constituteproject.org PDF generated: 26 Sep 2013, 21:48 141 Public access to and involvement in Parliament Parliament must-(a) facilitate public involvement in its legislative and other processes and in the processes of its committees; (b) ensure that interested parties are consulted about Bills being considered by Parliament, unless such consultation is inappropriate or impracticable; and (c) conduct its business in a transparent manner and hold its sittings, and those of its committees, in public, though measures may be taken-(i) to preserve order in parliamentary proceedings; (ii) to regulate public access, including access of the media, to Parliament and its committees; (iii) to exclude the public, including the media, from sittings of committees; and (iv) to provide for the searching of persons and, where appropriate, the refusal of entry to Parliament or the removal of any person from Parliament; but those measures must be fair, reasonable and justifiable in a democratic society based on openness, justice, human dignity, equality and freedom. 142 Validity of proceedings in Parliament (1) A vacancy in the membership of the Senate or the National Assembly, or the suspension of a Member of Parliament, does not prevent the Senate or the National Assembly from transacting its business. (2) The fact that a person who was not entitled to do so sat and voted in the Senate or the National Assembly or otherwise took part in the proceedings of the Senate or the National Assembly does not invalidate the proceedings. PART 8 DURATION, DISSOLUTION AND SITTINGS OF PARLIAMENT 143 Duration and dissolution of Parliament (1) Parliament is elected for a five-year term which runs from the date on which the President-elect is sworn in and assumes office in terms of section 94(1)(a), and Parliament stands dissolved at midnight on the day before the first polling day in the next general election called in terms of section 144. (2) The President must by proclamation dissolve Parliament if the Senate and the National Assembly, sitting separately, by the votes of at least two-thirds of the total membership of each House, have passed resolutions to dissolve. (3) The President may by proclamation dissolve Parliament if the National Assembly has unreasonably refused to pass an Appropriation Bill referred to in section 305. (4) A decision to dissolve Parliament in terms of subsection (3) may, on the application of any Member of Parliament, be set aside on review by the Constitutional Court. Zimbabwe 2013 Page 60