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Parliamentary Group
DRAFT LAW NO. 36 /X
LEGAL REGIME FOR PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRIES (AMEND THE LAW
No. 5/93, OF March 1)
Exhibition of reasons
The legal regime of the commissions of inquiry shall be amended, as a condition for
preserve the capacity of Parliament to scrutinise the acts of governments. That one
capacity-and responsibility-is one of the most valued constitutional attributes in the
our legal and political order.
Ora, successive and serious incidents over several legislatures have demonstrated the
depletion of the model that assigns to each government majority control of the shares
of the committee that has been constituted to verify precisely whether the Government, in given area
of his performance, proceeded correctly. In the past, government majorities
made it impossible to make representations or even the conclusion of reports. In the previous
Legislature, a commission of inquiry that emerged from a potent right was
emptied of its investigatory capacity, to the extent that it was prevented from proceeding
the audiences deemed indispensable by its proponents, even arriving the
chair of the committee to act individually to its extinction, in an illegal act of
abuse of power that was disallowed by the then President of the Assembly of the
Republic, which clarified that the committees cannot be extinguished on their own.
Regardless of the concrete appreciation of the circumstances of each of these cases
of conflict commissions of inquiry, it matters to regulate their functioning, in a manner
making them immune to such instrumentalizations, ensuring in that way their
transparency, its proper functioning and the pursuit of its function.
The present draft law meets these criteria by modifying the current regime of the
commissions of inquiry and valuing the characteristics of the constitutional system
portuguese, who ensure private rights and responsibilities to the Deputies and the
Parliament in this matter.
It is apparent, by a study of the comparative legislation, that other parliaments adopt
less comprehensive procedures of those that have been followed in Portugal. In Belgium,
a senator or deputy has the right to submit a motion for a resolution to the
constitution of an inquiry, which is then appreciated in the plenum. In Spain, the
government may take the initiative to propose a commission of inquiry, as well as the
desk of the Congress of Deputies, two parliamentary groups or one-fifth of the
members of the House. In France, it is also the plenum of Parliament that deliberates
on the constitution of a commission, to which may be proposed by any group
parliamentarian. In Italy, if a fifth of senators subscribe to the proposal of a
commission of inquiry, this should be submitted for discussion and vote in the five days
subsequent.
In this way, it emerges that the potent right of imposition of a commission of
enquiry is a norm that responds to the concern of Portuguese constitutionalists
in the sense of extending the right of oppositions to the constitution of effective instruments of
verification of acts of the Government or of intervention in other social matters of large
sensitivity. The same is the case in Germany where, at the request of a quarter of the
deputies, it becomes mandatory the constitution of the commission, which is in general very
restricted, having 5 a to 7 members, being public for their work, on principle.
But the preservation of this ability to inquire into the Government or political acts requires the
institutionalization of guarantees prolonging the potent right of constitution of the
commission up to the responsibility in determining procedures that are
compatible and consistent with the objectives set out for the investigation. In this sense,
follow in this bill some of the principles that inform the functioning
of the commissions of inquiry in the United States.
It is further proposed to expedite the operation of the committees, determining that the
They will be composed by a Deputy by each Parliamentary Group.
So, and in the applicable constitutional and regimental terms, the Members of the Block of
Left, present the following draft law:
Article 1.
Subject
The Act sets out rules for the constitution, operation and deliberations of the committees
possible formed in the Assembly of the Republic for the conduct of inquiries
parliamentarians.
Article 2.
Amend Law No 5/93 of March 1
Articles 3, 4, 6º, 17 and 21 of Law No. 5/93 of March 1, go on to have the following
wording:
" Article 3.
(...)
1-The draft resolutions or motions aimed at the conduct of an inquiry
will indicate their object and grounds, under penalty of preliminary rejection by the
President, as well as, if this is the understanding of its authors, the list
preliminary of the personalities to be convened for the provision of affidavits and
possible representations to be made, without prejudice to other decisions to be taken by the
commission.
2-(...)
Article 4.
(...)
1-(...).
