One deputy of the Italian and one deputy of the Hungarian national communities are elected to the National Assembly under specific election rules – they are direct representatives of their respective national communities and also hold the office of a deputy.  
The Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia guarantees extensive protection of the rights of the autochthonous Italian and Hungarian national communities. The National Assembly guarantees equality of the Italian and Hungarian languages with the Slovene language, which is the official language of business of the parliament. The deputies of the respective national communities have the right to speak and table motions, initiatives, questions, and other submissions in Italian or Hungarian. In such cases, their speeches and submissions are translated into Slovene. The deputies of the Italian and Hungarian national communities automatically have the status of a deputy group in the National Assembly, in distinction to other deputy groups, which as a rule can be formed by a minimum of three deputies. Furthermore, the deputies of the national communities have the right to decide themselves which working bodies they would like to be a member of.

According to the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, the Commission for National Communities is a standing commission, which, within the scope of its competences, can discuss all issues regarding the status and rights of the Italian and Hungarian national communities, and can propose measures on the exercise of the rights of both national communities.  It adopts decisions which refer exclusively to the rights of the national communities with the agreement of both deputies representing the national communities. A law that concerns the exercise of the constitutionally provided rights and the position of the two national communities cannot be adopted without the consent of the deputies of both national communities.

Deputies have the right and duty to attend the sessions of the National Assembly and its working bodies of which they are members, and to participate in the work and decision-making of the National Assembly and its working bodies. In order to efficiently perform the office of a deputy, they enjoy the following rights:

• to propose that the National Assembly debate and adopt laws or other acts,
• to propose that the National Assembly call referendums on matters regulated by law,
• to table parliamentary motions and present parliamentary questions to the government or individual ministers, or the Secretary General of the Government,
• to request that state administrative authorities and local community authorities provide reports and clarifications needed for work in the deputy’s electoral unit.

Deputy immunity is also related to efficient and quality work of deputies. A deputy enjoys immunity from the time of the confirmation of his election until the expiry of his term. No deputy of the National Assembly is criminally liable for any opinion expressed or vote cast at sessions of the National Assembly or its working bodies. Criminal proceedings may not be initiated against a deputy who claims immunity without of the permission the National Assembly, except where such deputy has been apprehended committing a criminal offence for which a prison sentence of five years is prescribed. Details regarding deputy immunity are defined in Article 83 of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly (Article 200-210).

In accordance with the law and the Rules of the Procedure of the National Assembly, deputies may exercise some rights only in smaller or larger groups (irrespective of their political affiliation). As such, a group of at least three deputies has the right to form a deputy group, while a group of at least ten deputies has, among others, the following rights:

• to table a proposal to elect a new President of the Government (if the candidate proposed by the President of the Republic does not receive the necessary number of votes in the first ballot),
• to submit an interpellation in the National Assembly with respect to the work of the Government or an individual minister,
• to propose to the National Assembly the impeachment of the President of the Government or a minister before the Constitutional Court,
• to propose that the National Assembly debate matters of wider importance.

A group of at least thirty deputies has the following rights:

• to require that the National Assembly call referendums on matters regulated by law,
• to require that the National Assembly establish inquiries on matters of public importance,
• to propose to the National Assembly the impeachment of the President of the Government or a minister before the Constitutional Court,
• to require that the National Assembly submit any proposed constitutional amendment to the electorate for approval in a referendum.

A group of at least ten deputies has several rights related to the legislative procedure, determined by the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly.

The President of the National Assembly represents the National Assembly and directs its work. The President:

• convenes and presides over the sessions of the National Assembly,
• signs laws and other acts adopted by the National Assembly,
• provides for cooperation between the National Assembly and the National Council, the Government, the President of the Republic, and other state bodies,
• provides for cooperation with the representative bodies of other states, international parliamentary institutions, and international bodies and organisations,
• provides for the implementation of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly,
• refers issues for discussion in the working bodies of the National Assembly,
• decides on disputes between the working bodies of the National Assembly regarding competence,
• decides on deputies’ official trips abroad when such decision is not within the competence of the working bodies.

The President and Vice-Presidents perform their offices until the first session of the newly elected National Assembly. In their work the President and Vice-Presidents are accountable to the National Assembly. More on the constitution of the newly elected National Assembly is available under Functioning of the National Assembly.

The National Assembly has at most three Vice-Presidents, one of them always belonging to the largest opposition deputy group.

Vice-Presidents assist the President of the National Assembly in his work and perform, in agreement with the President, individual tasks from the scope of his work. If the President of the National Assembly is absent or otherwise engaged, he nominates a Vice-President as his substitute. In presiding over sessions of the National Assembly, the President and Vice-Presidents generally distribute work between themselves by individual areas of work.

The Council consists of the President and Vice-Presidents of the National Assembly,  the leaders of the deputy groups, and the deputies representing the Italian and Hungarian national communities. The Secretary General of the National Assembly and the Head of the Legislative and Legal Service of the National Assembly regularly participate in the work of the Council. The President may also invite the chairmen of the working bodies, representatives of the Government, specialised staff members of the National Assembly, and other persons.

