Limitations to the legislative function of parliament

This work is aimed at analysing the factors imposing limitations on the legislative function of parliament in the modern constitutional state. The legislative function has clearly been loosing its initial quality of the original and exclusive parliamentary function, because there is a number of legal and political limitations: the judicial review by the constitutional court; the role of the government in the legislative process; the internal organization of parliament, as well as the position of a member of parliament in the parliamentary groups. The constitutional court, through its interactive relation with parliament, has specific task to have a retroactive influence on the lawmakers. The strong domination of the government over the legislative activity expressed through the legislative initiative, an influence on the order of priorities in decision-making processes, to participate in discussions without any limitations and to eventually influence the outcome of the decision-making process using the motion of censure as a means of exerting pressure on the members of parliament, especially those belonging to the parliamentary majority. Taking into account the range and the strength of the impact that the parliamentary committees have, parliaments could be divided into 'the working assemblies' and 'the talking assemblies'. Finally, the nature of the parliamentary mandate (an MP's term of office) is no longer related to certain traditional values of the representative democracy. The significance and the character of the term of office are adjusted to the political framework of parliament in a contemporary constitutional state. It is the question of the relation between the people represented and the ones who represent them. .