Committee of Inquiry

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Guillaume Committee of Inquiry of the German Bundestag on November 6, 1974

A parliamentary committee of inquiry ( U-Committee or UA or PUA for short , in Austria United States ), in Switzerland a parliamentary committee of inquiry ( PUK ), is a non-permanent parliamentary committee or commission to investigate issues by means of special powers according to the respective constitution or the respective Committee of Inquiry Act , the clarification of which is in the public interest.

Function and organization

Parliamentary committees of inquiry have an important role to play in parliamentary democracy . On the one hand, by setting up a committee of inquiry , parliaments are given the opportunity to independently investigate issues, in particular those that lie within the area of ​​responsibility of the government or the executive and which indicate grievances, and thus exercise parliamentary control over a government. On the other hand, a parliamentary committee of inquiry, particularly by the opposition , can be used as a means of political pressure. Because the majority principle, as in other committees, only applies to a limited extent. The opposition or the minority have the right to participate in the investigation in the same way as the majority of the committee, in particular to submit evidence. Therefore, the committee of inquiry is seen as the “sharp sword” of the opposition. The committee of inquiry can, for example, use evidence to request files to be presented and to hear witnesses.

A parliamentary committee of inquiry is basically a non-permanent committee of an organ of the respective parliament and is made up of members according to the respective majority in parliament. Evidence is taken in meetings and at the end the result of the investigation is written down in a report.

Inquiry committees in Germany

Inquiry committees of the Reichstag (1919–1933)

General

According to Article 34, Paragraph 1, Clause 1 of the Constitution of the German Reich of August 11, 1919 (WRV), the Reichstag had the duty and the right to set up investigative committees at the request of one fifth of its members. Pursuant to Art. 34 Paragraph 1 Clause 2 WRV, these committees were empowered to take evidence in public negotiations that they or the applicants consider necessary. The public could be excluded by the committee of inquiry with a two-thirds majority in accordance with Art. 34 Paragraph 1 Clause 3 WRV. According to Art. 34 Paragraph 2 WRV, the courts and administrative authorities were obliged “to comply with the request of these committees to collect evidence; the files of the authorities were to be presented on request ”. The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure valid at the time were applied mutatis mutandis to the (evidence) surveys of the committees of inquiry and "the authorities they requested" (cf. Art. 34 Paragraph 3 WRV). The procedure of the committees of inquiry was not regulated by the rules of procedure of the Reichstag. The procedure was regulated by the “Work Plan for Investigative Committees” of October 16, 1919, which was adopted by the National Assembly and continues to apply.

Examples

Inquiry committees in the German Bundestag

The investigation committee in the German Bundestag is a Bundestag committee , which essentially serves the parliamentary control over the executive power . It is the task of the committee of inquiry to investigate issues that need to be clarified in the public interest and to report on them to the Bundestag.

The establishment of the committee of inquiry is regulated by Article 44 of the Basic Law (GG), but the norm does not contain any detailed regulations on the subject of the investigation, the procedure or the gathering of evidence. As a result, legal uncertainties and disputes about the powers of the committees of inquiry have arisen more frequently in the past, resulting in particular from the political tension between the parliamentary majority, which is the government, and the opposition, which as a minority can apply for a committee of inquiry.

The legislature therefore felt compelled to pass a “law regulating the law of the German Bundestag committees of inquiry”. This Committee of Inquiry Act (PUAG) came into effect on July 26, 2001 and contains simple statutory provisions on all essential procedural issues, in particular on the convening of meetings and public access. Individual questions relating to the gathering of evidence are also regulated there, although the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (StPO) on gathering evidence remain applicable.

Establishment

General

According to Article 44 of the Basic Law, the Bundestag can set up a committee of inquiry; at the request of a quarter of its members, it is obliged to appoint it. With the appointment resolution, the Bundestag determines the exact subject of investigation and the number of committee members, who are then appointed by the parliamentary groups according to their strength. If the committee of inquiry is requested by at least a quarter of the members of the Bundestag (qualified minority), the Bundestag must set up this committee immediately. In this case, the Bundestag may not change or expand the subject of the investigation against the will of the applicant.

