The Coordinating Bureau
The Bureau is composed of the chairs of the executive committees and is presided over by the Presiding Officer of the Assembly.
What the Bureau does
| Function | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Coordinates execution among the fields | A programme touching provision, works and labour is sequenced here so that the three committees execute one timetable |
| Settles conflicts of competence between committees | Where two committees claim a matter, the Bureau assigns it. A conflict between organs belongs to the Constitutional Court. |
| Prepares acts requiring the concurrence of several fields | The act is prepared here and adopted by each committee within its own field |
The Presiding Officer
Article 146(1): at its first sitting the Assembly elects from among its members a Presiding Officer and two deputies, by a majority of its members.
Article 146(2): the Presiding Officer serves for the term of the Assembly, is recalled by it at any time by a majority of its members, and ceases to hold the office upon losing the seat.
Article 146(3): the Presiding Officer directs the sittings of the Assembly impartially, represents the Assembly before other organs, and promulgates and publishes texts under Article 138.
The office carries the direction of sittings, the representation of the Assembly and the promulgation of texts. It carries no power to decide a matter, and recall by a majority of the members is available at any time without a stated ground.
Limits of the Bureau
Article 234: the oversight offices of Title IX are independent of the Coordinating Bureau, as of the Assembly, the executive committees, the planning bodies, the councils of the territories, the courts and one another.
Article 193(2): the Coordinating Bureau may in no case give an instruction to a judge, whether general or in a particular case.
Article 225(1): the Coordinating Bureau may in no case instruct the prosecution service in an individual case.
The Bureau coordinates the committees and reaches nothing outside them. Each of the three provisions above names it expressly, so the coordination of execution creates no channel into the courts, the prosecution service or the oversight offices.
Publicity
Sittings of the Bureau are recorded and the record published, with the assignment made in every conflict of competence and the reasons for it. The Audit Office audits the resources of the Bureau as part of the administration, and any person may address the matter to an oversight office.