Chapter 1

1. The right to legislative initiative shall belong to Deputies, to the Senate, to the President and to the Council of Ministers, as well as to a group of at least 100,000 citizens having the right to vote in elections to the Sejm.

2. Deputies' bills may be introduced by Sejm committees or by at least 15 Deputies who have signed a bill.

Subject to Article 203, a draft resolution of the Sejm may be submitted by the Presidium of the Sejm, a Sejm committee or by at least 15 Deputies signing a draft.

1. Bills and draft resolutions shall be submitted, in writing, to the Marshal of the Sejm. A sponsor, introducing a bill or draft resolution, shall nominate an authorized person to represent him in work relating to it.

2. A bill shall be accompanied by an explanatory statement which shall:

3. An explanatory statement shall also refer to the results of prior consultations and public debates, and shall distinguish the various proposals and opinions presented, especially when there exists a statutory obligation to seek such opinion. In case of a Committee or a Deputies’ bill in respect of which no consultations have been held, the Marshal of the Sejm shall send such bill for consultations before the referral thereof for the first reading, in accordance with procedures and principles specified in separate statutes.

4. An explanatory statement to a bill introduced by the Council of Ministers shall enclose drafts of principal executive orders.

4a. An explanatory statement to an implementing bill, referred to in Article 95a, introduced by the Council of Ministers, shall enclose drafts of implementing acts, when the bill imposes an obligation to issue such acts.

5. repealed.

6. The Marshal of the Sejm may demand that an explanatory statement be enclosed with any draft resolution which imposes obligations on particular persons.

7. The Marshal of the Sejm may return a bill or draft resolution, if an explanatory statement enclosed to it does not satisfy the requirements specified in paras. 2 and 3.

8. The Marshal of the Sejm, after seeking the opinion of the Presidium of the Sejm, may refer any bills or draft resolutions which raise doubts as to their consistency with law, including European Union law, to the Legislative Committee for its opinion, and which may, by a 3/5 majority vote, find the draft inadmissible.

9. The Marshal of the Sejm, having received a bill - other than bills introduced by the President of the Republic or the Council of Ministers- shall, before referring the bill for its first reading, order preparation by experts of the Chancellery of the Sejm of an opinion on the conformity of the introduced bill to the legislation of the European Union.

10. repealed.

1. The Marshal of the Sejm shall order printing of bills, draft resolutions and the timetable of work of the Sejm, referred to in Article 148b para.2, as well as the opinions of the European Union Affairs Committee, subject to para. 1a, and delivery thereof to the Deputies.

1a. At the request of the European Union Affairs Committee, the Marshal of the Sejm shall order printing of its opinions adopted during the in camera sitting.

2. The Marshal of the Sejm shall submit bills and draft resolutions which have been introduced, to the the President, to the Marshal of the Senate and to the Prime Minister.

1. Bills shall be considered in three readings, and draft resolutions - in two readings.

2. A sponsor of a bill may withdraw it at any time prior to the conclusion of the second reading.

3. A Deputies' bill shall also be deemed withdrawn if, at any time prior to the conclusion of the second reading, fewer than the 15 Deputies who signed it, before its submission, still support it.

4. A sponsor of a bill may introduce amendments thereto at any time prior to the conclusion of the second reading.

5. The provisions of Article 34 paras. 2 and 3 shall apply, as appropriate, to amendments introduced by a sponsor of a bill.

6. Consideration of bills (draft resolutions) whose adoption may lead to changes in the functioning of local government shall include seeking opinion of self-governing organizations constituting the self-government side of the Joint Commission for Government and Local Government.

7. Self-governing organizations, referred to in para. 6, shall have the right to submit their opinions within the period of 14 days following the delivery of a bill (draft resolution).

8. Opinions submitted within the time limit specified in para. 7, shall be delivered as appropriate to members of Sejm committees or to all Deputies.

9. Representatives of self-governing bodies shall have the right to present their opinions at sittings of Sejm committees.

