Process of Making Law (the legislative process)

- before an item of legislation becomes law (under consideration by a legislature) it may be

known as a bill (i.e. proposed legislation) and may be broadly referred to as "legislation"

(Proposed) Legislation (proposed law) can have many purposes: to regulate, to

authorize /ˈɔːθərʌɪz/ (to give official permission for or approval for an action), to outlaw
/ˈaʊtlɔː/ (to ban or make illegal), to provide funds, to sanction (to impose a penalty on),
to grant (to give a right, power, property, etc. legally to), to declare or to restrict.

Preparation (predprípravná a prípravná etapa, príprava návrhu zákona)

- the preparation (or drafting) of a bill involves the production of a draft bill (or draft law)
prior to the introduction of the bill into the legislature (in Slovakia, Nacional Council)

After drafting of a bill, it cannot be sent to the National Council later than after 15 days.

- it includes:

a) a draft document which should be clear and comprehensible and it must be

obvious what an initiator of a bill would like to achieve by its adoption

b) an explanatory / ɛkˈsplanəˌt(ə)ri/ report serving to explain the need of a new

law or regulation, must contain the evaluation of present situation, the way of its
enforcement (vynútenie, presadenie), use, scope, financial impact on the state budget
and the conformity of proposed law with the Constitution

- most bills are usually proposed (introduced) - zákonodárna iniciatíva - by a member of the
legislature (e.g. a member of Congress or Parliament) and the executive; mechanisms exist
to allow other members of the legislature to introduce bills

- In Slovakia, a draft law may be introduced (= iniciated) by committees of the National

Council of the Slovak Republic, Members of Parliament and the Government of the Slovak
Republic (however, not by a minister)

Introduction of a bill (zaradenie do rokovania)

- a bill (proposed law) is submitted (provide for consideration or judgement) to the National
Council after consultation exercises within the Government and the Speaker of the
National Council of the Slovak Republic is responsible for proposed law being included in
the programme of the next session of the National Council

- a bill must be submitted to the National Council not later than 15 days before the first
reading session
Legislative stages (prerokovanie zákona)
- bills are generally considered through a number of readings (this refers to the historic
practice of the clerical officers of the legislature reading the contents of a bill to the legislature)

- generally, a reading of a bill is a debate on the bill held by a general body of a

legislature (in Slovakia it is the National Council of the Slovak Republic)

- there are often several readings of a bill as it passes through the stages becoming, or failing to
become legislation (some of these readings may be formalities rather than actual debate)

- in Slovakia, there are 3 stages of the legislative process:

1) a first reading is when a bill is introduced (bill is read) to a legislature (NR SR), it´s
followed by a debate (rozprava)

This is accompanied by an order that the bill is printed and considered again
(grammar, structure, formulations, content, reasons, etc.).
No amendments (minor changes or addition designed to improve the text) can be
made at this stage.
At the end of this stage, the National Council vote on a bill

a) a bill can be passed to the second reading (a bill passes a second reading if
a majority (depends on the type of a bill) of the National Council agree,
b) a bill can be returned to the initiator to emend,
c) the National Council will not continue debating on a bill (in this case the
same bill can be submitted to the National Council only after 6 months).

Once a bill passes the first reading (the bill then goes to the second stage) it is
normally referred (sent) to a Select Committee of the National Council which
debates the bill.

When a bill was discussed by the Committee, a written report is submitted to the
National Council which must contain its view (reasons) why the Committee
recommends an enacting (make a bill or other proposal law) the new law.

In case the Committee agreed on amendments (theycan be proposed also by

MPs, the report should contain them.

However, a Government can have a bill skip the select committee stage by a simple
majority vote in Parliament (NR SR).
2) a second reading is the stage of the legislative process where a draft of a bill is read a
second time
At the second reading the general merits (skutková podstata) of the bill are considered
by the members of Parliament (a bill can be considered part by part, clause by clause),
amendments are discussed which is followed by voting on them.
It is out of order to criticise a bill at this stage for technical defects in drafting.

At the end of this stage, the National Council vote on a bill

a) a bill can be passed to the third reading (including approved

amendments); a bill passes a second reading if a majority (depends on the
type of a bill) of the National Council agree,
b) a bill can be returned to the initiator to emend,
c) the National Council can postpone hearing on a bill,
d) the National Council will not continue debating on a bill (in this case the
same bill can be submitted to the National Council only after 6 months).

After the second reading a bill is referred to the Committee which considers the bill line
by line.

3) a third reading is the stage in which a bill is read with all amendments (after the bill
has been amended by a Committee) and is given a final approval by the National Council
which votes on the bill as a whole

The only possible corrections (amendments) are technical and grammatical errors.

At the end of this stage, the National Council vote on a bill

a) a final adoption of the bill (proposed law)

b) its rejection

In a bicameral legislature the process is repeated in the other house, before the Bill is
submitted to the executive for approval.

Enactment (schaľovanie, uzákonenie, schvaľovacia etapa)

- the process of a bill becoming law (the process of passing new legislation)
Notice: CHAPTER FIVE - Legislative Power - Part One - The National Council of the SR - Article 84 (decision making)

- may vote (has a quorum) only if a majority (more than one-half) of all its members (76)
are present
- for a resolution of the National Council of the Slovak Republic (almost all legal acts) to be
valid the approval of “a simple majority” of all MPs present is required (i.e. at least 39
votes)
- the agreement of “an absolute majority” (one-half of all Members of Parliament - 76
votes) is required to pass a vote of no-confidence in the Cabinet or its members, or to elect
and recall the Speaker or the Deputy Speakers, to approve an international treaty and to
adopt a bill returned by the President of the Slovak Republic

The motion to pass a vote of no-confidence in the Government of the Slovak Republic or
a member of it will be discussed by the National Council of the Slovak Republic, if
requested by at least one-fifth of its Members of Parliament.

