PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

86 I PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
range of public organisations from civil society, with the task of producing
an evaluation of different legislative initiatives from the point of
view of the interests of society……The working term of the Chamber
will be two years, and its tasks will be implemented through the expert
analysis of projects of federal constitutional laws, federal laws, normative
legal acts of the federal executive power, bodies of government of
the regions of the Russian Federation and organs of local government.
Its expertise will also be used to evaluate Russia-wide initiatives in
respect of constitutional laws, and for the protection of the freedom
and legitimate interests of citizens and their associations. Decisions
of the Public Chamber will have recommendatory character, and take
the form of conclusions, proposals and appellations.
An institution with a similar purpose, though typically meeting only once a
year, is that of the People’s Assembly. In South Africa the first such Assembly
was convened in 2004 to celebrate ten years of democracy. 60 representatives
from the five sectors of youth, people with disabilities, women, beneficiaries
of land reform and labour were invited to reflect on the impact the Bill of
Rights and the Constitution had had on their lives, and to give impetus to
further reforms in their respective sectors. The proceedings were broadcast
live, and led to a decision by Parliament to adopt the Assembly as an
annual initiative.
Some criteria for good practice
From the preceding accounts, it would be possible to put together a list of
items of good practice for parliaments seeking to involve the public, both as
individuals and as organisations, in legislation and other committee work of
parliament. It might include:
■ a publicly available register of NGOs and other bodies, organised by
subject interest as well as alphabetically;
■ a similar register of experts;
■ effective publicity through different media giving due notice of forthcoming
parliamentary bills, enquiries, public hearings, etc.
■ targeted invitations to relevant organisations and experts, including
representatives of marginalised groups as appropriate, to make submissions
or give evidence;
■ procedures for tabling submissions from individual citizens;
■ a handbook and/or training sessions on how to make submissions or give
evidence to parliamentary bodies;