Chapter 14
SITTINGS OF SEJM COMMITTEES
Article 149
Sejm committees shall deliberate in the course of sittings.
Article 150
1. The presidium of a committee shall collectively conduct the work of the committee and shall, in particular:
1) draw up draft schedules of the committee's activity;
2) set times and orders of the day for sittings;
3) supervise the preparation of sittings;
4) ensure timely supply of orderly prepared materials to members of the committee;
5) designate rapporteurs (reporters) for committee sittings.
2. The presidium of a committee, in drawing up draft schedules of its activity and setting orders of the day for sittings, shall take into consideration suggestions from Deputies' clubs [caucuses] and groups and by individual Deputies.
3. The presidium of a committee shall inform the Presidium of the Sejm about the course of the committee's activity.
4. The presidium of a committee may request, from competent organs, institutions and organizations, their viewpoint in respect of any motion or a comment expressed by a Deputy during the committee sitting.
5. The presidium of a committee shall adopt resolutions by majority vote. In the event of parity of votes, the chairperson of the committee shall have a casting vote.
Article 151
1. Sejm Committees, during their sittings, shall in particular:
1) consider bills and draft resolutions;
2) consider resolutions, adopted by the Senate relating either to introduction of amendments to the text of a bill passed by the Sejm or rejection of it, as well as motions by the President that a bill be reconsidered by the Sejm, which have been referred to them;
3) consider and give opinion on the framework of bills and draft resolutions;
4) consider reports and information from ministers and heads of the supreme organs of the State administration, as well as heads of other State offices and institutions;
5) analyse activities of individual sectors of administration and State economy;
6) consider matters related to the implementation and exercise of acts and resolutions of the Sejm, as well as to accomplishment of desiderata resolved upon by themselves;
7) give opinion on motions to elect or appoint individual persons to, or recall from, particular State offices, which have been referred to them by the Marshal of the Sejm.
2. The order of voting on bills and draft resolutions during committee sitting shall be in compliance, as appropriate, with Article 50.
3. Committee debates shall be presided over by a Chairperson, and, in the event of his absence - one of the deputy chairpersons.
Article 152
1. Committee sittings shall be held on dates and at times established by the committee itself, its presidium or Chairperson.
2. On a written motion by one quarter of the total number of members of the committee, the Chairperson of the committee shall be obliged to convene a sitting of the committee in order to consider a particular matter. Convening the sitting under such procedure, the Chairperson of the committee shall establish the date and time of the sitting, which shall be within 14 days after the submission of the motion referred to in the first sentence on this paragraph.
3. The Presidium of the Sejm may convene a sitting of the committee in order to consider a particular matter, establishing its date and time. The sitting convened under such procedure may be presided over by the Marshal of the Sejm.
4. The Marshal of the Sejm shall be notified about the date, time and orders of the day of committee sittings and he may refuse to give consent for the holding of a committee debate.
5. Committee members, the Presidium of the Sejm, the Supreme Chamber of Control, the Committee for European Integration and any interested State organs shall be notified about the date, time and orders of the day of committee sittings. Members of the committee should be notified at least 3 days before the sitting of the committee, according to principles and under procedure established by the Presidium of the Sejm, unless the sitting was convened in result of decisions taken during the Sejm sitting.
Article 153
1. On request of the presidium of a committee, ministers, heads of supreme organs of the State administration and heads of other State offices and institutions, shall be obliged to submit reports and render information, and to participate in sittings of a committee, where the matters relating to the scope of their activity are considered. Representatives of the Committee for European Integration shall participate in sittings of a committee in respect of matters concerning expression of opinions on the conformity of bills to the legislation of the European Union. Such persons may authorize, in writing, their representatives to take part in the sitting.
2. In order to obtain information and explanations related to the subject matter of the committee debate and studies, the presidium of a committee, or its Chairperson, may invite persons other than those mentioned in para. 1 to take part in the sitting.
3. An authorized representative of the Supreme Chamber of Control, taking part in a committee sitting, may make comments on the reports and information submitted to the committee by representatives of the Government or by other persons participating in the sitting, and - on request of the committee - he shall provide an explanation pertaining to the investigation conducted by the Supreme Chamber of Control.
