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Parliamentary Practices in Devolved Parliaments
 
 
4: Scrutiny of the Executive
 
4.0 Introduction
 
This section considers the mechanisms and procedures used in a number of countries with the aim of scrutinising and holding to account the activities of the executive. The position in a number of selected parliaments is examined in detail, and a more general description of the procedure in a number of other parliaments is also given.
 
It should be noted that for the purposes of this section, our research has been directed primarily at methods of scrutiny available to the devolved Parliament through the parliamentary activity, rather than through other mechanisms.
 
For this reason, we have not considered except in passing other methods of control of the executive, such as reference to a Constitutional Court or similar external agency of control. Some reference is made, however, to the procedure in many parliaments whereby the public have a formal right to petition the parliament. It seemed appropriate to make mention of this method of scrutiny, as parliaments do have a role in handling petitions of this nature.
 
This section ends by seeking to draw a number of general conclusions.
 
4.1 Belgium
 
4.1.1 Walloon Region
 
The following methods of scrutiny are available to Parliament;
  • at the initiative of the Walloon Government, a debate on its general political programme;
  • votes of no-confidence either in the entire Government, or one or more of its members. These must have the support of at least eight MPs, and must nominate a replacement Government or minister, as appropriate. It requires an absolute majority to be carried. The Government itself can propose a vote of confidence. This also requires an absolute majority : if it is not obtained, the Government must immediately resign ;
  • interpellations, at either plenary sessions or committees, introduced by more than one member, and of which six days written notice must be given indicating both the question and the points which the MP concerned will raise. These are followed by a debate, in which the relevant Minister will reply. The Bureau can decide to refer the interpellation to a standing committee, or decide that it will be treated as a Parliamentary question (see below);
  • motions can be moved by any MP at the conclusion of an interpellation or a Government statement : amendments can be moved to the motion at any time before the vote;
  • written questions and answers can be made by any MP, and if not answered within a month, can be raised orally with the Minister at a meeting of the relevant standing committee;
  • oral questions : any MP can ask an oral question of a Minister, by giving 48 hours advance notice of its subject and its principal themes. The question must take no longer than 10 minutes, and the Minister has a similar time to reply. The MP asking the question then has up to two minutes to give a response (but not to ask a supplementary question);
  • topical questions: the subject of the question is notified in writing to the relevant Minister, no later than 11.00 am on the day in question. Five minutes are allowed for question and answer. The number of questions asked is allocated in accordance with the relevant parliamentary party group strength. Questions must relate to topical matters, and must not require any investigation by the Government.
  • Ministerial statements : Ministers can make written political statements on matters of general political direction concerning their area of responsibility. These are normally placed before the relevant committee for debate. The committee can report the debate to the Parliament plenary.
 
Another method of scrutiny, available to the general public rather than MPs, is the use of Petitions. On receipt, Parliament sends them for consideration to an appropriate committee, or to the Bureau of the Parliament. Thereafter, they can be sent either to a member of the Region Government, or to another committee of the Parliament.
 
