Legislative Council of New Cambria

The Senate of New Cambria is the upper house of New Cambria's Parliament. Unlike the lower house, the Assembly of Deputies, the Senate is not directly elected, but rather consists of a mixture of members chosen by various methods. Its powers are much weaker than those of the Assembly and it can only delay laws with which it disagrees, rather than veto them outright.

Composition
The Senate consists of fifty members:
 * Nine appointed by the Prime Minister
 * Five elected by the graduates of certain universities:
 * Three by graduates of the University of New Cambria
 * Two by graduates of Southport City Univeristy
 * One appointed by the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arvant
 * 35 elected from five special panels of nominees (known as vocational panels) by an electorate consisting of incoming Deputies, outgoing Senators, County Councilors and Municipal Councilors. Nomination is restrictive for the panel seats with only Parliament Members and designated "nominating bodies" entitled to nominate.  Each of the five panels consists, in theory, of individuals possessing special knowledge of, or experience in, one of the five specific fields.
 * Cultural and Educational Panel (4 Senators): Education, the arts, minority languages and cultures.
 * Agricultural Panel (9 Senators): Agriculture and the fisheries.
 * Labour Panel (9 Senators): Labour, organized or otherwise.
 * Industrial and Commercial Panel (8 Senators): Industry and commerce, including engineering and architecture.
 * Administrative Panel (5 Senators): Public administration and social services, including the voluntary sector.

Elections
The general election for the Senate must occur not later than 90 days after the dissolution of Parliament. The election occurs under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferrable vote. Membership is open to all citizens of New Cambria at least 21 years old and residing within the country, but a Senator cannot be a member of the Assembly of Deputies. However, as stated about, nomination to vocational panel seats is restricted, while nomination in the University constitutencies requires the signatures of 10 graduates.

Powers
The Senate was intended to play an advisory and revising role rather than to be the equal of the popularly elected Assembly. While notionally, every act of Parliament must receive its assent, it can only delay rather than veto decisions of the Assembly. In practice, the Senate has an in-built government majority due to the Prime Minister's nominees.

The Senate is limited in its powers in the following ways:
 * In the event that an Act approved by the Assembly has not received the assent of the Senate within 90 days, the Assembly may, within a further 90 days, resolve that the measure is "deemed" to have been approved by the Senate.
 * A money bill, such as the budget, may be deemed to have been approved by the Seante after 21 days.
 * In the case of an urgent act, the time that must have expired before it can be deemed to have been approved by the Senate may be abridged by the Executive Council, with the concurrence of the President (this does not apply to bills to amend the constitution, however).
 * The fact that nine Senators are appointed by the Prime Minister usually ensures that the Executive Council, which must have the support of the Assembly, also enjoys a majority in the Senate.