Parliamentary army

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As a parliamentary army those are forces called, their use explicitly by Parliament must be approved. Opposite this is a presidential army , whose deployment - as in the case of the armed forces of France - is decided by the respective head of state .

feature

A special feature of a parliamentary army is that the use of these armed forces is only permitted with the approval of a parliament. This is intended to weaken the influence of the government or a monarch on the armed forces and thus ensure that their use is achieved through democratic decision-making.

history

England / Great Britain

The term parliamentary army ( "Parliament's forces") first appeared in 1644 in England compared to that with Oliver Cromwell , the New Model Army was established. Since the New Model Army , in contrast to earlier English troops, was provided, equipped and commanded by Parliament , the armed forces were officially called Parliamentary Army to distinguish them from the units of the English king.

During the Stuart Restoration this army was disbanded in 1660, but the Parliament of England retained a clear say in the use of the armed forces , especially after the Glorious Revolution . In 1689 parliament limited the monarch's influence on the military. It rejected a standing army in peacetime, as it could have served the monarch as an instrument of domestic political power. By the Bill of Rights 1689 a standing army could only exist with the consent of parliament. To this day, parliament has to approve the existence of the army every year, although it is now a purely formal act. Demands to completely withdraw control of the army from the monarch could not be enforced, so that he is the sole commander in chief of the British Army to this day .

The impact of this licensing system in the UK is still so great that the British Army , in contrast to the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force , not the word Royal , so royal bears her name.

United States

Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution gives Congress "the right to declare war on [... other nations] ". Whether it follows that military operations must in principle be authorized by Congress is controversial, since the constitution gives the President in Article II Section 2 the supreme command of the armed forces. In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution , which defines when the President must inform Parliament about the use of armed forces and when Congress may recall the armed forces. The constitutionality of this legal regulation is controversial. In 2008, a commission headed by former Foreign Ministers James Baker and Warren Christopher proposed a reform of the War Powers Resolution.

Article I of the Constitution provides that Congress has financial sovereignty over military matters. According to this, the sole discretion of Congress is to “raise and maintain armies; however, the approval of funds for this should not be granted for longer than two years "(sentence 12)," to build and maintain a fleet "(sentence 13)," to issue regulations for the command and service of the land and naval forces " (Sentence 14).

Germany

In Germany, control of the army by a parliament was enshrined in budget law for the first time after 1848 . In Prussia in particular, this control system, which allowed parliament to influence the equipment and deployment of the armed forces, was increasingly used against the monarch and the government as the sole commanding officer of the army. In 1862 the Prussian constitutional conflict arose , in which the parliament exercised its influence on the army through its budgetary law.

Up until the end of the First World War and beyond in the Weimar Constitution , parliament's right to have a say was limited to budget and equipment issues. It is true that in the Weimar Republic the Reichstag had the sole right to declare a war or peace agreement. The supreme command and the determination of the deployment of the troops was, however, a matter for the Reich President . Reich President Friedrich Ebert transferred the right to exercise authority to the Reichswehr Minister by decree of August 20, 1919 (RGBl. P. 1475) . Section 8 (2) of the Reichswehr Act of March 23, 1921 began with the following sentences: The Reich President is the supreme commander of the entire armed forces. Under him, the Reichswehr Minister exercises authority over the entire Wehrmacht.

In 1956, Art. 65a of the Basic Law stipulated that the Federal Minister of Defense has the authority to command and command , which, however, according to Art. 115b, passes to the Federal Chancellor in the event of a defense . According to current jurisprudence, the approval of parliament is required for a military deployment outside of NATO territory. Only if there is imminent danger may military actions be started without the consent of Parliament. However, in retrospect, Parliament must legitimize this action. An example of such an action was B. the evacuation of German citizens from Libya during the fall of Gaddafi . Here, however, the faction leaders were notified before the actual operation, even if this is not required. According to Art. 24 of the Basic Law, the Bundeswehr may be deployed outside of NATO territory.

Since the end of the Cold War , Germany has also been involved in foreign missions with soldiers. On the occasion of the operation of the German Support Association Somalia , the Federal Constitutional Court in its judgment of July 12, 1994 determined the necessity of a constitutive participation of the Bundestag for every deployment of armed forces and confirmed this view in further decisions. This is known as the principle of the parliamentary army. At most, if there is imminent danger, the federal government can make a provisional decision that must be subsequently approved by parliament.

