Implementing Provisions for the Act on the Rules of Procedure of the Grand Council (AB) - Place of Meeting (AB)

1. Sessions of the Grand Council shall be held in the Town Hall or, in the presence of special circumstances, at another location. The presence of special circumstances is decided by the Council Office.

2. The Council Office and the commissions hold their meetings in the Town Hall or other suitable meeting rooms designated by their presidiums. With the approval of two-thirds of the members of the Council Office or the commission, meetings may be held digitally. The resolution regarding this matter can be made electronically or digitally.

1. The members of the Grand Council take their seats in the plenary session according to electoral districts and in the order of the votes received from their parties and personally.

2. The council office may make changes to the seating arrangement in justified cases.

1. The sessions generally begin on the second Wednesday of a month and continue on the third Wednesday.

2. Typically, no sessions of the Grand Council take place during the summer school holidays and in August.

1. The full-day sessions begin at 09:00 and continue at 15:00. Exceptionally, the Great Council may be convened at another time. The duration of a half-day session depends on the demands of the business. A motion to adjourn the session is decided by the Council.

1. The members are obligated to attend all meetings. Sections 28a and 28b of the Rules of Procedure determine the exceptions.

2. At the beginning of each meeting, attendance is recorded. Anyone who registers within fifteen minutes after the meeting's opening is considered present.

3. The names of those absent are recorded in the minutes.

1. The invitation to the session, along with the proposed agenda and the register of business, must be delivered to the members of the Grand Council and made accessible to the public no later than six days in advance.

2. The Grand Council determines the subject matter and the procedure of a special session according to § 97 paragraph 3 letter b of the Cantonal Constitution in an ordinary session.

1. The Business Directory is compiled by the Parliamentary Service and includes

a) newly received business items;

b) business items held by the Parliamentary Service for future scheduling;

c) business items currently with committees;

d) * motions, proposals, planning proposals, budget postulates, advanced budget postulates, requests for the submission of cantonal initiatives, and written inquiries in full text;

e) interpellations received before printing, in full text.

1. The minutes of the sessions of the Grand Council shall be prepared under the supervision of the President by the designated secretaries.

2. Minutes of Resolutions shall be kept for each session.

3. The Minutes of Resolutions, to be prepared by the First Secretary, shall include

a) all items of deliberation;

b) the names of the voters;

c) the motions put to vote;

d) all resolutions; for extensive resolutions, reference can be made to their publication in the Cantonal Gazette;

e) * the complete results of the conducted votes;

f) * when determining the quorum in accordance with § 23 paragraph 2 of the Rules of Procedure, the names of the present council members;

g) the statements entered in the minutes by the members of the Executive Council.

4. The Minutes of Resolutions shall be signed by the President and the First Secretary.

1. Negotiations are recorded. The commencement of the deliberation on a subject must be noted in the decision minutes.

2. The audio recordings of the council's negotiations are handed over to the state archive for public retention.

3. A verbatim transcript of the negotiations is prepared.

1. The language of the proceedings is German.

1. Members of the Grand Council shall receive the following attendance fees for plenary sessions

For each half-day plenary session

a) President: CHF 400;

b) Vice President: CHF 300;

c) Other Council Members: CHF 200.

2. Members of the Grand Council shall receive a base amount of CHF 6,000 per year of office. In addition, the President shall receive a one-time representation and expense allowance of CHF 20,000.

3. Members of the Finance Committee and the Audit Committee shall receive an additional expense allowance of CHF 2,000 per year of office.

4. For each meeting in committees and subcommittees, the following attendance fees shall be granted

a) President of committees and subcommittees: CHF 400;

b) Recording Council Member: CHF 300;

c) Other Council Members: CHF 200.

5. Contributions for occupational retirement provision shall be deducted from the mentioned rates, but not contributions to the compensation fund.

1. The Office of the Grand Council provides the pension institution with information about the mandatory insured members of the Grand Council necessary for the execution of their pension arrangements, particularly for the management of retirement accounts and the calculation of contributions.

2. The Office of the Council determines the time commitment for the parliamentary mandate at the beginning of a new legislative period.

1. The Council Office shall decide on the disbursement of a pension contribution in accordance with § 9b GO upon a substantiated request.

