Regulations for Visiting the Senate

RULES FOR VISITING PARLIAMENT

for visits organised by the Chancellery of the Senate

§ 1. Booking tours and educational activities

1. Group tours of Parliament may be booked exclusively through the tour booking system available at https://senat.edu.pl/ (the official educational portal of the Chancellery of the Senate).
2. A tour of Parliament may include a short lecture on:
   1. The legislative process – how a bill becomes law;
   2. The rights and duties of parliamentarians.
3. Other forms of parliamentary education may be booked through the educational activities booking system. The current range of activities is available on the official educational portal of the Chancellery of the Senate.
4. The Chancellery of the Senate organises tours for groups of between 10 and 50 people. There must be at least one adult supervisor for every 20 people in the group.
5. For organisational reasons, the Chancellery of the Senate reserves the right to combine smaller groups and conduct a joint tour of the Parliament buildings.
6. The same entity may make no more than two bookings per month.
7. Bookings may only be made by entities that do not engage in commercial tourism activities. Any booking made by an entity engaged in such activities will be rejected by the administrator.
8. Individual visits are possible during Open Days and do not require prior booking. Information on the dates of planned Open Days is published at https://www.senat.gov.pl/ and https://senat.edu.pl/.

§ 2. Dates and times of tours and educational activities

1. Tours of Parliament organised by the Chancellery of the Senate take place when the Senate is not sitting in plenary, on the dates and at the times made available by the administrator through the tour booking system.
2. The dates and times of educational activities depend on the Senate’s schedule, official events held in Parliament and the availability of rooms.
3. The person completing the booking form for educational activities must indicate the type of activity and preferred dates. A booking becomes effective once the administrator has confirmed that the preferred date does not conflict with other events, a room has been reserved and the status of the booking has been changed accordingly.

§ 3. Procedure for entry to the parliamentary premises

1. On the day of the tour, group supervisors must report to the Pass Office of the Marshal’s Guard at ul. Wiejska 4/6/8, 30 minutes before the booked time, and present a list of all visitors.
2. The list must be prepared in two identical copies and contain, in alphabetical order, the surnames, first names and PESEL numbers of all persons entering the parliamentary premises (including group supervisors). Where a person does not have a PESEL number, the list must instead include their date of birth and the type and identifying details of their identity document: series, number and country of issue.
3. Both copies of the list must bear the organiser’s stamp (i.e. the stamp of the entity making the booking), enabling the group to be identified, as well as the stamp and signature of a person authorised to represent that entity.
4. The list may be generated using an IT system operated by the organiser where the organiser runs an educational or care and educational institution.
5. The list must not be sent to any email address of the Chancellery of the Senate.
6. Upon presenting an identity document at the Pass Office of the Marshal’s Guard, group supervisors will be issued with single-use entry passes.
7. Participants enter the parliamentary premises on the basis of the list of names, which must be presented to an officer of the Marshal’s Guard at the security checkpoint.
8. All visitors must carry an identity document (identity card, mObywatel digital identity document (mDowód), passport or school identity card). Persons included on the list of names may enter the parliamentary premises upon presenting their identity document to an officer of the Marshal’s Guard at the security checkpoint.
9. After passing through the security checkpoint at the Pass Office, the group must proceed to the entrance to the Senate (BII) or the Sejm (SI) indicated by an officer of the Marshal’s Guard. In particularly justified cases, the Commander of the Marshal’s Guard may authorise the use of other entrances.

§ 4. Conditions of visits

1. Tours of Parliament and all forms of parliamentary education are free of charge.
2. A tour of Parliament lasts one hour. Choosing a tour that includes the short lecture referred to in § 1(2) does not extend the time spent on the parliamentary premises.
3. The Chancellery of the Senate may refuse entry to the parliamentary premises to a group that fails to report to the Pass Office of the Marshal’s Guard sufficiently in advance, as specified in § 3(1). If a group is admitted to the parliamentary premises despite arriving late, the duration of its tour may be shortened.
4. If a group expects to arrive late, the group supervisor must immediately inform the staff of the Education, Promotion and Publications Office.
5. Tours may take place only under the supervision of a parliamentary guide. Participants are not permitted to leave the group or move around the Parliament buildings unaccompanied.
6. An organised group may remain in the buildings only when accompanied by an employee of the Chancellery of the Senate or a person authorised by the Director of the Education, Promotion and Publications Office.
7. Each group must be accompanied by supervisors, who are required to inform the participants of the provisions of these Rules and ensure compliance with them. The supervisors are responsible for the conduct of participants during the tour.
8. Tour participants must be appropriately dressed and behave in a manner befitting the dignity of the institution. Persons whose attire is inappropriate or whose conduct fails to respect the dignity of the Senate or the Sejm may be refused entry to the Parliament buildings.

§ 5. Cancellation of bookings

1. If the person making the booking wishes to cancel a scheduled tour, they must cancel the booking at least 48 hours before the planned visit, either by changing the booking status in the booking system themselves or by telephone.
2. If a booked tour slot is not used, the booking system administrator will block the entity that made the booking from making further bookings.
3. The Chancellery of the Senate reserves the right to reschedule or cancel a duly made booking for a tour of Parliament if additional sittings of the Senate or the Sejm are convened or other events are organised on the parliamentary premises.
4. The Chancellery of the Senate will reschedule or cancel a booking for a tour of Parliament by changing its status in the tour booking system or by telephone.

