Implementing Regulation of the Act of 8 May 2007 on the Grand Council (RLGC) (RLGC)

1. This implementing regulation details the rules for the organization and functioning of the Grand Council, as well as all matters for which the general provisions of Law [A] require implementing provisions.

1. Any reference to a person, status, or position in this regulation shall refer equally to a man or a woman.

1. Considered significant, within the meaning of Article 8 of the Law on the Grand Council (hereinafter: LGC) [A], is any entity employing more than ten persons or having an annual turnover exceeding 500,000 francs.

1. The General Secretariat of the Grand Council is responsible, at the beginning of the legislature, and then each year in the month of July, for contacting the deputies and setting a deadline for them to disclose the interests that law [A] requires them to report.

2. The deputies' interests are published on the website of the Canton of Vaud.

1. The Bureau ensures compliance with the obligation to disclose conflicts of interest. It may require a Member of Parliament to provide the necessary disclosures; if the latter does not comply within the stipulated time, the Bureau shall proceed to make the entry itself. This is noted in the register.

1. Each deputy is required, during debates or committee sessions in which they participate, to disclose their interests and personal and direct connections before speaking on a subject related to said interests or connections.

2. The session president or the Bureau of the Grand Council ensures compliance with this obligation and, if necessary, mentions these interests and connections themselves once the concerned deputy has finished their intervention.

1. The Bureau of the Grand Council issues a directive regarding donations, gifts, or other advantages related to the mandate of a deputy. The presidents of the political groups and the thematic committee in charge of institutions and political rights are consulted.

1. When a member of parliament is denied information by the Council of State and its services, the refusal is notified in writing.

2. Within twenty days following receipt of the decision of refusal, the member of parliament may submit a written request to the Bureau of the Grand Council.

3. The Bureau makes its decision based on the documents it has accessed and the rules set by law [A] to issue a final written decision that is not subject to appeal.

1. Minutes of the committee meetings are provided to the committee members, their substitutes, the General Secretariat of the Grand Council, the representatives of the cantonal authorities who participated in the meeting, and the authors of a subject.

1. Members of Parliament are required to maintain confidentiality of their official duties even after the end of their term of office.

1. When a Member of Parliament resigns their mandate during the legislative session, they are required to return all documents and items that have been loaned to them.

1. The draft decree setting the allowances for the following legislature must be adopted by the Bureau of the Grand Council before September 1 of the year preceding the renewal of cantonal authorities.

1. To be eligible for reimbursement of their accommodation and meal expenses, members of parliament must meet one of the following conditions

* Be outside the Canton of Vaud for two consecutive days for parliamentary activity;

* Participate in committee meetings for two consecutive days at a specific location.

2. The department responsible for the matter shall cover meal or accommodation expenses for committee members meeting for more than half a day.

3. Furthermore, for exceptional cases such as delegations duly recognized by the Bureau, members of parliament participating in such meetings shall submit expense reports, accompanied by supporting documents, which shall be transmitted to the General Secretariat of the Grand Council; the Bureau shall be informed thereof.

1. Subject to the specific provisions of the decree setting the amount of allowances paid to the members of the Grand Council [B], the majority and minority rapporteurs of the commissions receive an allowance for the drafting of their report.

2. As a general rule, if the number of sessions leading to the drafting of a report does not exceed three half-days, the rapporteurs do not receive an additional allowance; however, if the commission's work exceeds three half-days, the Bureau determines the amount of any potential additional allowance.

1. The drafters of the reports of the departmental sub-commissions of the Finance and Management Commissions receive remuneration proportional to the time spent drafting the report, but for a maximum of three days per report; the indemnity corresponds to that paid for one day of attendance at the Grand Council.

1. For special compensation, particular cases are reserved and left to the discretion of the Board.

1. No indemnity is owed to any member of parliament whose presence is not recorded or who, being present at the beginning of the session, did not respond during a roll call verification. The Bureau resolves disputed cases after hearing from the person concerned; its decisions are final.

1. The allowances for political groups provided for by law [A] are paid once a year, for the period from July 1 to June 30, in the month of September.

1. At the end of their term, the outgoing president, considered to have resigned from the Office, is replaced by a member of their group, elected by the Grand Council.

2. In the case of a prolonged absence of a member of the Office, the political group from which they originate may propose a replacement for the duration of the absence.

