooperation; propose to the Assembly Serbian delegation's representatives of Vojvodina to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, and on the motion made by the President, make a decision on the AP Vojvodina representatives to the international regional organisations and composition of the Assembly delegation, as well as  the goals and objectives of the Assembly delegation visit, enact a Decision on referring the Assembly delegation and on granting funds for business trips abroad, and in case the Committee is not able to decide on the composition of the delegation and make decision on referring the delegation of the AP Vojvodina Assembly and on granting funds for business trips abroad, the Decision shall be made by the President of the Assembly of the APV; consider reports on realised delegation visits, review notes from the meetings between the AP Vojvodina Assembly representatives and foreign delegations, submit to the Assembly an annual report on established inter-regional cooperation of the  Assembly,  define the text of inter - parliamentary agreements and perform other activities in accordance with the Provincial Assembly Decision that regulates inter-regional agreements,  monitor the process of association of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union,  consider inter-regional cooperation, follow current political and economic events of special importance to the AP Vojvodina.

Article 74

The Committee on Gender Equality shall consider motions for programme, decisions and general acts on gender equality, consider analytical and other materials in the field of gender equality; consider acts from the standpoint of gender equality promotion, overview policy management, execution of decisions and general acts by the  Provincial Government from the gender equality aspect, and also consider other issues related to gender equality.

C) Committees of Inquiry and Commissions

Article 75

The Assembly may set up, from among the deputies, Committees of inquiry to establish facts about particular issues and events.

The decision to establish a Committee of Inquiry shall define the composition and terms of reference of the Committee.

A Committee of Inquiry may not carry out investigative or other judicial activities.

A Committee of Inquiry shall be entitled to request data and information from competent authorities and organisations.

Upon completion of its work, the Committee of Inquiry shall submit to the Assembly a report detailing proposed measures.

The Committee of Inquiry shall cease its operations on the date when its report is voted on at an Assembly session.

Article 76

The Assembly may set up commissions to study concrete issues of interest of the Province. The act to establish a commission shall define terms of reference and composition of the commission. Apart from deputies, other individuals, who may contribute to the implementation of the commission’s tasks, may also be contracted in the commission.

Article 77

Provisions of the present Rules of Procedure shall be applied in the work of the Committee of Inquiry and commission accordingly.

IV SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY

1. Convening a Session

Article 78

The President of the Assembly shall convene a session of the Assembly and propose the agenda.

A session of the Assembly shall be convened in writing electronically.

A convocation shall include the date, time, venue of a session, and the agenda proposal.

A session of the Assembly may be convened by a Vice-President of the Assembly, as well, according to the authorisation of the President, in case the President is absent for objective reasons.

A motion to convene a session may be communicated by the Provincial Government or at least by one - fifth of the deputies. If the motion is communicated this way, the President or the Vice-President shall be obliged to convene the Assembly session, which must be held within ten days after the date the motion is communicated.

Draft act prepared in accordance with the law, Statute, and the present Rules of Procedure may be included in the proposed agenda of the Assembly session and communicated to the deputies.

Article 79

The convocation shall be communicated to the deputies at least ten days before the date for which the session has been convened. In addition to the convocation, material about the draft agenda shall be communicated, in case it has not been communicated before, as well as the minutes from the previous session, and it shall be done electronically.

The President of the Assembly may convene an Assembly session within a shorter period, but not shorter than 72 hours and in such a case the President of the Assembly shall explain this action at the outset of the session.
Exceptionally, if there are reasons for urgency (deliberations on an amendment to the motion made for an act, which is communicated to the National Assembly by the Assembly as an authorised mover, establishment of an amendment to the motion made for an act, which shall be considered by the National Assembly, if the Provincial security is endangered or in case of a natural disaster) the president of the Assembly may convene a session of the Assembly in less than 72 hours, which shall be explained by the President of the Assembly at the beginning of the Assembly session.

Convocation of the session, material about the draft agenda, and the minutes from the previous session shall be delivered in print, one copy, to the deputies’ groups, and upon a written request to each deputy as well.

Article 80

The President of the Assembly may postpone the time or date of a session of the Assembly if a large number of amendments have been submitted to draft acts listed on the proposed agenda of the session, which may not be considered by the Provincial Government and the appropriate Committees before the start of the session, and the President shall inform the deputies promptly thereof.

In the event defined in the previous Paragraph, the deadline for submitting amendments foreseen by the present Rules of Procedure shall not be extended.

Article 81

Session of the Assembly shall, as a rule, be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10.00 to 19.00, with one hour recess.

The President of the Assembly may order a recess to be taken and its duration in the course of an Assembly session if so required to perform necessary consultations or to obtain a particular opinion.

A session of the Assembly may also be held on another day if reasonable grounds exist for doing so, and the President of the Assembly shall notify the deputies thereof.

The Assembly may decide to extend working hours past 19.00 until the work is finished according to the established agenda, the President of the Assembly shall notify the deputies thereof until 18.00 at the latest.

Article 82

The President of the Assembly may also adjourn the Assembly session prior to the expiry of the determined time for its work, should the President find it necessary considering the course of the session, or to keep the order in the Assembly.

The President of the Assembly shall adjourn the session when he ascertains that there is no quorum at the Assembly session until the quorum is established.

The President of the Assembly shall adjourn the Assembly session in other cases, too, if the Assembly should so decide.

The President of the Assembly shall schedule the resumption of the session within the period not longer than 30 days.

When the debate on all items from the agenda is over, the President of the Assembly shall conclude the session of the Assembly.

2. The Course of the Session

Article 83

The President of the Assembly shall open the session of the Assembly and, based on the electronic records on the presence of deputies, shall establish whether there is a quorum for the work of the Assembly, inform the Assembly of which deputies have justified their absence from the Assembly session as well as of persons invited to the session.

The course of the Assembly session shall be interpreted to languages of national minorities - national communities as provided in Article 3 of the present Rules of Procedure.

The quorum for the work of the Assembly shall exist if more than half of the total number of deputies in the Assembly is present at the Assembly session.

The quorum shall be established using the electronic voting system, whereby every deputy shall be obliged to identify themself upon entering the Assembly plenary hall, by inserting their identification card in the device in front of the seat (deputies' unit).

If the electronic voting system is out of function, whereby the President of the Assembly shall inform the deputies, and when the President, or the authorised representative of a deputy group, expresses suspicion about the existence of a quorum determined using the electronic voting system, the quorum shall be determined by counting the deputies.

Article 84

The President, Vice-Presidents, and members of the Provincial Government, authorised representatives of the Provincial Government and other movers, as well as other persons invited by the President of the Assembly, may also participate in the work of the Assembly session.

Article 85

Before the agenda is established, the minutes from the previous session of the Assembly shall be adopted.

The merits of the objections to the minutes shall be decided at the session without a debate.

A deputy may require stenographic notes to be read in the part where the minutes have been disputed.

If the objection is adopted, an appropriate amendment or modification shall be made in the minutes.

The Assembly shall adopt the minutes without debate.

Article 86

Prior to the establishment of the agenda at the Assembly session, the deputies may present questions and require information from the Provincial Government in accordance with the provisions of the present Rules of Procedure, for the period which may last maximum 60 minutes.

Article 87

The agenda of a session shall be established by the Assembly.

A deputy, a committee, a deputies’ group, the Provincial Government, the President of the Provincial Government within their purview, and the Provincial Protector of Citizens - Ombudsman within their purview, may make motions to amend and modify the proposed agenda.  The motions shall be submitted to the Assembly in print or electronically.
The motions to expand the agenda shall be submitted not later than 72 hours before the time set for the start of an Assembly session; motions for enacting a decision or other act by urgent procedure and motions concerning the election, appointment, dismissal, and termination of office shall be made not later than 24 hours before the time set for the start of an Assembly session.

Motions to withdraw particular items from the proposed agenda and to change the sequence of items may be submitted in the course of establishing the agenda.

Motions to amend and modify the agenda shall be delivered to the deputies electronically.

In case the Assembly session is convened within the period shorter than 72 hours, motions to expand the proposed agenda may not be made.

When a group of deputies is a mover, representative of the movers must be indicated in the motion.  If this has not been done, it shall be considered that the representative of the mover is the first deputy to have signed the motion.
The mover making motions to amend and modify the agenda may explain their motion, which may last no longer than three minutes.

When establishing the agenda, the Assembly shall decide on the motions in the following sequence:  for an urgent procedure, to withdraw particular items from the proposed agenda, to expand the agenda, to change the sequence of particular items.

Article 88

The Assembly shall decide separately on every motion to amend and modify the proposed agenda without debate.

