International Network

Article 78(1) of the Constitution of Uganda prescribes the composition of Parliament as follows: 1. Parliament shall consist of : 1. Members directly elected to represent constituencies; 2. One woman representative for every district; 3. Such numbers of representatives of the army, youth, workers, persons with disabilities and other groups as Parliament may determine; and 4. The Vice-President and Ministers who, if not already elected Members of Parliament, shall be ex officio members without the right to vote on any issue requiring a vote in Parliament. 2. Upon the expiration of a period of ten years after the commencement of this Constitution and thereafter, every five years, Parliament shall review the representation under paragraph(s) (b) and (c) of clause (1) of this article for the purposes of retaining, increasing, or abolishing any such representation and any other matter incidental to it. 3. The representatives referred to in paragraph (a) of clause (1) of this article shall be elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage and by secret ballot. 4. Parliament shall, by law prescribe the procedure for elections of representatives referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c) of clause (1) of this article. The 10th Parliament comprises of: 290 Constituency Representatives 120 District Woman Representatives 10 Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces Representatives 5 Representatives of the Youth 5 Representatives of Persons with Disabilities 5 Representatives of Workers 17 Ex Officio Members Parliament is presided over by the Speaker, and in her absence, the Deputy Speaker both of whom are elected by Members of Parliament from their number.

The Library of the Italian Chamber of Deputies is a publicly accessible library since 1988 and since 2007 has been closely integrated with the Library of the Senate in a project to create the “Joint Parliamentary Library”. The Library is primarily focused on furnishing information to Members of Parliament and their staff in support of their parliamentary duties, but it also offers a reference service for the general public. It contains an extensive collection of more than 1.4 million books, 1,800 currently printed periodicals and more than one hundred databases. The core holdings of the Library are Parliamentary Papers (from Italy and other Countries) and scholarly publications relating to Italian and Foreign Law, Economics, Political Science, History. The Library also contains numerous special collections, which can boast items of historical interest or bibliographical rarity (e.g. “The Kissner Collection” that contains about 2000 books and engravings of Rome in antiquity and the Renaissance, published between the XVI and the XIX century). One of the main products of the Library is the “Bibliography of the Italian Parliament and Electoral Studies” (BPR) : a database available online and regularly updated that contains bibliographical records of books and academic articles (some in full text) on the history of the Italian Parliament and its elections. Moreover, the Library has the scientific responsibility for the digitization project of all the Chamber of Deputies’ Parliamentary Papers, that are progressively published on the website. It is also in charge of the management of data on the activities of the Chamber and on the questions to the Government and policy setting documents (for both Houses). A special service of the Library is providing Research Products for Members of Parliament in the field of Foreign Legislation. Research Papers provided on this issue, published on the Library website, contain impartial analysis of pieces of legislation adopted especially in European Countries. The Library regularly organizes cultural events (e.g. visits of its reading rooms that have an historic and artistic value, bibliographical exhibitions, etc.) and training courses for MP staffs, external users, librarians and students.

The Library of Parliament is open to the public. In addition to serving the Parliament of Finland, the library serves all who need parliamentary, legal, or social and political information.​ The services and materials of the Library of Parliament are selected with the primary aim of supporting the work of MPs. The research service acquires data and background material as well as performs various studies for MPs and other employees of Parliament to facilitate legislative work. The Research Service and the Library of Parliament are sub-units of the Information and Communication Department. 

The mission of the National Library of the National Congress is to support the Parliamentary Community in the exercise of its constitutional functions through the generation and provision of quality, accessible, timely, pertinent and politically neutral products and services. Also contribute to the linking of the National Congress of Chile with the citizens, giving access to its legal and historical heritage and promoting instances of dialogue and reflection between parliamentarians and the civil society.

Information Service for MPs

The House of Commons Library provides impartial information and research services for Members of Parliament and their staff in support of their parliamentary duties

The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) is the in-house research department and think tank of the European Parliament. It provides Members and their parliamentary committees with independent, objective and authoritative research, analysis and information on policy issues relating to the European Union, and helps them exercise scrutiny and oversight of the European Commission and other EU executive bodies. EPRS has three directorates-general - for the Members' Research Service, the Library, and Impact Assessment and European Added Value.

