The Folketing and Legislation

A newly elected Folketing shall assemble at 12.00 p.m. on the twelfth weekday after the day of election, unless the King has previously summoned a meeting of its members.

Immediately after the proving of the mandates, the Folketing shall constitute itself by the election of a Speaker and Deputy Speakers.

The sessional year of the Folketing shall begin on the first T uesday of October, and shall continue until the first T uesday of October of the following year.

On the first day of the sessional year at 12.00 p.m., the members shall assemble for a new session of the Folketing.

The Folketing shall meet in the place where the Government has its seat, except that in extraordinary circumstances the Folketing may assemble elsewhere in the realm.

At the first meeting in the sessional year, the Prime Minister shall render an account of the general state of the realm and of the measures proposed by the Government.

Such account shall be made the subject of a general debate.

The Speaker of the Folketing shall convene the meetings of the Folketing, stating the order of the day. The Speaker shall convene a meeting of the Folketing upon a request being made in writing by at least two fifths of the members of the Folketing or the Prime Minister, stating the order of the day.

Ministers shall be entitled to attend the sittings of the Folketing ex officio and to address the Folketing during the debates as often as they may desire, provided that they abide by the rules of procedure of the Folketing. They shall be entitled to vote only when they are members of the Folketing.

Any member of the Folketing shall be entitled to introduce Bills and other measures.

No Bill shall be finally passed until it has been read three times in the Folketing.

Two fifths of the members of the Folketing may request of the Speaker that the third reading of a Bill shall not take place until 12 weekdays after it has passed the second reading. The request shall be made in writing and signed by the members making it. There shall be no such postponement in connection with Finance Bills, Supplementary Appropriation Bills, Provisional Appropriation Bills, Government Loan Bills, Naturalization Bills, Expropriation Bills, Indirect T axation Bills and, in emergencies, Bills the enactment of which cannot be postponed because of the intent of the Act.

In the case of a new election, and at the end of the sessional year, all Bills and other measures which have not been finally passed shall be void.

Where a Bill has been passed by the Folketing, one third of the members of the Folketing may, within 3 weekdays from the final passing of the Bill, request of the Speaker that the Bill be submitted to a referendum. Such request shall be made in writing and signed by the members making the request.

Except in the instance mentioned in subsection 7, no Bill which may be submitted to a referendum (see subsection 6), shall receive the Royal Assent before the expiration of the time limit stated in subsection 1, or before a referendum requested as aforesaid has taken place.

Where a referendum on a Bill has been requested, the Folketing may, within a period of 5 weekdays from the final passing of the Bill, resolve that the Bill shall be withdrawn.

Where the Folketing has made no resolution in accordance with subsection 3, notice that the Bill is to be submitted to a referendum shall be given without delay to the Prime Minister, who shall then cause the Bill to be published together with a statement that a referendum is to be held. The referendum shall be held, in accordance with the decision of the Prime Minister, not less than 12 and not more than 18 weekdays after the publication of the Bill.

At the referendum, votes shall be cast for or against the Bill. For the Bill to be rejected, a majority of the electors who vote and not less than 30 per cent of all persons who are entitled to vote shall have voted against the Bill.

Finance Bills, Supplementary Appropriation Bills, Provisional Appropriation Bills, Government Loan Bills, Civil Servants (Amendment) Bills, Salaries and Pensions Bills, Naturalization Bills, Expropriation Bills, T axation (Direct and Indirect) Bills, as well as Bills introduced for the purpose of discharging existing treaty obligations shall not be submitted to decision by referendum. This provision shall also apply to the Bills referred to in sections 9, 8, 10 and 11, and to such resolutions as are provided for in section 19, if existing in the form of a law, unless it has been prescribed by a special Act that such resolutions shall be submitted to referendum. Amendments to the Constitutional Act shall be governed by the rules laid down in section 88.

In an emergency, a Bill which may be submitted to a referendum may receive the Royal Assent immediately after it has been passed, provided that the Bill contains a provision to this effect. Where, under the rules of subsection 1, one third of the members of the Folketing request a referendum on the Bill or on the Act to which the Royal Assent has been given, such referendum shall be held in accordance with the above rules. Where the Act is rejected by the referendum, an announcement to that effect shall be made by the Prime Minister without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the referendum was held. From the date of such announcement, the Act shall become ineffective.

Rules for referenda, including the extent to which referenda shall be held in the Faroe Islands and in Greenland, shall be laid down by statute.

No taxes shall be imposed, altered or repealed except by statute; nor shall any man be conscripted or any public loan be raised except by statute.

No alien shall be naturalized except by statute.

The extent of the right of aliens to become owners of real property shall be laid down by statute.

A Finance Bill for the next fiscal year shall be submitted to the Folketing not later than 4 months before the beginning of such fiscal year.

Where it is expected that the reading of the Finance Bill for the next fiscal year will not be completed before the commencement of that fiscal year, a Provisional Appropriation Bill shall be laid before the Folketing.

T axes shall not be levied before the Finance Act or a Provisional Appropriation Act has been passed by the Folketing.

No expenditure shall be defrayed unless provided for by the Finance Act passed by the Folketing, or by a Supplementary Appropriation Act, or by a Provisional Appropriation Act passed by the Folketing.

The Public Accounts shall be submitted to the Folketing not later than 6 months after the expiration of the fiscal year.

The Folketing shall elect a number of auditors. Such auditors shall examine the annual Public Accounts and ensure that all the revenues of the state have been duly entered therein, and that no expenditure has been defrayed unless provided for by the Finance Act or some other Appropriation Act. The auditors shall be entitled to demand all necessary information, and shall have right of access to all necessary documents. Rules providing for the number of auditors and their duties shall be laid down by statute.

The Public Accounts, together with the Auditors’ Report, shall be submitted to the Folketing for its decision.

The Folketing shall lay down its own rules of procedure, including rules governing its conduct of business and the maintenance of order.

The sittings of the Folketing shall be public, except that the Speaker, or such number of members as may be provided for by the rules of procedure, or a Minister, shall be entitled to demand the removal of all unauthorized persons, whereupon it shall be decided without debate whether the matter shall be debated at a public or a secret session.

In order that a decision may be made, more than one half of the members of the Folketing shall be present and take part in the voting.

The Folketing may appoint committees from among its members to investigate matters of general importance. Such committees shall be entitled to demand written or oral information both from private citizens and from public authorities.

The election by the Folketing of members to sit on committees and of members to perform special duties shall be according to proportional representation.

With the consent of the Folketing, any member thereof may submit for discussion any matter of public interest and request a statement thereon from the Ministers.

Petitions may be submitted to the Folketing only through one of its members.

Statutory provision shall be made for the appointment by the Folketing of one or two persons, who shall not be members of the Folketing, to supervise the civil and military administration of the state.

The members of the Folketing shall be bound solely by their own consciences and not by any directions given by their electors.

No member of the Folketing shall be prosecuted or imprisoned in any manner whatsoever without the consent of the Folketing, unless he is caught in the act. Outside the Folketing, no member shall be held liable for his utterances in the Folketing save by the consent of the Folketing.

The members of the Folketing shall be paid such remuneration as may be provided for in the Electoral Act.