Special feature in the 18th electoral term

Due to the small size of the opposition in the 18th Bundestag , the Bundestag has expanded its rules of procedure to include the special regulation of Section 126a of the GOBT . This made it possible for 120 members of the Bundestag (i.e. less than a quarter) to apply for a committee of inquiry. The rule was limited to the 18th electoral term.

Investigation order

The investigation contract binds the investigation committee with regard to its investigation (§ 3 sentence 1 PUAG). The limits of the parliamentary right of investigation result essentially from the constitutional area of ​​responsibility of the Bundestag (Section 1 (III) PUAG). In Germany's constitutional law, it is concluded from this that a committee of inquiry must not have more rights than parliament itself (so-called corollary theory). In addition, the so-called core area of ​​executive responsibility of the federal government limits the parliamentary investigation. In principle, only those facts are accessible to an investigation by the Bundestag that have already been concluded.

Defense Committee special case

Deviating from the general regulation according to Article 44 of the Basic Law, the Defense Committee according to Article 45a of the Basic Law can itself initiate an investigation and constitute itself as a committee of inquiry. The constitution of the Defense Committee as a committee of inquiry is mandatory at the request of one quarter of its members (Art. 45a II sentence 2 GG). In this respect, the provisions of Article 44 (1) of the Basic Law do not apply to the field of defense.

Here, too, there is the special feature for the 18th electoral term in accordance with § 126 a I No. 2 GOBT that the constitution as a committee of inquiry has to take place at the request of less than a quarter of the committee members.

Procedure

The procedure of the investigative committees in the Bundestag is mainly regulated by the Investigative Committees Act (PUAG). In addition, the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure apply . The investigative committee collects the evidence required by the investigation mandate on the basis of evidence decisions. Evidence must be taken if requested by a quarter of the committee members, unless the taking of evidence is inadmissible or the evidence is unavailable even after the use of coercive measures.

As evidence, in particular, the interrogation of witnesses (§ 20 PUAG) and experts (§ 28 PUAG) and the attendance of files (§ 18 PUAG), for example from Federal government departments, into consideration. The committee can also - rarely in practice - acc. § 19 PUAG also decide to take a visual inspection as evidence.

The committee of inquiry has the right to force the appearance of witnesses, to impose a fine in the event of an unjustified refusal to testify or to have the person arrested. As in a court of law, false testimony before the committee of inquiry is threatened with punishment.

The committee chairperson leads the entire investigation procedure (Section 6 (2) PUAG). If the latter is absent, this task is assumed by the deputy chairman of the committee (Section 7 (2) PUAG).

In the event of disputes within the committee, the Federal Court of Justice decides as far as possible (before the PUAG comes into force because of its jurisdiction under the StPO, the Bonn District Court or Central District Court ). If there are organ disputes or if the establishment of the committee appears unconstitutional, the Federal Constitutional Court is responsible (Section 36 (2) sentence 1 PUAG).

Meetings

The PUAG distinguishes between two types of committee meetings.

On the one hand there are the non-public advisory meetings according to § 12 PUAG. The committee may according to Art. § 12 II PUAG determine.

On the other hand, according to § 13 PUAG the meetings of the taking of evidence. The evidence is generally gathered in public. The public means the so-called audience in the hall, i.e. everyone has basically access to these meetings as a spectator. Sound and film recordings as well as sound and image transmissions are fundamentally in accordance with Section 13 I sentence 2 PUAG not permitted. However, the committee of inquiry can make exceptions in accordance with § 13 I sentences 3 and 4 PUAG allow if there is a majority of two thirds of the members present and the people to be heard or heard have agreed. In 2005, the Visa Investigation Committee made use of this for the first time in the history of the German Bundestag. Among other things, the interviews with the then Federal Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and former State Minister were broadcast on television . D. Ludger Volmer and the hearing of the then State Secretary Günter Pleuger (both April 21, 2005).

Parliamentary television made the broadcast available to the television stations free of charge. The ARD and ZDF documentation channel , Phoenix , broadcast the session live continuously, the news channels n24 and n-tv intermittently.

