People's Chamber

in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the supreme organ of state power and the sole legislative body.

The People’s Chamber consists of 500 deputies elected by the people for four years through direct, universal, and equal suffrage by secret ballot. The People’s Chamber sets the goals for the development of the GDR and the norms governing the relations of citizens, organizations, and state organs, as well as their tasks in the implementation of state plans of social development. It elects and supervises the State Council, the Council of Ministers, the National Defense Council, the Supreme Court, and the prosecutor general. The People’s Chamber elects the Presidium, which directs the chamber’s plenary sessions. The decisions of the People’s Chamber have the force of law if more than half of the deputies are in attendance at the session.