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In today's democracies, the political decisions are not made directly
by the citizens, but by their elected representatives. They, in turn,
exercise their legislative power within representative institutions such
as the Parliament. The Parliament is, of course, a political institution,
a representative instrument in which are exercised principally the legislative
operations and the control of the government (Parliamentary control).
However, nowadays, the Parliament is a distinctive institution, an instrument
which is broken down internally in sub-units with their own respective
personnel and with different tasks. The metamorphosis of the Parliament
from representative instrument, solely in charge of legislative labor,
to a modern, complex political and organizational democratic institution
is due to numerous factors.
In the past, the representative institutions of the nation were faced
with a technically easier labor than they are today. The increased interference
of the state in the economy and the society, the technological progress
and the closer cooperation of the economies of different countries are
a few of the factors which contribute to the intricacy and the composition
of the problems for which the Parliament is called upon to write new legislation.
For this reason, the Parliament gradually grew in size and was assigned
more specific procedures, and became a modern organization with its own
specific organizational units and functions. At the same time, the strengthening
of the executive power compared to the legislative power, a tendency which
was observed during the twentieth century in nearly all the democratic
governments, led to the effort for a better organization and technical
support for the Parliament, in order for the latter to converse with the
government and the public administration and control them.
For the improvement and the modernization of the parliamentary work in
accordance with international standards, there are four services for the
support of the Parliament's functions as a modern political and organizational
instrument of the democratic regime.
These are:
- The General Directorate of Parliamentary Work
- The General Directorate of Administrative Support
- The General Directorate of International Relations and Communication
- The Scientific Service of the Parliament
Every one of these services is in the form of a General Directorate,
which is broken down into Directorate units. The scope of their function
is provided by the Constitution (C.) and the Standing Orders. All these
services are supervised by the Speaker of the Parliament, who exercises
his responsibilities as supreme supervisor of the services from his election
up until the end of his tenure. The Speaker of the Parliament remains
the supreme supervisor of the services even if, in the interim, the Parliament
has dissolved or the parliamentary period has expired.
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