1. The tasks of the Bureau are as follows

a. to ensure the regularity of the work of the Grand Council and its committees;

b. to control the condition of the chamber and to verify ballots and votes;

c. to control the accounting of indemnities due to members of parliament;

d. to control the absences of members of parliament as well as the termination of their mandates, and to ensure, where applicable, the implementation of a by-election;

e. to establish ad hoc committees, based on proposals from political groups;

f. to provide for replacements within committees and delegations, subject to Article 33 of these regulations, upon proposal from political groups;

g. to ensure that the reports of parliamentary committees are established within reasonable deadlines and, in the event of delay, to take all useful measures;

h. to adopt the draft budget of the Grand Council submitted to it by the General Secretariat;

i. to decide on expenditures or authorize them, within the limits of the Grand Council's budget;

j. to report to the Grand Council on requests for the lifting of parliamentary immunity of members of parliament;

k. to adopt, where applicable, internal regulations defining its organization and delegating certain tasks to a delegation of the Bureau or to certain of its members;

l. to carry out other tasks assigned to it by law [A] or the Grand Council, or which do not expressly fall within the purview of another organ of the Grand Council.

1. In addition to its regular sessions, the Bureau, for purposes of coordination, consultation, or information, regularly invites, and in particular

- the presidents of the political groups;

- the presidents of the oversight committees and the thematic committees;

- the Council of State.

1. The Bureau determines the procedure for its deliberations. In the event of a tie, the vote of the president is decisive.

1. The President of the Grand Council, in addition to the obligations set by law [A]

a. may have the number of deputies present verified by a roll call;

b. receives all official communications addressed to the Grand Council and signs official documents.

1. The General Secretariat of the Grand Council is responsible, in particular, for keeping up to date

a. the nominal roll of deputies and their remuneration;

b. the register of deputies' interests;

c. public data concerning deputies (registers, website, etc.);

d. the schedule of items to be submitted to the Grand Council;

e. in agreement with the Council of State, planning schedules for items, which are regularly submitted to the Bureau;

f. in collaboration with the State services, the accounts of the Grand Council, and, quarterly, informs the Bureau of the budget utilization.

2. It also has the following tasks

a. ensuring compliance with the Vaud Protocol, kept up to date by the Chancellery in collaboration with the Bureau of the Grand Council;

b. drafting, printing, and distributing the Grand Council Bulletin (Arts. 148 to 150 LGC [A]);

c. drawing up minutes of the Grand Council's decisions (Art. 151 LGC) on the day of the session and making them accessible to deputies from the following day;

d. convening committee meetings, at the request of the first members or designated chairpersons;

e. preparing the notes of all parliamentary committee meetings;

f. providing deputies, commissioners, and parliamentary groups with documentation and all necessary information for the exercise of their mandate;

g. classifying legislative acts and all other documents;

h. managing and preserving the archives of the Grand Council, its bodies, and committees;

i. performing all tasks related to the administrative functioning of the parliament that are not attributed by law or regulation.

1. For the appointment of the Secretary-General of the Great Council, the Bureau decides on the preliminary procedure. It may proceed by means of a notice published in the Official Gazette, by invitation, or by any other procedure it deems appropriate.

2. No later than fifteen days before the date of the election, the Bureau makes its recommendations to the Great Council.

1. Independent of the duties assigned to the General Secretariat of the Grand Council, the Secretary General manages the parliamentary service and regularly reports to the President on the administration of the service. He notably participates in an annual appraisal interview conducted by the President and a member of the Bureau.

**1. When the application of the current Secretary-General is not accepted, the employment relationship terminates on December 31 of the current year, provided that no comparable and suitable position matching their skills can be offered within the cantonal public service. They shall receive a severance payment corresponding to at least four months' salary. More favorable provisions regarding the termination of employment for department heads are reserved.**

**2. In the event of reemployment within the cantonal administration or in an institution affiliated with or subsidized by the State within four months after the termination of employment, the severance payment shall be reduced by the amount earned from such reemployment.**

1. Political groups with a secretariat to which the same documents as those sent to the deputies are transmitted must ensure that a clause concerning professional secrecy is included in the collaboration contract binding them to the group collaborators. A certificate confirming this element is submitted to the General Secretariat of the Grand Council.

2. Once this certificate is received, the General Secretariat grants the group collaborators the same access to information sources as that enjoyed by the deputies.

3. In any case, group collaborators who transmit information falling under the professional secrecy of the deputies are subject to the same penalties as the deputies.