1. A first reading shall be held at a sitting of the Sejm or a committee.

2. A first reading shall be held at a sitting of the Sejm in respect of bills on amendments to the Constitution; draft budgets; tax bills; bills governing the election of the President of the Republic and elections to the Sejm, to the Senate and to local government organs; bills governing the structure and jurisdiction of public authorities, as well as drafts of law codes.

3. The Marshal of the Sejm may also refer bills and draft resolutions of the Sejm, other than those specified in para. 2, for a first reading at a sitting of the Sejm when this is justified by important reasons.

4. A first reading may be held no sooner than the seventh day following the delivery of a copy of the draft to the Deputies, unless the Sejm or a committee decides otherwise.

All Deputies shall be notified about the sitting of a committee at which a first reading is to be held. Each Deputy may take part in that sitting or submit his comments or proposed amendments in writing.

1. The first reading of a bill (draft resolution) shall consist of justification thereof by its sponsor, a debate on general principles of the bill, as well as Deputies' questions thereon and answers of the sponsor.

2. A first reading at a sitting of the Sejm shall end with the referral of the bill or draft resolution to committees, unless the Sejm, pursuant to a relevant motion, rejects the draft as a whole.

3. The Sejm, referring a bill or draft resolution to committees, may establish a time limit for submission of a report by them.

1. Bills (draft resolutions) shall be referred to the relevant committees.

2. Committees, to which a bill (draft resolution) has been referred for consideration, may hold a joint debate thereon. These committees may address other Sejm committees to obtain an opinion on a bill or draft resolution or part thereof.

3. On request of their presidiums, committees shall establish a schedule for work on a draft.

1. Committees may create subcommittees in order to consider a bill or draft resolution in detail.

2. A subcommittee shall submit a report on a bill or draft resolution so considered.

1. When considering bills (draft resolutions), committees and a subcommittee shall take into account opinions given by other Sejm committees and by Deputies. Committees and subcommittees may also hear opinions from invited experts.

2. An authorized representative of a sponsor of a bill or draft resolution shall be obliged to attend committee and subcommittee meetings.

3. Committees may refer the matter of editorial preparation of adopted amendments to presidiums or to a team of Deputies appointed in order to deal with that task and which shall report on the results of its work to the committee for approval.

4. In matters concerning the conformity of provisions of the considered bills to the legislation of the European Union, seeking an opinion of the Committee for European Integration shall be obligatory. The time limit for presenting an opinion by the Committee for European Integration shall be specified by a [Sejm] committee.

5. The Marshal of the Sejm, on the recommendation of a committee, may request the sponsor of a bill or draft resolution to rework it, taking into account modifications proposed by committees and to indicate the consequences, especially those of a financial character, of such modifications. The Marshal of the Sejm shall refer the resubmitted bill or draft resolution directly to committees.

1. Committees, to which a bill (draft resolution) has been referred shall submit to the Sejm a joint report thereon; such report shall indicate the attitude of the committees towards it. The report shall be accompanied by the opinion referred to in Article 42 para. 4.

2. Committees, in such report, shall make a proposal either to:

3. On request of a sponsor, motions and proposals for amendment rejected by committees, having been submitted in writing, shall be included in the report as minority motions; a minority motion concerning a particular provision or part thereof shall indicate its consequences for the text of a bill. The procedure for voting on minority motions shall be the same as that for voting on other amendments. Article 42 para. 4 shall apply, as appropriate, to minority motions.

4. If the committees have submitted, in the report, a proposal to reject a bill, the minority motions and motions of the Legislative Committee, referred to in Article 83, para. 2, shall not be included in the report.

5. The Marshal of the Sejm shall order printing of committee reports and delivery of them to the Deputies.

6. A committe report shall be presented during the sitting of the Sejm by a Deputy-Rapporteur (chosen from among their membership) who, in particular, shall provide information about amendments, proposed by the committee and by individual Deputies, to the submitted bill or draft resolution as well as on the opinions of other committees which have not been accepted and the reasons for their non-acceptance. A Rapporteur shall also provide information about minority motions.