2. Members of the Grand Council shall inform the Council Office about the commencement or cessation of self-employment during the legislative term.

3. The pension contribution shall be paid out at the end of each year of office.

1. For complex additional and investigation assignments, the Council Office may grant a one-time compensation to a member of the Grand Council upon their request or upon the proposal of a committee chairperson.

1. The entitlement to the attendance fee lapses for members who were not present at the commencement of the meeting.

2. It also lapses for members who are not present during the determination of quorum pursuant to § 23 para. 2 of the Rules of Procedure or after being requested to leave the parliamentary zone pursuant to § 21 para. 2 of the Rules of Procedure.

1. The following contributions are allocated to the factions

a) * Basic amount for each faction per term of office CHF 15,000;

b) Additional amount for each member per term of office CHF 500.

1. Each member of the council shall inform the office about

a) their professional activities and their employer, including the sector;

b) their positions in domestic and foreign companies, corporations, institutions, and foundations of both private and public law;

c) their membership in commissions and other bodies of the Confederation, cantons, and municipalities.

2. Changes in interests must be disclosed at the beginning of each term of office.

3. The council office oversees compliance with disclosure requirements and may request members of the council to declare their interests. It makes final decisions on disputes.

4. The parliamentary service prepares an overview of the interests based on the members' declarations and the instructions of the council office. This is published in the cantonal bulletin at the beginning of each term of office.

1. To maintain order in the council chamber and in the gallery, the presidium has the necessary police forces at its disposal.

1. In case of need, the Grand Council shall elect one or two extraordinary deputies from among its members for a session.

1. The media is facilitated with the reporting of the proceedings of the Grand Council as much as possible. These facilitations and the conditions under which they are granted are regulated by the office in a special regulation.

1. The Council Office regulates access to the rooms of the Town Hall used by the Great Council in a regulation.

1. All business documents, with the exception of those pertaining to pardons and interpellations, must be delivered to the members of the Grand Council at least three weeks before their deliberation.

2. In urgent cases, the Grand Council can decide to deliberate on a matter with a two-thirds majority vote even if this deadline is not met.

3. The deadline also does not apply to urgent extraordinary sessions pursuant to § 97 paragraph 3 letter a of the Cantonal Constitution.

1. The consideration of a proposal or report begins with the entry debate. The entry decision is followed by the detailed consultation.

2. The person who reports for the government council, the courts, and, in the case of committee reports, for a committee, has the first vote and the final word. They may be granted the floor at any time to provide information.

3. The reporters are authorized to call upon individuals from the administration and experts for the provision of information.

1. The Grand Council may resolve to conduct a second reading of the proposal under consideration or of individual parts thereof. Following its execution or if such a reading is waived, the final vote is conducted.

2. Resolutions of the Grand Council concerning partnership affairs require a second reading.

3. The second reading may be omitted if neither the Cantonal Council in a prior resolution of the Grand Council nor the Grand Council in its resolution following that of the Cantonal Council has created a discrepancy.

1. If the Grand Council decides on a Second Reading, it assigns a preparatory body (one of its committees, the council office, or the government council) with the reporting and proposal submission. The preparatory body may propose substantive and editorial amendments to the decisions made in the first reading. Proposals must be submitted in writing. Detailed deliberation is unrestricted.

1. Council members shall personally direct their requests to speak to the presidency. The floor will be granted in the order of the requests made.

2. The presidency may first give the floor to the parliamentary group speakers.

3. Each council member may speak on the same subject only twice; personal statements according to § 58 of the Rules of Procedure are reserved.

1. Apart from the regular order of requests to speak, the floor may only be granted for a motion for order.

2. The motion for order pertains exclusively to procedural questions in accordance with the rules of procedure and their implementing provisions.

3. The speaking time for the motion for order is limited to three minutes. If a counter-motion is made, the speaking time for its justification is also limited to three minutes. Further debate is excluded. A vote on the motion for order must be taken immediately thereafter.

1. Motions concerning a matter under deliberation must be submitted to the presiding office in writing and signed. If a motion is withdrawn by the council member who proposed it, another council member may take it up without having to resubmit and sign it in writing.

**1.** Unless otherwise provided by the implementing regulations, the speaking time for the faction speakers is limited to ten minutes, and for all other voters, it is limited to five minutes. Exceptions are made for the representatives of the Government Council, the courts, and the commissions.