The Documentation and Information Center provides information to the House´s staff, Brazilian citizens and the international community, provides support to the legislative activities and preserves the institutional memory. The Documentation and Information Center is responsible for managing information in the Chamber, ensuring internal and external information quality and access. Thus, among its management activities are those related to library and archive services, information architecture, documentary language and terminology control, management of legislative information databases, publication of the official bibliographic materials of the House, preservation of country's and legislative heritage and information research. The research service – officially called Legislative Consultancy – provides expert analysis to parliamentarians, committees, Plenary meetings and Chamber administration on 21 fields of public policy. It is a separate department from the Documentation and Information Center, although both units cooperate on a large scale. The research service is basically demand driven and produces in-depth studies, short papers and drafts for bills and bill reports. Researchers also attend all committee meetings, in order to provide on-site advice on technical and policy related issues concerning bills under discussion. The average number of research request is twenty thousand a year.

Provide documental support to all Members and committees of the Chamber of Deputies in order to assist them in their institutional functions. Based on different resources as bibliographic documentation, museum practices, archives and research studies, we offer efficient, effective and timely products and services, which may also be extended to the chamber’s staff and general public.

The Office of Parliamentary Studies is a management centre of the Catalan Parliamentary Administration whose main functions are the following: 1. To provide information to the deputies, to the parliamentary groups and to the bodies and services of the House so that they can carry out the statutory duties assigned to the Parliament of Catalonia. 2. To manage and conserve the collection of documents that are produced and received by the Parliament, by carrying out the following tasks: • Providing information, advice, services and products specifically relating to the work of the Parliament. • Conducting studies and research related to the activity and work of the Parliament. • Organizing, conserving, managing and disseminating bibliographic and document collections of the Library and Archives of the Parliament.

The Bundestag Library began its work in 1949 with a stock of 1000 volumes taken over from the Parliamentary Council. Today, with over 1.5 million volumes, it has both an extensive collection of specialist literature and special collections. The Bundestag Library serves the Members of the Bundestag and the parliamentary groups. It also supports the committee secretariats and organisational units of the Bundestag administration by making available to them publications required on an everyday basis for their work. Additionally, it is used by former Members of the Bundestag, and current and former German Members of the European Parliament, along with staff of the federal and Land authorities located in Berlin, the diplomatic missions and German and foreign journalists.

The Research Service of the Italian Chamber of Deputies provides information to Standing Committees and individual parliamentarians in order to support their legislative activity and other parliamentary functions: policy-setting, oversight and inquiry activities. In relation to the legislative function, the Research Service produces Research Papers -available on the Chamber of Deputies website - with impartial and balanced analyses regarding every bill examined by Standing Committees, with the aim of presenting their content and purposes, and evaluating their impact on legislation in force. It also implements the open data documentation platform called “Topics of Parliamentary Activity” (Temi dell’attività parlamentare), available online, providing timely, non-partisan, authoritative and concise information on issues debated in Parliament. Research Service’s Officials attend sittings of each Standing Committee in order to support the rapporteur appointed by the Committee for each bill. Occasionally, they also provide fact sheets and briefings, upon request, to Chairmen of all Standing and Special Committees and other Members of Parliament.

La Bibliothèque de l’Assemblée nationale répond aux besoins documentaires et de recherche des parlementaires et du personnel administratif de l’Assemblée en fournissant de l’information et des analyses fiables et impartiales. Pour ce faire, elle met à leur disposition des services de référence, de recherche, de gestion documentaire et d’archives.

The Senate Library was created on May 18, 1826, by a committee established to prepare the first catalogue of books and journals own by the “Senate Bookstore”, on the initiative of Senator Viscount of Cairú. Nowadays, the Senate Library is responsible for a cooperative network of 12 specialized libraries, a Digital Library with 280 thousand documents, maintain a Controlled Vocabulary and Authority Name Headings, offers access to several international renowned Databases and provides various products and services to Senators and Senate staff. Our team is formed by libraries specialized in Law, Knowledge Management, Legislative Communication and other related areas.

The Parliamentary Library is part of the Department of Parliamentary Services and provides services to senators, members, their staff, the staff of parliamentary departments and the Governor-General. The first library services were delivered to federal parliament in 1901 and continue to provide significant support to parliament and the democratic process.

The Parliament Library of India, one of the richest repositories of books in India, was established in the year 1921 to assist members of the Indian Legislature. This is the largest library in Delhi and second largest library in India after the National Library.