§ 6. Rules of conduct

1. Persons entering the Parliament buildings are required to:
   1. comply with the instructions of officers of the Marshal’s Guard concerning compliance with the provisions arising from Order No 1 of the Marshal of the Sejm of 9 January 2008 on entry to buildings administered by the Chancellery of the Sejm and access by vehicles to premises administered by the Chancellery of the Sejm;
   2. undergo security screening using technical means necessary to detect dangerous materials and objects (security screening for explosives and other dangerous items). Where necessary, an officer of the Marshal’s Guard is authorised to conduct a manual search.
2. Tour participants are prohibited from bringing dangerous materials and objects into the Parliament buildings. A list of such items is set out in Decision No 3 of the Commander of the Marshal’s Guard of 13 March 2024 on weapons and dangerous objects which may not be possessed on premises or in buildings administered by the Chancellery of the Sejm or the Chancellery of the Senate, or brought or transported onto such premises or into such buildings.
3. Persons entering the premises and buildings are required to deposit dangerous objects in the deposit facility operated by the Marshal’s Guard.
4. Visitors must leave outerwear and luggage, including hand luggage, in the cloakroom.
5. Visitors should switch their mobile phones to silent mode while on the parliamentary premises.
6. Photographing officers of the Marshal’s Guard or the State Protection Service, the security screening process, or equipment used for such screening is prohibited.
7. Cameras may be used at the place and time indicated by the parliamentary guide, provided that the device is set to silent mode and the flash is switched off.
8. Visitors must remain quiet and behave with due decorum in the Parliament buildings and must comply with the instructions of parliamentary guides and officers of the Marshal’s Guard.
9. Persons in the public gallery of the chamber during a sitting of the Senate or the Sejm must remain quiet and behave with due decorum and, in particular, refrain from expressing approval or disapproval of statements made by parliamentarians.

§ 7. Standards for the protection of minors

Order No 32 of the Head of the Chancellery of the Senate of 27 August 2024 on the introduction of the Standards for the protection of minors is in force at the Chancellery of the Senate, and a Coordinator for the Standards for the Protection of Minors has been appointed. Detailed information is available at https://www.senat.gov.pl/kancelaria/standardy-ochrony-maloletnich/.

§ 8. Information on the protection of personal data

1. The person making the booking consents to the processing of the personal data provided by the Chancellery of the Senate, with its registered office at ul. Wiejska 6/8, Warsaw, for the purpose of processing the booking.
2. Pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), we hereby inform you that:
   1. the controller of the personal data is the Chancellery of the Senate, with its registered office at ul. Wiejska 6/8, 00-902 Warsaw;
   2. the Data Protection Officer may be contacted:
      1. by post: Data Protection Officer, Chancellery of the Senate, ul. Wiejska 6/8, 00-902 Warsaw,
      2. by email: [email protected]
   3. personal data will be processed on the basis of the consent of the person making the booking, for the purpose of processing the booking;
   4. the provision of personal data is voluntary; however, failure to provide such data will result in no response being provided;
   5. the personal data provided by the person making the booking may, to the extent necessary, be disclosed to other competent authorities and institutions or for the purpose of obtaining information necessary to provide a response;
   6. the personal data provided by the person making the booking will be retained in accordance with the Act of 14 July 1983 on the national archival resources and archives (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2020, item 164, as amended);
   7. the person making the booking has the right to withdraw consent to the processing of personal data; however, the withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal;
   8. the person making the booking has the right of access to the personal data provided, the right to rectification and, to the extent provided for by law, the right to erasure, as well as the right to restriction of processing. These rights may be exercised:
      1. by post: Education, Promotion and Publications Office, ul. Wiejska 6/8, 00-902 Warsaw,
      2. by email: [email protected];
   9. the person making the booking has the right to lodge a complaint with the Personal Data Protection Office if they consider that the processing of their personal data infringes the law.
3. The personal data of persons entering the parliamentary premises on the basis of a list of names in connection with a tour organised by the Chancellery of the Senate will be processed by the Marshal’s Guard. The legal basis for the processing of such data is the Act of 26 January 2018 on the Marshal’s Guard. The controller of such personal data is the Commander of the Marshal’s Guard. The full text of the privacy notice is available at: https://www.sejm.gov.pl/media10.nsf/files/MKOK-B9ECAF/$File/wstepKS.pdf.

§ 9. Provisions applicable to matters not covered by these Rules

In matters not covered by these Rules, the following provisions shall apply:

1. the Act of 26 January 2018 on the Marshal’s Guard;
2. Order No 1 of the Marshal of the Sejm of 9 January 2008 on entry to buildings administered by the Chancellery of the Sejm and access by vehicles to premises administered by the Chancellery of the Sejm;
3. Order No 8 of the Marshal of the Senate of 11 January 2018 on the rules governing admission to sittings of the Senate and Senate committees;
4. Decision No 3 of the Commander of the Marshal’s Guard of 13 March 2024 on weapons and dangerous objects which may not be possessed on premises or in buildings administered by the Chancellery of the Sejm or the Chancellery of the Senate, or brought or transported onto such premises or into such buildings.