Parliamentary inquiries as minority rights: are legal transplants possible?

Committees of inquiry, in related literature, are often called as 'sharpest sword' of the opposition. However, this sharpness is highly dependent on how much rights the opposition is effectively provided by the fine details of the procedural rules, and whether these rights are justiciable....

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Published inTheory and practice of legislation (Oxford, England) Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 55 - 72
Main Author Szabó, Zsolt
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United Kingdom Routledge 02.01.2024
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Committee of inquiry
Committees
Governmental investigations
legal transplants
Legislative bodies
Legislators
Minorities
opposition
Opposition (Political science)
parliament
Parliamentary practice
Parliamentary procedure
parliamentary procedure parliamentary scrutiny
Rights
Rules
Transplants
KOSOVO
LITHUANIA
ALBANIA
GERMANY
HUNGARY
AUSTRIA
Austria
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Summary:Committees of inquiry, in related literature, are often called as 'sharpest sword' of the opposition. However, this sharpness is highly dependent on how much rights the opposition is effectively provided by the fine details of the procedural rules, and whether these rights are justiciable. According to the German model, the inquiry must be launched if a quarter of the MPs require it, and the opposition enjoys minority rights also during the inquiry. Many countries implemented the first, but not the second element in their parliamentary procedures (Hungary, Kosovo, Albania, Lithuania), which led to ineffective inquiries. The only positive example for a successful transplant of the mandatory minority initiative for launching an inquiry is the neighbouring country, Austria. In most of the other countries, the majority is more effective in conducting inquiries, and, lacking judicial remedies, the opposition cannot put its right to inquiry in practice effectively. It seems that the mandatory minority initiative hardly works properly outside its original home country, Germany, and the only successful transplant country, Austria. Another evidence that legal transplants cannot survive if the legal environment and culture is not fertile and developed enough.
Bibliography:THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF LEGISLATION, Vol. 12, No. 1, Apr 2024, 55-72
Informit, Melbourne (Vic)
ISSN:2050-8840
2050-8859
DOI:10.1080/20508840.2024.2311467