PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

80 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Committee submissions and public hearings
An appropriate starting point is with an extract from a handbook of the
New Zealand Parliament explaining the significance for democracy of direct
citizen participation in legislation:
New Zealand’s system of parliamentary democracy not only provides
for citizens to elect their representatives, but also allows citizens to
have a say in shaping the laws that affect them. This involvement is
achieved by the select committees of the House of Representatives
receiving submissions from the public. The system of public input into
legislative proposals is an important element in the parliamentary
process and in the democratic life of the country. Submissions are also
received on parliamentary inquiries and other matters before a select
committee. This provides the public with the opportunity to put forward
its views on issues and may ultimately result in new laws.
There are different ways in which this process of civic engagement can be
organised. The New Zealand Parliament makes an open invitation for submissions
to all interested parties, individuals as well as organisations, through the
press and other media, including its website. Other parliaments regard civic
organisations or NGOs which represent specific issues or interests as the most
appropriate vehicle for conveying the views of civil society; and they send
specific invitations to organisations known to have an interest in the particular
legislation or enquiry under consideration, inviting their submissions. This is
what the Turkish Parliament did in wide-ranging negotiations over the revision
of the Penal Code in 2004. As a general practice, the Parliament of the
Czech Republic arranges ‘public hearings of representatives of the professional
and civic sector’ in relation to bills. The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia has an NGO-Parliament contact office to facilitate civic involvement
in legislation; it also serves as a check on the standing and representative
nature of civic associations. Other parliaments keep official registers of NGOs
and other interest groups for the same purpose, and also to ensure that marginalised
groups are effectively included in consultative procedures. Such
arrangements can also become more institutionalised. The parliaments of
Belarus, Slovenia and Tunisia have consultative councils of representatives
from NGOs and other experts attached to particular standing committees on an
ongoing basis. Latvia and Mali have arrangements for ongoing cooperation
with stakeholder groups to improve legislation. In Hungary a Civil Office of
the National Assembly was opened in 2002, with the responsibility of