Article 154
1. Any Deputy, who is not a member of a committee, may participate in sittings of a committee including those held in camera. They may speak in the debate and move motions but they shall have no right to vote.
1a. Members of the European Parliament elected in the Republic of Poland may participate in the committee sitting. They may speak during the discussion.
2. The provisions of paras. 1 and 2 shall not apply to the Constitutional Accountability Committee and to investigative committees appointed pursuant to Article 111 of the Constitution.
3. Representatives of professional and social organizations as well as committee experts may, by invitation of the presidium of a committee or its Chairperson, participate in a committee sitting.
4. The Presidium of the Sejm shall establish the principles and manner of use of opinions and experts' reports by committees.
5. The sitting of a committee may, with consent of its Chairperson, be opened to employees of the offices of Deputies' clubs and to the press, radio and television journalists.
Article 155
1. The Chairperson of a committee may reproach a Deputy who, speaking during a sitting, has gone beyond the subject of the committee debate, by calling him to keep to the point under discussion. After a second request to a Deputy to keep to the point under discussion, the Chairperson of a committee may direct the speaker to discontinue his speech.
2. The Chairperson of a committee after having reproached him, may call to order a Deputy who makes it impossible to carry out the debate.
3. In the event of non-compliance by a Deputy with the command of the Chairperson of a committee, as referred to in para. 2, the Chairperson of the committee shall have the right to repeatedly call to order the Deputy, stating that he makes it impossible to carry out the debate.
4. The Chairperson of a committee shall have the right to expel from a committee sitting any Deputy who indulges in making it impossible to carry out the debate and who, during the same sitting, has been admonished under the procedure specified in para. 3. Any Deputy expelled from the sitting shall immediately leave the room in which a committee sitting is held. If such Deputy fails to leave the room in which a committee sitting is held, the Chairperson of the committee shall order a recess in the debate.
5. A Deputy may appeal from the decision of the Chairperson of a committee to the presidium of the committee, which shall immediately consider the case. The Deputy shall not participate in a sitting until a decision in his case is reached.
6. The presidium of a committee shall immediately, but no later than at the next sitting, notify the committee about the result of the appeal. The decision of the presidium of the committee shall be final.
Article 156
A committee may decide to hold a sitting in camera, specifying those persons whose participation is indispensable. The part of the debate, during which such decision is made shall be held in camera.Article 157
The representatives of State organs, institutions and organizations, participating in a committee sitting, shall give answers to suggestions and comments expressed at that sitting by Deputies either in the course of the current or next sitting of the committee. An answer may be given in writing, if necessary. The Chairperson of a committee shall inform the committee at its next sitting about the substance of the answers received.Article 158
1. A committee shall resolve upon desiderata, opinions, reports as well as drafts of Sejm resolutions, mandatory resolutions, appeals, statements or declarations. A committee may, by means of a resolution, take cognizance of information or viewpoints submitted to it.
2. Committee resolutions shall be passed by a majority vote in the presence of at least 1/3 of the total number of members of the committee, unless a statute provides otherwise.
Article 159
1. A desideratum shall contain a committee's suggestions relating to particular matters and may be addressed to the Council of Ministers or its individual members, to the President of the Supreme Chamber of Control, to the President of the National Bank of Poland, to the Prosecutor General and to the Chief Inspector of Labour.
2. Desiderata adopted by a committee shall be presented by its Chairperson to the Marshal of the Sejm, who shall refer them to the appropriate organs.
3. The Marshal of the Sejm may return a desideratum adopted by a committee to that committee, with reasons given, to reconsider the matter. A desideratum re-adopted by a committee shall be delivered to the addressee by the Marshal of the Sejm.
4. An organ, being the addressee of a desideratum adopted by a committee, shall be obliged to take an attitude towards it and shall notify the Marshal of the Sejm, in writing, about such attitude within 30 days following the day of receipt of the desideratum, unless the Marshal of the Sejm sets, on the request of that organ and in consultation with the presidium of the committee, another time limit.
