TITLE IV. OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER
Article 111
The legislative power is exercised by the National Assembly. The members of the National Assembly have the title of Deputy.
Article 112
The National Assembly votes on laws, controls the action of the Government, evaluates the public policies and controls the execution of the laws. It votes on resolutions within the conditions established by its Internal Regulations.
Article 113
The Deputies are elected by direct universal suffrage. The mandate of the Deputies is five (5) years renewable.
Article 114
The Deputies represent the entire nation.
Any imperative mandate is null and of no effect.
Chadians abroad and Chadian nomads are represented in the National Assembly.
Article 115
Chadians of the two sexes, fulfilling the conditions established by the law, may be candidates to the National Assembly.
Article 116
An organic law establishes the number of Deputies, their indemnities, and the system of ineligibilities and incompatibilities.
It establishes equally the conditions under which substitutes are elected until the renewal of the National Assembly.
The functions of Deputy are incompatible with the exercise of any function of professional representation of national character, with any public employment or any professional lucrative activity, with the exceptions of education, of scientific research, of health, of agriculture and of animal husbandry.
Article 117
The members of the National Assembly benefit from parliamentary immunity.
No Deputy may be prosecuted, investigated, arrested, detained or tried for the opinions or votes cast by him in the exercise of his functions.
During the session, a Deputy may only be prosecuted or arrested in a criminal or correctional matter with the permission of the National Assembly, except in cases of flagrante delicto.
A Deputy, out of session, may only be arrested with the authorization of the Bureau of the National Assembly, except in case of flagrante delicto, of authorized prosecutions or definitive condemnation.
In the case of an established crime or offense, the immunity can be lifted by the National Assembly during the sessions or by the Bureau of the said Assembly out of session.
In cases of flagrante delicto, the Bureau of the National Assembly is immediately informed of their arrest.
Article 118
The members of the Bureau of the National Assembly are elected by secret ballot at the beginning of the first session of the legislature.
The President of the National Assembly is elected for the duration of the legislature.
The other members of the Bureau are elected for a term of two and a half years (30 months) renewable.
Article 119
In case of a serious, substantiated breach, the members of the Bureau of the National Assembly can be replaced as a result of a vote of a two-thirds (2/3) majority.
In case of vacancy in a post in the Bureau for any reason, it proceeds within the twenty-one (21) days which follow the new elections to fill the post.
Article 120
The right to vote of the Deputy is personal.
However, an organic law may authorize exceptionally the delegation to vote. In this case, no one may receive delegation of more than one mandate.
Article 121
The Internal Regulations of the National Assembly determine:
- the composition and the rules of operation of the Bureau as well as the prerogatives of its President;
the number, the mode of designation, the composition, the role and the competence of its permanent commissions, of its commissions of delegation as well as its temporary commissions; the organization of the administrative services; the disciplinary regime of the Deputies; the different styles of the ballot, with the exclusion of those provided for by the Constitution; all the rules relative to the operations of the National Assembly.
Article 122
If, at the opening of a session, the quorum of two-thirds [2/3] of the Deputies is not attained, the sitting is postponed to the third working day which follows. In this case, the deliberations are only valid if at least half of the Deputies are present.
Article 123
The sittings of the National Assembly are valid only if they occur in the ordinary place of their sessions, except in case of force majeure.
The sittings of the National Assembly are public.
However, the Assembly may sit in closed session at the demand of the President of the Republic or of one-third (1/3) of its members.
The complete record of the debates of the National Assembly is published in the Journal Officiel de la République [Official Gazette of the Republic].
Article 124
The National Assembly meets of full right in two (2) ordinary sessions per year.
The first session opens on the fifth (5) of March.
The second session opens on the fifth (5) of September.
If the fifth (5) of April or fifth (5) of September is a holiday, the opening of the session takes place on the first working day which follows.
The duration of each session may not exceed one hundred twenty (120) days.
Article 125
The National Assembly meets in extraordinary session at the demand of the President of the Republic or of the absolute majority of the members of the National Assembly on a specific agenda.
When the extraordinary session is held at the demand of the members of the National Assembly, the decree of cloture takes effect once the National Assembly has exhausted the agenda for which it had been convoked and at the latest fifteen (15) days counting from the date of the session’s commencement.
The President of the Republic can demand one new session before the expiration of the month which follows the decree of cloture.
Article 126
Outside of the cases in which the National Assembly meets of full right, the extraordinary sessions are opened and closed by decree of President of the Republic.
