Parliamentary committees have broad mandates to oversee defence issues, including the oversight of arms sales to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law and the oversight of gender mainstreaming in defence policy.
Parliament has the legal authority to scrutinize, amend and approve the defence budget, including the authorization of funding for each deployment of troops, and for arms sales and weapons procurement.
The constitution establishes parliament’s powers with regard to the use of military force, including the declaration of war and the deployment of troops. Parliament has the authority to investigate and debate the use of military force, including powers to summon representatives of the executive to testify before parliament. Parliament can effectively block the use of military force if there is a majority in favour.
In practice, the provisions of the legal framework on the security sector and data classification are implemented consistently. The executive cooperates with parliamentary committees and provides the information requested by them in a timely manner. Parliamentary committees conduct regular oversight of the security sector, and undertake investigation and inquiries as needed.
Parliament has in-house expertise on security-sector issues, and training on such issues is available for MPs and staff.
The legal framework establishes an ombudsman or similar public body which addresses public concerns or complaints about security issues, and which reports to parliament.
Parliament has well-established practices for security sector oversight, including oversight of policies, budgets and appointments. MPs have the opportunity to debate security-sector policy and practice in the plenary and in committees. A specialized committee has wide-ranging powers to investigate security-sector issues, gather evidence and carry out inquiries.
The legal framework invests parliament with powers to scrutinize, amend, adopt or reject legislation related to the security sector, to ensure that it is compliant with human rights standards and international obligations, and to hold the executive to account. It also sets out the arrangements for parliamentary access to specific categories of classified information.
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Delve into the Indicators for Democratic Parliaments, assess current capacity and practice in parliament, and start tracking progress towards the aspiring goals.
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