The premiere was successful for the news and documentation channels. At Phoenix, an average of 230,000 viewers saw the 14-hour broadcast, the ARD and ZDF documentary channel achieved good ratings with a 1.6% market share (annual average 0.5 to 0.6%), and n-tv was also satisfied with 160,000 Viewers and 3.0% market share (otherwise around 0.5%) in the time of the commission of inquiry transmission, also N24.

Final report

After the conclusion of the investigation, the committee generally reimburses the Bundestag in accordance with Section 33 I PUAG report. The final report must first meet formal requirements. On the one hand, the report must according to Section 33 I sentence 1 PUAG must be drawn up in writing. On the other hand, the report must according to Section 33 I sentence 2 PUAG contain a procedural part (course of the procedure), a determination part (ascertained facts) and an assessment part (result). If the committee does not come to a consensual report, according to § 33 II 2. HS PUAG to include special votes.

The Bundestag can acc. Section 33 IV PUAG obliges the committee to submit an interim report. If it is foreseeable that the committee will not be able to submit a written report before the end of the electoral term, the committee shall, in accordance with § 33 III PUAG to submit a status report on the course of the proceedings to date and the results of the investigations to date. This is to prevent the Committee's investigation so far from falling victim to the principle of discontinuity .

The coalition and the opposition regularly disagree about the outcome and the need for a committee of inquiry . Nonetheless, it can be stated that after the establishment and implementation of a committee of inquiry, there may be legal changes or reforms with regard to the subjects of investigation, or there may be personnel consequences.

The results of the committee of inquiry have no sanctioning effect. The courts are not bound by the results of the investigation and are free to assess the facts on which the investigation procedure is based (Art. 44 IV of the Basic Law).

Examples at the federal level

Committees of inquiry in the federal states

General

The state parliaments in the 16 federal states also have the option of setting up parliamentary committees of inquiry. The respective state constitutions contain the corresponding legal bases for the establishment (example: Art. 34 constitution of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ). The federal states also have laws on committee of inquiry in which details are regulated. A few committees of inquiry that are well-known beyond their own national borders are listed below.

Examples

  • Committee of Inquiry into the Barschel Affair (Schleswig-Holstein, 1987–1988)
  • Investigation Committee "Hamburg Police" (Hamburg, 1994–1997)
  • Committee of Inquiry into the Munich CSU Affair (Bavaria, 2004–2007)
  • Investigation Committee " BER " (Berlin, 2012–2017)
  • Committee of Inquiry into Biblis Nuclear Power Plant (Hessen, 2014-2019)
  • Investigation Committee " Right-wing Terrorism / NSU BW" on NSU Terrorism (Baden-Württemberg, 2014-2019)
  • Parliamentary committee of inquiry to investigate NSU activities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, from 2018)

Inquiry committees in Austria

Inquiry committees in the National Council

General

Inquiry committees (USA for short) in the National Council are special committees that can be used to review the work of the federal government . The legal basis is Article 53 of the Federal Constitution (B-VG) in the version dated January 1, 2015. According to this, Parliament can set up an investigative committee (Article 53, Paragraph 1, Clause 1 of the B-VG) and has the obligation upon application of one A quarter of its members (Art. 53 Para. 1 Clause 2 B-VG) to decide on a committee of inquiry. The Hypo committee of inquiry is the first committee of inquiry of the Second Republic to be set up by the opposition. Until the end of 2014, a committee of inquiry could only be decided by a majority in the National Council. The procedure of an investigation committee is regulated in the procedural rules for parliamentary investigation committees (short: VO-UA). The presidents of the National Council take over the chairmanship of a committee of inquiry .

Examples (from 1945)

Committees of inquiry in the federal states

General

The state parliaments of the 9 federal states in Austria also have the opportunity to set up committees of inquiry. The legal basis can be found in the respective state constitutions. For example, the Burgenland Landtag can set up investigative committees in accordance with Article 46 of the Burgenland Constitution (L-VG).

