The Landtag of North Rhine

The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
15
th
Legislative Term

Introduction
Every year, our state (Land) - North Rhine-Westphalia - is host to millions of visitors from
abroad: people on business, tourists visiting our cities and discovering our culture, ex-
change students or people who are here as part of a town twinning partnership. Most of
them stay just a short time - North Rhine-Westphalia is not the most obvious place for a
holiday, after all. But visitors who do come here are not looking for sun, sea and sand;
they want to get to know our country and our people, do some successful cross-border
business or keep up personal contacts.
Landtag (State Parliament) of North Rhine-Westphalia

Parliament Square
Officially opened on 2 October 1988, North
Rhine-Westphalia's Landtag building is the
first completely new parliament building to
be built in the history of the German Fed-
eral Republic. It was the first time that a
German parliament had designed its future
home itself and the first time that a parlia-
ment's own view of itself had been
translated into architecture.
In the competition to find a new build-
ing for the Landtag, the politicians who
commissioned it had had the courage
to award first prize to the design by the
architects Eller, Maier, Moser, Walter and
Partners. A monumental style of building
was not what they had in mind; rather a
building which 18 million citizens could feel
was for them. Comparatively modest, at
105 meters wide, 195 meters long and 21
meters high, the Landtag building is im-
pressive primarily because of its extrava-
gant shape. Starting from the 'in the round'
seating arrangements inside the plenary
chamber, the circle was developed as the
fundamental architectural principle, and
right angles were consciously avoided.

Lobby

Visitor's Lift
The circular plenary chamber was made
into the centre of the building, laid out for a
maximum of 300 people; linked to it are
the four rooms for the parliamentary par-
ties, also forming a circle and with a lobby
which can act as a connecting or separat-
ing element. This is also an outward way
of emphasizing the special status of the
political debate and of the political as-
sessment of objective facts, and at the
same time a way of underlining the nature
of the parliament as a meeting place.
The basis for political decision-making is
the detailed, factual debate on each topic,
which takes place in the select commit-
tees. A total of 35 conference rooms are
available for the individual committees and
working groups. Following the logical se-
quence, these are located on the two
floors below the plenary chamber and the
parliamentary party rooms, thus also sup-
porting the political decision-making pro-
cess in architectural terms.
For the preparations which are necessary,
a total of 507 offices are available to the
members of parliament, the party workers
and the parliament administration. The
wings which house the suites of offices are
arranged around the plenary chamber and
the parliamentary party rooms, are sensi-
tively designed and offset facing one an-
other, so that you have the feeling of look-
ing at what appear to be arms in an em-
brace. This is also the accommodation for
all the services which are vital for any
modern parliamentary operation, such as
printing, archiving, the library, IT depart-
ment, and for services without which a
building simply cannot be used, such as
the heating system, for example, and the
air-conditioning.
As a parliament close to its citizens, the
Landtag building does not have any physi-
cal delimitations; the building is open to
the public and is therefore accessible to
all. For that reason, the zone around the
Landtag where demonstrations are not
allowed was also kept to modest dimen-
sions.
This remarkable Landtag building, howev-
er, came at a price: North Rhine-
Westphalia's taxpayers had to make Euro
160 million available for the project. But
the high degree of acceptance with which
it has been received is proof that it has
been money well spent.

One vote, counted twice - North Rhine-
Westphalia's election system

Every five years at least 181 members are
elected in a general, equal, direct, secret
and free election to North Rhine-
Westphalia's Landtag. Any German citizen
who has reached the age of majority and
has lived in North Rhine-Westphalia for at
least 16 days is entitled to vote. Anyone
who is entitled to vote is also eligible for
public office and is entitled to stand as a
candidate for Landtag elections. Excep-
tion: He or she must have been resident in
NRW for at least 3 months.
'Personalized proportional representation'
is the term political scientists use to de-
scribe the election system in North Rhine-
Westphalia. It is a combination of propor-
tional representation and majority voting. It
is their proportion of the total number of
votes cast (system of proportional voting)
which determines the size of the parties'
representation in the parliament, i.e. the
seats they are entitled to. On the other
hand, anyone who takes a seat in the par-
ty-entitlement is elected predominantly by
the majority voting system.
This is how it's done: each citizen who is
entitled to vote has one vote which he
gives to a candidate in his constituency.
The person who wins the most votes in the
constituency is elected. This is the way
128 members are elected to the parlia-
ment. But at the same time, the vote for
the candidate is also a vote for his party
and therefore allows a calculation to be
done of the number of seats won by the
parties according to their proportion of the
total number of votes cast. If a party re-
ceives more seats than it has successful
direct candidates, it fills these leftover
seats with candidates from the reserve list.
Naturally, parties which have no success-
ful direct candidates fall back on this list
straight away. If, however, a party wins
more direct seats than it is entitled to seats
according to the proportional distribution,
the Landtag is enlarged - and by just as
many seats as is necessary to restore the
relative weighting between the parties.
However, only parties who win at least 5%
of the votes cast may be represented in
parliament.
Who does what - Federal Government
(Bund) or State Government (Land)?