4.1.2 Brussels-Capital Region Parliament (Council)
 
Methods of scrutiny available include the following:
  • Written questions/written answers Any member may submit a written question. The government must reply within 20 days. If it is not answered, the question is published. At the end of each session, the President of the Council gives details of those questions which have not yet been answered, which list is then published in the Annual Report.
  • Written questions/oral responses Any member may submit a written question to the President of the Council. If she or he considers it can be responded to orally, it is sent to the appropriate member of the government. If he or she does not so consider, it is sent to the enlarged bureau which decides whether or not it ought instead to be dealt with as a written question with a written response (see below). The President decides whether to send the question to the plenary or to committee. The member then reads out the question which has previously been submitted in writing, and is answered by a member of the government.
  • Topical question hour takes place within each plenary sitting, at a time decided by the enlarged bureau. Any member may submit a written application to raise an issue to the President of the Council no later than 11.00 am on the day in question (if the meeting takes place in the afternoon), or no later than 9.00 am (if the meeting takes place in the morning). The number of questions is divided up amongst the parliamentary party groups in proportion to their strength. The Standing Orders provide that the oral question must be precise and concise and capable of a brief response. It must relate to a topical issue, and not relate to a matter already on the agenda.
  • Interpellations A member who wishes to make an interpellation applies in writing to the President of the Council, giving details of the question to be raised and the issues that will be developed in the interpellation. An interpellation cannot be made by one member alone. The President can, having taken the advice of the enlarged bureau, can decide that the interpellation should be submitted as a written question. Interpellations are normally made at committees, but the enlarged bureau can decide that it be made at the plenary sitting of the Council if it is of general interest.
  • Motions of confidence and no-confidence The Government can propose the former, and the Council can propose the latter, directed either against the Government as a whole or one of its members (but the motion must also include a named replacement(s) - a so called "constructive no-confidence" vote). If the former does not receive majority support from the Council, or the latter is carried with an absolute majority, the Government must resign. (In some circumstances, a majority in both linguistic groups is also required).
 
Members of the public have the right to submit petitions, which are dealt with in the same way as that described for the Walloon Region Parliament (see above).
 
4.2 Canada : Quebec
 
Members have a number of opportunities to scrutinise the work of the Quebec Government, its departments, and government bodies or agencies. This supervision can take place either in the Assembly plenary itself, or in committees.
 
Supervision in the Assembly
 
This may take the form of:
  • oral questions by members of the Assembly to Ministers of the Government. There is normally a 45 minute question time every day when the Assembly is sitting. Any question requiring research must be submitted in advance in writing.
  • debates every year following the Opening Speech (when the Premier sets out the government's legislative programme) and the Budget Speech from the Minister of Finance.
  • emergency debates can be requested by members of the Assembly.
  • once a week opposition members only may raise for discussion any matter of which they give advance notice, and can present motions on such topics;
  • motions of no-confidence can be moved on no more than six occasions in any one session.
 
Supervision by committee
 
The standing committees play a major role in supervising the activities of the government. Each committee may on its own initiative summon any public agency. Each committee also plays a role in scrutinising the Assembly's estimates of expenditure in the area of its responsibility, and verifying the manner in which such expenditure is carried out.
 
The committees may initiate examination on any matter of public interest, and may also examine delegated legislation enacted by the Quebec Government.
 
Interpellations may also be made at committee. Any opposition member may question a Minister on a matter of general interest by giving advance notice. The Minister concerned must answer the questions during a subsequent committee meeting.
 
4.3 Germany
 
As with the procedures for the passage of legislation, the mechanisms utilised by the different Land Parliaments to scrutinise the executive are broadly similar from Land to Land. Details of the procedures in the five Länder where the legislative processes has already been described are given below.
 
4.3.1 Lower Saxony
 
The Land Parliament has essentially the following means at its disposal to control and scrutinise the executive:
 
the right of investigation
the right to demand information and ask questions
special sessions on topical issues.
 
4.3.2 Upper Saxony
 
The right of members of Parliament to ask questions, receive information, and to obtain documents from the Land Government is laid down in the Land Constitution.
 
The following procedures may be utilised:
 
Minor questions: one member of the Parliament may submit a question requiring a written answer (which the Government must answer within one month);
Minor questions (oral): may be asked at a Question Time which is held once a month, which the Government must answer verbally;
Major questions: submitted by a parliamentary political group, or by at least 8 members of the Parliament, and which must be answered by the Government within two months ;
Urgent debates: which parliamentary political groups may request to be included on the agenda of the Parliament, on general and topical issues falling within the competence of the Land.
 
4.3.3 Schleswig-Holstein.
 
Questions may be asked by MPs, which must be answered by the Land Government (or its members) without delay. The Government has a duty to give information to all members. Documents must be presented without delay if one-quarter of the members demand.
 
The Parliament and its committees can demand the presence of each Member of the Government.
 
