Suriname

National Assembly

Political system
Presidential system
Structure of parliament
Unicameral
IPU membership
Yes

Law-making

Data on parliament’s law-making role and activities

Legislative activity

Number of laws adopted by parliament, per year
18
(2023)
Total number of laws adopted by Parliament in the previous legislature
121
(2015-06 - 2020-04)
Number of laws adopted in the previous legislature that were initiated by parliament
24
(2015-06 - 2020-04)
Number of laws adopted in the previous legislature that were initiated by the government
97
(2015-06 - 2020-04)
Percentage of laws initiated by parliament in the previous legislature
20%
(2015-06 - 2020-04)
Dates of the previous legislature
25 Aug 2015 to 08 Apr 2020
(2015-06 - 2020-04)
Outcome when the two chambers cannot agree on a piece of draft legislation
Not applicable

Executive-legislative relations

Legislation adopted by parliament requires the assent of the Head of State
Yes

Sources: Constitution, art. 80 and 110(f)

Number of times the Head of State declined to give assent to legislation, per year
Not applicable
(2023)
Consequences when the Head of State declines to give assent to legislation
Other

Notes: The Constitution does not explicitly outline the procedures for overriding a presidential veto

Final decision when parliament and the Head of State do not agree
Constitutional/Supreme Court

Sources: Constitution, art. 80(2) and 144(2)

Existence of a procedure to introduce emergency legislation

There is a procedure for introducing emergency legislation into parliament
Yes
Number of times the procedure for emergency legislation was used, per year
0

Sources: Article 23 and 72(c) of the Constitution permits the enactment of civil emergency legislation to protect public health, the economy and the general security of Suriname citizens. The year 2020 was the first time Suriname implemented civil emergency legislation since amendments were made to the Constitution to permit this power in the 1980s. The legislation was in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, extended to 2021.

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No