Examples

  • KAGes Investigation Committee (Landtag Styria, 2006)
  • Herberstein Investigation Committee (Landtag Styria, 2006)
  • Lake Inquiry Committee (Carinthian State Parliament, 2013–2015)
  • Hypo committee of inquiry ( Landtag Vorarlberg , 2016–2017)

Investigation commissions in Switzerland

Inquiry commissions in the Federal Assembly

General

The Federal Assembly , consisting of two chambers ( National Council and Council of States ), is the Swiss Parliament. According to Art. 163 sentence 1 of the Federal Act on the Federal Assembly (Parliament Act, ParlG), the Federal Assembly can set up parliamentary investigative commissions (PUK). After hearing the Federal Council , the appointment takes place with a simple parliamentary resolution (Art. 163 S. 2 ParlG).

Examples

  • PUK « Mirage Affair » (1964)
  • PUK "Federal Pension Fund" (1995–1996)

Investigation commissions in the cantons

General

The 26 canton parliaments also have the option of setting up parliamentary investigative commissions (PUK).

Examples

literature

  • Peter Bussjäger, Wilfried Marxer, Patricia M. Schiess Rütimann: Parliamentary commission of inquiry in Liechtenstein, Austria and Switzerland . Working papers Liechtenstein Institute No. 55, Bendern 2016
  • Paul J. Faith, Lars Brocker: The right of the parliamentary investigation committees in the federal and state levels. A manual . 3. Edition. Carl Heymanns Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-452-28575-1
  • Paul J. Faith, Lars Brocker: PUAG. Law regulating the law of the German Bundestag's committees of inquiry. Comment . Carl Heymanns Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-452-27564-6
  • Christian Waldhoff, Ferdinand Gärditz: Law regulating the law of the investigative committees of the German Bundestag: PUAG , commentary. CH Beck, 2015, ISBN 978-3-406-66953-8
  • Heike Bockmann : Parliamentary committee of inquiry law for Lower Saxony: history - present - future . (PDF) In: Series of publications on economics and public law . BIS-Verlag of the Carl von Ossietzki University, Oldenburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-8142-2179-3
  • Benedict Ugarte Chacón / Michael Förster / Thorsten Grünberg: Investigative Committees: The Sharpest Wooden Sword of Parliamentarism? Selected Berlin political scandals . Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2020 ISBN 978-3-8305-5005-1

