Regulations on the Drafting of Legislation (REAL) - Object and Scope (AER)

1. This regulation governs the drafting of legislative decrees (the decrees), for which the decision-making falls within the competence of the Grand Council or the Council of State.

2. For decrees by other authorities, it applies only as far as Article 34 provides.

3. The special rules concerning the drafting and adoption of inter-cantonal and international decrees remain reserved.

1. The Drafting of Decrees Generally Includes

a) the planning of activities;

b) the examination, drafting, and translation of proposals;

c) the consultation procedure;

d) the submission of applications to the decision-making authority;

e) technical support during decision-making;

f) the finalization of the texts.

2. The texts are entered into the database of the Fribourg legislation at the latest when they are submitted for consultation.

1. Subject to the jurisdiction of the Grand Council, the State Council determines the general objectives and the priorities of the main legislative projects and ensures their coordination at the highest level.

1. The departments draft legislation within their areas of responsibility and make the necessary organizational arrangements for this purpose.

1a. They record their legislative data at various stages of drafting in the specified information application.

2. They ensure that the legislation they are to apply remains current, particularly by monitoring developments in superior law and requesting the necessary implementing provisions.

3. For legislative projects within their area, they determine the objectives, stages, and necessary resources, taking into account the importance of the matter and the general planning established by the State Council.

1. The State Chancellery has the following powers in particular

a) It ensures that the Directorates fulfill their obligations in the performance of their duties.

b) It creates templates for drafting texts relating to legislation and the corresponding guidelines.

c) It provides the Directorates and the Secretariat of the Grand Council with an IT application in which the various stages of the legislative procedure are defined, allowing the management of the data until publication, and, as far as possible, ensuring compatibility with computer-assisted translation systems.

c1) It organizes the data exchange between this IT application and the application for the electronic management of the affairs of the State Council and the Grand Council.

d) ...

e) It checks the linguistic accuracy of drafts submitted to it for resolution by the State Council or for official publication.

1. The Office of Legislation has the following powers in the drafting of enactments

a) It ensures the overall consistency and quality of legislation.

b) It assists the directorates in drafting legislation within their jurisdiction, particularly by reviewing their draft enactments.

c) It prepares the texts of general legislation and the enactments of the State Chancellery.

d) It advises the directorates on all matters related to the drafting of legislation.

e) It issues legislative drafting guidelines.

2. It also fulfills the tasks assigned to it by special legislation, particularly in the area of official publications, and those arising from its position as a central service.

1. The Form of the Decrees of the Grand Council is determined in the Cantonal Constitution and in Articles 87 and 88 of the Law on the Grand Council dated September 6, 2006.

1. Decrees of the State Council, the directorates, and other administrative authorities shall take the form of an ordinance.

2. Decrees of the State Council may, however, take the form of a regulation, especially when the implementing provisions of a law are consolidated therein.

1. Decrees of the judicial authorities generally take the form of regulations.

1. The directorates shall ensure, in accordance with the legislation on the publication of decrees, the information of individuals who are directly affected by significant decrees.

2. The information of the public and publication on the Internet shall be governed by specific legislation. Articles 26, 30, and paragraph 4 of Article 31 remain reserved.

1. The directorates analyze the existing situation and assess the needs as well as the essential impacts that are expected from the planned legislation.

2. They specifically examine the necessity to enact legal norms, the appropriate level of legislation, and the anticipated impacts on the state, the municipalities, and the directly affected sectors within the canton.

1. The directorates compile pertinent considerations and expressions of opinion through the coordination procedure (Art. 63 SVOG).

2. They ensure that the project complies with higher-level law and seamlessly integrates into existing legislation. They assess the project's compatibility with European standards.

3. They estimate the financial and personnel impacts of the proposed solutions. If necessary, they investigate the effects on additional areas such as the distribution of responsibilities between the state and municipalities, the family, health, environment, and energy.

4. They propose effective and efficient solutions and, if necessary, alternative options.

1. The text is drafted clearly and concisely. The distribution of the content generally follows a standard structure, which is further defined by the legislative drafting guidelines.

2. The terminology used is consistent both within the provisions of the same decree and with other legislation, particularly within the same legal area.

3. In drafting, care is taken to treat genders equally according to the peculiarities of the language and context, without impairing comprehensibility and readability.

4. For more significant projects, the directorates assess the appropriateness of forming an editorial group, in which, among others, the State Chancellery and the Office of Legislation are represented.

1. The directorates draft the texts in both official languages and ensure consistency between the language versions. The State Chancellery is responsible for the supervision (Art. 5 lit. e and 15 lit. d).