A motion to amend the agenda or motion for an urgent procedure shall be included in the agenda in the order in which the motions have been made, except if the mover has proposed a different sequence of discussion, on which the Assembly shall vote without a debate.

The Assembly shall decide on the agenda as a whole without debate.

After the agenda has been established, the Assembly shall decide on the motions to merge debates about the individual agenda items.

Article 89

After the agenda has been established, a debate on particular issues shall start as listed on the agenda.

Procedural issues shall be decided on in the course of a session, without a debate.

A debate on particular issues shall, as a rule, be unique.

Should amendments to the proposed act be submitted, and on the motion made by the President of the Assembly, the Assembly may decide to hold a debate in principle and in particular.

A debate in particular, shall be held on articles the amendments were proposed to, and on the amendments that propose new provisions to be inserted.

When the President of the Assembly establishes that no more deputies wish to take the floor in a debate, they shall declare the debate closed.

Article 90

The duration of the presentation of each deputy that is in the Serbian language shall be limited to five minutes, whereas the presentations in the languages of national minorities - national communities, which are in official use, shall be limited to eight minutes.

The duration of the presentation of the President or a representative of a deputies’ group shall be limited to ten minutes.

The duration of the presentation of a rapporteur of a competent committee shall be limited to five minutes.

The Assembly may, at the start of a session, or before the debating a particular agenda item, on the motion made by the President of the Assembly or a deputy, determine another time for a presentation.

Article 91

During a discussion on every item of the agenda of the Assembly session, the floor shall be given in the following sequence:

- A mover for an act or an authorised representative of a group - movers for acts,

- A Rapporteur of the competent Committee,

- A deputy who requested their opinion to be presented separately at a Committee session,

- The President or a representative of a deputy group,

- Deputies, by order of applying for participation in the debate.

The President or the authorised Vice-President, a representative of the Provincial Government, as established by the agenda item and other movers shall be granted the floor upon request, and shall not be subject to limitations as to the duration of the presentation.

Should a need for further explanation arises, during the discussion on the particular item from the agenda, the President shall give the floor to the member of the Provincial Government under whose purview the issue falls, and they shall not be subject to limitations as to the duration of the presentation.

Requests to be granted the floor, along with the sequence of deputies, shall be submitted by deputies' groups and the deputies who are not members of the deputies’ groups, in writing, prior to the opening of the debate.

The President of the Assembly or a Presiding officer shall be obliged to read a list of the registered deputies and shall give them the floor according to the sequence determined by their deputy group.

A speaker who is not found in the hall at the moment of roll call may not participate in the discussion.

During an Assembly session, a deputies’ group may authorise one of its members to represent the deputies’ group in relation with a particular item from the agenda of which the President of the deputies’ group shall notify the President of the Assembly not later than before the opening of the debate on that particular agenda item, in writing.

Article 92

When the President of the Assembly wishes to take part in a debate, they shall cede the chair to one of the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly.

Article 93

A deputy shall be entitled to verbally indicate the infringement in the conduct of the President of the Assembly, or of a presiding officer immediately after the infringement has been committed should they consider it not to be in accordance with the present Rules of Procedure and been committed at the Assembly session which is in progress.

The deputy may not indicate the infringement in the conduct of the President of the Assembly or the presiding officer that has already been indicated.

The President of the Assembly, or the presiding officer, shall grant the floor to a deputy wishing to address an alleged infringement of Paragraph 1 of the present Article, immediately after the presentation of the previous speaker is finished whereas the presidents of the deputies’ group shall have priority.

The deputy shall be obliged to state which Article of the present Rules of Procedure has been infringed by the conduct of the President of the Assembly, or by the Presiding officer and explain what they consider the infringement to be, and their speech can last up to two minutes.

If the President of the Assembly or the presiding officer considers that the infringement has not been made, they shall be obliged to explain it, whereas if they consider that the infringement has been made, the President of the Assembly or the Presiding officer shall be obliged to eliminate the committed infringement.

If the deputy continues to claim that the Rules of Procedure have been infringed upon even after being provided with an explanation by the President of the Assembly, or by the Presiding officer, they may demand, without the right of explanation, the Assembly to vote on the issue without debate.

Article 94

If a deputy, in their statement at the Assembly session makes an insulting statement about other speaker, specifying their name or title, or misinterpret their statement, the speaker to whom the statement refers shall be entitled to reply.

Should the insulting words concern a deputies’ group or a political party to which the deputies belong, the right of reply on behalf of the deputies’ group shall be granted to the President, the Deputy President of the deputies’ group, or the authorised representative of the deputies’ group.

The President of the Assembly shall rule on cases defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the present Article.

The reply may not last more than three minutes.

The right of reply may not be used more than twice on the same issue with the same participant in the debate.

Article 95

A deputy may speak from the speaker's platform or their place.  If they speak from their place, they shall be obliged to stand up.

A deputy with disabilities or with other medical conditions may speak from their place.

A speaker may not approach the speaker's platform unless so allowed by the President of the Assembly.

No one may speak at an Assembly session before requesting the floor and being granted the floor by the President of the Assembly.

Article 96

A speaker may speak only about the issue that is on the agenda of the Assembly session.

No one may interrupt the speaker nor warn them except the President of the Assembly in cases envisaged by the present Rules of Procedure.

3. Keeping Order at an Assembly Session

Article 97

Deputies shall be obliged to respect the repute and dignity of the Assembly.

Keeping order at an Assembly session shall be the responsibility of the President of the Assembly.

In case of a violation of order at a session, the President of the Assembly may pronounce a measure established by the present Rules of Procedure.

Article 98

Deputies shall be obliged to address each other with polite words and with respect.

At the Assembly session, it shall not be allowed for the deputies to directly address each other, use insulting expressions, or present the facts or opinions concerning the private lives of deputies or others.

Article 99

The obligation of each person who enters the Assembly building during the Assembly session shall be to be dressed politely.

The Assembly session may not be attended by persons under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicants.

All persons who are in the plenary hall during the Assembly session shall be obliged to switch off their mobile phones.

No one shall be allowed to take things into the plenary hall that are not necessary for the work at the Assembly session.

Article 100

During the speech of a deputy or another participant in the debate, it shall not be allowed to heckle or to distract the speaker in any other manner, or to take any other action that imperils the freedom of speech.

Article 101

In case of violation of order at an Assembly session, a reprimand, denial of the floor when a debate on a particular issue is on the agenda, and expulsion from the session may be pronounced.

Reprimand and denial of the floor shall be pronounced by the President of the Assembly.

Expulsion from the session shall be pronounced by the Assembly, on the motion made by the President of the Assembly.

The pronounced measure shall be recorded in the minutes.

Article 102

A deputy shall be reprimanded if they:

-  approach the speaker's platform without permission of the President of the Assembly even after having been cautioned,

- speak before requesting or being granted the floor,

- speak about an issue that is not on the agenda even after having been cautioned by the President of the Assembly,

- interrupt the speaker in their presentation or make loud remarks, or distract the speaker, or otherwise imperil freedom of speech,

- present facts and assessments concerning the private lives of others,

- use insulting expressions,

- violate order at the session by any other actions, or act in contravention of provisions of the present Rules of Procedure.

Article 103

The floor shall be denied to a deputy who has been reprimanded but nevertheless continues to speak even after having been cautioned by the President that they have been speaking about an issue that has not been on the agenda, presenting facts and assessments concerning the private lives of others or using insulting expressions.
The deputy who has been denied the floor shall be obliged to stop delivering their statement.  Otherwise, the President of the Assembly shall turn off the sound system and if need be order a recess.

Article 104

Expulsion from a session may be pronounced to a deputy in the event of gross violations of the order who, even after the floor has been denied to them, obstructs or hinders work at the session, fails to obey the decision of the President of the Assembly on denial of the floor to them, or continues committing other violations under Article 102 of the present Rules of Procedure, as well as in other cases specified by the present Rules of Procedure.

Expulsion from a session may be pronounced to a deputy without prior pronounced measures in the event of a physical attack or other similar act that endangers the physical integrity of the participants in the session.

Expulsion from a session, on the motion made by the President, shall be pronounced by the Assembly without debate.

A deputy who has been ordered to leave the session shall be obliged to immediately leave the Assembly plenary hall where the session is taking place.

If a deputy refuses to leave the Assembly plenary hall where the session is taking place, the President of the Assembly shall call a recess and order the service charged with keeping order in the Assembly building to remove the deputy from the Assembly plenary hall.

A deputy who has been ordered to leave the Assembly session shall be considered unjustifiably absent.

