CHAPTER IX
Quorum and deliberations

Rule 46

1. Decisions of the House and of Committees acting in a legislating capacity shall not be valid if a majority of their members is not present. For decisions of Committees acting in a non-legislating capacity the presence of not less than a quarter of their members shall be required.

2. Deputies engaged in activities outside the Chamber premises, to which they have been appointed by the Chamber itself, or deputies who, being members of the Government, are absent by reason of their office, shall be counted as present for the purpose of establishing the presence of a quorum.

3. In votes for which a quorum is required, those deputies present who, prior to the beginning of the vote, have declared their intention to abstain, shall be counted for the purpose of establishing the presence of a quorum.

4. The President or Chairperson shall not be obliged to check whether or not the House or the Committee has the required quorum, unless so requested by twenty or four deputies respectively, and the House or Committee is about to vote by show of hands.

5. A quorum call may not be requested before the minutes of proceedings has been approved, or when express provisions in the Rules require voting by show of hands.

6. Signatories to a request for a qualified vote, and deputies requesting a quorum call, shall always be counted as present for the purpose of establishing the presence of a quorum.

Rule 47

1. To ascertain the presence of a quorum in the House, the President shall call the roll.

2. If the House or a Committee does not have the necessary quorum, the President or Chairperson may adjourn the sitting for an hour or declare it closed. In the latter case the House or Committee shall be considered as convened, with the same agenda, for the following working day at the same time as the sitting that was closed, or for a holiday if the House or Committee had already decided to hold a sitting on that date.

3. The absence of a quorum at a sitting shall not imply the presumption of the absence of a quorum for the following sitting or after the resumption of the sitting as pursuant to paragraph 2.

Rule 48

1. Decisions of the House or Committees shall be adopted by a majority of those present, except in cases for which a special majority is required.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 those casting votes for or against shall be counted as present.

3. The Secretaries shall record those voting and those declaring their intention to abstain, as provided for in paragraph 3 of Rule 46.

Rule 48-bis

1. It shall be the duty of deputies to take part in the business of the Chamber.

2. The Bureau shall decide the procedures and criteria to be followed to ascertain the presence of deputies at sittings of the House and Committees.

3. In its decision under paragraph 2, the Bureau shall set the deductions to be taken from the daily attendance allowance – paid out as a reimbursement of expenses incurred for staying in Rome - for absences from sittings of the House and Committees. The Bureau shall also lay down permissible causes for absence for which no deduction shall be taken.