7. A Deputy-Rapporteur, in his report, may not present motions other than those contained in a committee report.

1. The second reading shall consist of:

2. The amendments, referred to in para. 1 subpara 2, after having been introduced orally, shall be submitted in writing to the Marshal of the Sejm. The amendments shall indicate their consequences for the text of a bill.

3. The second reading may be held no sooner than the seventh day following the delivery of a committee report to Deputies, unless the Sejm decides otherwise.

1. The right to introduce amendments to bills during the second reading shall belong to its sponsor, to a group of at least 15 Deputies, to a chairperson (or his/her deputy) - on behalf of the club, a representative of an alliance referred to in Article 8 para. 5, if it represents at least 15 Deputies, and to the Council of Ministers.

2. Paragraph 1 shall apply, as appropriate, to move, during the second reading, a motion to reject a bill.

1. In the event referred to in Article 43 para. 2 subpara. 3, a committee report on a bill shall be presented during the sitting of the Sejm and, afterwards, the debate shall be held. During this debate amendments and motions shall not be allowed.

2. In the event that the Sejm has set aside a motion, submitted in the committee report, to reject a bill, the bill shall be referred for reconsideration to the committees which considered it. The provisions of Articles 40-43 shall apply as appropriate.

1. A bill or draft resolution shall be returned to the committees which considered it, in the event of new amendments and motions having been introduced during the second reading, unless the Sejm decides otherwise, or for drawing up a corrected report referred to in para. 2 subpara. 2. Article 42 para. 4 shall apply, as appropriate, to amendments and motions.

2. Committees:

3. A corrected report shall be drawn up as a result of a return of a report, referred to in Article 43 para. 1, by the Presidium of the Sejm to the committees which considered the bill (draft resolution). The corrected report may also be drawn up on request, approved by the Presidium of the Sejm, from those committees to which the bill (draft resolution) was referred in accordance with para. 1.

4. In the event referred in para. 2 subpara. 1, a committee shall be free not to consider an amendment introduced by him in the of absence of a mover, or where an amendment does not fulfil the requirements referred to in Article 44 para. 2.

5. The Marshal of the Sejm shall order printing of an additional committee report.

6. Consideration by the Sejm of the report referred to in para. 2, shall occur after its delivery to the Deputies.

The third reading may be held immediately, if the bill has not been returned to committees upon the second reading.

1. The order of voting shall be as follows:

2. The Marshal of the Sejm shall determine the order of voting on draft resolutions and amendments thereto.

3. The Marshal of the Sejm may refuse, on his own initiative, to put to a vote any amendment which has not previously been submitted to a committee in writing.

4. The Marshal of the Sejm may delay a vote on a bill as a whole for such time as may be necessary to establish whether there are any inconsistencies between particular provisions resulting from adopted amendments.

5. The Marshal of the Sejm shall refer a bill referred to in para. 4, to the committees which considered it, or to the Legislative Committee, seeking an opinion on whether, in result of the adopted amendments, there is no contradiction between its individual provisions. Any such opinion shall also include the committee position in relation to the acceptance or rejection of the bill by the Sejm.

6. The Sejm may decide to put a bill as a whole, together with amendments, to a vote, if no objections have been raised to such procedure.

1. The Marshal of the Sejm shall immediately deliver to the Marshal of the Senate and to the President the text of a bill passed by the Sejm, validated by his signature.

2. The text of a bill referred to in para. 1 shall be delivered to the Deputies.

1. The Marshal of the Sejm shall notify the President, the Marshal of the Senate and the Prime Minister concerning resolutions adopted by the Sejm, and shall deliver to them texts of the resolutions signed by him.

2. The Prime Minister shall order publication of the resolution of the Sejm in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Poland - "Monitor Polski", if the Marshal of the Sejm so decides.

1. A resolution of the Senate, containing a proposal of amendment to a bill adopted by the Sejm or to reject a bill as a whole, shall be referred by the Marshal of the Sejm, for consideration, to the committees which considered that bill. Article 42 paras. 1 and 4 shall apply, as appropriate, to the Senate's amendments.