- the agreement of “a qualified majority” (3/5 of all deputies - at least 90 votes) is

required to adopt an international treaty, to adopt resolution on public vote to remove the
President of the Slovak Republic, file charges against the President and to declare war on
another state

- once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an Act or a Statute

Once a bill is passed by the legislature, it may automatically become law, or it may need
further approval, in which case enactment may be effected by the approver's
signature or proclamation.

Approval (podpis)
- bills passed by the legislature usually require the approval of the executive such as the
monarch, president, or governor to become law

a) In parliamentary systems, approval is normally a formality, since the ceremonial head

is directed by an executive controlled by the legislature.

b) In constitutional monarchies, this approval is called royal assent. In rare cases approval
may be refused or "reserved" by the ceremonial head's use of a reserve power. The
legislature may have significantly less power to introduce bills on such issues and may
require the approval beforehand.

c) In presidential systems, the need to receive approval can be used as a political tool by
the executive, and its refusal is known as a veto. The legislature may be able to override
the veto by means of a supermajority vote.

- in Slovakia, a law is signed by the President of the Slovak Republic, the Speaker of the
National Council of the Slovak Republic and the prime minister of the Slovak Republic

If the President of the Slovak Republic returns an enacted law (refusal is known as a

veto) with comments, the National Council of the Slovak Republic will discuss the
 constitutional or other law again (to the second reading, MPs discussed only the
President´s comments)
If the National Council of the Slovak Republic, after having discussed the law again,
approves the law even despite the comments of the President (the legislature may
override the veto of the president by means of a an absolute majority, i.e. one-half of
all Members of Parliament – minimally 76 votes) and the President of the Slovak
Republic does not sign the law, the law is promulgated even without the signature
of the President of the Slovak Republic and his/her approval.

- a law becomes valid with its promulgation (nadobúda platnosť vyhlásením)

Promulgation (putting a law into effect by official proclamation)

(promulgačná etapa, vyhlásenie a publikovanie, platnosť a účinnosť zákona)

- an Act (an enacted new law) is typically promulgated by being published in an official
gazette /ɡəˈzɛt/ (an official publication containing lists of government appointments and
promotions and other public notices), in Slovakia, by publishing in the Statutes at Large =
Zbierka zákonov (this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect = come into
force)
The Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic is responsible for the new
law being published in the Statutes at Large within 21 days after the adoption.

- a bill may come into force as soon as it becomes law, or it may specify a later date to come
into force, or it may specify by whom and how it may be brought into force; for example,
by ministerial order. Different parts of an act may come into force at different times

In Slovakia, an Act is effective (the law takes effect = comes into force = stáva sa
účinným), i.e. people must obey it, on 15th day following its promulgation by
publishing in the Statutes at Large = v Zbierke zákonov, if not specified a later date
in the Act.

Legislative process in a nutshell

Draft acts may be introduced by the committees of the Parliament, by members of
Parliament or by the Government. In practice, most complex legislation is proposed by the
Government and then debated by Parliament. As mentioned above, the adoption of an act
requires a simple majority of present members of Parliament. The adopted act shall be
signed by the Chairman of Parliament, by the Prime Minister and by the President. In case
the President refuses to sign an act and returns it to Parliament with comments (veto),
Parliament may override this veto by an absolute majority of all its members. In case the
President does not sign such act, it is promulgated even without the President’s signature
(Art. 87 CSR).
 
 The detailed provisions of the (floor) debate, the three rounds of reading and voting on draft
legislation and other parliamentary procedural questions are governed by Act No. 350/1996
Coll., on the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure.
 
            Promulgation and publication of the legislation

For legislation to be valid, it must be duly promulgated first (Art. 87 CSR). The mode of
promulgation of legislation is laid down by Act No. 1/1993 Coll., on the Collection of Laws.
Constitutional acts, important international treaties, ordinary acts, regulations and certain
other derivative legislation are promulgated by being published in the Collection of Laws.
Moreover, certain decisions of the Constitutional Court and of other bodies (e.g. decisions on
amnesties, on calling elections, etc.) are also published in the Collection of Laws.
 
Once an act or another piece of legislation has been published in the Collection of Laws, a
conclusive presumption applies that anyone, whom it may concern, is acquainted with the
content thereof. Generally binding legal regulations become valid on the day of their
publication in the Collection of Laws. Unless specified otherwise, they become applicable
on the fifteenth day upon publication. Exceptionally, they may apply before the fifteenth day;
however, not earlier than on the day of publication. 
 
If an act is published in the Collection of Laws (Zbierka zákonov, abbreviated in Slovak as “Z.
z.”), the standard form of citation is:

“number of the document”/”year of the publication” Coll.

 
The number of each document is unique. The document number 1/1993 Coll. thus refers to the
first document published in the Collection of Laws in the year 1993, which was the Act on the
Collection of Laws.
 
The Collection of Laws is published in a printed version by the Ministry of Justice. They are also
fully accessible online in a “PDF” format (access free of charge). Moreover, the Ministry of
Justice runs an online free of charge system, where consolidated versions of legislation are
available (JASPI).
 
The only authentic version of Slovak legislation is in the Slovak language. Some acts are
officially translated into English, but generally, only private non-authentic translations compiled
by various public or private institutions are available.
Legislatívny proces na Slovensku
Legislatívny proces pozostáva zo 4 etáp:

 Predprípravná
 Prípravná
 Schvaľovacia
o Prvé čítanie v NR SR
o Druhé čítanie v NR SR
o Tretie čítanie v NR SR
 Promulgačná
o Signácia právneho predpisu
o Edícia právneho predpisu