The task of legislating is split between the
16 Land Parliaments and the German
Federal Parliament (Bundestag). For all
matters which directly affect the Federal
Republic as a whole - such as, for exam-
ple, foreign policy and defense policy, cur-
rency issues, atomic policy, the postal and
telecommunications services - the German
Federal Parliament (Bundestag) in Berlin
has sole and exclusive authority to legis-
late. In these areas, the German states
(Länder), are involved in legislation only
through the second chamber, the Bundes-
rat. The regional Landtage, on the other
hand, are responsible for all cultural mat-
ters, notably the education system, mat-
ters of internal security, i.e. the police,
building supervision, health supervision
and the media.
Such a clear delimitation of policy areas
into the competence of either the Land or
the Bund, however, applies to only a few
areas. In point of fact, by far the majority of
legislative matters are subject to what is
known as 'concurrent legislation'. Concur-
rent legislation means that the Landtag
may enact laws, but only as long as and
provided that the German Bundestag does
not make use of its right to legislate. If
safeguarding a legal or economic entity or
producing living standards of equal value
in Germany means that a total federal so-
lution is necessary, the federal legislature
becomes active. The same is true of crim-
inal law and the penal system, of commer-
cial and employment law, and of transport
and waste disposal. The German Basic
Law (or constitution) lists the areas which
are subject to concurrent legislation in a
register. In another register, the constitu-
tion names those areas for which the Fed-
eration (Bund) provides a Rahmengesetz
(a general outline of a law giving guide-
lines). With this, the Bundestag marks out
the boundaries within which the Landtage
may then pass laws autonomously, for
instance, in the higher education system
or in environmental protection.
Legislation in North Rhine-Westphalia

Plenary Chamber

When the Landtag passes a law, it is
bringing to an end a legislative procedure
which usually lasts several months. It al-
ways begins with a detailed legal proposal
submitted in writing, which, besides the
new legal text, also contains an exhaustive
justification and, if necessary, information
on possible consequences for the local
authority districts (Kommunen).
The Land government, the parliamentary
parties and groups consisting of at least 7
members of parliament have the right to
table such a legal proposal to the Landtag
for deliberation. In consultation with the
Council of Elders (Ältestenrat), the Presi-
dent of the Landtag places the draft bill on
the plenary session's agenda. Firstly, the
minister responsible, or one of the mem-
bers who is filing the bill, introduces it to
the plenary session and justifies the rea-
sons for introducing it. During this First
Reading, if the bill is politically sensitive,
there is usually a fundamental debate
about the law. Normally, the debate ends
with the draft bill being referred to the
overall control of the appropriate expert
committee and, if necessary, being re-
ferred to other committees as well, which
may also become involved in the advisory
process.

This is the moment when the detailed work
begins for the experts in the individual par-
liamentary parties. External expert wit-
nesses are often brought in to evaluate the
legal proposals. They provide statements
during what are known as "hearings" and
make their contribution to the process of
arriving at a decision which is right and
proper. Preparations for the expert com-
mittees also take place in the parliamen-
tary party working groups. The weekly
parliamentary party meetings are a forum
for exchanging information between com-
mittee members and other Members of
Parliament.



