Rules of Procedure of the Cantonal Council (GO KR) - First Session of the Term of Office (GOKR)

1. The first meeting of a term of office shall be convened by the council leadership.

2. It shall be opened by the outgoing council president, or if they no longer belong to the council, by the oldest present member of the council.

3. The establishment at the first meeting of the term of office shall be conducted in the same appropriate manner as the establishment at the start of the term duration.

1. The chairperson administers the oath or affirmation to the newly elected council president at the beginning of their term.

2. The council president administers the oath to the council members as well as the members of the government council.

1. Anyone who is unable to participate must inform the Chair of the Council or the State Chancellery of this before the meeting.

1. In the event of a conflict of interest, the affected member of the Cantonal Council or the Executive Council must leave the meeting room before the discussion and decision-making.

2. The recusal rule does not apply to electoral matters, provided only one candidacy is present and it is not contested.

3. In case of doubt, the Cantonal Council decides on the obligation to recuse.

1. A special area in the council chamber is designated for the public.

2. The Chairperson of the Council warns the public to remain quiet if necessary and ensures discipline. Anyone who repeatedly disrupts the proceedings will be removed.

3. In the case of persistent or organized disruption, the meeting will be suspended and the public seating area will be cleared.

1. The media professionals accredited by the State Chancellery shall be assigned a seat where possible.

2. The activities of the media must not disrupt the council's proceedings.

3. Visual and audio recordings or transmissions of the deliberations require the consent of the President of the Council.

1. The President of the Commission or a designated Commission member may inform the public in writing or orally about the results of the Commission's deliberations.

2. The information is provided after the conclusion of the deliberations, unless the Commission decides otherwise.

3. The announcement may also include the Commission's resolutions, the essential motions, and the main views represented in the deliberations. The opinions and votes of individual Commission members remain confidential.

4. The Commission members and other participants of the Commission meetings do not disclose this information beforehand.

1. At least ten days before the meeting, the location and time, as well as the items on the agenda, shall be published in the Official Gazette, and the invitation shall be delivered to the council members along with the meeting documents.

2. Documents that are not suitable for delivery shall be made available for inspection at the council secretariat during the two weeks preceding the meeting.

3. In urgent exceptional cases, the invitation and delivery of documents may occur at short notice and without publication in the Official Gazette.

1. The seating arrangement is determined by the President of the Council upon the proposal of the Council Secretariat.

2. The allocation of seats is based on municipalities, and within the municipalities, according to seniority and party affiliation.

1. Members of the Cantonal Council and the Government Council shall conduct themselves according to the dignity of the council during deliberations and express this through appropriate attire.

1. If the vote counters determine that there is a lack of quorum due to an insufficient number of council members present, the Cantonal Council shall adjourn.

1. In appointing the council leadership, appropriate consideration of smaller factions is given, in accordance with the allocation key for the distribution of committee seats.

2. In the first election of a vote counter to the council leadership, a secret procedure is conducted.

3. The council secretary participates in the meetings of the council leadership with an advisory vote.

1. The commission size is generally between 7 to 13 members, depending on the importance and scope of the subject matter for discussion.

2. Each political group is represented in the commission according to a distribution key based on the strength of the group. Whenever possible, both genders and the communities or regions should be adequately represented.

3. For permanent commissions, the nomination is submitted as a binding nomination proposal by the factions, whereas for non-permanent commissions it is submitted as a non-binding proposal. The non-permanent commissions are renewed at the beginning of each term of office.

4. If a member of the commission is unable to participate in the proceedings of a permanent commission for an extended period, they are required to submit their resignation.

5. Substitution in non-permanent commissions is only exceptionally possible when there is an extraordinary reason for prevention, and the faction would otherwise not be represented. The substitution is reported by the faction presidency to the commission presidency.

1. The Editorial Committee generally reviews the proposals after the first reading or, in the case of a single reading, before they are submitted to the Cantonal Council.

2. It may propose substantive amendments to the preparatory commission or the Cantonal Council in cases of contradictions and ambiguities.

3. It may call upon

a. the chair of the preparatory commission;

b. individuals from the relevant department and the state chancellery;

c. external linguistic experts.

1. Proposals that do not originate from the Government Council are to be prepared by a commission or by the council leadership.