2-The said application, addressed to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, shall
indicate its object and grounds, as well as, if this is the understanding of the
its authors, the preliminary list of the personalities to be summoned for the provision of
testimonies and any possible representations to be made, without prejudice to other decisions to
be taken by the commission.
3-(...).
4-Eliminate.
5-Until the 8º day after the publication of the application in the Journal of the Assembly of the
Republic , the President of the Assembly of the Republic, listened to the Conference of the
Representatives of the Parliamentary Groups, will schedule a debate on the matter of the
enquiry, as long as requested by the applicants of the committee's constitution or by a
parliamentary group.
Article 6.
(Composition and operation of the committee)
1-A The Commission shall be composed of a Member of Parliament by each Parliamentary Group.
2-Compete to the President of the Assembly of the Republic give possession to the members of the
Committee and, listened to the Conference of Representatives of Parliamentary Groups,
determine the time frame of the achievement of the investigation set out in Article 2 (b) and of the
referred to in point (a) of the same provision, when the respective resolution does not have it
done, and authorize its extension to the maximum time limit referred to in the article
11.
3-Previous n. 2.
4-Each Parliamentary Group shall indicate to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, until the
8º day after the publication of the resolution or of the application in Journal of the Assembly
of the Republic the respective Member who will integrate the committee.
5-A The committee starts its proceedings immediately after the possession conferred by the
President of the Assembly of the Republic, as soon as more than half of the
members who make it up.
Article 17.
(...)
1-(...).
2-The persons who testify before the committee of inquiry identify themselves and provide
oath in the terms of the applicable standards.
3-(previous n. 2).
4-(previous n. 3).
5-(previous n. 4).
Article 21.
(...)
1-(...).
2-(...).
3-(...).
4-(...).
5-The report referred to in Article 20 shall be published in the Journal of the Assembly of the
Republic and will be submitted for consideration in the course of the agenda of the Assembly of the
Republic, at the same time and in the same terms of the debate of the report approved by the
commission, being further discussed even if it occurs that the commission has
deliberate by majority vote not to approve report.
6-(previous n. 5).
7-(previous n. 6).
8-(previous n. 7). "
Article 3.
Additions to Law No. 5/93 of March 1
Articles 19-A and 20-A to Law No. 5/93 of March 1 on the following are adjourned.
terms:
Article 19-The
Instructor-led process of the survey
1-The instructor-led process of the survey includes:
a) The hearing of the affidavits of the persons and the pursuit of representations whose listing
is spelled out in the draft resolutions or the requirements referred to in Articles 3 and
4.
b) The hearing of other personalities and the pursuit of other representations that are
deliberated by the plenary of the committee;
c) The consideration of documents or other information deemed relevant by the
commission.
2-A Committee of Inquiry discusses the results of the representations made and takes the
deliberations that it considers relevant.
20.
Reopening of the instructory process of the survey
1-Deputies who vote won in the final assessment of the committee's report have
the right to reopen the instructory process under the terms of the numbers 3 and following.
2-Should the delibere commission of inquiry not report; any of its
members have the right to make reopen the instructory process, in the terms of the numbers
following.
3-The Deputies referred to in the n. the
1 and 2 of this article have the right to apply for the
President of the Assembly of the Republic to reopen the instructor-led process,
substantiating the requirement.
4-Verified the condition of members of the committee of inquiry of the applicants,
it is incumbent upon the President to determine the time limit of the new instructory process, not exceeding the
deadline originally set for the proceedings of the survey, keeping up with the composition
original of the commission.
5-Deputies who take the responsibility to reopen the survey determine the
list of the necessary affidavits and representations, which arise in the face of the plenary of the
commission and with the participation of all its members.
6-Compete to the Deputies referred to in the preceding paragraphs, exhausted the representations and
anticipated testimony, present its findings in the form of a report.
7-A reopening of the instructory process in the terms of the previous figures is unrepeatable
in the course of an inquiry.
Article 4.
Entry into force
The Act shall come into force on the day following its publication in Journal of the Republic .
Assembly of the Republic, April 13, 2005
The Deputies of the Left Bloc,