Federal Act
on the Federal Assembly
(Parliament Act, ParlA)

¹ The Na­tion­al Coun­cil and the Coun­cil of States shall con­vene reg­u­larly for or­din­ary ses­sions.

² Either coun­cil may de­cide to con­vene spe­cial ses­sions if the or­din­ary ses­sions are not suf­fi­cient to deal with the volume of busi­ness.

³ One quarter of the mem­bers of a coun­cil or of the Fed­er­al Coun­cil may re­quest that the coun­cils or the United Fed­er­al As­sembly be con­vened for an ex­traordin­ary ses­sion to deal with the fol­low­ing items of busi­ness:

a.

drafts by the Fed­er­al Coun­cil or of a Fed­er­al As­sembly com­mit­tee of a Fed­er­al As­sembly en­act­ment;

b.

identic­al mo­tions that have been sub­mit­ted in both cham­bers;

c.

elec­tions;

d.

de­clar­a­tions by the Fed­er­al Coun­cil or identic­al drafts sub­mit­ted in both cham­bers for de­clar­a­tions by the Na­tion­al Coun­cil and des Coun­cil of States.⁴

⁴ An or­din­ary or an ex­traordin­ary ses­sion is nor­mally held in both cham­bers in the same cal­en­dar week.⁵