1. To clarify the responsibilities between committees, the presidiums shall consult with each other.

2. In the event of jurisdictional conflicts, the council leadership shall decide.

1. The State Chancellery publishes a brief report on the proceedings of the Cantonal Council in the Official Gazette.

1. The Cantonal Council Minutes include

a. the names of the present and absent council members,

b. the designation of the items and documents under discussion,

c. the speeches and motions made by speakers, drafted based on electronic recordings,

d. the results of the votes and decisions made by the council, including the names and individual voting behavior during electronic votes and roll-call votes.

1. The proceedings of the Cantonal Council shall be recorded electronically.

2. The electronic recording serves for documentation purposes. It is retained for archival purposes and is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. The council leadership may allow an investigation or inspection in justified cases.

3. The recordings of deliberations held in camera, in accordance with Article 12 of the Cantonal Council Act, are to be deleted after documentation.

1. The draft of the Cantonal Council protocol is generally published on the Cantonal Council's extranet one week before the next session and made available for inspection by Council members at the State Chancellery.

2. The members of the Cantonal Council and the Government Council, as well as the President of the Supreme Court, may file a written objection until the session after the next Cantonal Council meeting.

1. The Council's leadership decides on objections and approves the Cantonal Council minutes.

2. The approved Cantonal Council minutes are published on the Internet and archived in writing at the State Chancellery.

3. The minutes regarding matters deliberated in private are not published and are archived separately.

4. Upon request, the State Chancellery prepares extracts from the Cantonal Council minutes. If a legitimate interest is credibly demonstrated, the State Chancellery may provide extracts from the draft minutes.

1. A resolution record shall be kept of every commission meeting.

2. The commission record generally contains the names of the applicants, the motions, and the reasons that led to acceptance or rejection. A member may request that a minority opinion or a personal statement be recorded.

3. The commission may decide to keep a more detailed record, especially for proposals subject to a referendum.

4. The recording secretary shall submit the draft record to the commission chairperson within one week. The record shall be delivered as soon as possible.

5. Objections from commission members to the record are permissible until the next commission meeting or the meeting of the cantonal council. Without objections, the record is considered approved.

1. The Commission minutes are confidential. They are distributed, unless the Commission decides otherwise, to

a. the members of the preparatory commission;

b. the competent department;

c. the presidencies of the parliamentary groups upon request;

d. the State Chancellery for the legislative materials and the Cantonal Council records.

2. After the conclusion of the Cantonal Council's deliberations or after the completion of the commission's work, third parties may be granted access to the official documents of the commissions according to the law on the principle of public access. For the purposes of legal application, the minutes of the preparatory commission may be published in connection with an enactment.

3. ...

1. The Cantonal Council ordinarily convenes in the town hall in Sarnen. The council leadership may exceptionally determine a different meeting location.

2. Sessions generally begin at 9:00 a.m. The council leadership determines the meeting structure and duration, while the chair presides over the meeting proceedings.

3. The land usher conducts the attendance check.

1. The President of the Council shall open the session.

2. The Cantonal Council decides on the agenda. The Council may amend but not add to it, with the exception of urgent parliamentary motions pursuant to Art. 56 Para. 2 of the Cantonal Council Act.

3. The items on the agenda shall be discussed individually. Items and motions concerning the same subject matter may be discussed together.

4. In addition to the items listed on the agenda, only announcements from the Council Presidency and, exceptionally, if permitted by the Council Presidency, statements from the Government Council and the factions as well as personal statements pursuant to Art. 5 letter e of the Cantonal Council Act are allowed.

1. Parliamentary motions shall generally be submitted to the Presidency of the Council in writing and signed during the council meeting.

2. The Presidency of the Council announces the newly submitted motions and forwards them to the Government Council for a response.

3. Submitted parliamentary motions cannot be withdrawn.

4. Motions and postulates are explained during the deliberation by the first signatory council member. The written response may be clarified by the competent member of the Government Council.

1. Anyone wishing to speak on a matter under discussion must report to the President of the Council.

2. The President of the Council grants the floor in the order of registration; the rapporteur of the committee and the competent member of the government have priority; in the case of simultaneous registration, priority is given to the member who has not yet spoken on the matter.

3. The form of address is: "Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen" or "Madam President, ladies and gentlemen."

4. The floor shall be granted outside the speaking order to respond to a personal comment, correct a factual error, or to submit a procedural motion.

5. If, exceptionally, the President of the Council wishes to intervene substantively in the discussion, he or she must turn over the chair to the Vice-Presidency and adhere to the same formalities as any member.

