TITLE IV. THE LEGISLATIVE POWER
CHAPTER I. COMPOSITION OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER
Article 85
Legislative power is exercised by the Parliament. The Parliament is composed of the National Assembly and Senate.
CHAPTER II. THE STATUS OF PARLIAMENTARIANS
Article 86
The deputies in the National Assembly are elected by direct universal suffrage for five years.
Article 87
The Senate ensures the representation of territorial communities and of Ivoirians established outside of Côte d’Ivoire.
Senators are elected, for two thirds, by indirect universal suffrage. One third of the senators is appointed by the President of the Republic among Ivoirians recognized for their expertise and proven competence in the political, administrative, economic, scientific, cultural, sports, professional and social fields.
The term of office for senators is five years.
Article 88
All parliamentarians are subject to the obligation of fiscal regularity.
Article 89
The duration of the legislature is five years for each of the two houses.
The parliamentary mandate is renewable.
The Presidents of the National Assembly and the Senate are respectively elected for the duration of the legislature.
Article 90
The powers of each house expire at the end of the ordinary session of the last year of its legislature.
The elections of deputies and senators take place before the expiration of the powers of each house.
An organic law determines the number of members of each house, the conditions of eligibility and appointment, the system of ineligibilities and incompatibilities, the methods of voting and the conditions under which new elections should be organized or new appointments should be dealt with in case of a vacancy for deputy or senator.
The amount of the allowances and the benefits of the parliamentarians are governed by the organic law.
Article 91
No member of Parliament may be prosecuted, searched for, arrested, detained or tried in connection with opinions or votes cast by him in the performance of his official duties.
Article 92
No member of Parliament may, during the sessions, be prosecuted or arrested in criminal or correctional matters without the authorization of the house of which he is a member, except in the case of flagrante delicto.
No member of Parliament may be arrested out of session without the authorization of the bureau of the house of which he is a member, except in cases of flagrante delicto, authorized prosecution or final convictions.
The detention or prosecution of a member of Parliament is suspended if the house of which he is a member so demands.
CHAPTER III. POWERS OF THE PARLIAMENT
Article 93
Parliament enacts legislation and approves taxes.
It monitors the government’s action and assesses public policy.
CHAPTER IV. THE METHOD OF ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONING OF PARLIAMENT
Article 94
Each year, the Parliament meets without requiring to be convened in an ordinary session.
The session of the National Assembly begins on the first working day of the month of April and ends on the last working day of the month of December.
The opening of the Senate session takes place seven working days after that of the National Assembly and ends seven working days before the closure of the session of the National Assembly.
Each house sets the number of days of meetings it may hold during the ordinary session.
Article 95
Parliament is convened in extraordinary session by the President of each house on a set agenda, by the request of the President of the Republic or an absolute majority of its members.
Extraordinary sessions are adjourned as soon as the agenda is exhausted.
Article 96
Each parliamentarian is the representative of the entire nation.
Any imperative mandate is null and void.
The right of Members of Parliament to vote is personal. However, proxy voting is permitted when a member of Parliament is prevented by illness, by the performance of a mandate or a mission entrusted to him by the Government or the Parliament, by fulfilling his military obligations or by any other justified reason. No person may receive more than one proxy vote.
Article 97
The sittings of both houses of Parliament are public.
However, each House may sit in on closed committee meetings at the request of the President of the Republic or of at least one-third of its members.
The full account of the debates of each house is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire.
Article 98
The National Assembly and the Senate meet in Joint Session at the request of the President of the Republic.
The President of the National Assembly presides over the Joint Session. He is assisted by the President of the Senate, who is the Vice-President of the Joint Session.
The meeting venue is that of the National Assembly.
Article 99
Each house draws up its own rules of procedure.
Before their entry into force, the rules or procedure of each house along with their subsequent amendments are submitted to the Constitutional Council, which decides on their conformity with the Constitution. The Constitutional Council makes it decision within fifteen days.
Article 100
The parliamentary opposition has rights guaranteeing it an adequate and effective representation in all the bodies of Parliament.
