Process of Creation of a Legislative Act

Legislative procedure of the State Duma of Tomsk Oblast

Procedure of Introduction of Bills in the Duma and their Preliminary Consideration
In compliance with the Charter (Basic Law) of Tomsk Oblast the right of legislative initiative in the Duma is vested in the deputies of the Duma, the Governor of Tomsk Oblast, representative bodies of municipal formations, the Control Chamber of the Duma, the Public Prosecutor of Tomsk Oblast, Tomsk Oblast Court, Arbitrage Court of Tomsk Oblast, Election Commission of Tomsk Oblast, Federation of Trade Union Organizations of the Oblast and the population of the Oblast on behalf of not less than 1% of the number of citizens with the right to vote.
A bill and its materials are forwarded to the Chairman of the Duma.
The Chairman of the Duma forwards the received bill and its materials to a relevant Committee of the Duma which determines conformity of the bill with requirements.

The Responsible Committee forwards the bill to the Legal Department of the Duma Machinery, the Governor of Tomsk Oblast, the Public Prosecutor of the Oblast and other interested parties in procedure to obtain comments.
The Responsible Committee makes its decision as to the bill.
The bill prepared for consideration by the Duma in the first reading and its materials are forwarded by the Responsible Committee to the Duma Council for consideration by the Duma.

Bill Consideration Procedure in the Duma
Consideration of bills by the Duma is realized not less than in two readings.
When a bill is considered in the first reading, the subject-matter of discussion is its conception, relevance, practical importance and conformity of its main provisions with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the current legislation.
Following the results of bill consideration in the first reading, the Duma can either approve the bill in the first reading and continue working on it with regard to the comments, or reject the bill. A rejected bill should not be subject to further consideration.

In case the bill was approved in the first reading, the Duma sets the deadline for submitting amendments to the bill. Amendments to the bill are introduced in the Responsible Committee. The Responsible Committee studies and generalizes the amendments introduced. The Responsible Committee forwards to the Council of the Duma the amended text of the bill approved by the Responsible Committee.
The bill is forwarded to the deputies of the Duma, the Governor of Tomsk Oblast, the Public Prosecutor of Tomsk Oblast and the entity with the right of legislative initiative who introduced the bill.
The bill is considered in the second reading at the meeting of the Duma.

In case there are no objections as to amendments, the Chairman suggests voting to adopt the amendments on the whole. In case the deputies of the Duma have any objections against some amendments, the Chairman puts to vote the amendments which did not raise objections and then calls an inidividual vote for every amendment with objections.
After that the Duma proceeds to consider amendments recommended to rejection by the Responsible Committee. In case the Duma disagrees with the decision of the Responsible Committee, the Chairman puts to vote each amendment individually.

Following that the Chairman puts to vote the proposal to adopt amendments which were not commented by the Responsible Committee.
At the end of the voting on amendments, the Chairman puts to vote the proposal to adopt the bill in the second reading. In case the proposal gained insufficient number of votes, the bill is regarded as rejected and not subject to further consideration. By decision of the Duma the bill may be reviewed in the first reading. In case of repeated rejection of the bill in the second reading, such a bill should not be subject to further consideration.

Reconsideration of Laws rejected by the Governor of Tomsk Oblast
A law of Tomsk Oblast adopted by the Duma is forwarded to the Governor of Tomsk Oblast for signature and promulgation.
The Governor of Tomsk Oblast is entitled to reject the law forwarded to him for signature and promulgation with indication of reasons for rejection, and challenge it in a judicial procedure.

The law of Tomsk Oblast rejected by the Governor of Tomsk Oblast is forwarded by the Council of the Duma to the Responsible Committee which considers the reasons for rejection of the law by the Governor. Following the results of consideration the Responsible Committee may suggest the following recommendations to the Duma:

- to pass the law of Tomsk Oblast with regard to comments by the Governor of Tomsk Oblast;

- to repeal the law of Tomsk Oblast;

- to pass the previously adopted version of the law of Tomsk Oblast.

The Council of the Duma, upon receiving the decision of the Responsible Committee, puts a special question on reconsideration of the Oblast law on the agenda of the next meeting of the Duma.
Reconsideration of the law rejected by the Governor of the Oblast commences with the speech of the Governor of the Oblast or his authorized representative.
Then the decision of the Responsible Committee is heard, which is followed by discussions. At the end of the discussion a vote is held to approve the Oblast law with regard to comments by the Governor of Tomsk Oblast or to repeal the law.

In case the Duma decides to approve the regional law with regard to comments by the Governor of the Oblast, every proposal of the Governor is put to vote. In case at least one proposal of the Governor of Tomsk Oblast was rejected, the Duma may decide to continue working on the law commissioning this work to the Responsible Committee or a conciliation commission.

The Responsible Committee may suggest that the Duma vote for passing the version of the law of Tomsk Oblast previously adopted by the Duma. The decision, in this case, is accepted by the majority of votes, not less than two thirds of the established number of the Duma deputies. In case passing of the previously adopted version of the law gained insufficient number of votes, the Duma may suggest to the Governor of the Oblast to form a conciliation commission to eliminate the discrepancies arisen. On completion of the work the conciliation commission delivers the agreed version of the Oblast law for reconsideration. The Oblast law is regarded as passed if it gained the majority of votes of the established number of the Duma deputies.

The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast

Process of Creation of a Legislative Act