AMELI and BASILE : Informatics tools and the Senates procedure

AMELI and BASILE : Informatics tools and the Senates procedure For many years the French Senate has developed efficient informatics tools dealing with all aspects of parliamentary procedure : legislative work as well as oversight over the Governments policy. In this respect, the administration of the Senate was aiming at : providing a larger information of citizens on the Senates work ; helping senators in a better way to fulfill their parliamentary mandate ; modernizing the production of senatorial documents, such as committees reports, official documents or proceedings minutes.

AMELI and BASILE : Informatics tools and the Senates procedure -This involvment in developping informatics tools started in April 1978 with the introduction of the first documentary data base concerning the french Parliament and devoted to questions tabled by Senators. -Along years, it went on with the implementation of several other data bases such as : DOSLEG : data base on bills and committees reports in 1978 CRA : data base on the minutes of public sittings in 1996 BALLOTS : data base on recorded votes ans ballots in 1998 AMELI : data base on amendments in December 2001 PORTALIS : data base on rules and proceedings in 2003 these information being for the exclusive use of the Sitting department and the chairmanship of the Senate BASILE : data base on questions in April 2004 SOLON II : data base on the legislative process involving not only the Senate but also the National Assembly, the Prime ministers offices and the Journal officiel in January and June 2012

AMELI and BASILE : Informatics tools and the Senates procedure This presentation will focuse on two specific and interactive application programs dealing with amendments and questions : AMELI : (standing for AMEndments on LIne) : a tool for legislative work and BASILE : (standing for BASe dInformation LEgislative) : a tool for oversight

AMELI : A tool for the Senates legislative work AMELI or the story of amendments

AMELI : A tool for the Senates legislative work Any change in the wording of a bill is an amendment. Amendments are brought by Members of Parliament or Ministers. Filing an amendment requires the following actions : First : to get connected to AMELI by using a secured identification number and a personal code ; Second : to choose a bill among those tabled in the Senate on which to file the amendment ; Third : to define precisely the type of amendment consisting for example : in adding a new article to the bill or suppressing an article ; in changing, suppressing or adding a paragraph, a sentence, a word within an article of a bill… Fourth : to send the amendment to the Sitting department ;

AMELI : A tool for the Senates legislative work Three steps to file an amendment

Bill Number Status Author Article Amendment on what ? Purpose of the amendment AMELI : A tool for the Senates legislative work The look of a tabled amendment

AMELI : A tool for the Senates legislative work AMELI A modern tool for senators, political groups, standing committees and ministers in order To table amendments : on the average between and amendments are filed each year to be discussed during public sittings To send amendments from their offices in the Senate, from their constituency or from any other place where they can find a computer and the Internet network

AMELI : A tool for the Senates legislative work AMELI A modern tool in the hands of the Sitting department in order : To check and correct tabled amendments ; To organize the order of discussion of amendments during the public sitting ; To prepare the Chairmans file for the discussion of articles and amendments during the public sitting ; To set the filing list of amendments also called « dérouleur » which is broadcasted on the in house TV channel, helping senators and the public to follow the debate ; To settle the final wording of the bill in progress as soon as it is adopted by senators during the public sitting

AMELI : A tool for the Senates legislative work AMELI A modern tool in the hands of the minutes department in order : To set the minutes of the public debate on bills more rapidly ; To establish these minutes at a less expansive cost : actually AMELI saves photocopies per year ; To secure the setting of senatorial archives on the public debates and to facilitate researches on these debates.

AMELI : A tool for the Senates legislative work AMELI A modern tool provided to citizens in order : To obtain information concerning tabled amendments : in an easier way : with no need of being present in the premises of the Senate ; more rapidly : as soon as they are tabled and checked by the Sitting department, amendments are available on AMELI; To follow step by step the adoption of the bill in progress : as soon as they occur the results of votes on amendments are available on AMELI as well as the text of the bill itself.

AMELI : A tool for the Senates legislative work AMELI Committee In order to comply with the constitutional reform of July 2008, giving increased legislative powers to committees, it has been necessary to provide Senators with a new system called AMELI Committee because, now, the Senate in plenary discusses the text as amended by the committee to which the bill has been referred to and does not discuss any more the text sent by the Government or by the National Assembly. AMELI Committee has been available since october It is shaped like AMELI although it is only available while standing committees are working on the bill, before the plenary sitting.

BASILE or the story of a question

BASILE : A tool for oversight BASILE A modern tool For Senators to raise questions and receive answers to these questions ; For administrators to check, file and forward questions and answers to Senators, to the Government and to the Journal officiel ; For citizens to get information on questions.

AMELI : A tool for the Senates legislative work Filing a question requires the following actions : First : to get connected to BASILE by using a secured identification number and a personal code ; Second : to choose the minister concerned ; Third : to write the question ; Fourth : to send the question to the administrator.

BASILE : A tool for oversight

1) reception of filed questions 2) checking and validation by the administrator

BASILE : A tool for oversight Senator Administrator Base Basile Journal officiel 1- Electronic filing of Q 2 – Validation of Q 3/9 - Tuesday : Export of Q/A towards the JO 4 - Thursday : Import of Q/A from the JO Ministries Base Basile 5 – Thursday : export of Q towards SOLON 7 – Tuesday : export of A from SOLON SOLON RÉPONSES 8 – Validation of A 6 – Preparation of A

AMELI and BASILE : Informatics tools and the Senates procedure AMELI and BASILE are unanimously recognized as very efficient and useful tools for senators and citizens. As expected AMELI and BASILE helped to increase the visibility on the Senates work and to provide in an easier way documents and information concerning the Senate.

Solon II SOLON II On June 26, 2012 in the wake of modernization of our informatics tools the Senate, together with the National Assembly, the Prime ministers offices and the Journal officiel have launched a new program called SOLON II. This program facilitates the connections and the circulation of information concerning the work of both houses of Parliament, the legislative process, and the oversight policy. For the first time, all the institutions dealing with these matters are closely working together with a single program system.