**2.** The speaking time for the justification of interpellations and for the satisfaction declarations of the interpellants, as well as for all statements related to the transmission of motions, proposals, planning proposals, budget postulates, advanced budget postulates, and motions for the submission of cantonal initiatives, is limited to five minutes.

**3.** The speaking time for answering interpellations by a member of the Government Council is limited to ten minutes.

1. With a two-thirds majority, the Grand Council may adopt a procedural motion to close the speakers' list. Members of the council who are already registered to speak must still be given the floor.

1. The members of the Government Council and the representatives of the courts are, where no special regulations apply, equivalent to the members of the Grand Council concerning the granting of the floor, the right to make motions, and speaking time.

1. Each council member, the representative of the government council, and the courts may pose a brief and precise interjection question at the end of a speaker's address on a specific point; substantive statements and justifications are not permitted.

2. The interjection question may only be asked if the speaker permits it upon a corresponding inquiry from the president. Interjection questions are not permitted when responding to interpellations.

3. The speaker shall answer the interjection question immediately and concisely.

1. Voting is generally conducted using the voting system.

2. If there is only a single proposal concerning a subject, the presidium declares its tacit acceptance. In final votes on proposals and in votes on pardons, tacit acceptance is not possible.

1. If the voting system is unavailable or the chair orders it, voting shall be conducted by a show of hands. The chair shall determine whether the majority is unmistakable or whether a count must be conducted. The votes shall be counted by the council secretariat.

2. Votes must be counted in any case if a council member requests it, during final votes on proposals, and in votes on pardons.

3. A roll-call vote shall be conducted if ten council members request it in writing.

4. The determination of the quorum according to § 23 para. 2 GO, as well as the lifting of immunity and the urgent enactment of a law or resolution according to § 29 para. 2 GO, shall be conducted using a roll-call vote.

1. Council members who wish to vote in absence for personal reasons must notify the Parliamentary Service as soon as possible, but no later than 24 hours before the start of a session, in writing, stating the reason and including the necessary documentation.

2. Council members who wish to vote in absence due to a crisis situation must notify the Parliamentary Service as soon as possible before the start of the session, in writing. They must explain how the crisis situation prevents their attendance at the session.

3. The procedure and information technology resources for participating in votes in absence must ensure authentication of the respective council members and the correct determination of voting results. The Council Office shall issue implementing provisions.

4. Votes shall not be repeated if absent council members were unable to cast their vote due to technical reasons.

1. Election proposals are to be submitted in writing to the parliamentary service. Election proposals related to individuals who are not members of the Grand Council shall include details about the person (in particular, year of birth, profession, education).

2. During elections, the President shall appoint the election office from among the members of the council.

3. The election result is determined by the election office and communicated to the council by the council presidency.

1. The vote counters shall ascertain the number of ballots distributed and the number of ballots returned. If the number of ballots returned exceeds the number of distributed ballots, the election is invalid and must be repeated.

1. If objections are raised against an election procedure, the council shall decide whether the contested election must be repeated.

1. The Council may decide to request the opinion of the Executive Council on the petition or on individual requests thereof. This opinion must be submitted within a maximum period of one year. The competent committee receives the opinion and submits a new proposal to the Council.

2. Petitions with requests for which the Grand Council is not competent are forwarded by the committee to the competent authority for final processing. The petitioners and the Council shall be informed thereof.

1. Petitions, requests, or other appeals seeking the cantonal recognition of a church or religious community pursuant to § 133 of the Cantonal Constitution or the revocation of such recognition pursuant to § 134 of the Cantonal Constitution, are to be submitted to the Government Council. The Government Council shall submit a reasoned proposal to the Grand Council.

1. Motions must be submitted in writing. The motion's sponsor is the member of the council who signs first. The committees shall designate one of their members as the sponsor for motions submitted by them.

2. Once submitted, a motion may not be amended. If the sponsor withdraws the motion before or during the deliberation, another co-signatory may take it up. A motion from a committee can only be withdrawn by the sponsor in accordance with the committee’s decision. Once the committee decides to withdraw it, the motion is considered definitively withdrawn and cannot be taken up by any individual member of the council.