1. Anyone who deviates from the subject of discussion or violates parliamentary decorum shall be called to order by the President of the Council.

2. The President of the Council shall withdraw the floor from a member who continuously disrupts parliamentary order.

3. If the speaker objects to the withdrawal of the floor, the Cantonal Council shall decide without further debate.

1. Each council member has the right to propose motions regarding a matter, including in particular motions of non-consideration, referral, alternative, procedural, deletion, or reconsideration.

2. Motions to amend the wording of proposals or remarks are generally to be submitted in writing to the President of the Council.

3. Voting on motions concerning constitutional and statutory articles, which are introduced only in the second reading, may only occur after the responsible commission and the government council have provided their input.

4. Motions according to paragraph 3 must be submitted in writing to the council secretariat at least ten days before the cantonal council meeting. If the timely submission is disputed, the council leadership will decide on the admissibility of the motion.

1. Motions pertaining to the procedure are procedural motions.

2. If a procedural motion is made, the deliberation on the subject matter is interrupted. It will only resume after discussion and resolution of the procedural motion.

1. The Cantonal Council first deliberates on whether it will enter into consideration of a proposal.

2. Only motions to enter into or not to enter into consideration can be made.

3. If no other motion is made, entering into consideration is deemed decided.

4. If the Cantonal Council decides not to enter into consideration of a matter, the matter is deemed concluded and is removed from the agenda.

5. Entering into consideration is mandatory for elections, popular initiatives, budget estimates, supplementary credits, business reports, and accounts.

6. In the debate on entering into consideration, each member of the council, with the exception of the commission's rapporteur, may only speak once.

1. If proceeding is decided, the proposal is subject to section-by-section or comprehensive individual deliberation. The basis for deliberation is the version according to the motions of the preliminary advisory committee.

2. For proposals, motions for amendments or additions may be decided upon; for reports, individual remarks can be resolved.

1. After the decision to proceed or during the individual deliberation, the Cantonal Council may refer the entire proposal, individual articles, or parts of a proposal or report back to the commission or the government council.

2. In applications for the referral of a proposal or report, it must be specified in what manner the revision or reconsideration is to be conducted.

1. After the conclusion of the individual deliberation, any member of the council may request to revisit certain articles or parts of a proposal or report.

2. The request to revisit or a counterrequest must be briefly justified. The cantonal council decides without further discussion.

3. If the request is accepted, an individual deliberation regarding the relevant matter will take place afterwards.

1. If the conclusion of the discussions is requested before all registered speakers have spoken, a vote on this request shall be conducted without further discussion. If the request receives a majority, the applicants, in the order of their submitted requests, as well as the rapporteur of the commission, shall be given the floor.

2. If no further requests to speak are made, the president of the council shall close the discussion.

1. The Council's leadership appoints the preparatory committees early in the business planning process. For matters of subordinate importance, it can dispense with the establishment of a committee.

2. The chairwoman or chairman of the committee, in consultation with the relevant department, determines the location and time of the committee meeting.

3. As a rule, the State Chancellery sends out the invitation on behalf of the chairwoman or chairman of the committee.

1. The recusal provisions for the Cantonal Council also apply to the committees.

2. In disputed cases, the committee decides.

1. The commissions determine their own rules of procedure. If a commission forgoes establishing its own rules, the provisions of the Cantonal Council shall apply accordingly.

1. In order to have a quorum, the presence of the majority of the commission members is required.

2. The chairperson of the commission participates in the voting and casts the deciding vote in the event of a tie.

3. Upon request by its chairperson, the commission may exceptionally pass a circular resolution. The request must be submitted to the commission members for comment within a reasonable period. It is considered accepted if no member raises objections.

1. The President of the Commission shall report to the Council assembly on the deliberations, the motions, and the minority motions. The Commission may delegate another Commission member to provide the report.

2. The Commission can supplement the oral report with a written report. Amendments and supplementary motions to the Cantonal Council must be submitted in writing.

3. Written reports and motions are generally to be delivered to the Council members through the State Chancellery ten days before the meeting.

1. Before the vote, the President of the Council shall identify the motions and make proposals regarding the voting procedure.

2. Any objections to these proposals shall be decided by the Cantonal Council before the commencement of the vote.

1. The President of the Council first determines which motions are considered main motions and which are considered amendments or sub-amendments.