The Parliament has the right, at request of one-fifth of its Members, to set up a Committee of Enquiry into matters of public interest. Political groups and the movers of the motion are each entitled to a minimum of one member. If one-fifth of the members of such a Committee request, the Government must make documents available. The Courts and Land administration must assist enquiries.
 
4.3.4 Hamburg
 
A number of methods of scrutiny are available to the Parliament:
  • Minor Written Question where any individual MP can ask a question of the city Government which must be answered within eight days;
  • Major Interpellation which a minimum of five MPs is required to support, and which has to be answered within fourteen days;
  • Question Time and Topical Debates;
  • As an ultimate method of scrutiny, the Parliament has the right, at request of one-quarter of its Members, to set up an Investigation Committee into actions of the City Government.
 
4.3.5 Saxony
 
The following procedures exist to ensure control over the actions of the Land Government:
 
Minor written questions: one member of the Parliament may submit a question requiring a written answer. It may contain at most five short questions. If the Government does not answer within four weeks, they can be placed on the agenda of the next plenary as an oral question.
Oral questions: may be asked at a Question Time which is held once a month, which the Government must answer verbally. Notice of the question must be given by 12 noon on the preceding Thursday. Question time lasts one hour, during which 15-20 questions may be taken;
Major questions: submitted by a parliamentary political group, or by at least 6 members of the Parliament, and are designed to deal with matters of major importance. In this case, the number of questions can be unlimited and will be answered by the Government in writing. They may be discussed in plenary or in committee. If the Government does not answer within ten plenary sessions, the matter can be put on the agenda of the plenary session.
Simple resolutions: in which the Parliament can express views or make requests to the Government (which can include suggestions for legislation).
Current Affairs Hour: a session devoted to discussing current political topics at the plenary session. Five working days notice must be given of the matter to be raised.
 
4.4 Spain
 
As with the legislative process, the system of scrutiny of executive action by the regional - Community - assemblies is broadly similar. Details are given of the system in the Catalan Parliament.
 
4.4.1 Catalonia
 
The Catalan Parliament can utilise a number of mechanisms to control and scrutinise the work of the Government of Catalonia:
 
Firstly, there are procedures designed to ensure that the President of the Generalitat and his or her government have the majority support of the Parliament. These are as follows:
 
(i) the candidate proposed as President faces an investiture vote once he or she has presented his programme for Government, and normally also its proposed composition. To be appointed President, he or she must obtain an absolute majority on the first ballot, or a simple majority thereafter.
(ii) a parliamentary group, or 10% of the Members of the Parliament, can demand a motion of censure. If passed by an absolute majority of members, the President and the Government are obliged to resign. Similarly, the President can seek a vote of confidence; if it is lost, the President and the Government must resign. (It should be noted that the President in turn has limited rights to dissolve Parliament resulting in new elections.
 
Secondly, there are a number of mechanisms which enforce political control and scrutiny over the Government on a continuing basis. These are :
  • Questions of Government Ministers, to which a written or oral answer may be given. (Oral answers may be given both in Committees and in the Plenary Assembly - written answers in the latter only).
  • Interpellations by an individual member challenging the general policy of the Government or of a particular Ministry. The Member making the challenge speaks, and the relevant Minister replies. Thereafter, a motion can be proposed on which the Plenary Assembly can vote to express its view on the matter concerned.
  • Parliament can discuss and approve Proposals for Resolutions. If approved, a single debate is held with a related vote in which the Resolution concerned can then be approved. The Resolution might express an opinion, request certain legislation, or express support for an individual. They are not legally binding, but can obviously be politically persuasive.
  • At least once every year, at the start of the Parliamentary session beginning in September, general debates on the Government's policies, during which the President of the Generalitat or a member of the Government reports its performance. The subsequent debate allows parliamentary groups the opportunity to put forward their views on the Government's policies. The debate normally closes with a Resolution.
  • The Government will also present Programmes, Plans and Communications to the Parliament, allowing it to hold a debate and decide upon a resolution in response.
  • Ministers of the Government attend Report-back meetings of Committees (on their own initiative, or at the request of the Committees) to report on the general performance of their Ministry.
 