1. Groups of deputies interested in the same subject organize themselves freely; they are open to all deputies.

2. The groups of interested deputies have no decision-making authority; however, they may use the services of the collaborators of the General Secretariat of the Grand Council for holding their meetings.

3. Each group of interested deputies informs the General Secretariat of the Grand Council of its composition and communicates the names of the president and the secretary. The General Secretariat of the Grand Council sends the summons and invitations to the meetings to the groups of interested deputies.

1. An agreement of collaboration is made between the Council of State and the Office of the Grand Council regarding the employment of ushers at the service of the parliament. An order of engagement is determined each month.

2. The ushers accompany the members of the Grand Council, the Council of State, and the Cantonal Court who are called to take the oath before the assembly.

1. For the preparation of its budget, additional credits, and accounts, the Secretariat-General of the Grand Council may seek the support of the competent state services (accounting, budget office, legal services, information systems services, etc.).

1. Any external intervention resulting in compensation is subject to a prior decision of the Bureau, except for interventions requested by a parliamentary inquiry commission.

2. After their hearing, the individuals external to the commission leave the meeting.

1. In the event of a vacancy of a seat within a supervisory commission, a thematic commission, a parliamentary inquiry commission, the Presentation Commission, or the Visitors Commission, the political group to which the resigning member belongs must promptly present the candidacy of a replacement to the Bureau of the Grand Council. The Bureau shall decide on the candidacy at its next meeting and, if the candidacy is rejected, inform the candidate and their group, stating the reasons for the rejection.

2. Within thematic commissions and ad hoc commissions, deputies designated by the Bureau may be replaced by other deputies, provided that prior notice of the replacement is communicated to the General Secretariat of the Grand Council, which shall inform the President of the Grand Council, the chair of the commission, and the chair of the concerned group.

1. In principle, the State Councilor who is unable to participate in a parliamentary committee session must inform the committee president before the session. Emergency cases are excepted.

2. When the State Councilor is accompanied by colleagues for a committee session, he must announce it at the beginning of the session.

1. The rapporteurs are responsible for delivering their report in accordance with the work schedule of the Grand Council as established by the Bureau. In agreement with the rapporteur, the commission sets the deadline within which the report is submitted to the General Secretariat of the Grand Council.

1. The minority report, like the majority report, is distributed to all deputies no later than five days before the debates concerning the subject. If this distribution does not occur, the debates are maintained on the initially scheduled date; the text sent later, therefore not qualifying as a minority report, is considered merely a statement of position.

1. Each year, during the last meeting of the first semester, the supervisory committees designate their chairperson, their first vice-chairperson, and their second vice-chairperson.

1. Each quarter, the offices of the supervisory commissions meet for an exchange of views. At least once a year, the two plenary commissions meet together.

1. Supervisory commissions generally announce their visits to departments, services, and establishments administered by the State. A surprise visit may be organized provided that the State Councillor in charge of the concerned department or service is notified at least the day before.

1. The various mandates entrusted by the oversight committees (management or finance) are listed in a register maintained by the General Secretariat of the Grand Council, which is available to the Bureau and the oversight committees.

2. In addition to the opinions that may be requested from the thematic committees, the mandates entrusted to them are follow-up mandates, and not investigative mandates.

1. The Cantonal Audit Office, the Court of Auditors, and the Council of State are informed of the actions that the supervisory commissions intend to take regarding the reports mentioned in Article 50, paragraph 7 of the LGC [A].

1. The annual report and the observations of the Management Commission shall be submitted to the State Council and the Grand Council before the end of April.

2. The State Council shall express its opinion in writing on the observations before the end of May; these shall then be discussed by the plenary before the end of June.

3. The Grand Council shall express its opinion on the accounts of the previous year before June 30; it shall address the responses of the State Council to the observations of the Finance Commission before September 30.

1. If specific mandates are entrusted by the Grand Council to the supervisory commissions, they may prepare specific reports, independent of their annual reports. These specific reports are placed on the agenda of an upcoming session of the Grand Council.

1. Every three months, the Finance Commission informs the Grand Council of all the decisions it has made. Its report is written; it is distributed to all the deputies and does not give rise to discussion.

2. Moreover, it must promptly inform the deputies of important, enforceable political decisions it has made. It simultaneously transmits the text of its communication to the Council of State. For subsequent public dissemination, the services of the State Information and Communication Office are at its disposal.

