Page:The Constitution of the Czechoslovak Republic.pdf/55



The constituencies electing senators shall be composed of constituencies which elect members to the Chamber of Deputies.

(Here follows an enumeration of the electoral districts. There are in all 13 senatorial constituencies electing respectively 23, 11, 15, 14, 15, 17, 16, 10, 7, 5, 9, 4 and 4 senators.)

At its first assembly which shall be opened by the Prime Minister and presided over by the senior senator, the Senate shall elect from among its own members a chairman and two deputy chairmen.

The proceedings of the Senate shall be regulated within the limits of the law relating to Rules of Procedure, by Rules of Procedure determined upon by the Senate itself. Until such Rules shall be determined upon the Rules of Procedure passed by the hitherto existing National Assembly shall remain in force.

At the ﬁrst assembly of the Senate and previous to the elections of chairman and deputy chairmen the Senators shall take the oath in the presence of the Prime Minister as provided by § 22 of the Constitutional Charter. Refusal to take the oath or the taking of it with reservation shall entail the immediate loss by the member of his seat (§ 22 of the Constitutional Charter).

The same applies to Senators who subsequently enter the Senate; they take the oath in the presence of the chairman of the Senate.