The Council of the President of the National Assembly is the consultative body of the President of the National Assembly. In cases explicitly provided by the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, the Council also adopts decisions binding on the National Assembly.

The Council decides on:

• proposals to adopt a draft law by the urgent procedure, unless the President of the Government ties the issue of confidence to the adoption of the law,
• proposals to discuss a draft law by the shortened procedure,
• proposals to hold a preliminary discussion on a law,
• the duration of sessions of the National Assembly and the time allocated for the discussion of individual items on the agenda, as well as on the allocation of speaking time to deputies or deputy groups and other participants,
• the number of seats in working bodies to be filled by individual deputy groups, and which deputy group is entitled to name the chairman or deputy chairman of an individual working body,
• the composition of National Assembly delegations to international parliamentary institutions, international organisations, and international bodies,
• the time limit by which the National Council may deliver its opinion on issues discussed at extraordinary sessions of the National Assembly, on items placed on the extended agenda of a session of the National Assembly, and on draft laws proposed by the urgent procedure.

The Council also adopts the annual work programme of the National Assembly, indicating the days on which the sessions of the National Assembly and the meetings of the working bodies will be held. In addition, the Council adopts the time schedule of the sessions, determining the list of issues to be discussed, and the days for the scheduled discussion of individual issues for a period of at least two months. The Council discusses parliamentary questions and motions related to the work of the National Assembly, and decides on other issues set out in the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly.

The meetings of the Council are open to the public. They are called and chaired by the President of the National Assembly. A motion to call a meeting of the Council may be tabled by any member of the Council. At the request of a deputy group, the President of the National Assembly calls a meeting of the Council within seven days of the tabling of such request. Due to the importance of the above mentioned competences, the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly regulate in detail the rules regarding the attendance at meetings and the quorum for the adoption of decisions of the Council.
The provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly ensure that all deputies of the National Assembly decide on the most important matters, not only the members of the Council of the President.

Under the Constitution, deputies are representatives of all the people and are not bound by any instructions. Their participation in parliamentary deputy groups is therefore voluntary and puts them under no obligation in the adoption of decisions. In a formal sense, the deputy groups are only a framework for the activity of deputies, but in practice individual deputy groups generally comprise members from the same political party, thus the positions taken by individual members of a deputy group are more or less harmonised or unified within the group.

Deputy groups are generally established by deputies elected from the same list of candidates and deputies who are members of the same parliamentary party. A deputy may only be member of one deputy group, and a deputy group may be formed by at least three deputies. An exception applies to the deputies of the Italian and Hungarian national communities, who together have the status of a deputy group.

Deputies who were elected from voters’ lists and deputies who ceased to be members of a political party have the right to form a deputy group of unaffiliated deputies or to join such group if one already exists. In an individual parliamentary term, only one group of unaffiliated deputies may be formed. Such deputy group may be formed provided it comprises at least three members.

The Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly specifically regulate the establishment of deputy groups in cases where a political party splits into two or more new parties, or where some of the members of a party form a new party, or following the break-up of a coalition of political parties elected jointly from the same list of candidates.

Working bodies are established in the National Assembly to monitor the state of affairs in individual areas, to prepare policy decisions in such areas, to formulate positions on particular issues, and to discuss draft laws and other acts of the National Assembly.  
When the National Assembly does not meet at the plenary session, deputies perform their activities in the framework of the working bodies.

Matters falling within the same field are generally dealt with by only one working body, known as the working body responsible. The working body responsible for dealing with a particular issue is determined by the President of the National Assembly. Other working bodies may consider issues of particular working bodies responsible only as the working bodies concerned.

The composition of working bodies and the positions within them are determined with regard to the number of deputies in the individual deputy groups, and in accordance with the principle of proportionality. The ratio between the deputies of the governing coalition and the deputies of the opposition is taken into particular account. Larger deputy groups and united parliamentary coalitions, therefore, have more seats in working bodies than smaller deputy groups and the opposition deputies in total, respectively. As a general rule, each deputy group is guaranteed at least one seat in every working body.

There are two types of working bodies in the National Assembly: committees and commissions.
Committees generally correspond to the areas for which ministries are competent, or cover several interrelated areas.
Commissions are either standing (such as the Commission for Public Office and Elections and the Commission for the Rules of Procedure), or established ad hoc (i.e. the Constitutional Commission). The National Assembly may also appoint special commissions of inquiry to carry out investigations into matters of public importance. Such parliamentary inquiry may be held in order to ascertain and evaluate the factual state of affairs, which may be the basis for:

• the National Assembly to decide on the political responsibility of persons holding public office,
• an amendment to the legislation in a certain field,
• the National Assembly to decide on other matters falling within its constitutional competence.

The Constitution specifically enables the establishment of so-called minority parliamentary inquiries, which the National Assembly must order so required by at least one third of the deputies or the National Council.

Working bodies are composed of a chairman and as a general rule one deputy chairman. If the chairman of a working body belongs to one of the deputy groups of the governing coalition, the office of deputy chairman will as a general rule be held by a member of an opposition deputy group, and vice versa. The leading positions in the Commission for Public Finance Control and in the Commission for the Supervision of Intelligence and Security Services are held by deputies of opposition deputy groups.