Article 105

If the President of the Assembly prove unable to keep order at an Assembly session by pronouncing measures, they shall call a short recess.

Article 106

Provisions on keeping order at an Assembly session shall also apply to all other participants in the work of a session.

Article 107

The President of the Assembly may also order another person present, who violates the order at an Assembly session, to leave the plenary hall where the session is taking place, as well as to leave the Assembly building.

Article 108

The provisions on keeping order at an Assembly session shall apply accordingly to sessions of Committees, Commissions, and other working bodies.

4. Voting

Article 109

The Assembly shall decide by a majority vote at the session at which the majority of all deputies are present unless a different majority for voting is stipulated by the Statute and the present Rules of Procedure.

Article 110

Voting at an Assembly session shall be open unless the Assembly has decided to vote by secret ballot.

The deputy shall vote ‘For’ or ‘Against’ a motion or shall abstain from voting.

a) Open Voting

Article 111

Open voting shall be performed either by using the electronic voting system, by a show of hands, or by roll call.

Article 112

Open voting by use of the electronic voting system shall be carried out in the manner defined by the present Rules of Procedure.

A vote shall be taken by a show of hands, in the manner specified by the present Rules of Procedure, only if the electronic voting system is not operational, if the session takes place at the premises not equipped with such a system or if the Assembly should so decide before the vote.

At a deputy’s request, the Assembly may decide, without debate, to vote by roll call in the manner defined by the present Rules of Procedure.

Article 113

Voting by use of the electronic system shall be conducted by pressing the appropriate keys, having previously inserted the identification card into the deputies' unit.

The period for voting by use of the electronic system shall be 15 seconds.

Upon expiry of this period, the President of the Assembly shall close the vote and announce its outcome.

A decision shall be considered enacted if more than half of the deputies identified, or the majority envisaged by the Statute,  the present Rules of Procedure or other regulation, vote for it.

The outcome of each vote shall be shown on the screens in the Assembly plenary hall.

A computer printout of the results of each vote shall be delivered to deputies' groups at their request, as well as to the Assembly Service for presentation to the media representatives.

Article 114

Deputies shall be obliged to use only their own identification card, as well as to identify themselves by inserting their cards into their deputies' unit, as well as to log off when leaving the Assembly plenary hall.

If a deputy uses the identification card of another deputy or otherwise abuse the electronic voting system, the President of the Assembly shall propose that they are to be ordered to leave the session.

Any votes taken at the time the abuse took place shall be annulled and shall immediately be followed by a repeated identification and voting.

Article 115

Deputies shall be obliged to carry their identification cards on their person when leaving the Assembly plenary hall.
If a deputy should leave the Assembly plenary hall and leave their identification card in the deputies' unit, or beside it, the Assembly Service shall immediately hand over the card to the Secretary General of the Assembly.

The card shall be returned to the deputy upon their return to the Assembly plenary Hall.

Article 116

A deputy shall be obliged to immediately report the loss of their identification card to the Secretary General of the Assembly.

If a deputy should fail to bring their identification card or should lose it during an Assembly session, the Assembly Service shall issue them a temporary identification card and shall inform the Assembly thereof.

The deputy shall return the temporary card to the Secretary General of the Assembly immediately after the end of the session for which the temporary card was issued to be used.

Article 117

If a vote is taken by a show of hands, deputies shall firstly declare in favour of a motion, opposed, and abstained from the vote.

After the vote is over, the President of the Assembly shall close the vote and announce its outcome.

Article 118

If the Assembly decides to take a vote by roll call, the Secretary of the Assembly shall roll-call the deputies in the alphabetical order of their last names and every roll-called deputy shall say either "For", "Against" or "Abstained".

If the Assembly decides to vote by roll call in a procedure of election where two or more candidates have been nominated, the deputy taking part in the vote shall state the full name of the candidate for whom they shall vote.

The Secretary General of the Assembly shall repeat the first and last name of the deputy who has voted along with their statement or shall establish their absence or refusal to vote.

The Secretary General of the Assembly shall record the statement of a deputy or an absence of a deputy, alongside their first and last name on the list.

Following the roll call, it shall be concluded that the motion has been voted in or voted down.

б) Voting by Secret Ballot

Article 119

Voting at an Assembly session shall be open unless the Assembly has decided to vote by secret ballot.

Deputies shall vote by secret ballot using ballot papers.

For secret voting by ballot paper, there will be printed as many ballot papers as there are deputies in the Assembly.

The ballot papers shall be of the same size, shape, and colour and shall be verified by the seal of the Assembly.

For each repeated vote, ballot papers shall be printed in a different colour.

Article 120

During an election or nomination, candidates shall be listed on ballot papers in the sequence established on the list of candidates.  An ordinal number shall precede the name of each candidate.

Voting shall be conducted by circling the ordinal number in front of the name of the candidate for whom they are voting.

Deputies may not vote for more candidates than are to be elected from among the candidates whose names are indicated on the ballot paper.

Article 121

Voting by secret ballot shall be administered by the President of the Assembly, who shall in doing so be assisted by Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and by the Secretary General of the Assembly.

Article 122

A deputy shall be handed a ballot paper when they approach the President's bench after they have been roll-called.  The President of the Assembly shall hand a ballot paper to the deputy, while the Secretary General of the Assembly shall record, next to the name and surname of the deputy on the list, that the ballot paper has been handed to them.  The President of the Assembly shall, prior to the vote, determine its duration.

Once the Deputy has marked their ballot paper, they shall approach the ballot box and insert the ballot paper into it.

The ballot box must be made of transparent material.

Upon the expiry of the period for voting, the president of the Assembly shall close the vote.

Article 123

After the voting finishes, the results of the vote shall be established in the same plenary hall where the voting has taken place in the following sequence:

1) Establishing the number of the received ballot papers,

2) Establishing the number of the unused ballot papers which shall be sealed in a separate envelope,

3) Establishing the number of deputies who received ballot papers,

4) Opening of the ballot box and establishing the number of the ballot papers in the box by counting.

If the number of ballot papers in the box is determined to be higher than the number of deputies who have voted, the process shall be suspended and a repeated vote shall be taken, while the used ballot papers shall be sealed in a separate envelope. If the number of ballot papers in the box is determined to be equal to or fewer than the number of deputies who have voted, the procedure shall be continued and the invalid ballot papers shall be separated and sealed in a separate envelope,

5) Votes "For" and "Against" shall be read from each valid ballot paper, or if voting on election or nomination has been taken, the name of the candidate who has won a vote shall be read, which shall be recorded in a separate form and

6) The number of votes "For", "Against" or the number of votes polled by each of the nominated candidates shall be established.

Article 124

Any unmarked ballot paper, or any ballot paper that does not clearly show which motion the deputy has voted for, shall be considered invalid.

When a vote is taken on an election or appointment, any ballot paper on which a greater number of candidates have been marked than the number to be elected or appointed shall be considered invalid.

Article 125

After establishing the outcome of the vote, the President shall announce the results that include data on the number of:

- received ballot papers,

- unused ballot papers,

- deputies who have received ballot papers,

- used ballot papers,

- invalid ballot papers,

- valid ballot papers,

- votes "For" and votes "Against", or, if during the election or nomination the deputies should vote on several candidates running for the same office, the number of votes polled by individual candidates.

The announcement of the results shall also encompass a conclusion stating whether the motion has or has not been voted for.

A record shall be made of the establishment of the voting results.

5. Record and Shorthand Notes

Article 126

Minutes shall be kept of the work in the Assembly session.

The minutes shall contain the basic information on the activities in a session:  names of the deputies absent, motions decided on, names of participants in the debate, conclusions adopted at the session, the outcome of voting on particular issues, as well as the measures pronounced.

The adopted minutes shall be signed by the President and the Secretary General of the Assembly and the Assembly seal shall be affixed to it.

The Secretary General of the Assembly shall be in charge of the minutes.

Article 127

Shorthand notes shall be kept at Assembly session and the course of the session shall be audio-taped.  Shorthand notes shall include the text as uttered.  Every deputy shall be entitled to inspect the shorthand notes and receive, upon request, the printout of the shorthand notes with the contents of the statements.

6. Solemn and Thematic Assembly Session

Article 128

The Assembly may hold a solemn session.

The President of the Assembly may convene a solemn session on the occasion of public and international holidays and marking of historical anniversaries.

The President of the Assembly may invite the President of the Republic, the President and members of the National and Provincial Government, representatives of other bodies and organisations from the country and abroad, as well as other representatives of the public, scientific and cultural life of Serbia, to come to the solemn session of the Assembly.

Article 129

The Assembly may hold a thematic session.