3. The council shall decide whether to immediately reject the motion or to submit it to the executive council for a response within three months. A discussion will only occur if there is a proposal for immediate rejection. After the discussion, the sponsor has the right to the final word.

4. The Grand Council decides, based on the executive council's response, whether the motion should be fully, partially, or not at all referred. The Grand Council may also refer the motion as a postulate.

1. **Lawsuits must be submitted in writing. The initiator of the lawsuit is the member of the council who signs it first. Committees designate from among their members an initiator for lawsuits they submit.**

2. **After submission, a lawsuit may no longer be materially altered. If the initiator withdraws the lawsuit before or during the consultation, it can be taken up by another co-signatory. A committee's lawsuit can only be withdrawn by the initiator in accordance with their decision, after which it is considered definitely withdrawn and cannot be taken up by any individual council member.**

3. **A discussion will only take place if the lawsuit is contested. The initiator has the final word after a discussion.**

4. **A lawsuit is deemed concluded when it has been archived by the Grand Council.**

5. **Correspondences regarding lawsuits that the executive council suggests archiving are collectively scheduled under new business. Such a lawsuit is to be scheduled for later discussion if a council member requests it during the handling of new business.**

1. The provisions of §§ 36 and 37 above shall apply mutatis mutandis to the submission, withdrawal, and discussion of a planning motion, a budget postulate, or an advanced budget postulate.

2. The council office may refer the statement of the government council on a planning motion to the competent subject committee for preliminary consultation.

1. An interpellation must be submitted in writing and signed to the parliamentary service by no later than 12:00 noon on the Monday before the session.

2. Interpellations are scheduled for the afternoon of the first day of the session.

3. After the interpellation has been answered, the member of the Grand Council who posed the interpellation declares whether they are satisfied with the response. The member of the government council tasked with providing the response then has the right to make a brief statement. The council may decide whether to hold a discussion.

4. The member of the government council whose area of responsibility is affected by the interpellation is required to be present during the response to the interpellation.

5. The interpellating member of the council may, in lieu of making an oral statement, submit a written statement not exceeding 5000 characters to the record if the interpellation is answered in writing.

1. In the event of extraordinary incidents, an urgent interpellation may be submitted in writing to the council presidency no later than half an hour before the start of the session.

2. The Grand Council shall decide, without discussion and by a two-thirds majority of the votes, whether to grant the request for urgency when handling the agenda.

3. An urgent interpellation must be answered orally in the same session.

1. The written inquiry is submitted directly to the Government Council by the Parliamentary Services. An oral explanation or discussion does not take place.

2. The Government Council’s response is provided in writing. The member of the Grand Council who submitted the inquiry has the right to record a reply statement of no more than approximately 2,000 characters in writing.

3. The written inquiry is concluded with the response from the Government Council and any potential reply statement from the inquiring council member.

1. The motion for a resolution must be submitted in writing, signed, and must include the proposed wording. It is to be treated as a motion for the agenda.

2. If the Grand Council decides to consider the motion, it shall decide where the resolution will be placed on the agenda.

1. Applications for a Parliamentary Declaration must be submitted in writing and signed prior to the meeting.

2. The principal debate on the Parliamentary Declaration takes place within the framework of the entry debate of the business to which the Parliamentary Declaration refers.

3. After the final vote or the decision not to proceed or to refer back the business, the Grand Council finalizes the Parliamentary Declaration and decides by a simple majority whether it wishes to forward it in the finalized version to the Executive Council. After the decision to forward it, the Parliamentary Declaration is considered completed.

1. Subject Committees are

a) the Judiciary, Security, and Sports Committee;

b) the Health and Social Affairs Committee;

c) the Education and Culture Committee;

d) the Environment, Transport, and Energy Committee;

e) the Construction and Spatial Planning Committee;

f) the Economy and Taxation Committee;

g) the Regional Committee.

1. The total entitlement of seats for each faction in the committees is calculated using the fractional method.

2. Subsequently, the seat entitlement of each faction in the individual committees is calculated using the fractional method. The integer of this result corresponds to the number of base seats for each faction in every committee.

3. The difference between the sum of the base seats and the total entitlement corresponds to the number of additional seats.

