Bodies of the Parliament
The Plenary Assembly
The Plenary Assembly of Parliament brings together the fifty parliamentarians and, as such, is the maximum representation of the institution. Agreements are adopted with the participation of all the members, so it is feasible to consider it as the most direct expression of the will of the House and, given its representative character, of the will of the people of Navarre.
The Plenary Assembly must approve the Regional Government laws previously decided on by the committees or which it examines itself directly. It authorises the agreements which the Government of Navarre is to form with the State or the Autonomous Communities and approves institutional statements on matters of public interest. Control of Government action is exercised before the Plenary Session of the House debating motions and formulating interpellations and questions. The Plenary Session, in conclusion, chooses the President of the Government of Navarre. Definitively, the functions most outstanding to parliamentary action are reserved for the Plenary Session of the House.
The Committee of the House
The Committee of the House is the body responsible for directing the work of the other organisms of the institution as well as granting the necessary procedures on matters presented for debate, and undertaking the ordinary administration of the functioning of Parliament. Furthermore, the Committee of the House has the function of representing the House at official acts.
The Committee of the House is chosen at the first session held by Parliament after the elections for its constitution and is made up of the President of the Parliament, two vice presidents and two Secretaries.
The President has the representation of the House, watches over the progress of parliamentary work and has authority to interpret regulations in cases of doubt as well as to demand their fulfilment. The position is voted for among the parliamentarians by absolute majority in a first voting and should there be no one result, the candidate with the greatest number of votes in a second voting is elected among those with greatest support in the first voting.
The First and Second Vice-presidents substitute the President in order, assuming his/her functions in the case of absence. The First and Second Secretaries assist the President in the evolution of the sessions and in the parliamentary work.
The Board of Spokespersons
The Board of Spokespersons is an administrative body which assists the Committee of the House and in which the Parliamentary Groups are represented by their Spokesperson. It participates in the formation of political resolutions considered deserving of parliamentary work and affairs. The decisions taken by the Board of Spokespersons are adopted by means of a system of measured vote by which each Spokesperson has as many votes as his/her group has parliamentarians. This body is responsible, among other things, for approving the budgets and accounts of the House and for formulating institutional statements.
The Permanent Committees
The Standing Committee watches over the functions which correspond to the Parliament of Navarre when it is not assembled, between the two periods of sittings (the months July and August) and when the House has been dissolved for reasons of holding elections. It guarantees the permanence of the institution and the exercise of its functions at all times. Its activities must be justified for reasons of extraordinary and urgent necessity.
The President of the Parliament of Navarre presides over the Standing Committee, with a voice but without a vote, in which the members of the Committee of the House and the Board of Spokespersons also form part. The Standing Committee adopts agreements by means of a measured system of voting (each Spokesperson having as many votes as his political group has parliamentarians).
The Ordinary and Special Committees
The Committees are bodies specialised according to subjects or areas of government, which reproduce proportionally and on a smaller scale the composition of the House. Their main function is to examine, on first reading, the projects and act propositions, modifying them according to the amendments which have been approved. The resulting text receives the name of Resolution and is submitted to another examination before the Plenary Session of the House.
The Committees exercise Government control by carrying out procedures for oral questions and motions and by informative sessions which require the attendance of one member of Government.
The Ordinary Committees of the Parliament of Navarre are the following:
The Plenary Session of the Parliament may create other committees in addition to those indicated, and also special committees to deal with specific affairs which disappear when the task for which they were created has finalised. Furthermore, the Plenary Session of Parliament may agree on the creation of research committees for any matter of public interest.
Special Committees:
