Parliamentary Committees of Inquiry

In accordance with Article 67 of the Constitution, parliamentary committees of inquiry may be created, at the initiative of the King or the request of one-third of the members of the House of Representatives, or one-third of the members of the House of Councilors, within each of the two Houses.

Following the same Article, parliamentary committees of inquiry are temporary and undertake the task of collecting information on specific matters or the management of public services, enterprises, or institutions. They shall later submit their findings to the concerned House.

The mission of parliamentary committees of inquiry terminates by the deposit of their report with the Board of the concerned House. Their report is later discussed during a plenary sitting and may be referred, when necessary, to the judiciary by the Speaker of the said House.

Also, parliamentary committees of inquiry may not be created when the subject of inquiry is the object of judicial prosecutions as long as these prosecutions are underway. In the case where a committee has already been created, its mission terminates upon the opening of a judicial inquiry concerning the matters that motivated its creation.

In addition to the provisions of the Constitution, Organic Law 85.13, to which the Constitution refers, regulates these committees.