4. Procedure for distributing additional seats

a) In each committee, a maximum of one additional seat may be claimed per faction.

b) If multiple factions have the same entitlement to the next additional seat due to the same quotient, the decision is made by drawing lots.

c) The additional seats for factions without base seats and with base seats are distributed separately.

d) Factions without base seats occupy their additional seats in the rotation order of the remainder of the fractional method in the calculation of entitlement per committee.

e) Factions with base seats subsequently occupy their additional seats based on a list created according to letter d. This list is worked through in reverse order.

5. In case of ambiguities, the remaining seats may be distributed in consultation between the involved factions. Otherwise, the Grand Council decides with a two-thirds majority of the votes upon request of the council office.

1. Commissions are convened by their presidiums with an indication of the agenda items. At least one quarter of the commission members can request the convening of a meeting.

2. Commissions may form subcommissions for the preparation of individual issues.

1. Commissions have a quorum when the majority of the members are present.

2. The chairperson votes and has the casting vote in the event of a tie.

3. Resolutions can be reconsidered by a simple majority.

1. Members of the government council and representatives of the courts may be involved in the commission meetings. For government proposals, the government council's rapporteur must be heard.

2. The commissions are entitled to request further explanations and additions to the files from the government council or individual members thereof, as well as from official bodies and administrative departments, with prior notification to the competent member of the government council.

1. The commissions have their own resources at their disposal to fulfill their mandate.

2. The amount of commission funds is determined by the council office.

3. These funds are available, among other things, for meeting expenses (excluding meeting fees), for consulting experts, the preparation of opinions, study trips, and retreats.

4. Further details are regulated by the council office in a regulation.

1. The commissions shall receive the requests and suggestions of the members of the Grand Council.

2. The commissions may, upon notification to the competent members of the Government Council, obtain expert opinions from specialists and consult with individuals both within and outside the administration for information in their deliberations. They may also invite the public to submit proposals, but they shall not conduct competitions or calls for tenders.

3. Assignments to outsiders may be compensated, as can assignments to commission members, provided these involve extraordinary work effort.

4. The Government Council shall, upon request and in agreement with the commission presidencies, make administrative personnel available for participation in commissions.

1. Minutes of the commission meetings are to be recorded. They must include at least the motions submitted and the resolutions along with the voting results.

1. The members of the government council and the representatives of the administration as well as the courts shall be furnished with the minutes of those meetings to which they have been invited.

2. External experts summoned from outside the administration shall receive the minutes upon request, insofar as they pertain to committee deliberations in which they participated.

3. Third parties who have been heard by the committee shall receive the excerpt of the minutes of their statements upon their request.

1. If a committee decides on confidentiality according to § 61 of the rules of procedure, the minutes are distributed exclusively to the committee members and the members of the government council, the administration, and the courts who are expressly named as recipients in this decision.

1. The presidencies of the special commissions are required to submit a written brief report on the status of pending matters at their disposal for the last session of a term year.

2. At the end of a term period, these commissions must deliver detailed accountability reports on their activities and the resolutions already adopted. The commissions themselves decide on any further interim reports.

1. The reports, which must include the proposals of the commission and, where applicable, minority proposals along with the voting results, are generally to be submitted in writing.

2. Unless the council requests a written report in advance or afterwards, simpler and more straightforward matters may be reported on and proposed orally.

3. If the commission appoints no other person as reporter, its President shall represent the commission's report in the Grand Council.

1. A minority consisting of at least one-quarter of the commission members may present its own report and have it represented by a member of the commission designated by them as spokesperson.

2. If both a majority and a minority report are to be submitted from a commission, the drafts of both reports must be presented to the commission simultaneously.

3. Those belonging to the majority do not participate in the drafting of the minority report, and those belonging to the minority do not participate in the drafting of the majority report.

1. Commission reports and statements on current topics within their jurisdiction may be presented and explained to the public upon the decision of the commission, following prior information to the Council Presidency. The information should simultaneously be made accessible to the members of the Grand Council.

1. Upon completion of a matter or the dissolution of a special committee, the committee files shall be delivered to the parliamentary service for archiving.

1. Applications for amendments to these implementing provisions must be referred by the Grand Council, if it accepts them, to the council office or a committee for preliminary consultation.

1. Deviations in individual cases or temporary deviations from the implementing provisions may be decided at any time by the Grand Council with a two-thirds majority vote.