2. Internal administrative documents, particularly those pertaining to an internal consultation process (Art. 32 et seq.), may be drafted in only one language.

3. Drafts should, as far as possible, employ terminology and sentence structures that facilitate maintaining the bilingualism of the legislation.

4. The translators in the directorates are involved early enough to ensure that any feedback from the translation can still be considered in the original text.

1. An external or internal consultation process regarding the drafts is carried out in accordance with the conditions and details set forth in Articles 22 et seq.

2. The obtaining of opinions and other specific types of consultation provided for in special legislation are reserved.

1. The content of the messages from the Council of State to the Grand Council is defined in the legislation concerning the Grand Council.

2. For more significant draft ordinances, an explanatory report is prepared, which concisely addresses at least the following points

a) Origin and necessity of the draft;

b) The most important activities carried out;

c) The main proposals;

d) The financial and personnel implications;

e) The compliance with higher-ranking law.

1. The departments shall provide the drafts to the State Chancellery in both official languages as early as possible, but no later than 10 days before the date for inclusion in the agenda of the Council of State.

2. The State Chancellery may grant exceptions for drafts of minor scope as well as for the accompanying documents.

1. The State Chancellery carries out the following activities in particular

a) It checks whether the drafts comply with the rules regarding the presentation of decrees.

b) It corrects obvious errors related to text entry, spelling, sentence structure, or formal design, or has them corrected by the directorate.

c) It requests the directorate, prior to the draft being considered by the Council of State, to make any rephrasing it deems appropriate.

d) It checks the consistency of the language versions.

1. Simultaneously with the submission to the State Chancellery, the directorates inform the Office for Legislation and the other relevant central services, particularly if they have provided comments during the consultation or coordination process.

1. The Processing of the Applications of the Directorates by the State Council, In Particular the Inclusion in the Agenda, the Dispatch of Texts to the Members of the State Council, the Advisory Opinion, and the Course of the Deliberations, Is Governed by the Relevant Implementing Provisions of the SVOG.

1. Professional Support Before the State Council Generally consists of Drafting Alternatives or Supplementary Notes upon Request

2. With the consent of the President, it may also involve the presence of a staff member at the meeting to explain the proposed provisions and answer questions.

1. The consideration of the drafts by the Grand Council is governed by the legislation concerning the Grand Council.

1. The cantonal administration ensures professional support of the draft during the activities of the Grand Council.

2. The professional support consists of assisting the government representative in the following activities

a) Participation in the work of the parliamentary commission;

b) Examination of the commission's proposals, particularly their impact on the coherence of the draft, and informing the State Council about the proposals;

c) Monitoring the deliberations in the plenary session of the Grand Council and, if necessary, collaborating with the Editorial Commission.

1. Departments are responsible for the revision of texts adopted by the State Council. However, specific amendments decided by the State Council are inserted by the State Chancellery; it provides the lead department with an electronic copy of the amended text.

2. For enactments of the Grand Council, its Secretariat is responsible for the revision of texts. Wherever possible, it directly inserts the relevant data into the information application according to Article 5, paragraph 1, letter c.

3. The correction of obvious oversights or other errors (Articles 22 and 23 VEG) is reserved.

1. An external consultation procedure is initiated to involve the affected parties in the development of a significant legislative enactment and to assess whether the draft is materially correct and likely to be well received. The cases provided for in the special legislation are also reserved.

2. Significant projects are deemed, in particular, to include those outlined in Article 64 of the SVOG, those largely implemented outside the administration, and those affecting activities requiring approval to a not insignificant extent.

3. Authorization by the State Council is required to initiate the procedure. Article 31 regarding restricted consultation procedures remains reserved.

4. The Directorate submits the draft consultation documents with its authorization request; if applicable, it indicates its intention to conduct a conference-style consultation and justifies this request (Art. 27 para. 3).

1. The consultation documents are delivered to the circles directly affected by the draft, in particular to the organizations operating at the cantonal level in the relevant area, and to the addressees of the internal consultation procedures (Art. 32 para. 2).

2. Drafts for constitutional provisions and other drafts that could have significant effects on numerous circles are also delivered to

a) the political parties represented in the Grand Council or the Council of State;

b) the major professional organizations;

c) the Freiburg Municipal Association and the Conference of Mayors of the main towns and large municipalities.

3. Drafts that could significantly affect a specific circle of municipalities or all municipalities of the canton are also delivered to each affected municipality.