The President of the Assembly may convene a thematic session to deliberate issues related to policy management in a certain area, as well as the issues of broad economic, cultural and political importance.

The President of the Assembly may invite representatives of other bodies and organisations from the country and abroad to a thematic session if they estimate that their presence at the session may contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the issue on the agenda of the thematic session.

Article 130

The agenda for solemn and thematic sessions shall be determined by the President of the Assembly.

As regards the way the invitations to solemn and thematic sessions are to be delivered to deputies, provisions of the present Rules of Procedure referring to convening the Assembly sessions shall apply.

V PROCEDURE FOR ENACTMENT OF ACTS

Article 131

The Assembly shall enact the Statute, Provincial Assembly decisions, decisions, declarations, resolutions,  strategies, Rules of Procedure, recommendations, conclusions, and other acts.

The Assembly shall conclude agreements with relevant authorities of territorial communities from other countries, in compliance with the Statute.  The procedure for concluding agreements shall be regulated in a separate act.

The Assembly shall deliberate on and adopt information on the situation in particular areas, as well as reports on the work of public companies, institutions, and other organisations founded by the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina if it is stipulated by their instruments of incorporation.

Article 132

The Provincial Assembly decision shall regulate issues that are according to the Constitution and the Statute directly within the competence of the AP Vojvodina, or that have been determined by law as issues relevant to the Province.

By way of a decision, the Assembly shall decide on the issues not characterised as being relevant to the Province, as well as on election, appointment, or relief of duty.

By way of a declaration, the Assembly shall express its general position on particular issues of interest and relevance to the Province or issues of more extensive economic, cultural, or political significance.

By way of a resolution, the Assembly shall specify the state and problems in a particular field of general interest and suggest measures to be undertaken.

By way of a recommendation, the Assembly shall express its opinion on certain issues of general interest and a manner of resolving particular problems, as well as propose measures to be taken to address particular issues.

By way of a conclusion, a stand shall be taken, opinion on particular issues shall be expressed and the attention of the Provincial Government and provincial administrative authorities shall be drawn to problems in a particular area to consider the situation and take certain measures.  By way of a conclusion, other issues that are within the scope of competences of the Assembly and its working bodies shall also be resolved.

1. Authorised Movers

Article 133

A motion to enact a Provincial Assembly decision, general and other acts may be made by a deputy, competent committee, deputies’ group, the Provincial Government, an assembly of a local self-government unit from the territory of the AP Vojvodina, at least 10,000 voters residing in the territory of the AP Vojvodina and the Provincial Protector of Citizens - Ombudsman within their purview.

A motion for a Provincial Assembly decision on the budget of the AP Vojvodina, budget revision, and final balance sheet of the AP Vojvodina shall be made by the Provincial Government. 

A declaration and resolution may be submitted by the Provincial Government, a competent committee, or a minimum of 30 deputies.

A motion for the Rules of Procedure shall be made by the Committee on Regulations. 

A motion for a strategy, development plans, and programmes, spatial plans, networks of institutions, and other acts on planning and development shall be made by the Provincial Government.

2. Procedure for Amending the Statute of the AP Vojvodina

Article 134

Amending the Statute shall be carried out by submitting and adopting the motion to amend the Statute, discussing and establishing a motion for an act to amend the Statute, and passing an act to amend the Statute of AP Vojvodina.

a) Submission and adoption of a motion to amend the Statute

Article 135

A motion to amend the Statute shall be submitted by an authorised mover stipulated by the Statute.

If the Assembly accepts the motion to amend the Statute and the mover has concurrently submitted the draft of the Provincial Assembly decision on amending the Statute, the Assembly may decide to put the Draft forward for a public discussion.

The motion to amend the Statute shall be deliberated by the Committee on Issues of Constitutional and Legal Status of the Province, which shall propose to the Assembly whether to adopt the motion or not.

Should the Assembly adopt the motion to amend the Statute, preparation and deliberation of the motion for an act to amend the Statute shall commence.

b) Deliberations and establishment of a motion for an act to amend the Statute

Article 136

If the Assembly adopts the motion to amend the Statute, it shall entrust the Committee on Issues of Constitutional and Legal Status of the Province or Provincial Government to prepare a draft act to amend the Statute.

The draft act to amend the Statute shall be forwarded to The Committee on Regulations and the Committee on Issues of Constitutional and Legal Status of the Province, providing it is not the mover and to the Provincial Government, providing it is not the mover, for an opinion.

Article 137

An authorised mover as provided in Article 133, Paragraph 1 of the Rules of Procedure shall be entitled to amend a draft act to amend the Statute.

Article 138

The Assembly shall establish the draft act to amend the Statute and submit it to the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia for consent.

c) Enactment of an act to amend the Statute of the AP Vojvodina

Article 139

Upon obtaining consent by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, the Assembly shall pass the act to amend the Statute.

3. Procedure for Enactment of Provincial Assembly Decisions

Article 140

An authorised mover shall submit a draft Provincial Assembly decision in the form the decision is to be enacted, with an explanation.

The draft shall contain

1) the legal ground for enacting the decision;

2) reasons for enacting the decision, and along with them in particular:  An analysis of the present situation, problems to be resolved by the decision, aims to be achieved, deliberation of the possible ways to resolve the problem even without the enactment of the decision, and an answer to the question why the enactment of the decision would be the best way to solve the problem;

3) an explanation of the basic legal concepts and specific solutions;

4) estimate of financial resources needed for enforcement of the decision, which also encompasses the fundraising sources;

5) general interest that was the reason for proposing retroactive effect, if a motion contains provisions with retroactive effect;

6) reasons for enacting a decision  by urgent procedure, if an urgent procedure has been proposed;

7) reasons for proposing that the decision should take effect before the eighth day after the day it is published in the "Official Journal of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina".

Along with the motion name and surname of the representative of the mover must be stated.

When the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision pertains to amendments of the valid decision, the text of provisions of the valid decision being amended shall be submitted in addition to the draft decision.

Article 141

A motion for the Provincial Assembly decision shall be put forward to the Assembly.

The motion for the Provincial Assembly decision shall be submitted electronically and in print.

The President of the Assembly shall submit the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision to deputies, the competent committee, and the Provincial Government, providing it is not be the mover, to give their opinion.

Article 142

If the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision has not been prepared in accordance with the present Rules of Procedure, the President of the Assembly shall request from the mover to harmonise the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision with the provisions of the present Rules of Procedure and shall concurrently specify the details of the discrepancy observed.

The mover of the Provincial Assembly decision may thereupon submit, within 15 days, the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision which has been harmonised with the present Rules of Procedure, and if the mover should not act in accordance with the provisions under Paragraph 1 of the present Article, the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision shall be considered withdrawn.

In case of disagreement with the opinion of the President of the Assembly, the mover may ask, in writing, that the Assembly state its opinion whether the motion has been prepared in compliance with the present Rules of Procedure.  The Assembly shall be obliged to state its opinion on the issue at the first following session, before moving on to consider the agenda, and without debate.  Prior to voting, the mover of the decision shall be entitled to elaborate their opinion for not more than five minutes.

Article 143

A motion for the Provincial Assembly decision, prepared in compliance with the present Rules of Procedure, shall be included in the agenda of the Assembly session within 90 days from the date of its submitting.

In exceptional cases, when the obligation of enactment of the Provincial Assembly decision arises from the law or when failure to enact the decision would cause considerable damage, the deadline may not be longer than 30 days.

Article 144

Before being considered at the Assembly session, a motion for the Provincial Assembly decision shall be considered by the competent committee and the Provincial Government, providing the Government is not the mover of the decision.

The competent committee or Provincial Government shall submit the report or opinion, as a rule, within not less than five days before the date set for the Assembly session at which the motion for the decision is to be considered.

The competent committee may propose to the Assembly whether or not to enact the Decision.

Should the competent committee or Provincial Government fail to forward the report or opinion, the Assembly may decide to consider the motion for the decision without such a report or opinion.

Article 145

A joint debate shall be held on the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision.

Exceptionally, if several amendments have been made to the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision, the Assembly, upon the motion of the President, shall decide to hold a debate on the motion for the decision in principle and in particular.

After discussing the particulars, the Assembly shall decide on the motion in its entirety.

Article 146

A mover for a Provincial Assembly decision shall be entitled to withdraw the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision until the debate at an Assembly session has been concluded.  When the mover has withdrawn the motion for a Provincial Assembly decision in writing before the Assembly session, the President of the Assembly shall inform the Assembly thereof and when they have done it verbally, in the course of the session, the Assembly shall note that the motion has been withdrawn.