Web links

Wiktionary: Inquiry committee  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Anschütz: Commentary on the Constitution of the German Empire of August 11, 119 . 12th edition. Art. 34, p. 199.
  2. ↑ Reichstag III 1924/27. Printed matter 9/12/1927. Reichstag, September 12, 1927, accessed July 20, 2016 .
  3. ↑ BVerfG, judgment of April 8, 2002, Az. 2 BvE 2/01, BVerfGE 105, 197 - minority rights in the committee of inquiry.
  4. ↑ Timo Hebeler , Jan Schulz: Examination knowledge on committee of inquiry law , JuS 2010, pp. 969–974 (969) [Important for the jurisdiction of lawsuits in association competence ].
  5. ↑ pdok.bundestag.de
  6. ↑ Peter Dausend: € 200,000,000 - for what? - The Bundestag is investigating whether there was nepotism in the Bundeswehr. In: https://www.zeit.de/ . Die Zeit, January 9, 2019, accessed on January 11, 2019 .
  7. ↑ German Bundestag - order. Retrieved October 30, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Printed matter 15/7190. (PDF) Bavarian State Parliament, January 25, 2007, accessed on April 2, 2016 .
  9. ↑ 1. Investigation Committee "BER". Berlin House of Representatives. The President of the Berlin House of Representatives, accessed on February 27, 2015 : “[...] set up a committee of inquiry to clarify the causes, consequences and responsibility for the cost and deadline overruns at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt (BER), which is under construction. "
  10. ↑ The Committee of Inquiry 19/1. (No longer available online.) The President of the Hessian State Parliament, archived from the original on March 7, 2015 ; Retrieved on March 2, 2015 : “The commission of inquiry has the mandate to comprehensively clarify who is responsible for the illegal orders for the provisional decommissioning of the two nuclear power plant units in Biblis and which circumstances led to the unlawful decommissioning order of March 18, 2011. It must also be clarified whether the state government has truthfully and completely informed parliament and the public about these events. ” Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hessischer-landtag.de
  11. ↑ Minutes of the 7th plenary session. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Hessian State Parliament, March 13, 2014, archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; accessed on March 2, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hessischer-landtag.de
  12. ^ Urgent motion by the SPD parliamentary group. (PDF) regarding the establishment of a committee of inquiry. In: Drucksache 19/193. Hessian State Parliament, March 13, 2014, accessed on March 2, 2015 .
  13. ↑ Final report (pdf)
  14. ↑ Investigative Committee "Right-wing Terrorism / NSU BW". (No longer available online.) State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg, archived from the original on April 2, 2015 ; retrieved on February 27, 2015 : "The processing of the contacts and activities of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) in Baden-Württemberg and the circumstances of the murder of the police officer MK" Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.landtag-bw.de
  15. ↑ Application for appointment on Drs. 7/2000. (pdf) Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Parliament, accessed on April 11, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Wirtschaftsblatt: Hypo-U Committee: All facts, all names - all hope ( Memento from March 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ). Article dated February 24, 2015, accessed March 7, 2015.
  17. ^ Committees of inquiry. Republic of Austria Parliament, accessed on April 5, 2016 .
  18. ^ Rules of procedure for parliamentary committees of inquiry (VO-UA) . arlament.gv.at. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  19. ↑ § 5. Chair . In: Rules of Procedure for Parliamentary Committees of Inquiry (VO-UA) . parliament.gv.at. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  20. ↑ Award practice of the Ministry of Social Affairs 1995-1999. Parliament of Austria, accessed on June 26, 2018 .
  21. ^ Report of the Hypo investigation committee according to § 51 VO-UA. (PDF) Austrian Parliament, October 25, 2006, accessed on April 2, 2016 .
  22. ^ U Committee: Members from the parties have been determined. In: The press . January 23, 2020, accessed January 24, 2020 .
  23. ↑ Committee of Inquiry into the alleged marketability of the turquoise-blue federal government (Ibiza Committee of Inquiry). In: parlament.gv.at. January 22, 2020, accessed January 24, 2020 .
  24. ^ Written report of the committee: Investigation of political responsibility in the KAGES. (No longer available online.) State Parliament of Styria, October 25, 2006, archived from the original on April 2, 2016 ; Retrieved April 2, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.landtag.steiermark.at
  25. ^ Written report. (No longer available online.) State Parliament of Styria, December 7, 2006, archived from the original on April 2, 2016 ; Retrieved April 2, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.landtag.steiermark.at
  26. ↑ See-U-Committee started in the state parliament. Kärnten ORF, accessed on April 2, 2016 .
  27. ↑ See-U-Committee in the Carinthian Landtag decided on the final report. der Standard, October 14, 2015, accessed April 2, 2016 .
  28. ^ Report of the HYPO committee of inquiry. (PDF) State Parliament of Vorarlberg, February 3, 2017, accessed on June 26, 2018 .
  29. ↑ Report of the commissions appointed by the National Council and the Council of States to the Federal Assembly on the clarification of the Mirage matter (from September 1, 1964). (PDF) September 10, 1964, accessed January 17, 2016 .
  30. ^ Report of the parliamentary commission of inquiry on the organizational and management problems at the Federal Pension Fund (FKB) and on the role of the Federal Department of Finance with regard to the PKB. (PDF) October 7, 1964, accessed January 17, 2016 .
  31. ^ Report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry to the Cantonal Council of Zurich. (PDF) September 11, 2012, accessed April 8, 2016 .
  32. ^ Report of the parliamentary commission of inquiry "Justizstreit" of the Canton Schwyz (PUK "Justizstreit") to the Cantonal Council of Schwyz. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Canton Schwyz, December 11, 2013, archived from the original on October 11, 2014 ; accessed on January 20, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sz.ch
  33. ↑ Peter Bußjäger, Wilfried Marxer, Patricia M. Schiess Rütimann: Parliamentary commissions of inquiry in Liechtenstein, Austria and Switzerland. Bendern (working papers Liechtenstein Institute, 55). In: Liechtenstein Institute. Research and Teaching. 2016, accessed November 18, 2016 .