Legislative Branch
The highest legislative institution was the Federal Assembly, which Chapter 3 of the 1960 Constitution recognized as "the supreme organ of state power and the sole statewide legislative body." The Federal Assembly was divided into two equal chambers, the Chamber of the People and the Chamber of the Nations. The Chamber of the People reflected a system of proportional representation: in 1986 it included 134 deputies from the Czech Socialist Republic and 66 deputies from the Slovak Socialist Republic. The Chamber of Nations had 150 members, 75 from each republic. Deputies were selected through popular elections and served five year terms of office; all 350 served concurrently.
After an election each chamber met to select its own presidium consisting of three to six members. Together, the chambers elected the forty-member Presidium of the Federal Assembly, which served as the legislative authority when the assembly was not in session. A joint session of the Federal Assembly selected its chairman and vice chairman. Alois Indra served as chairman from 1971 to 1989.
The Federal Assembly met in regular session at least twice a year, in the spring and fall. Legislation presented to the assembly at these sessions had to be approved by both chambers and in some cases requires a majority vote by both the Czech and the Slovak deputies in the Chamber of the Nations. Constitutionally, the Federal Assembly had exclusive jurisdiction in all matters of foreign policy, fundamental matters of domestic policy, the economic plan, and supervision of the executive branch of government. In practice, as was the case in all other Communist countries, its function was largely confined to rubber-stamping decisions already made by the KSC. Laws in Czechoslovakia were decided at the highest level of the KSC. They were then presented to the Federal Assembly for approval, which almost always came unanimously.
Read more about this topic: Government Structure Of Communist Czechoslovakia
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