4. Procedure for Enactment of Decisions and Other Acts

Article 147

The provisions of the procedure for enactment of Provincial Assembly decisions shall apply to the procedure for enactment of decisions, resolutions, declarations, recommendations, conclusions and deliberations and adoption of information and reports, accordingly.

The Provincial authorities and the public enterprise bodies, institutions, and other organisations founded by the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina shall submit their reports to the Assembly for consideration.

Reports on the performance of work shall be submitted to competent committees and the Provincial Government for an opinion.

Upon consideration, the Assembly shall decide on the report under Paragraph 2 of the present Article.

5. Amendments Procedure

Article 148

A motion to amend and modify a general act enacted by the Assembly shall be submitted in the form of an amendment.  The amendment shall be submitted to the Assembly electronically and in print.

The amendment shall contain:

- applicable Article of the present Rules of Procedure, as a legal ground for submission of an amendment;

- a title and an Article of the proposed general act the amendment refers to;

- proposed solution;

- explanatory note encompassing explanation of the proposed solution and the desired aim to be achieved by the enactment of the amendment, and as needed an impact assessment of the proposed solution to budget funds.

An authorised mover as provided in Article 133, Paragraph 1 of the Rules of Procedure shall be entitled to make an amendment.

An amendment mover may not, alone or with other deputies, submit several amendments to the same Article of the proposed act, except when they propose amendments to a proposal of the Provincial Assembly decision on the budget.

If by means of an act proposal, an act shall be amended or modified, only amendments that relate to the articles of the proposed amendments or modifications may be submitted.

When a motion is not debated in particular, a mover shall have up to two minutes to explain the amendment.

If an amendment is submitted by several deputies, a representative of the movers shall be entitled to explain it, and if a representative has not been determined, the first signed deputy shall be a representative of the mover.

An amendment shall be submitted 72 hours prior to the time set for the session at which the motion for an act is to be considered, at the latest.

When a session is convened within the period shorter than 10 days, but not shorter than 72 hours before the Assembly session, the amendment shall be submitted not later than 24 hours before the beginning of the session at which the motion for an act is to be considered.

When a session is convened within the period shorter than 72 hours before the session, and in case of a motion to enact an act under an urgent procedure, an amendment shall be submitted not later than before the beginning of the debate on the particular agenda item.

When the motion for an act is submitted to the Assembly together with a motion to extend the proposed agenda of the Assembly session, the amendment shall be submitted not later than 24 hours before the beginning of the session at which the motion for an act is to be considered.

The Assembly President shall dismiss an amendment submitted in an untimely manner, on which they shall inform the person who submitted the amendment and the Assembly at the start of a debate on that item of the agenda and it shall not be voted on by the Assembly.

Article 149

The submitted amendment shall be forwarded by the President of the Assembly to the person who made a motion for an act.

The submitted amendment shall also be forwarded to the competent committee and the Provincial Government, providing they are not the movers, to obtain their opinion.

The competent committee shall dismiss incomplete amendments as well as the amendments with insulting content and shall submit a report on this to the Assembly.

The dismissed amendments may not be subject to debate and they shall not be voted on.

Should the competent committee or the Provincial Government fail to forward the report or opinion, the Assembly may decide to consider the amendment without such a report or opinion.

The mover of an amendment may withdraw the amendment until the conclusion of the debate.

Article 150

The mover of an act shall be obliged to consider amendments and inform the Assembly which amendments they propose to be accepted by the Assembly and which to be rejected.

Article 151

The amendment submitted by the mover of an act as well as the amendment accepted by the mover shall become an integral part of the motion for the act and it shall not be voted on separately.

Article 152

The Assembly shall decide on amendments submitted in the order of articles of the motion for the act.

If more than one amendment has been submitted to a single article of a motion for the act, the vote shall first be taken on the amendment which deviates most from the solutions contained in the motion for the act.

If an amendment to an amendment has been submitted, the vote shall first be taken on the amendment which has been submitted to the amendment.

Article 153

In the course of debate at the Assembly session, amendments in writing may be submitted by the mover of the act, competent committee, or the Provincial Government, providing it is not the mover, only if the amendment is needed due to the prior adoption of another amendment.

Article 154

If amendments are of such nature to substantially change or depart from the draft act, the Assembly, upon the motion of the Assembly President or Committee on Regulations, may decide to suspend the debate, to facilitate the preparation of Deputies for the voting.

Should the need arise, due to adoption of one or several amendments, to conduct legal and technical editing of the draft act text or to harmonise the adopted amendments, between themselves and with the text of the draft act, the Assembly, upon the motion of the Assembly President, may stop the voting and ask the Committee on Regulations to conduct the legal and technical editing of the draft act text and submit a report to the Assembly thereof.

6. Procedure for Conclusion of Interregional Agreements

Article 155

The Assembly shall conclude interregional agreements with the corresponding territorial communities from other countries.

The procedure for the conclusion of interregional agreements shall be regulated in a separate Assembly act.

7. Procedure for Enactment of Provincial Assembly Decisions on the Budget and Annual Balance Sheet of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina

Article 156

The Provincial Assembly decision on the budget (hereinafter: the budget) shall be enacted by the Assembly within the timeframe stipulated by the Law.

The budget shall be submitted by the Provincial Government along with an explanatory note which shall contain:  the constitutional, legal and statutory basis for the enactment of the budget, explanation of the proposal of the required funds by budget funds beneficiaries, and the structure of revenues.

Article 157

A budget proposal may be considered beforehand by committees in the part related to expenditures used to finance the activities that are in the scope of the committees' work. The committees shall submit their reports, accompanied by an explanation of the motions to the Committee on Budget and Finances.

The Committee on Budget and Finances shall consider the motion for the budget and reports of particular committees and shall report to the Assembly thereof.

Article 158

The motion for the budget shall be discussed at an Assembly session in principle and in particular.

If no amendments have been made to the motion for the budget, a joint debate shall be conducted.

Should an amendment to the motion for the budget propose an increase of particular expenditures, the amendment shall need to contain the sources of funds to be allocated for those expenditures.

After the debate on the particulars, a vote shall be taken on the budget in its entirety.

Article 159

The Provincial Assembly decision on the budget revision shall be enacted according to the procedure of enacting the budget.

Article 160

The Provincial Government shall submit to the Assembly a report on execution of the Provincial Assembly Decision on the Budget of the AP of Vojvodina, in compliance with the law.

The Committee on Budget and Finances shall consider the report on the execution of the Provincial Assembly Decision on the Budget of the AP of Vojvodina and shall submit the report accompanied by the opinion, to the Assembly.

Article 161

The Assembly shall consider the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision on the annual balance sheet of the budget (hereinafter: the annual balance sheet of the budget) and enact it within the timeframe stipulated by law.

The Provincial Government shall submit the motion for the annual balance sheet of the budget.

The Committee on Budget and Finances shall consider the motion for the annual balance sheet of the budget and shall submit the report containing their opinion to the Assembly.

Article 162

Unless otherwise specified in provisions of the present part of the Rules of Procedure, in terms of the procedure for enactment of the budget and annual balance sheet of the budget, the provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on the procedure for enactment of Provincial Assembly decisions shall apply accordingly.

8. Procedure for Enactment of Strategies, Development Plans and Programmes, Spatial Plans, Networks of Institutions and other Planning and Development Acts

Article 163

Motions for the strategy, development plan, and programme, network of institutions, and other planning and development acts shall be submitted by the Provincial Government, with an explanation and the required documentation.

A motion for a regional spatial plan of the Province, spatial plan of special purpose, and spatial plan of the network of areas and facilities with special functions shall be submitted by the Provincial Government, with an explanation and the required documentation.

Before the debate at the Assembly session, the motions for acts under Paragraphs  1 and 2 shall be considered by the competent committees that shall submit the reports with the opinion to the Assembly.

Article 164

The regional spatial plan of the Province may not be enacted under an urgent procedure.

Article 165

In terms of the procedure for enactment of acts under Article 163, the provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on the procedure for enactment of Provincial Assembly decisions shall apply accordingly.

9. Procedure for Enactment of the Rules of Procedure

Article 166

Before defining the motion for the Rules of Procedure, the Committee on Regulations shall submit the draft Rules of Procedure to the Collegium of the Assembly for an opinion.

The provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on the enactment of Provincial Assembly decisions shall apply accordingly to the procedure for enactment of the Rules of Procedure.

10. Urgent Procedure

Article 167

The Provincial Government may propose that the Provincial Assembly decision or other act be enacted under the urgent procedure.