2. The committees shall invite a Senator-Rapporteur, who represents the Senate committees which considered the said bill, to the sitting at which the Senate's resolution is to be considered. The chairperson of the sitting shall give the floor to the Senator-Rapporteur, at his request, regardless of the list of speakers. The absence of the Senator-Rapporteur shall not suspend the consideration of the resolution.

3. The committees shall, after having considered the resolution of the Senate, present a report to the Sejm. In such report the committees shall move that either all the amendments proposed by the Senate, or some of them, be rejected or passed, or that the resolution of the Senate rejecting the bill as a whole shall be rejected or passed.

4. The Marshal of the Sejm shall order printing of the Senate's resolution and committee report, and order their delivery to the Deputies.

5. Consideration of the committee report by the Sejm may occur no sooner than the third day following the delivery of the report, unless the Sejm decides otherwise.

6. The Marshal of the Sejm shall put to the vote any motions for the rejection of particular amendments, unless the report of the committee suggests the advisability of a joint vote on parts or entirety of the amendments contained in the Senate's resolution.

7. The Senate's resolution rejecting a bill, or any amendment proposed by resolution of the Senate, shall be considered accepted, unless the Sejm rejects it by an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of Deputies.

8. The Sejm, on the motion of the Marshal of the Sejm, may consider amendments contained in the Senate's resolution without its prior referral to committees.

The Marshal of the Sejm shall inform the Sejm about resolutions of the Senate which accept without amendment a bill adopted by the Sejm and about bills adopted by the Sejm in respect of which the Senate has not adopted a resolution.

1. A request by the President of the Republic seeking an opinion about a bill whose individual provisions have been found by the Constitutional Tribunal not to be in conformity to the Constitution, shall be referred by the Marshal of the Sejm to those committees that considered the bill before its adoption by the Sejm, appending the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal concerning that bill, with reasons given.

2. The committees, no later than the 14th day after the sending of the written request of the President of the Republic to the committees, shall present to the Marshal of the Sejm their position on the advisability of returning a bill to the Sejm or the President of the Republic signing it, with the exception of those provisions considered not to be in conformity to the Constitution.

3. The Marshal of the Sejm may specify a shorter time limit for the presentation of a committee's position.

1. The removal of any nonconformity, in the case of return of a bill by the President to the Sejm, shall be by adoption of appropriate modifications to the text of those provisions which have been found by the Constitutional Tribunal not to be in conformity to the Constitution, whilst maintaining their previous scope of application.

2. The removal of any nonconformity may also involve necessary editorial changes, aimed at the adjustment of other provisions of the bill to the amended provisions, whilst maintaining the scope of application referred to in para. 1.

1. The Marshal of the Sejm shall refer a returned bill to the committees which considered it prior to its adoption by the Sejm; the Marshal of the Sejm may specify a time limit for the presentation of a report by the committees.

2. The first sitting of a committee shall include the presentation of the judgment of the Constitutional Tribunal and the request of the President of the Republic for the return of the bill to the Sejm, as well as the debate on the outlines of necessary changes to the bill; the committees shall also invite a representative of the President of the Republic to participate in such sitting.

3. The committee report shall include proposals of amendments to the text of the returned bill as well as justifying the necessity for their introduction within the meaning of Article 58.

4. The provisions of Articles 38, 40, 41, 42 paras. 1, 3 and 4 and Article 43 shall apply to other matters not dealt with above.

1. Submission of proposals for amendments exceeding the scope referred to in Article 58 shall be inadmissible in the debate on the committee report.

2. The provisions of Articles 44-49 shall apply to other matters not dealt with above.

1. The order of voting shall be as follows:

1) vote on individual proposals for amendment;

2) vote on the amended text as a whole, taking into account the adopted proposals for amendment.

2. The Marshal of the Sejm shall refuse to order a vote on proposals for amendments that exceed the scope specified in Article 58.

3. The Marshal of the Sejm, before taking a decision referred to in para. 2, may seek the opinion of the Legislative Committee.