2. Sub-amendments are voted on before amendments, and amendments are voted on before the main motions. More proximate numbers are compared first. The Commission's motion is decided at the end according to these rules. In exceptional cases, unresolved main motions can be contrasted in principle votes.

3. If more than two main motions have been made, the motions of individual council members, the motion of the government council, and the motions of the commission minority are first compared against each other in a possible vote. The result of the last vote is then compared with the motion of the commission majority.

1. Separate votes shall be taken on divisible voting questions upon request.

1. If a draft consists of several articles or parts, a final vote shall be taken at the end of the deliberations.

2. In the case of a second reading, the final vote shall take place only after the second reading.

1. Voting is generally conducted electronically. If the electronic voting system is unavailable, voting shall be conducted by a show of hands.

1a. The council may decide, by a simple majority, to conduct voting by a show of hands or by secret written ballot.

2. If the result of the vote by a show of hands is obvious, the counting of votes may be dispensed with unless a council member requests the counting.

2a. When votes are counted, the majority, the opposing majority, and abstentions are announced. In final votes, counting of votes always takes place.

3. No vote is taken on undisputed motions.

4. One-third of the council members present may request that a roll-call vote be conducted.

1. For a valid resolution, where a law or these rules of procedure do not expressly provide for a different majority, a majority of those voting is required.

2. The President of the Council does not vote in open ballots. In the case of a tie after two rounds of voting, the President of the Council has the casting vote. This can be accompanied by a justification.

3. The President of the Council votes in secret ballots. In the event of a tie, the proposal is considered rejected.

1. Elections shall be conducted openly, unless the applicable legislation or one-third of the council members present demand a secret ballot.

1. The political groups submit election proposals to the Cantonal Council. These are generally distributed in writing before the start of the session.

2. In elections where the candidates are required to meet specific eligibility requirements, the competent authority conducts the preliminary proceedings and submits a proposal to the Cantonal Council.

3. The right to propose remains with each council member until the commencement of the election.

1. The President of the Council announces the election result to the Cantonal Council.

2. Formal errors must be asserted immediately after the announcement of the result. The Cantonal Council decides on contested elections.

1. Elected is the person who receives the absolute majority of the valid votes.

1. The nominations shall be brought to the vote by the President of the Council in the order in which they were received, one by one.

2. If only one candidate is nominated and no motion for non-election is made, the declaration of election shall be made without a vote.

3. If three or more nominees are contesting an election, in each round of voting, as long as no candidate obtains an absolute majority, the person with the fewest votes shall be eliminated from the election. In the event of a tie, the decision shall be made by drawing lots as to who is eliminated.

4. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority, the election has not taken place.

1. Authorities and commissions are elected as a whole if the total number of nominees does not exceed the number of positions to be filled, and provided that the council does not decide on individual elections.

**1. The council secretariat prepares the ballots.**

2. The vote counters distribute the ballots to the members present at their place. The president of the council participates in secret ballots.

3. Ballots are invalid if they are

a. illegible or ambiguous;

b. in individual elections, naming a person who is not eligible or has not been nominated.

4. In comprehensive elections, the names of persons who are not eligible or have not been nominated are to be struck from the ballot.

5. The election office decides on the validity of a ballot.

6. Collected ballots must be preserved until the minutes are approved and then destroyed.

1. Elected is the person who obtains the absolute majority of the valid votes.

2. For the calculation of the absolute majority in individual elections, blank ballots are counted, but invalid ballots are not.

3. If no one achieves the absolute majority in the first voting round, further rounds of voting shall take place.

4. If three or more candidates are running for a mandate in the election, the candidate who receives the fewest votes shall be eliminated from each voting round, as long as no one achieves the absolute majority. In the event of a tie, the decision on who is eliminated is made by drawing lots.

5. If no candidate achieves the absolute majority, the election is considered not to have occurred.

1. The elections for the renewal of authorities and commissions shall be conducted collectively (as list elections), unless the council decides otherwise.

2. There shall be no more than two rounds of voting. An absolute majority is required in the first round for an election to be valid, while a relative majority is required in the second round.

3. The absolute majority is determined based on the number of ballots that contain at least one valid name.

4. If more candidates achieve the absolute majority than there are positions to be filled, those candidates with the fewest votes shall be eliminated from the election. In the event of a tie, the president of the council shall draw lots.

1. This Rules of Procedure shall enter into force together with the Cantonal Council Act of April 21, 2005.