The urgent procedure may apply only when enacting a Provincial Assembly decision or other act, which if they were not enacted under urgent procedure could cause detrimental consequences to human life and health, the security of the Province, and operation of the bodies and organisations.

A motion to enact a Provincial Assembly decision or other act under urgent procedure must be supported by an explanation. In the written explanatory note of the motion, the mover shall be obliged to specify the detrimental consequences that would arise from failure to enact the decision under the urgent procedure.

A motion to enact a Provincial Assembly decision or other act under the urgent procedure shall be submitted to the Assembly not later than 24 hours before the commencement of the Assembly session.

Article 168

The motion for a Provincial Assembly decision or other act being enacted under the urgent procedure shall be preliminarily considered by the Committee on Regulations.

The Assembly shall decide on the motion to enact a Provincial Assembly decision or other act under the urgent procedure as on preliminary issue when establishing the agenda.

After the Assembly adopts the motion to enact a Provincial Assembly decision or other act under an urgent procedure, the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision or other act shall be included in the agenda of the session.

Should the Assembly fail to adopt the motion to enact a Provincial Assembly decision or other act under an urgent procedure, at the proposal of the mover, the motion for the Provincial Assembly decision or other act shall be considered under the regular procedure in one of the following sessions.

An amendment to the motion for the decision or other act being enacted under the urgent procedure may be submitted until the beginning of the debate.

11. Procedure for Authentic Interpretation of Acts

Article 169

A motion to enact authentic interpretation of an individual act may be submitted to the Assembly by the authorised mover.

The motion under Paragraph 1 of the present Article shall include the title of the act, provisions whose authentic interpretation is requested, and the reason for requesting the authentic interpretation.

Article 170

If the Committee on Regulations assesses that the motion is justified, it shall prepare a motion for the authentic interpretation and forward it to the mover and the Assembly.

If the Committee on Regulations assesses that the motion is not justified, it shall inform the mover and the Assembly thereof.

The Assembly shall vote on the motion of the Committee on Regulations defined in Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the present Article.

If the Assembly does not accept the opinion of the Committee on Regulations that the authentic interpretation is not justified, it shall charge the Committee on Regulations to prepare a motion for an authentic interpretation.

Article 171

Unless otherwise specified in the provisions of the present Chapter, the provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on the procedure for enactment of the acts shall apply accordingly to the procedure for enactment of authentic interpretations of decisions and other acts enacted by the Assembly.

12. Procedure for Establishing Bills, Other Regulations and General Acts Enacted by the National Assembly

Article 172

A motion for the Assembly to be a mover of law, other regulation, and a general act with the text of the bill and other regulation and general act may be submitted by a deputy, the competent committee, deputies’ group, and the Provincial Government.

The text of the bill, other regulation, and a general act shall be submitted in the form in which the law, other regulation, and a general act are enacted along with an explanatory note whose contents are stipulated by the National Assembly Rules of Procedure.

The mover of the text for the bill, other regulation, or a general act shall be obliged to specify the reasons for proposing to the Assembly to establish the bill, other regulation, or a  general act and to submit it to the National Assembly.

Article 173

Upon receiving the motion that the Assembly should be the mover of law, other regulation, and a general act, the Assembly President shall forward it, together with the text of the bill, motion for other regulation and a general act, to deputies and the Provincial Government, providing the Provincial Government is not the mover.

The Committee on Regulations, Committee on Cooperation with the National Assembly Committees in Exercising the Competences of the Province, and the competent committee shall consider the motion and forward the report with their opinion to the Assembly.

Article 174

At the Assembly session, the submitter of the motion that the Assembly should be the mover of law, other regulation, and a general act may provide additional explanation of the reasons why the Assembly should be the mover of law, other regulation, and a general act.

A representative of the Provincial Government, providing it is not the mover, and representative of the Committee on Cooperation with the Committees of the National Assembly in Exercising the Competences of the Province may provide additional explanation of the proposal on acceptance or rejection of the motion.

A debate shall be held on the motion that the Assembly should be the mover of law, other regulation, and a general act.

If the Assembly does not accept to be the mover of law, other regulation, or a general act, it shall not consider the text of the bill or motion for other general acts.

Article 175

If the Assembly accepts to be the mover of law, other regulation, or a general act, a debate shall be held on the text of the bill. The text of the bill shall be voted on in its entirety.

If the Assembly establishes a bill or motion for other regulation or general act, it shall designate an Assembly representative in the National Assembly and authorise them to accept the amendments that do not alter the fundamental nature of the motion.

Article 176

The Assembly President shall submit the bill and motion for other regulation or general act to the National Assembly and inform the National Assembly about the authorised representative.

Article 177

The provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on the procedure for making amendments and decisions on the submitted amendments shall also apply accordingly to the procedure for making amendments to the text of the bill, motion for other regulation or general act.

13. Procedure for Making Amendments to Bills, Motions for Other Regulations and General Acts Enacted by the National Assembly

Article 178

The motion for the Assembly to make an amendment to the bill, motion for other regulation and general act, may be submitted by a deputy, the competent committee, deputies’ group, and the Provincial Government.

The proposed amendment to the bill, motion for other regulation and general act, shall be submitted to deputies, the competent committee, if not moved by that committee, the Committee on Cooperation with the National Assembly Committees in Exercising the of Competences of the Province and the Provincial Government, providing the amendment was not moved by it. They shall consider the motion and submit their opinion to the Assembly, along with the motion of whether or not to establish the amendment.

Article 179

Once the Assembly has established the amendments, it shall appoint an Assembly representative who shall, at the National Assembly session, explain the submitted amendment in compliance with the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly. Тhe Assembly  President shall forward the amendment to the National Assembly and inform the National Assembly about the authorised representative.

14. Procedure for Assessment of Constitutionality and Legality

Article 180

A motion to institute the proceedings before the Constitutional Court for an assessment of constitutionality and legality of the law, or other regulation or general act of the republic authority, when these acts have violated the rights of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina established by the Constitution and the law, may be submitted by the authorised movers under Article 133 Paragraph 1 of the Rules of Procedure. The Assembly President shall submit the motion to deputies and the Provincial Government, providing the motion was not moved by them.

If the Assembly adopts the motion to institute the proceedings for an assessment of constitutionality and legality, it shall designate a representative to participate in the proceedings before the Constitutional Court.

The  Assembly President shall submit the motion to institute the proceedings to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia.

Article 181

If the proceedings are instituted for an assessment of constitutionality and legality of the Assembly’s regulation or general act, the Committee on Regulations shall provide an answer to the Constitutional Court within the time frame determined by the Constitutional Court in its request and shall authorise a person to participate in the proceedings before the Constitutional Court.

15. Procedure in Case of a Motion to Call a Referendum

Article 182

The Assembly may call a referendum on an issue within its scope of competence upon the motion submitted by 30 deputies or the Provincial Government.

The Assembly shall call the provincial referendum if the request for its calling should be submitted by at least 30,000 voters with residence in the territory of the AP Vojvodina.

Article 183

The motion for the Assembly to call a referendum on issues within its scope of competence shall be considered by the committee in charge of that issue and the Committee on Issues of Constitutional and Legal Status of the Province, which shall establish if the contents of the motion comply with the law, if the motion has been submitted by authorised movers and whether the issue is within the Assembly’s scope of competence.

If the Committee on Issues of Constitutional and Legal Status of the Province establishes that the content of the motion is not in compliance with the law, it has not been submitted by authorised movers, or the issue is not found to be within the Assembly’s scope of competence, the Assembly President shall inform thereof the mover of the motion.

Article 184

A referendum shall be carried out in the manner stipulated by the Constitution, law, Statute, and the present Rules of Procedure.

16. Procedure for Election and Termination of Office

Article 185

The explained motion for election, appointment and relief of duty of the director, president, and members of supervisory boards of public enterprises, presidents and members of management and supervisory boards of institutions, agencies and other organisations founded by the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and other persons elected, appointed and relieved of duty by the Assembly, shall be submitted by the committee responsible, within its scope of competence, for consideration of issues in that sphere.

The explained motion for election and relief of duty of a Deputy Provincial Secretary shall be submitted by the President of the Provincial Government.

VI RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ASSEMBLY AND THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

1. Election of the Provincial Government

Article 186

A candidate for the office of President of the Provincial Government shall be nominated by the Assembly President, after having heard the opinions of representatives of deputies’ groups.

The nomination shall contain the name and surname of the candidate, a short curriculum vitae, party affiliation, name and surname of the rapporteur, an explanatory note, and the candidate’s consent in writing.