4. The provisions of Article 50 paras. 3-6 shall apply to other matters not dealt with above.

1. The Marshal of the Sejm shall deliver to the Marshal of the Senate and the President of the Republic any resolution of the Sejm concerning the removal of nonconformity of a bill, as well as the justification of the necessity for introducing modifications within the meaning of Article 58.

2. The provisions of Articles 52, 54 and 55 shall apply to other matters not dealt with above.

1. The Marshal of the Sejm shall deliver to the President of the Republic the text of the bill, indicating the modifications - resulting from the removal of inconsistencies - specified in the course of its consideration by the Sejm and the Senate as well as justification of the necessity of introducing modifications within the meaning of Article 58.

2. The provisions of Article 56 shall apply to other matters not dealt with above.

1. Any bill, which the President has refused to sign and which he has referred for reconsideration, with reasons given, shall be sent by the Marshal of the Sejm to the committees which considered the bill prior to its adoption by the Sejm.

2. The Marshal of the Sejm shall order the printing of any referral by the President, mentioned in para. 1, and its delivery to the Deputies.

3. Having considered the referral by the President, the committees to which it was sent shall submit a report to the Sejm. In the report, the committees shall move that the bill be repassed in its original wording or shall move a motion to the contrary.

4. At a sitting of the Sejm, the representative of the President shall present, on his behalf, justification of a motion for reconsideration of a bill by the Sejm and, thereafter, the Deputy-Rapporteur shall present the committee's position.

5. The Marshal of the Sejm shall immediately notify the President about the repassing by the Sejm, by a 3/5 majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of Deputies, of any bill in its original wording.

6. Proceedings in relation to a bill shall be closed unless the Sejm repasses the bill in its original wording.

1. The Sejm shall consider a motion to hold a nationwide referendum submitted by subjects specified by statute.

2. A motion to hold a referendum shall be lodged with the Marshal of the Sejm by a representative person or authorized agent of the applicant.

3. The Sejm may decide to hold a referendum on a particular matter at its own initiative on a motion lodged by the Presidium of the Sejm, by a Sejm committee, or by at least 69 Deputies; Article 34 para.1 shall apply as appropriate; the motion shall be accompanied by reasons therefor.

4. The Marshal of the Sejm shall refer the motion to the sitting of the Sejm; Article 37 para. 2 shall apply accordingly.

5. The representative person or authorized agent of the applicant shall justify the motion and answer questions posed by Deputies at the sitting of the Sejm, and shall have the right to participate in sittings of the committee referred to in Article 66 para. 3.

1. Consideration of a motion shall include its justification by the applicant, questions posed by Deputies and the answers of the applicant, as well as the debate.

2. Having considered the motion, the Sejm shall pass, by an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of Deputies, a resolution to accept the motion; any failure to pass a resolution on the adoption of the motion shall mean its non-acceptance.

3. In the event of acceptance of a motion, the Sejm shall refer it to the Legislative Committee for the preparation and presentation of a draft resolution concerning the holding of a referendum.

1. A draft resolution prepared by the Committee on the basis of a motion referred to in Article 65 para. 1, in that part relating to the contents of a ballot paper, shall not change the substantial scope of the motion previously considered by the Sejm nor shall it change the substance of questions or alternative solutions.

2. In cases specified in para. 1, the Marshal of the Sejm shall not put to a vote the amendments, including those offered by the applicant, or minority motions, which change the substantial scope of the motion, the substance of questions or alternative solutions.

1. The Sejm may, according to the procedures for making resolutions, pass:

2. The Sejm may also pass:

1. The proceedings relating to bills and draft resolutions shall be attended by a representative of the legal services of the Chancellery of the Sejm, who may make conclusions and remarks within the field of law and legislation, including matters of the conformity of bills to the legislation of the European Union.

2. The Marshal of the Sejm may request the committee to express its attitude to the conclusions and remarks made by the legal services of the Chancellery of the Sejm, concerning major legislative problems and those concerning conformity to the legislation of the European Union, which have not been taken into consideration.