5. Responses of State organs to desiderata and information from such organs as to the manner of implementation of desiderata shall be considered during a committee sitting.
6. In the event of failure to respond in due time or finding the response unsatisfactory, a committee may renew the desideratum, or submit to the Marshal of the Sejm a motion to reject the answer as unsatisfactory, or submit a draft of the relevant resolution or mandatory resolution to the Sejm.
Article 160
1. An opinion shall express an attitude towards a particular matter. A committee may present its opinion to the organs mentioned in Article 159 para. 1 and to other central agencies and State institutions. The provisions of Article 159 paras. 2 and 3 shall apply as appropriate.
2. A committee may request the addressee of an opinion to present his attitude towards matters raised in that opinion as well as to render information on the progress of implementation of the conclusions resulting from that opinion; the addressee of the opinion shall, on request of a committee, present his attitude within the time limit specified by Article 159 para. 4; the provisions of Article 159 paras. 5 and 6 shall apply, accordingly, in such matters.
Article 161
1. Appropriate committees of the Sejm shall supervise matters pertaining to the implementation and exercise of acts and resolutions of the Sejm.
2. In cases where the range of a scheduled investigation is connected with the subject matter of activity of another committee, the investigation shall be performed with the cooperation of that committee in a form of a joint supervision or with participation of representatives of such a committee.
3. The Presidium of the Sejm shall issue guidelines for investigative methods.
4. A committee conducting an investigation shall determine the extent and procedures thereof.
Article 162
1. The results of investigation, referred to in Article 161 para. 1, shall be included in reports which shall be delivered to the Marshal of the Sejm.2. The Marshal of the Sejm shall order the delivery of the reports referred to in para. 1, to all Deputies; the report may be subject to debate during a sitting of the Sejm.
Article 163
1. Committees may hold joint sittings; such sittings shall be presided over by one of the chairpersons of the committees.
2. Committees which hold joint debate, shall pass their resolutions by a majority vote in the presence of at least 1/3 of the total number of members of each committee participating in the sitting.
3. In instances where, in a vote taken on procedural matters at a sitting of a committee (or committees sitting jointly) the votes cast are equal in number, the casting vote on adoption or rejection of a resolution shall be taken by the chairperson of the committee (chairperson of joint sitting), unless he has taken a decision to abstain.
4. The provisions of para. 3 shall apply, respectively, to a deputy chairperson of a committee if he is chairing debates of the committee due to the absence of the chairperson.
5. The provisions of Article 188 para. 2, subpara. 1 and para. 3, shall apply accordingly to voting.
Article 164
1. A committee shall present a report on matters referred to it by the Sejm, the Marshal of the Sejm or the Presidium of the Sejm, for consideration.
2. Committees shall choose from amongst their members a Rapporteur to the Sejm sitting, who shall impartially present the suggestions contained in a committee report.
Article 165
Committees may appoint subcommittees from amongst their members, determining their composition and scope of activity. Appointment of a standing subcommittee shall require consent of the Presidium of the Sejm.Article 166
1. Minutes and a bulletin shall be drawn up from each sitting of a committee.
2. The minutes shall include a detailed record of the proceedings and - in appendices - the texts of bills passed, reports and drafts, as well as the specification of amendments - offered in writing - to a bill or draft resolution, the texts of submitted answers, information and other material. A member of a committee as well as any other person speaking during the debate may make comments about the minutes; the committee shall decide whether to accept or reject the comments. Minutes, to which no objections have been raised, shall be considered accepted. The minutes shall be signed by the chairperson of a committee who is presiding over the debates. The minutes shall constitute an official record of the proceedings of committee debates.
3. The bulletin shall be the unofficial digest of committee proceedings designed mainly for the use of the press, radio and television.
Article 167
According to principles and in a manner established by the Presidium of the Sejm, a committee may inspect and examine - with a membership determined by itself - the activity of individual firms and partnerships with a share held by the State Treasury, enterprises and other State institutions.Article 168
1. A committee, whose term of office expires, shall draw up a report on its activity.
2. A committee report may be included in the orders of the day of a Sejm sitting.