1. **During the first three months of the year in which the elections of cantonal authorities take place, the Grand Council, based on a proposal from its Bureau, establishes, by means of a decree [C], the list of thematic commissions for the following legislature. The members of the thematic commissions are elected by the new Grand Council on the day of its constitution.**

2. **If the Grand Council decides not to maintain a thematic commission for the following legislature, the mandate of this commission expires at the end of the current legislature.**

1. The thematic committees are, except in exceptional cases, composed of 15 members.

2. The members of the thematic committees can be replaced by members from the same political group; the replacement, communicated in advance to the General Secretariat of the Grand Council, is announced at the beginning of the session by the president thereof. The president of the Grand Council is informed of the replacement.

1. The thematic commissions, which organize themselves, appoint their president and vice-president each year.

2. Each of these two positions can only be held by the same person for a duration of five years.

1. The thematic committees are assigned, following the decisions made by the Bureau, the statements of reasons and reports from the Council of State, as well as the parliamentary interventions for which a committee must be designated for consideration.

1. The thematic commissions may be consulted by the Council of State or one of its members.

2. In their field, they may also collaborate with oversight commissions.

3. They may also undertake actions, within their areas of responsibility, particularly for the drafting of interventions, supplements on the matters submitted to them, and training of their members.

4. They are required to report these activities to the Bureau, especially when they hear from experts or incur operating expenses.

5. The thematic commissions do not have investigative prerogatives.

1. The work and decisions of the Drafting Commission are available to the deputies at the General Secretariat of the Grand Council.

1. The parliamentary inquiry committee informs the Bureau of any appointment of one or more collaborators or any measure having an impact on the budget of the Grand Council.

2. In matters of employment relations, the rules applicable to State employees shall apply by analogy to the collaborators of a parliamentary inquiry committee.

1. Upon the conclusion of its work, the parliamentary inquiry commission establishes or has its staff establish the records of its activities.

2. The records of the parliamentary inquiry commission are subsequently transferred to the Vaud Cantonal Archives.

3. Based on the recommendation of the parliamentary inquiry commission, the conditions for accessing its future records are specified in the agreement binding the Vaud Cantonal Archives and the General Secretariat of the Grand Council. In any case, when a request to access the records of a parliamentary inquiry commission is made, the decision resulting from this request is taken by the Bureau of the current Grand Council.

1. The attendance of deputies is recorded up to 45 minutes after the start of the session.

2. The Bureau, which may decide not to allocate an allowance to a deputy who leaves the session before the end time indicated on the notice, settles disputed cases; its decisions are final.

1. Any Member of Parliament wishing to project images or texts during debates to illustrate their point must, in principle before the start of the session, submit these documents to the president.

2. The latter may refuse authorization to project documents that are of an inappropriate or insulting nature.

1. During the debates, the minority rapporteur may speak directly after the majority rapporteur and, like the latter, may take the floor as many times as he requests.

1. Commencement of Debate: At the opening of debates on a subject, the president or the committee rapporteur may present a brief summary of the committee's work or read the conclusions of the report. Then, the President of the Grand Council opens the discussion on whether to consider the matter and the assembly deliberates on it.

1. In the first reading and subject to a contrary decision by the assembly, the president submits to the deputies the text of the bill or decree in the version accepted by the Council of State.

2. In the second reading and subject to a contrary decision by the assembly, the president submits to the deputies the text adopted during the first reading.

1. When the bill amends several articles of a prior legislative text, the discussion is opened on each of the amended articles.

1. An amendment is a modification of the text of a bill, draft decree, or any other modifiable text proposed to the Grand Council.

2. A sub-amendment is a modification of the text of an amendment proposed to the Grand Council; it may only pertain to a text or part of a text subject to amendment.

1. After an amendment has been submitted, the debate shall focus solely on that amendment, and if applicable, on any sub-amendments. The general debate on the article, or on other amendments to the same article, shall only resume after the vote on the amendment.

1. When a question can be divided into several parts, a vote takes place on each of them if a request is made.

2. If two proposals are made on the same issue that relate to the same part of the text or that are mutually exclusive, they are set against each other.

3. If it is not possible to set them against each other, they are put to vote separately.

1. If the president observes that there is neither a proposal for an amendment nor a request to speak on an article, he may declare the article adopted; however, any deputy retains the possibility to request a vote on the article.

1. For secret ballot votes, the Bureau issues each member present a ballot stamped with a special seal and then collects them. The issued ballots are counted.