Article 187

The candidate for the office of President of the Provincial Government shall propose candidates for one or several vice-presidents and members of the Provincial Government.

Article 188

A debate shall be held on the nominated candidate for the office of the President of the Provincial Government and the nominated candidates for vice-presidents and members of the Provincial Government.

Upon conclusion of the debate, the proposed candidates for the President, vice-presidents, and members of the Provincial Government shall be voted on concurrently by open voting.

The Provincial Government shall be elected if the majority of the total number of deputies vote in favour of it.

Should the Provincial Government not be elected, the entire procedure shall be repeated.

Article 189

After the election, the President, Vice-President and members of the Provincial Government shall take an oath before the Assembly.

The Provincial Government’s term of office shall commence on the day of oath-taking before the Assembly.

The Provincial Government’s term of office shall last until the expiry of the term of office of the Assembly that had elected it.

Article 190

The Provincial Government’s term of office shall terminate before the expiry of the period to which it was elected: upon relief of duty of the President of the Provincial Government, the resignation of the President of the Provincial Government, or temporary suspension of the Assembly’s term of office.

The Provincial Government, whose term of office has expired, may only carry out the regular and urgent tasks established in a Provincial Assembly decision, until the election of the new Provincial Government.

The term of office of a member of the Provincial Government shall terminate before the expiry of the period to which they were elected: by acceptance of their resignation, if relieved of duty by the Assembly upon the motion of the President of the Provincial Government, by the President of the Provincial Government’s relief of duty or upon the resignation of the President of the Provincial Government.

Article 191

Relief of duty of the President of the Provincial Government, the resignation of the President of the Provincial Government, as well as relief of duty and resignation of a member of the Provincial Government, shall be conducted in compliance with the procedure stipulated in the Statute.

2. Representation of the Provincial Government in the Assembly

Article 192

The President of the Provincial Government or the Vice-President appointed by the President shall have a general right and duty to represent the Provincial Government in the Assembly and inform the Assembly President in writing thereof.

The Provincial Government, providing it is the mover, shall appoint a member of the Provincial Government or Deputy Provincial Secretary to represent it when particular issues are considered at the Assembly or committee session.

Article 193

The Provincial Government may also designate its commissioners to provide expert and other explanations, notifications, and opinions at sessions of working bodies, on issues moved by the Provincial Government.

Article 194

Along with the motion for a decision, other regulation or general act, or attached to another material to be submitted to the Assembly, the Provincial Government shall inform the Assembly about its representatives and commissioners for Assembly sessions and its committees.

Article 195

The Assembly and committee shall inform the Provincial Government about their respective sessions and the proposed agenda.

3. Control of the Provincial Government’s Work

Article 196

The Assembly shall control the work of the Provincial Government by presenting the questions of deputies, seeking information, and through parliamentary questions.

a) Questions of Deputies, Motions, and Information

Article 197

At the beginning of the Assembly session convened within the time frame stipulated under Article 79 Paragraph 1, before moving on to defining the agenda, deputies may present questions to the Provincial Government and seek information on all spheres in the Provincial Government’s scope of competence.

Article 198

A Deputy shall be obliged to put forward the questions to the Assembly President in writing, not later than 72 hours before the beginning of the session.

The question shall have to be clearly worded and fall within the competence of the Provincial Government. In addition, a full name shall be specified of the Provincial Government member required to provide an answer to that question.

The precise question by the deputy shall be forwarded to the competent member of the Provincial Government by the Assembly President.

In case of an imprecise question, in terms of Paragraph 2 of this Article, the Assembly President shall ask the Deputy to correct the question, specifying the given imprecision.

Should the deputy fail to correct the presented question within 24 hours prior to the beginning of the session, they shall not be entitled to present that question verbally in the Assembly session.

Article 199

The part of the session dedicated to presenting the questions and seeking information shall last 60 minutes at the most and shall be carried out regardless of the number of deputies present.

Article 200

If several questions have been submitted, the order of presenting them in the Assembly session shall be established by the Assembly President, in line with the time the questions were received.

In case of failure to provide answers to all the questions of deputies, the Assembly President may suggest that the time be extended by an additional 15 minutes at the most.

In case of failure to provide answers to all the questions of deputies within the specified time frame, the questions may be transferred to the next Assembly session convened within the time frame specified under Article 79 Paragraph 1.

Article 201

The time available to a deputy for presenting a parliamentary question shall be three minutes at the most. One deputy may present no more than two questions in one session.

A member of the Provincial Government shall address the Assembly for five minutes at the most, in their reply to the question.

A member of the Provincial Government shall be obliged to provide a verbal reply to any question presented according to Article 198 of the present Rules of Procedure. If the question is such that a written reply is required, the member of the Provincial Government shall be obliged to provide a verbal justification stating the reasons why the reply will be in writing and submit the written reply within 15 days of the session date.

In the case under Paragraph 3 of this Article, at the first following session convened within the time frame specified in Article 79, Paragraph 1, the deputy may require a short verbal explanation of the written reply.

After the reply by the member of the Provincial Government, the deputy who has presented the question may also present a supplementary question for one minute at the most.

The member of the Provincial Government shall provide an answer to the supplementary question for not longer than two minutes.

After obtaining the answer to the supplementary question, the deputy shall be entitled to comment on their supplementary question for one minute at the most.

Article 202

At the beginning of the period envisaged for the questions of deputies and seeking information, the order of questions and answers to questions shall be established, as follows:

-verbal justifications by members of the Provincial Government of the written answers submitted between two sessions;

- questions submitted in the previous session that were not considered due to insufficient time;

- questions presented in line with Article 198 of the present Rules of Procedure.

Article 203

In the period envisaged for presenting the questions and providing the answers, no replies or indications of any breach of the Rules of Procedure shall be allowed.

b) Parliamentary questions

Article 204

A deputy shall be entitled to present a parliamentary question to the Provincial Government or head of the provincial administration authority, within their scope of competence.

The parliamentary question may be presented in the Assembly session, after completing the tasks specified in the agenda.

The time available for presenting the parliamentary question shall be three minutes at the most.

The parliamentary question should be clearly formulated.

The parliamentary question may also be presented in writing, between two Assembly sessions, through the Assembly President, who shall refer it to the Provincial Government or the competent head of the provincial administration authority.

The parliamentary question shall not be presented in a session convened according to Article 78 Paragraph 5 and Article 79  Paragraph 3 of the Rules of Procedure.

The Assembly President shall notify the deputy presenting the parliamentary question if the question is not presented in compliance with the provisions of the present Rules of Procedure and/or if it had not been directed to the competent authority.

Article 205

The parliamentary question presented verbally shall require an immediate verbal reply by the representative of the Provincial Government or head of the provincial administration authority. Should certain preparation be required for providing the reply, they shall substantiate it immediately and provide the reply to the deputy in writing, not later than eight days of the date the question was presented.

The written reply of the Provincial Government or the competent head of the provincial administration authority shall be delivered to deputies.

Exceptionally, if the preparation of the reply to the parliamentary question requires the establishment of certain facts, which would require a longer period of time or more complex analysis, the time frame for providing the reply to the parliamentary question may be extended, by 30 days at the most.

Article 206

After the reply to the parliamentary question has been provided, the deputy who presented the question shall be entitled to comment on the reply for five minutes at the most, or present a supplementary question.

After obtaining the reply to the supplementary question, the deputy shall be entitled to declare their opinion on the reply received, within five minutes at most.

Article 207

If a reply to a parliamentary question should contain data considered to be an official secret, the Provincial Government or head of the provincial administration authority may move for the reply to be heard without the presence of the public.

VII TRANSLATION AND DELIVERY OF MATERIALS REQUESTED BY DEPUTIES IN THE LANGUAGE IN EQUAL OFFICIAL USE IN THE WORK OF THE ASSEMBLY

Article 208

A deputy shall be entitled within 30 days of verification of their mandate, to submit a request to the Assembly Service to be provided with the Assembly and committee session materials in one of the languages of national minorities-national communities under Article 3 of the Rules of Procedure.

The deputy who has submitted the request under Paragraph 1 shall be entitled to use the chosen language in the work of the committee.

The Assembly Service shall forward the request in Paragraph 1 of this Article to the provincial administration authority in charge of translation services (hereinafter: the Department for Translation and Interpretation Services).

Article 209

The Assembly Service shall be required, not later than 24 hours after receiving the material, to submit a translation request together with the material to the Department for Translation/Interpretation Services, in accordance with the request in Article 208.

The Department for Translation and Interpretation Services shall be required to act on the request in Paragraph 1 of this Article not later than 72 hours prior to the time designated for the Assembly session.

