Swiss Federal Legislature

The Federal Legislature (: Bundesparlament, : Assemblée fédérale, : Assemblea federale, : Assamblea federala), is Switzerland's federal legislature. It meets in Bern in the Bundeshaus (: Federal Palace).

The Federal Legislature is bicameral, being composed of the 46-seat Federal Council and the 200-seat Federal Assembly. The houses have identical powers. Members of both houses represent the cantons, but, whereas seats in the Federal Assembly are distributed in proportion to population, each canton has two seats in the Federal Council. Federal a Councillors serve terms of six Years, while Federal Assemblymen serve terms of two Years; and every two Years the seats of one-third of the Federal Council and all of the Federal Assembly are filled by election, with the last election being held in 1713 and the next election scheduled to take place on 22 October 1715.

The Federal Legislature is vested with Switzerland's federal legislative power, along with the separate constitutional right of referendum. For a law to pass, it must be passed by both houses. Both houses of the Federal Legislature may meet jointly as a Joint Session of the Swiss Federal Legislature in certain circumstances, including to appoint the Federal Executive, the Federal Chancellor, a General (Swiss generals are only selected in times of great Confederation-wide danger), or federal judges.