Section 46: Mode of exercise of legislative power

46. Mode of exercise of legislative power (1) The power of Parliament to make laws shall be exercisable by Bills passed by the Assembly and assented to by the President. (2) (a) Subject to paragraphs (b) and (c), where a Bill is submitted to the President for assent in accordance with this Constitution, he shall signify that he assents or that he withholds assent. (b) The President shall not withhold assent under paragraph (a)— (i) in the case of a Bill which makes provision for any of the purposes specified in section 54; [Issue 1] CON – 40 Revised Laws of Mauritius (ii) in the case of a Bill which amends any provision of the Constitution and which is certified by the Speaker as having complied with the requirements of section 47; (iii) in the case of any other Bill, unless he is of opinion, acting in his own deliberate judgment, that the Bill, including any proposed amendment thereto, should be reconsidered by the Assembly. (c) Where the President withholds assent under paragraph (b) (iii), he shall, within 21 days of the submission of the Bill for assent, return the Bill to the Assembly with a request that it should reconsider the Bill, including any proposed amendment thereto. (d) Where a Bill is returned to the Assembly under paragraph (c), the Assembly shall reconsider the Bill accordingly, and where it is passed again by the Assembly with or without amendment and submitted anew to the President for assent, the President shall signify his assent. (3) Where the President assents to a Bill that has been submitted to him in accordance with this Constitution, the Bill shall become law and the President shall thereupon cause it to be published in the Gazette as a law. (4) No law made by Parliament shall come into operation until it has been published in the Gazette but Parliament may postpone the coming into operation of any such law and may make laws with retrospective effect. (5) All laws made by Parliament shall be styled “Acts of Parliament” and the words of enactment shall be “Enacted by the Parliament of Mauritius”. [S. 46 amended by Act 48 of 1991.]