The material submitted to the Assembly, pursuant to the Rules of Procedure, in less than 72 hours, shall not be translated for purposes of the work at the Assembly.

The material under Paragraph 1 of this Article shall include summons and agenda for the Assembly or committee session, the minutes of the Assembly or committee session, motions for acts to be considered in the Assembly or committee session, motion for agenda amendments, amendments, parliamentary questions and other material produced in the work of the Assembly and committees.

VIII PUBLICITY OF WORK OF THE ASSEMBLY

Article 210

Sessions of the Assembly and its committees shall be public.

Sessions of the Assembly may be closed to the public in cases specified by the law if so proposed by the Provincial Government, a committee, or at least 20 deputies. An explanation must be provided for any such motion. The motion shall be put to a vote at the Assembly, without a debate.

Sessions of committees may be closed to the public in cases specified by the law if so proposed by the committee.
It may be decided at the Assembly or committee session, that press and other mass media representatives may attend the session, even when an issue is discussed without the presence of the public. Press and other mass media representatives may provide the public only with such information whose publicity is decided on at the session. It may be decided at the session that the information on such issues may be provided only after a certain period of time has passed.

Article 211

The Assembly President shall inform the public about the Assembly activities and decisions enacted by the Assembly.
The public shall be considered to have been informed when the invitation to the Assembly session and the accompanying materials have been delivered to mass media representatives in line with the present Rules of Procedure, and they have actually attended the Assembly session.

In order to fully inform deputies and the public, the Assembly may publish the draft act in the mass media or as a separate publication, which shall be decided on by the Assembly President.

Article 212

Representatives of the press and other mass media may attend sessions of the Assembly and committees, in compliance with the regulation on the internal order at the Assembly and the materials delivered to deputies shall also be made available to them.

Television shall be entitled to broadcast the Assembly session directly or broadcast the recorded session later on.
Representatives of the mass media shall be provided with the required conditions for recording the work in sessions of the Assembly and committees.

Article 213

Representatives of the press and other mass media shall be obliged to inform the public, fully, objectively, and truthfully, about the work of the Assembly and committees.

Article 214

Official releases for the press and other public mass media shall be prepared by the appropriate service of the Assembly and approved by the Assembly President or a person authorised by the President.

Article 215

Any deputy may hold a press conference at the Assembly.

Article 216

Publicity of work shall be exercised through visits to the Assembly by citizens’ groups.

The method of exercising this form of publicity of work shall be regulated in a separate act.

Article 217

Organised citizens’ groups may visit the Assembly for the purpose of getting acquainted with the activities of the Assembly, historical background of the Assembly edifice, and taking a guided tour of the edifice.

Article 218

The Assembly shall have its Internet site.

The content of the Internet site shall be further regulated in a directive enacted by the  Secretary General of the Assembly, according to the previously obtained opinion of the Committee on Information.

IX CONSOLIDATED TEXT

Article 219

The Committee on Regulations shall establish the consolidated text of the act, once the obligation to establish the consolidated text has been set.

Article 220

The consolidated text of acts shall be published in the “Official Journal of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina".

X ORIGINAL TEXTS AND PUBLICATION OF THE ASSEMBLY ACTS

Article 221

The original text of any act passed by the Assembly shall be signed by the Assembly President and the Assembly seal shall be affixed on it.

The original text shall be the text of the act adopted at the Assembly session.

The original text of the Assembly act shall be stored at the Assembly.

Preparation, affixing, storing, and keeping records of original texts shall be the responsibility of the Secretary General of the Assembly.

Article 222

Acts passed by the Assembly shall be published in the “Official Journal of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina"
Conclusions of the Assembly and working bodies, as well as other acts of working bodies, shall be published when stipulated so by those acts.

The authentic interpretation shall be published in the “Official Journal of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina"
Publication of acts defined in Paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 shall be the responsibility of the Secretary General of the Assembly.

Based on the original text of the act in Paragraphs 1, 2, and 3, the Secretary General of the Assembly shall provide corrections of mistakes for the published text of the act.

XI ASSEMBLY COOPERATION

Article 223

The Assembly shall cooperate with the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia and assemblies of local self-government units.

The cooperation shall be achieved through the exchange of experience, the establishment of joint bodies, undertaking of joint activities, harmonisation of views, exchange of programmes, documentary, and informative materials, joint meetings, and exchange of delegations.

Article 224

The Assembly shall engage in international cooperation with corresponding territorial communities from other countries for the purpose of establishing, fostering, and developing good neighbourly relations, in compliance with the Statute.

The Assembly shall cooperate with representative bodies from other countries and regions:

- by the participation of the Assembly delegations  in the work of associations of European regions,

- by sending the Assembly delegations, President and vice-presidents or certain deputies to visit representative bodies of other countries and regions or by receiving delegations of representative bodies of other countries and regions,

-by initiating and participation in joint projects with representative bodies of other regions, parliamentary assemblies, and international organisations,

- by exchanging information, other material, and publications, as well as by other forms of cooperation with representative bodies of other countries and regions.

A decision on the need for sending the Assembly delegation, President, vice-presidents, or certain deputies to visits to foreign countries or regions, the composition of delegation, purpose and tasks related to the particular delegation visit, shall be made by the competent Assembly committee.

Forms of cooperation and the procedure for agreement conclusion shall be specified in a separate act.

Article 225

Deputies' friendship groups may be formed at the Assembly, with the aim of improving relations and cooperation with representative bodies of particular regions, on a voluntary principle.

The establishment of a deputies' friendship group shall be based on mutually expressed interests to effect and develop cooperation between parliaments.

The president and members of a friendship group shall be designated by the Committee on European Integrations and Interregional Cooperation. Decisions on exchanging visits with friendship groups of representative bodies of other regions shall be taken by friendship groups in coordination and with the consent of the Committee on European Integrations and Interregional Cooperation.

Should the Committee on European Integrations and Interregional Cooperation fail to designate the president and members of a friendship group, or grant consent to the decision on an exchange of visits with friendship groups of representative bodies of other regions, decisions on such matters shall be taken by the Assembly President.

Article 226

The Assembly deputies may form certain informal groups to promote the rights of particular groups and raise awareness on their role in the society, as well as to promote particular social values.

XII ACTIVITIES OF THE ASSEMBLY IN CASE OF A STATE OF WAR OR STATE OF EMERGENCY

Article 227

Provisions of the present Rules of Procedure shall apply to activities of the Assembly in case of a state of war or state of emergency unless otherwise stipulated by the present Rules of Procedure, other regulations, and general acts of the Assembly.

Article 228

In case of a state of war or state of emergency the Assembly President shall:

- set the time and place of an Assembly session,

- determine the manner of inviting the deputies to sessions, as well as the manner and deadlines for delivery of session materials,

- may order a suspension of  delivery of motions for decisions, general acts, and other materials to editorial offices of mass media whose journalists are accredited to the Assembly, until the Assembly should decide otherwise,

- may decide on a special manner of taking and storing shorthand notes and minutes of sessions of the Assembly and committees,

- shall decide on the method of work and execution of tasks of the Assembly Service.

Article 229

During the state of war or emergency, the provisions of the present Rules of Procedure on quorum for sessions of the Assembly and committees shall not apply. Sessions of the Assembly and committees shall be held with those deputies present at the session and decisions shall be voted on by a majority vote of those deputies present at the session of the Assembly or a committee.

Article 230

During the state of war or emergency, motions for decisions and general acts which are to be considered by the Assembly may be made to be considered and voted on without any previous consideration by competent committees, should the Assembly so decide.

The Provincial Government shall state its opinion on such acts directly at the Assembly session.

Article 231

In case of the state of war or emergency, deputies shall be obliged to inform the Secretary General of the Assembly, immediately and in the most appropriate way, of any changes in their temporary or permanent place of residence.

XII ASSEMBLY SERVICE

Article 232

Technical and other tasks required by the Assembly, committees, Deputies, and Deputies’ Groups, shall be carried out by the Assembly Service.

Organisation, tasks, and activities of the Assembly Service shall be regulated in a decision.

Article 233

The internal security activities and keeping order at the Assembly building and other premises used by the Assembly shall be the responsibility of the Administrative and Technical Service of the Provincial Authorities, with the consent of the Secretary General.

Article 234

The wording of this decision shall be published in the “Official Journal of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.“

A separate article of the Decision on Amendments to the

Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina

("The Official Journal of AP Vojvodina", no. 54/2018)

Article 36

This Decision shall take effect on the eighth day of its publishing in the “Official Journal of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina”, and the provision of  Article 34 shall be effective as of 1 January 2019.