Monaco - National Council

It is by the 1911 Constitution that Monegasques acquired the right to elect their representatives. This first National Council was composed of 12 members. Its' powers were rather limited; originally, it did not elect his President, who was appointed by the Prince. With the Constitution of 1962, the National Council acquired a real status of elected Assembly exercising legislative and budgetary powers.

Made up of members elected by all adult Monegasques, men and women, the National Council is called upon to pronounce on the bills submitted to it by the Government as well as on the State Budget, voted in the legislative form. In addition, only the National Council may authorize the creation of direct contributions. In the field of international relations, the ratification of any treaty or international convention affecting the constitutional organization must be submitted to it beforehand. Under this law, the National Council may formulate bills; but the fate of these remains subject to the goodwill of the Government without the latter being required to justify its position.

The constitutional revision of 2002 affirms more clearly the place of the National Council within the Monegasque institutions. The number of elected officials increases to 24, and three important changes are introduced.

The legislative initiative of the National Council is better ensured, since any bill passed by the Assembly must be the subject of a response from the Government within a maximum period of 6 months. If the Government agrees in principle, it has one year to table the text of the corresponding bill on the Bureau of the Assembly. In case of disagreement, the Government must justify its position, and it may result in a debate in public session.

A real right of amendment of the legislative texts (except in the particular case of budget laws) is recognized in the National Council. Article 67 of the Constitution now provides that the vote of a text "intervenes on the bill possibly amended, except the option for the Government to withdraw the bill before the final vote".

In terms of external relations, the scope of the National Council is also expanded. It is foreseen that three additional categories of treaties and international agreements require a prior vote of the National Council to be ratified: treaties and agreements whose ratification involves the modification of existing legislative provisions; treaties and agreements involving the Principality's accession to an international organization whose functioning involves the participation of members of the National Council; those, finally, the execution of which has the effect of creating a budgetary burden whose nature or purpose is not provided for in the budget law.

In addition, it is now planned that the Principality's foreign policy will be the subject of a government report communicated to the National Council; exchanges of views and debates may therefore take place on the basis of the elements contained in this report.