Austria - Constitution - Chapter II Federal Legislation

Article 24 [Legislative Power]
The legislative power of the Federation is exercised by the House of Representatives jointly with the Senate.

Article 25 [Seat]
(1) The seat of the House of Representatives is Vienna, the federal capital.
(2) For the duration of extraordinary circumstances, the Federal President can at the request of the Federal Government convoke the House of Representatives elsewhere within federal territory.

Article 26 [Election]
(1) The House of Representatives is elected by the nation in accordance with the principles of proportional representation on the basis of equal, direct, secret, and personal suffrage for men and women who have completed their nineteenth year of life on a day appointed prior to the election. Voting is compulsory in the Federal States where this has been enacted by State law. Detailed provisions about the electoral procedure and compulsory voting, if necessary, will be made by federal law. This federal law shall in particular lay down the reasons held to excuse non-participation in the election notwithstanding compulsory voting.
(2) The federal territory will be divided into self-contained constituencies whose boundaries may not overlap States boundaries. The number of deputies shall be divided among the qualified voters of a constituency in proportion to the number of nationals in the constituencies, i.e., the number of federal nationals who in accordance with the result of the last census had their domicile in the constituencies. A division of the electorate into other electoral bodies is not admissible.
(3) The day of the poll must be a Sunday or other public holiday.
(4) Eligible for election is every qualified voter who has completed his/her twenty first year of life before the day appointed prior to the election.
(5) Exclusion from the right to vote and from eligibility can only ensue from a sentence or order by the courts.
(6) Electoral boards shall be appointed for the implementation and conduct of elections to the House of Representatives, the election of the Federal President, and referenda in accordance with Article 46 as well as for assistance in the scrutiny of initiatives. Their members, with voting rights, shall include representatives from the participant political parties. The main electoral board shall include members who belong or have belonged to the judiciary. The electoral regulations shall lay down, notwithstanding members originating from the professional judiciary, number of members to be allocated to the participant political parties in accordance with their strength as ascertained at the last House of Representatives election.
(7) The electoral register will be drawn up by the Counties as part of their assigned sphere of competence.

Article 27 [Term]
(1) The legislative period of the House of Representatives lasts four years, calculated from the day of its first meeting but in any case until the day on which the new House of Representatives meets.
(2) The newly elected House of Representatives shall be convened by the Federal President within thirty days after the election. The latter shall be so arranged by the Federal Government as to enable the newly elected House of Representatives to meet on the day after the expiry of the fourth year of the legislative period.

Article 28 [Sessions]
(1) The Federal President convokes the House of Representatives each year for an ordinary session which shall not begin before 15 Sep and not last longer than 15 July the following year.
(2) The Federal President can also convoke the House of Representatives for extraordinary sessions. If the Federal Government or at least one third of the members of the House of Representatives or if the Senate so demands, the Federal President is bound to convoke the House of Representatives for an extraordinary session to meet within two weeks of the demand; the convocation needs no countersignature. A request by members of the House of Representatives or by the Senate does not require a recommendation by the Federal Government.
(3) The Federal President declares sessions of the House of Representatives closed in pursuance of a vote by the House of Representatives.
(4) Upon the opening of a new House of Representatives session within the same legislative period work will be continued in accordance with the stage reached at the close of the last session. At the end of a session individual committees can be instructed by the House of Representatives to continue their work.
(5) During a session the President of the House of Representatives convokes the individual sittings. If within a session at least a quarter of the House of Representatives' members or the Federal Government so demands, the President is bound to convoke a sitting in such manner that the House of Representatives meets within five days of the demand.
(6) The federal law on the House of Representatives' Standing Orders shall lay down special provisions for its convocation in the event of the elected Presidents being precluded from the performance of their office or being deprived of their functions.

Article 29 [Dissolution]
(1) The Federal President can dissolve the House of Representatives, but he may avail himself of this prerogative only once for the same reason. In such case the new election shall be so arranged by the Federal Government that the newly elected House of Representatives can at the latest meet on the hundredth day after the dissolution.
(2) Before expiry of a legislative period the House of Representatives can vote its own dissolution by simple law.
(3) After a dissolution pursuant to Paragraph (2) as well as after expiry of the period for which the House of Representatives has been elected, the legislative period lasts until the day on which the newly elected House of Representatives meets.

Article 30 [Organization]
(1) The House of Representatives elects the President, the Second, and Third Presidents from among its members.
(2) The business of the House of Representatives is conducted in pursuance of a special federal law. The federal law on the House of Representatives' Standing Orders can only be passed in the presence of half the members and by a two thirds majority of the votes cast.
(3) The Parliamentary Staff, which is subordinate to the President of the House of Representatives, is competent for the conduct of Parliamentary auxiliary services and administrative matters within the scope of the federal legislature. The internal organization of the Parliamentary Staff for matters of the Senate shall be settled in agreement with the Chairman of the Senate who is likewise invested with authority to issue instructions as to implementation of the functions assigned to the Senate on the basis of this law.
(4) The nomination of Parliamentary Staff employees and all other competencies in personnel matters lie with the President of the House of Representatives.
(5) The President of the House of Representatives can delegate parliamentary Staff employees to parliamentary parties for help in the fulfillment of parliamentary duties.
(6) The President of the House of Representatives is the highest administrative authority in the execution of the administrative matters for which he is, according to this Article, competent and he exercises these powers in his own right. He may issue ordinances inasmuch as these exclusively concern administrative matters regulated by this Article.

Article 31 [Majority]
Save as otherwise provided in this law or as otherwise laid down in the federal law on the House of Representatives' Standing Orders with regard to individual matters, the presence of at least one third of the members and an absolute majority of the votes cast is requisite to a vote by the House of Representatives.

Article 32 [Publicity]
(1) The sessions of the House of Representatives are public.
(2) The public shall be excluded if the chairman or one fifth of the members present so demand and the House of Representatives votes this after the withdrawal of the audience.

Article 33 [Publications]
No one shall be called to account for publishing true accounts of proceedings in the public sessions of the House of Representatives and its committees.