4. The State Chancellery manages a directory of the regular consultation addressees.

1. Any person or organization may consult the texts submitted for consultation at the competent directorate.

2. Each directorate ensures within its areas of responsibility that the groups affected by the draft are invited to the consultation or informed about it. It also obtains the opinions of its administrative units and commissions affected by the draft.

1. The consultation documents are prepared in both official languages.

2. They generally include

a) a cover letter, which specifies the consultation deadline;

b) the draft proposal for consultation;

c) an explanatory report;

d) the list of recipients.

3. The consultation process is conducted electronically as much as possible. However, the documents are sent in printed form to the consultation recipients upon request.

1. The State Chancellery announces the consultation procedures approved by the State Council in the Official Gazette and on the Internet.

2. ...

1. As far as possible, the statements are sent in electronic form.

2. The cantonal administration generally submits its statements only electronically. The directorates also comply with the provisions of Article 33 paragraph 3.

3. If the consultation process is conducted wholly or partially in a conference format, the opinions expressed are briefly recorded in writing.

1. The consultation period is three months from the dispatch of the documents.

2. If the project is urgent or if the content or scope of the draft requires it, a different deadline may be set. Due consideration is also given to usual holiday periods.

3. The directorate may grant a brief extension upon a well-founded request. If an extension is ruled out from the outset, this will be indicated in the accompanying letter.

1. The directorate evaluates the consultation results and decides on the further course of action.

2. If justified by the scope of the responses or the significance of the project, it also prepares a brief synthesis report, which it makes available to the consultation recipients.

1. The consultation documents are available on the Internet as soon as they have been sent to the recipients; if a summary report has been prepared, it will also be published on the Internet after the directorate has decided on the subsequent action to be taken regarding the draft.

2. The public nature of the submitted opinions is furthermore guaranteed in accordance with the legislation on information and access to documents, once the consultation period has expired.

1. The consultation procedure may be restricted

a) if it concerns a technical individual question;

b) or if it involves only a very few external administrative recipients.

2. Authorization from the Council of State is not required.

3. The consultation documents may be prepared in only one language, and it may be stipulated that documents and statements be submitted or received only in electronic form. The publication of the consultation documents on the internet is optional.

4. As far as possible, restricted consultation procedures are mentioned in the directory of planned consultation procedures.

1. The Directorate organizes a consultation process limited to the cantonal administration if it involves a significant draft, but only has minor effects on external administrative organizations.

2. The recipients are

a) the Directorates, the State Chancellery, the Office of Legislation, the Bureau for Gender Equality and Family Matters, and the Cantonal Authority for Public Disclosure, Data Protection, and Mediation;

b) and - insofar as the draft particularly affects them - the other central services, the Conference of Chief Administrative Officers, and the Office for Municipalities.

3. The Directorates and the State Chancellery seek the opinions of their affected administrative units and commissions regarding the draft.

4. The consultation may be extended to external state organs.

1. **The Consultation Period** is generally four weeks. Otherwise, Article 28 applies mutatis mutandis.

2. The consultation documents are determined according to Article 25 paragraph 2. The consultation procedure is conducted solely by electronic means.

3. The directorates specify the administrative units and institutions they consulted for the preparation of their opinion.

4. The directorate evaluates the consultation results and decides on the further course of action. If justified by the volume of responses or the significance of the project, it prepares a brief synthesis report and makes it available to the consultation addressees.

1. Drafts of decrees that must or may be officially published according to the legislation on the publication of decrees are submitted to the State Chancellery and the concerned central services early enough before adoption to ensure the application of Articles 15 and 16.

2. The directorate to which the concerned authority is subordinated is responsible for recording the texts in the database of the Freiburg legislation.

1. The following are repealed

a) the decision of October 10, 1995, on the European compatibility of enactments (SGF 122.0.21);

b) the decision of January 14, 1958, concerning the establishment of an Office for Legislation (SGF 122.23.41).

1. The Decision of January 24, 1967, on the Drafting and Execution of the Decisions of the Council of State (SGF 122.0.17) is amended as follows

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1. The Implementing Regulation of March 12, 1996, to the Law on the Financial Budget of the State (FHR; SGF 610.11) is amended as follows

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1. The Subsidy Regulation of August 22, 2000 (SubR; SGF 616.11) is amended as follows

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1. During a transitional period following the entry into force of the amendment of November 27, 2018, of this regulation, the State Chancellery shall ensure the integration of the texts into the IT application as per Article 5, paragraph 1, letter c, and, if necessary, the data exchange between this application and the application for the electronic management of the affairs of the State Council and the Grand Council.

2. ...

1. This Regulation enters into force on January 1, 2006.