Upper chamber in the context of "Chamber of States"

A life tenure or service during good behaviour is a term of office that lasts for the office holder's lifetime, unless the office holder decides personally to resign or is removed from office because of misbehaving in office or due to extraordinary circumstances.

Some judges and members of upper chambers (e.g., senators for life) have life tenure. The primary goal of life tenure is to insulate the office holder from external pressures. Certain heads of state, such as monarchs and presidents for life, are also given life tenure. United States federal judges have life tenure once appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. As of 2023, five Italian senators out of 205, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the British House of Lords (apart from the 26 Lords Spiritual who are expected to retire at the age of 70) have lifetime tenure (although Lords can choose to resign or retire or can be expelled in cases of misconduct). Several South American countries once granted lifetime membership to former presidents but have since abolished the practice.

The president of the Senate (Khmer: ប្រធានព្រឹទ្ធសភា, Prâthéan Prœ̆tthsâphéa [prɑtʰiən prɨt.sapʰiə]) is the presiding officer of the Senate, the upper chamber of the legislature of Cambodia. The Senate was created in 1972 during the Khmer Republic replacing the previous upper house, the Council of Kingdom.

The Soviet of the Union (Russian: Сове́т Сою́за, Sovet Soyuza) was the lower chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, elected on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage in accordance with the principles of Soviet democracy, and with the rule that each deputy would represent the same number of voters. Under the 1936 Soviet Constitution, there was one deputy for every 300,000 people; this was changed by the 1977 Soviet Constitution, which provided that both chambers would have an equal number of members. Although the party gave general guidelines on nominations, such as the ratio of the social composition of the nominees, much of the work was left to local bodies and people's representatives. As opposed to the upper chamber, the Soviet of Nationalities, the Soviet of the Union represented the interests of all of the people of the Soviet Union no matter what their nationality was.

The Soviet of the Union had the same rights and competence as the Soviet of Nationalities, including the right for legislative initiative. In practice, until 1989, it did little more than approve decisions already made by the top leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After the 1989 elections the Soviet of the Union acquired a much greater role, and was the scene of many lively debates.

The National Council is the upper chamber of Namibia's bicameral Parliament. It reviews bills passed by the lower chamber and makes recommendations for legislation of regional concern to the lower chamber.

The 42 National Council members are indirectly elected by regional councils for a term of five years. Each of the 14 regional councils chooses three of its members to serve on the National Council. The last regional council elections were held on 25 November 2020.

The Senate (Kirundi: Inama nkenguzamateka) is the upper chamber of Parliament in Burundi. It consists of between 13 members who serve 5-year terms. The current Senate was elected on 23 July 2025 and consists of 13 members.

Under the newly promulgated 2018 constitution and following the new administrative division, the senate similarly to the national assembly saw its number of seats reduced. The senate goes from 39 seats to 13 seats starting from the 2025 legislative elections.