A hemicycle is a semicircular, or horseshoe-shaped, legislative debating chamber where members sit to discuss and vote on their business. Although originally of Ancient Greek roots, the term and modern design derive from French politics and practice.
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Hemicycle in the context of Parliament
A parliament is the type of legislature, or law-making body, of a state based on the fusion of powers. Generally, a parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the executive government via hearings and inquiries. Its role is similar to that of a senate, synod or congress. The term parliament is commonly used in countries that are current or former monarchies. Some contexts restrict the use of the word to parliamentary systems, although it is also used to describe the legislature in some presidential systems (e.g., the Parliament of Ghana), even where it is not in the official name. A parliament is typically made up of elected members, who are legislators.
Historically, parliaments included various kinds of deliberative, consultative, and judicial assemblies. Parliamentary gatherings in the Middle Ages began to establish that monarchs were subject to law and first summoned representatives of common people, notably the Cortes of León in 1188 and an English parliament in 1265. During the early modern period, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in Britain established the primacy of parliamentary sovereignty, through which the rule of law could be enforced. Many other modern concepts of parliamentary government developed subsequently in the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800). Expansion of suffrage in the 19th and 20th centuries led to parliaments around the world becoming democratically elected.
Hemicycle in the context of Parliamentary
A parliament is a type of legislature, or law-making body, of a state. Generally, a parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the executive government via hearings and inquiries. Its role is similar to that of a senate, synod or congress; a parliament is the institutional form of parliamentary systems based on the fusion of powers. The term parliament is commonly used in countries that are current or former monarchies. Some contexts restrict the use of the word to parliamentary systems, although it is also used to describe the legislature in some presidential systems (e.g., the Parliament of Ghana), even where it is not in the official name. A parliament is typically made up of elected members, who are legislators.
Historically, parliaments included various kinds of deliberative, consultative, and judicial assemblies. Parliamentary gatherings in the Middle Ages began to establish that monarchs were subject to law and first summoned representatives of common people, notably the Cortes of León in 1188 and an English parliament in 1265. During the early modern period, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in Britain established the primacy of parliamentary sovereignty, through which the rule of law could be enforced. Many other modern concepts of parliamentary government developed in the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) and were exported to other countries around the world. Expansion of suffrage in the 19th and 20th centuries led to many parliaments becoming democratically elected.
Hemicycle in the context of Palace of the Nation
The Palace of the Nation (Dutch: Paleis der Natie; French: Palais de la Nation; German: Palast der Nation) is a neoclassical palace in Brussels, Belgium, housing the Belgian Federal Parliament. The Parliament consists of both the Chamber of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house), which convene in two separate hemicycles.
The palace was built from 1778 to 1783 to a neoclassical design by the French architect Gilles-Barnabé Guimard and includes sculptures by Gilles-Lambert Godecharle. Under Austrian rule, it housed the Sovereign Council of Brabant before being used as a courthouse during the French period. During the Dutch period, it was one of two homes of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the other being in The Hague. The palace was partially rebuilt at that time by the architect Charles Vander Straeten. Following Belgian independence in 1830, the Provisional Government of Belgium and Belgian National Congress moved into the building and the first session of the Chamber of Representatives and Senate was held there a year later.