Parliament also has a right to elect all or some members of governing bodies of important institutions of the state in Catalonia e.g. the Audit Office, the Board of the Catalan Broadcasting Corporation, and a number of others.
 
4.5 Other parliaments
 
4.5.1 Austrian Länder
 
Members of the Land Parliaments have the right to question members of the Land government on the discharge of their obligations. A number of Länder 48 have made specific provision for "Topical Hour" time in the parliament programme to discuss questions of general and current interest.
 
All the Land parliaments (and in some cases the committees also) are able to set up parliamentary enquiries, which is a means of gaining information independently of the executive. In most Länder, it is also possible to establish formal Committees of Enquiry.
 
There are, it should be mentioned, two underlying factors which have an important bearing on the scrutiny function of the Land parliaments. Firstly, in seven of the nine Länder, it is at present constitutionally required that each party represented in the parliament (above a certain number of seats) is entitled to participate in the government, so that de facto there is no real opposition. (This requirement was put in place in the context of a wish to ensure that all political groups were tied into the political process, as a reaction to the social situation after the Nazi era). Secondly, both legally and as a matter of political fact, the executive and administrative systems of the Länder play a dominant role in the political process at the Land level (e.g. the membership/participation by members of the government and its officials in parliamentary committees).
 
However, it has been suggested that these features have led to a fossilization of the political system at local level, and there is a continuing debate about the desirability of removing the requirement of proportional representation in the Land government. This requirement has already been removed in Vorarlberg and Vienna.
 
4.6 Summary and Conclusions
 
In all devolved parliaments, a wide range of mechanisms is open to members of the parliament to scrutinise the activities of the devolved government. There are many methods used, but the following features are typical:
  • in all parliaments, the opportunity exists for both oral and written questions to be raised;
  • it is normal for some form of advance notice to be given to the government Minister who will be required to answer it. Frequently, details of the subject to be raised have to be specified. The procedure in most parliaments is either designed to prevent, or will have the effect of preventing, Ministers being taken by surprise.
  • in a number of parliaments, there are strict rules as to what can be the subject of an oral question.
  • in most cases, the Standing Orders provide for a mechanism for a more extended use of the question than as a means of obtaining an answer on a specific point. There are frequently provisions for allowing major questions to be raised in some detail, requiring an extensive response by the government, and/or resulting in a debate in the plenary. Control over the use of such provisions is normally maintained by requiring the backing of a number of members, and/or a parliamentary party group, for such provisions to be used.
  • There may be a mechanism allowing for the parliament President to "filter" certain types of questions, and to require them to be dealt with in a different way from that in which they were proposed (e.g. oral questions as written questions).
  • Use may be made of the committees as a method of scrutiny (as described also in section 2 of this report looking at the legislative process).
  • The use of resolutions to debate issues of general policy at the plenary is normally possible. Motions of confidence and no-confidence, as may be expected, are normally allowed at plenary, although frequently a motion of no confidence must be a "constructive vote of no-confidence" (i.e. where the motion must specify a replacement government or minister, as appropriate).
  • Formal provision is made for petitions to the parliament by the public, and a mechanism whereby they can be dealt with.
 
Finally, it should be noted that many commentators have expressed the view that in many European countries the scrutiny role of the MP over individual actions of the government, or indeed its legislative programme, is not considered as an essential part of the MPs duties as, for example, in the United Kingdom. The reasons for this differing perception of the MPs role are no doubt varied, depending on part on the constitutional and political histories of the country concerned, and cannot be considered in depth here. It should be borne in mind, however, that in many European countries there is in existence a wide range of other methods open to the public to scrutinise and complain about the activities of the executive, rather than complain to an MP; for example, the existence of a comprehensive system for judicial control of the state administration, constitutional rights upon which individuals may rely, the right of an individual to petition parliament directly, or the possibility of "citizen's initiatives" to bring forward legislation.
 
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