No member of Parliament may be arrested out of session without the authorization of the bureau of the house of which he is a member, except in cases of flagrante delicto, authorized prosecution or final convictions. The detention or prosecution of a member of Parliament is suspended if the house of which he is a member so demands. CHAPTER III. POWERS OF THE PARLIAMENT Article 93: Parliament enacts legislation and approves taxes. It monitors the government’s action and assesses public policy. CHAPTER IV. THE METHOD OF ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONING OF PARLIAMENT Article 94: Each year, the Parliament meets without requiring to be convened in an ordinary session. The session of the National Assembly begins on the first working day of the month of April and ends on the last working day of the month of December. The opening of the Senate session takes place seven working days after that of the National Assembly and ends seven working days before the closure of the session of the National Assembly. Each house sets the number of days of meetings it may hold during the ordinary session. Article 95: Parliament is convened in extraordinary session by the President of each house on a set agenda, by the request of the President of the Republic or an absolute majority of its members. Extraordinary sessions are adjourned as soon as the agenda is exhausted. Article 96: Each parliamentarian is the representative of the entire nation. Any imperative mandate is null and void. The right of Members of Parliament to vote is personal. However, proxy voting is permitted when a member of Parliament is prevented by illness, by the performance of a mandate or a mission entrusted to him by the Government or the Parliament, by fulfilling his military obligations or by any other justified reason. No person may receive more than one proxy vote. Article 97: The sittings of both houses of Parliament are public. However, each House may sit in on closed committee meetings at the request of the President of the Republic or of at least one-third of its members. The full account of the debates of each house is published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. Article 98: The National Assembly and the Senate meet in Joint Session at the request of the President of the Republic. The President of the National Assembly presides over the Joint Session. He is assisted by the President of the Senate, who is the Vice-President of the Joint Session. The meeting venue is that of the National Assembly. Article 99: Each house draws up its own rules of procedure. Before their entry into force, the rules or procedure of each house along with their subsequent amendments are submitted to the Constitutional Council, which decides on their conformity with the Constitution. The Constitutional Council makes it decision within fifteen days. Article 100: The parliamentary opposition has rights guaranteeing it an adequate and effective representation in all the bodies of Parliament.