In each case, the draft bill is examined
down to the last detail in a small group,
before appearing for a second time on the
agenda of the plenary session, when it is
debated afresh on the basis of the commit-
tee report. Every Member of Parliament
now has another opportunity to table
amendments. In this Second Reading,
once members have decided which tabled
amendments to accept, it is usual for the
final vote concerning the law to take place.
Constitutional changes and budgetary
laws are debated in three Readings. How-
ever, even for other proposed legislation, a
parliamentary party or a quarter of all
members of parliament can apply for there
to be a Third Reading and, if necessary,
further committee consultations.
The law passed by the Landtag is deliv-
ered to the Prime Minister, the head of the
state government, who, together with the
ministers involved, is required to sign it
and announce it in the Gesetz- und Ver-
ordnungsblatt (Law and Ordinance Ga-
zette). When the law comes into force is
normally determined by the legislation it-
self, most usually the day after its an-
nouncement.
President Eckhard Uhlenberg (2
nd
ri.)
and the four Vicepresidents
nd what checks and balances are
there?
In order for there to be checks that any
legislation is being implemented properly,
the Land government is obliged to submit
to critical questioning from members of
parliament during plenary debates and
committee meetings; the government is
required to keep parliament informed at all
times and to declare its position.
For this purpose, parliament has special,
formal control procedures: during the first
session each month, the Landtag holds
what is known as Question Time. At
Question Time, any member of parliament
may put questions to the government
about administration and Land policy,
which the government must answer then
and there. The questioners have the op-
tion of exploring the facts of the case more
deeply through further questioning.
At the request of a parliamentary party or
a quarter of members of parliament, the
Landtag holds an Aktuelle Stunde, a
public debate on a specific question of
topical interest. According to the order of
business, there must be urgent public or
parliamentary interest in the issue for de-
bate.
Interpellations (Grosse Anfragen) may
be put by a parliamentary party or by a
minimum of seven members of parliament.
They serve to provide comprehensive in-
formation on a complex specialist area of
policy. Grosse Anfragen are comprehen-
sive lists of questions each with numerous
subsidiary questions, which the Land gov-
ernment has to answer in writing within an
agreed time limit. If a quarter of members
of parliament or a parliamentary party
would like there to be a statement on the
Land government's response, the Landtag
President (i.e. the president of the state
parliament) places a Grosse Anfrage on
the agenda for the next plenary session.
At the end of the public debate there are
frequently parliamentary motions for a
resolution.
Unlike the Grosse Anfragen, what are
known as Kleine Anfragen (written ques-
tions) may also be submitted by individual
Members of Parliament. They must be
filed in writing, are answered in writing, but
are not discussed in plenary session. A
Kleine Anfrage must refer to the concrete
facts of a case, most usually a problematic
individual case from the constituency of
the member who is filing the question. The
Land government has four weeks to re-
spond.
Committees of investigation have the
task of investigating cases where the Land
government or one of its members has
behaved improperly or has infringed the
law. Parliament may even procure the
necessary information against the will of
the government by means of a committee
of investigation, if it has to rely on the will-
ingness of the Land government to coop-
erate in the Aktuelle Stunde, in Question
Time, in the Grosse Anfragen and Kleine
Anfragen. This is why the committee of
investigation has special powers. It can
summons and swear in witnesses; it has
the right to inspect files and has access at
all times to all authorities of the Land. If a
fifth of the lawful members of the Landtag
request it, parliament must appoint a
committee of investigation.
It is the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia
who, with their requests and complaints,
provide the stimulus for scrutinizing the
way the administration behaves. Anyone
who believes himself to have been wrong-
ly or unjustly treated by any of the authori-
ties which come under the jurisdiction of
the Land may appeal to the Düsseldorf
Landtag with an informal petition to the
Committee for Petitions. The members
of this committee have the right - support-
ed by the Land constitution - to subject
everyone involved in the proceedings to
questioning about the matter; they must be
granted the right to inspect files and to
have access to all the Land's institutions.
Over and above being helpful in actual,
individual cases, the work of the commit-
tee is also important because of the light it
sheds on fundamental difficulties in im-
plementing legislative regulations; moreo-
ver, it is an important source of information
about the social problems among the pop-
ulation.
So far, parliament has hardly ever made
use of its most extreme means of control,
the constructive vote of no confidence
and ministerial prosecution. The only pro-
vision in the Land constitution for the
Landtag to express its lack of confidence
in the Prime Minister is for it to elect a new
Prime Minister with a majority of votes
cast. The Prime Minister or one of the
Cabinet members may be prosecuted by
the Federal Constitutional Court of Justice
in Münster on account of infringement of a
law or of the constitution - either grossly
negligent or deliberate. A request to pros-
ecute a minister must be made by a mini-
mum of a quarter of all members of par-
liament. However, a ministerial prosecu-
tion may not proceed until two thirds of the
members of parliament present make this
decision.
15. Parliamentary Term

At the last Landtag election on 9 May
2010, only just over 59% of the 13 million
plus people entitled to vote actually did
make use of their right. 25 parties had
stood for election, but only five parties
managed to get past the 5% exclusion
hurdle.
A total of 181 members of parliament were
elected to North Rhine-Westphalia's Land-
tag. The seats were apportioned as fol-
lows: the CDU has 67 members in the
Landtag, the SPD has exactly the same
number, 67 seats, Bündnis90/Die Grünen
have 23, the FDP 13 and Die Linke 11.
At the constituent assembly on 9 June
2010, the 15
th
Landtag of North Rhine-
Westphalia began its work - without know-
ing who will be the Parliamentary Presi-
dent, the Vice Presidents and new Prime
Minister.












With kind regards
Dr. Martin Michalzik
Director of the President´s Office
Landtag NRW
D-40221-Düsseldorf
+49-211-8842201
[email protected]