On March 18, 2005, with the passing of the Parliamentary Participation Act , the German Bundestag created a legal basis for the Bundeswehr's missions abroad and thus consolidated the principle of the parliamentary army . According to the Parliamentary Participation Act, the “deployment of armed forces” requires the prior constitutive (legal) approval of the German Bundestag. Humanitarian relief services and assistance abroad do not require approval as long as soldiers are not involved in armed operations. In the case of missions with a lower intensity and scope, the mandate is extended in a simplified procedure, i. H. without multi-stage parliamentary deliberations. However, if a parliamentary group or 5% of the MPs request it, the Bundestag must be fully involved in such operations. In the event of “imminent danger”, for example in the event of an evacuation or the freeing of hostages, the federal government informs the leaders of the parliamentary groups in strict confidence. The use must then be approved by parliament afterwards. Routine uses in permanent headquarters and staffs are not subject to parliamentary approval. Furthermore, the parliament has a right of return for ongoing missions.

The cabinet decision is made by the Federal Foreign Office with the participation of the responsible resorts, i. H. the Federal Ministry of Defense, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Federal Ministry of Finance. This decision must provide information on the area and duration of the deployment, capabilities and troop limits, the powers of deployment and the costs. According to the formulation, this goes to the Bundestag as a proposal by the federal government and then to the committees that deliberate in camera. The foreign committee in charge then draws up a recommendation for the Bundestag on the basis of the committee deliberations and votes. Parliament can only approve or reject this request. A change cannot be made. The Bundestag can, however, supplement or limit the application, e.g. B. through a protocol note that the Bundeswehr is not involved in the direct fight against drugs in Afghanistan.

The vote on the foreign assignments is always made by name. It is no exception that such votes take place within 14 days.

The Federal Ministry of Defense reports weekly in its confidential "Briefing of Parliament" (UdP) to the responsible committees about special incidents in the operational areas. The Foreign Office provides information at greater intervals about crisis regions in which German troops are active. There is comprehensive coverage of Afghanistan every two to three months. Before the mandate is extended, the Federal Government presents accounting reports.

Procurement orders from the Ministry of Defense worth more than EUR 25 million are subject to multiple parliamentary controls. They must, in addition to quoting and approval in the budget and to advise the Defense Committee separately, before the contract is concluded by the Budget Committee be released. This so-called “25 million euro bill”, formerly the “50 million DM bill”, was introduced by the Budget Committee in 1981 by means of a decision of principle.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gregor Mayntz : What does parliamentary army mean? German Bundestag , June 18, 2008, accessed on March 27, 2010 : “You are not serving a minister or a chancellor, you are serving this republic, that is, parliamentary democracy. ... First, there is the determination by the Bundestag when, how and for what purpose the troops may be deployed. "
  2. ↑ cnn.com  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / articles.cnn.com  
  3. ↑ Article 45 WRV
  4. ↑ Article 47 WRV
  5. ↑ See full text .
  6. ↑ http://www.mitmischen.de/diskutieren/topthemen/politikfeld_verteidigung/parlamenstarmee/parlamenstarmee/index.jsp
  7. ↑ Cf. Winfried Nachtwei: Bundestag, parliamentary army and party dispute , in: Bernhard Chiari / Magnus Pahl (ed.): Guide to history. Foreign missions of the Bundeswehr. Paderborn 2010, p. 169.
  8. ↑ a b cf. Winfried Nachtwei: Bundestag, parliamentary army and party dispute , in: Bernhard Chiari / Magnus Pahl (ed.): Guide to history. Foreign missions of the Bundeswehr. Paderborn 2010, p. 170.
  9. ↑ Cf. Winfried Nachtwei: Bundestag, parliamentary army and party dispute , in: Bernhard Chiari / Magnus Pahl (ed.): Guide to history. Foreign missions of the Bundeswehr. Paderborn 2010, p. 173 f.
  10. ↑ Ulf von Krause : The Bundeswehr as an instrument of German foreign policy . Springer, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-658-00184-1 , pp. 53 ( google.de ).