How Can a Draft Law be Suspended? What Does the Regulation State?
Today, "Georgian Dream" and "People's Power" announced that they will recall the bill "On transparency of foreign influence" from the parliament. However, the rules of the parliament do not provide for the recall of a bill passed in the first reading. The recall of an initiated bill that was not accepted in the first reading is possible with a statement, according to the regulations:
Article 101, General rules for consideration of the draft law:
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The initiator of the draft law can request the adoption of the draft law in the first reading at the plenary session of the Parliament with proper motivation.
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If two or more members of parliament initiate the draft law, it will be considered passed from the parliament, based on a joint written request of all members of parliament.
Therefore, "People's Power" can issue a statement and recall the so-called draft law. The American version of the bill, called the "Registration of Foreign Agents," is registered in the Parliament.
As for the draft law already passed in the first reading, "On the transparency of foreign influence," the regulations do not provide for recall procedures. However, according to former legislators, in such cases, they often use the form of dropping the draft law.
Article 112:
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The draft law that fails to gather the required number of votes for its adoption during the second reading is considered to have failed, and a resolution is drawn up on the inadmissibility of the draft law in the second reading.
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If the draft law failed in the second reading at the plenary session of the Parliament, within one month of the session period, at the request of its initiator, it will not be put to the vote at the plenary session, and it will be considered rejected. A bill that fails to gather the required number of votes will also be considered rejected.
According to lawyers, there is another way to handle the situation. Instead of discarding the draft law passed in the first reading or continuing the discussion, it can be placed on the shelf, and the discussion can be resumed at any time.