2. After the president has declared the voting closed, the members of the Bureau count the ballots and communicate the result to the president; if the number of ballots collected exceeds the number of ballots issued, the vote is void.

1. When all the articles of a bill have been rejected during the first debate, the bill is definitively dismissed and there is no occasion for a second debate.

1. In order to preserve the anonymity of individuals seeking pardon, only the initials of their first and last names appear on the agenda of the Grand Council and in the Bulletin of the Grand Council. The reports on pardons are not made available to the public.

1. The Bureau returns a parliamentary intervention to its author if it does not meet the definition of an intervention or does not fulfill the conditions of Article 109 of the LGC [A].

1. Any parliamentary intervention that includes, in addition to the signature of its author, the signatures of other deputies, is accompanied by a document where these signatures are listed alongside the typewritten first and last names of the signatories. The General Secretariat of the Grand Council provides deputies with lists of all the deputies.

1. Interim reports are placed on the agenda of the Grand Council. There is no vote on the substance of the matter before the assembly.

2. A deadline tracking table is maintained by the General Secretariat of the Grand Council and made available to the deputies and the Council of State.

1. Oral Questions are to be written succinctly and must not include any elaboration. By succinct writing, it is meant a text not exceeding one thousand typographical signs.

1. The interpellation to the Council of State must be reasoned. Its text is submitted to the President of the Grand Council; it is placed on the agenda of the session following its submission. At the request of the Council of State, this inclusion on the agenda can be postponed once if it intends to respond immediately.

2. The text of the interpellation is distributed to the deputies prior to any possible development of it. The development generally consists of an account of the questions mentioned in the interpellation or a reading of the text.

1. The three-month period allocated to the Council of State to respond to an interpellation begins from the moment it is forwarded to the Council of State. In calculating the time period, the adoption of the response by the Council of State is considered, rather than its actual presentation before the plenary session.

1. As soon as a resolution is received, the president places it on the agenda of an upcoming meeting and makes the text available to the deputies.

2. Resolutions proposed to the assembly by a deputy may be amended.

3. Until the resolution is voted on by the Grand Council, the author of the resolution may withdraw it. In such a case, the item is removed from the agenda.

1. If the Council of State cannot comply with the deadlines stipulated by law [A], it shall request in writing to the Bureau, stating the reasons for which shorter deadlines should be considered. The Bureau shall have the sovereign authority to decide whether to accept or reject the request for expedited processing beyond that provided by the law.

1. The president invites, through the General Secretariat of the Grand Council, at least once per quarter, the representatives of the Council of State or its administration, in order to establish, based on the information provided, a planning of the Grand Council's work.

1. The cantonal police collaborators are responsible for

a. controlling access to the public gallery;

b. requiring a form of identification from persons wishing to enter the room;

c. recording their identity on a document.

2. To this end, they maintain a register of persons.

1. Recording and photography are not permitted, in particular, during ballots concerning a request for pardon. The Bureau ensures that individuals engaged in recording and photography comply with this requirement.

1. Confidential is any information concerning how the various members of the committees voted, on the opinions they defended, unless they have decided otherwise or if, through a minority report, deputies report their own position.

1. If there is any doubt regarding the nature of the changes requested by the speaker, the General Secretariat of the Grand Council shall submit the reproduced text and the proposed modifications to the Bureau for examination.

1. At the beginning of May in the year during which general elections take place, the Bureau of the Grand Council addresses the cantonal judges and the deputy cantonal judges; it inquires whether they will seek re-election for a new term or wish to leave their position.

2. The cantonal judges and the deputy cantonal judges must announce their decision by May 31.

3. If a cantonal judge or a deputy cantonal judge does not seek re-election, a supplementary election is organized according to the procedures outlined by Law [A] and the present regulation.

4. A similar procedure, considering the term duration, is followed for the members of the Court of Auditors.

1. Deputies receive, no later than five days before the judicial elections, the notice from the commission, which contains the list of candidates. The General Secretariat of the Grand Council also makes the resumes of these candidates available to them.

1. Amendments to this regulation shall be subject to the same procedure as that which governed its formulation. For the remainder, reference is made to Article 165 of the LGC [A].

1. The regulation of March 10, 1999, implementing the law of February 3, 1998, on the Grand Council is repealed.

1. The Grand Council is responsible for the execution of the present regulation, which comes into force on July 1, 2007.