Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0225/02255.txt

Text File | 1991-06-25 | 34KB | 605 lines

$Unique_ID{COW02255}
$Pretitle{427}
$Title{Luxembourg
Chapter 2C.   Composition of the Council of State}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Pierre Majerus}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Luxembourg, Washington DC}
$Subject{state
court
public
courts
council
chamber
government
police
members
duke}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Country:     Luxembourg
Book:        The Institutions of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Author:      Pierre Majerus
Affiliation: Embassy of Luxembourg, Washington DC
Date:        1990

Chapter 2C.   Composition of the Council of State

     The Council of state consists of twenty-one councillors, eleven of whom
make up the Disputes Committee. This number does not include the members of
the Royal Family who belong to the Council of State.

     The councillors of State are appointed and dismissed by the Grand Duke.
The office of councillors of State ends when the concerned person is
seventy-two years old.

     The qualifications for membership of the Council are possession of
Luxembourg nationality, enjoyment of civil and political rights, residence in
the Grand Duchy and the completion of at least thirty years of age. A member
of the Disputes Committee must also be a Doctor of Laws or possess the rights
attached to that degree. The duties of a councillor of State are compatible
with any office and with any profession, save for the duties of member of the
Government or Government councillor and the deputy's mandate.

     When a seat of councillor of State becomes vacant, the retiring
councillor is replaced alternately and in the following sequence a) by
direct appointment by the Grand Duke for the first vacancy b) by appointment
of one of three candidates presented to the Grand Duke by the Chamber of
Deputies for the second vacancy c) by appointment of one of three candidates
presented to the Grand Duke by the Council of State for the third vacancy and
so on, recommencing with the direct appointment by the Grand Duke for the
fourth seat that becomes vacant.

     Members of the Reigning Dynasty are always designated by direct
nomination of the Grand Duke.

     In special circumstances - for instance, in the event of dissolution - it
may be necessary to renew the Council of State as a whole.

     The Grand Duke then directly appoints seven councillors of State. He must
choose seven others from a list often candidates submitted by the Chamber of
Deputies. Finally, he appoints seven others whom he choose from a list of ten
candidates submitted to him by the councillors of State previously appointed
either directly or on a proposal by the Chamber of Deputies.

     Before entering upon their duties, councillors of State take the oath
before the Grand Duke or a person appointed by him for that purpose. They
promise in particular to keep secret the deliberations of the Council and the
affairs of the Government.

     No member of the Council of State may be dismissed if the Council,
sitting in general assembly, has not previously been consulted on the grounds
of dismissal. The Grand Duke has the right to dissolve the Council of State.
He avails himself of this right only where, through exceptional circumstances,
it proves necessary to alter the composition of the Council as a whole.

The General Assembly

     The General Assembly comprises all the members of the Council of State.
Each year the Grand Duke nominates the President and two Vice-Presidents of
the Council of State from among the councillors. Normally, the General
Assembly is presided over by the President of the Council of State or, in his
absence, by the senior ranking Vice-President. In the absence of the President
and both Vice-Presidents, the eldest councillor present takes the chair. The
Grand Duke may attend meetings as he thinks fit, and in that case presides
over the Assembly. The General Assembly performs the consultative duties of
the Council of State. It may set up committees for the preparatory study of
questions submitted to it.

     Members of the Government may attend meetings of the General Assembly.
They may take part in discussions but are not allowed to vote.

     The resolutions of the General Assembly are carried by a majority of the
votes. They are drawn up in the form of opinions. Before a resolution can be
carried, at least ten members must be present. Where the votes are divided,
the different opinions are made known to the Government. The minority may draw
up a separate opinion, which is submitted to the Government together with the
majority opinion.

     In administrative matters the Council of State is required to give an
opinion on all questions referred to it by the Grand Duke. Save in an
emergency, to be established by the Grand Duke, the Government is obliged to
seek the Council's opinion on the regulations relating to public
administration it proposes to issue, although it need not necessarily follow
up that opinion.

     In legislative matters, the Council of State has a particularly
important role to play. Under the Grand Duchy's constitutional system, the
Council of State must to some degree make up for the lack of a second
legislative chamber. It is required to discuss Bills and any amendments
proposed to them. No Bill is to be submitted to the Grand Duke or presented to
the Chamber of Deputies before the Council of State's opinion has been heard.
If, however, the Government considers the presentation of a Bill to be a
matter of urgency, it may consult the Chamber direct. If the Chamber shares
the Government's view as to the urgency of the matter, discussion may be
opened without the Council of State first having to give its opinion. On no
account, however, may the Chamber proceed to a final vote on the Bill before
the Council's opinion has been made known to it. It follows that all
Government and private member's Bills necessitate consultation of the
Council of State.

     To remedy in some measure the disadvantages attached to a single-chamber
system, the Constitution has taken the precaution of laying down that all
Bills must be put to the vote a second time in the Chamber. It is here that
the Council of State has an important role to play. All Bills are twice put
to the vote unless the Chamber, in agreement with the Council of State, in
public meeting, otherwise decides. Should the Chamber come out in favour of
dispensing with the second vote, the matter is then submitted to the Council
of State for an opinion. The Council discusses the matter and decides, in
public meeting and by a majority of votes, if there is any need to proceed to
a second vote.

     If the Council of State objects to the omission of the second vote, an
interval of at least three months must be allowed to elapse between the two
votes in the Chamber. The Council of State thus possesses a real right of
suspensive veto in legislative matters.

The Disputes Committee

     The Disputes Committee consists of eleven members appointed by the Grand
Duke and chosen from among the members of the Council of State.

     The President of the Council of State is automatically made chairman of
the Disputes Committee. If, however, he is not a Doctor of Laws or declines to
preside over the committee, the Vice-President, if not the Second
Vice-President of the Council of State automatically becomes chairman,
provided he fulfils the legal conditions - that is, is a Doctor of Laws or
possesses the rights attached to that degree. Otherwise the chairman of the
Disputes Committee is appointed by the Grand Duke.

     The Disputes Committee carries out the jurisdictional duties of the
Council of State. It has supreme jurisdiction over all administrative
disputes. In this capacity, it acts both as a court of appeal and as a court
of annulment.

     As a court of appeal, it adjudicates in the last instance as to merits on
all disputes with which the law has expressly declared it competent to deal.

     As a court of annulment, it rules on appeals against all administrative
decisions against which no other remedy is available under the laws