The Parliamentary Commis Sioner for the Armed Forces Safeguarding

The Parliamentary Commis sioner for the Armed Forces Safeguarding Servicewomen and Men’s Basic Rights and Overseeing the Forces Regardless of their general right of petition, every servicewoman and man is able to address submissions to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces in order to uncover possible short- comings within the Bundeswehr. The Commission- er’s mandate is formulated in the Basic Law: ‘A Par- liamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces shall be appointed to safeguard basic rights and to assist the Bundestag in exercising parliamentary oversight of the Armed Forces.’ The Parliamentary Commissioner possesses comprehensive rights that enable them to perform this mandate. They investi- gate matters upon instructions from the Bundestag, but are also able to pursue complaints from servicewomen and men purely at their own initiative. The Parliamentary Commissioner presents the results of their work once a year in a report submitted to the Bundestag. The present brochure is intended to give some idea of the significance attached to this institution since its creation in 1956. 4 Foreword by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Hans-Peter Bartels 6 Introduction 8 Historical development 14 The Parliamentary Commissioner’s constitutional position 16 The Parliamentary Commissioner’s official status Contents 20 Statutory Mandate 22 Servicewomen and men’s basic rights 23 The principles of Innere Führung 26 Parliamentary oversight of the armed forces 28 Official powers 44 The staff of the Parliamentary 29 Rights to information Commissioner for the Armed Forces 30 Powers to make proposals and 46 Organisational structure of the Office recommendations of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces 32 Servicewomen and men’s right to petition the Parliamentary 48 The Parliamentary Commissioners Commissioner since 1959 38 The Parliamentary Commissioner’s 57 Annex annual report 58 Statistics 61 Statutory foundations 42 Submissions to the Parliamentary 74 Information on the Internet Commissioner and other forms of 76 Literature legal protection 78 Index of persons ‘A Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces shall be appointed to safeguard basic rights and to assist the Bun- destag in exercising parliamentary oversight of the Armed Forces.’ The mandate the Basic Law, Germany’s constitution, assigns to the Parliamentary Commis- sioner for the Armed Forces is unequivo- cal and clear. This mandate consists of two elements: safeguarding servicewomen and men’s basic rights, and support- ing the Bundestag in the exercise of parliamentary oversight over the armed forces. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces possesses comprehensive rights that enable them to perform this important mandate. For example, they can demand information and access to records from the Federal Ministry of Defence and all its subordinate agencies at any time, and they can visit any unit of the German Armed Forces at any time – and do so unannounced. Foreword by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces Hans-Peter Bartels 4 These extensive rights, which are unique in this particular form, are indicative of the significance that has been attributed to the Office of the Parliamentary Com- missioner for the Armed Forces since its creation in 1956. would prioritise conscience over blind This institution has lost none of its rele- obedience to illegal orders. After all, the vance in spite of numerous develop- people who serve with Germany’s armed ments in the forces. The Parliamentary forces are not mindless automatons who Commissioner for the Armed Forces simply do as they are told, they are criti- merely has to deal with different prob- cal women and men who think for them- lems and questions. For example, the selves – citizens in uniform. The task of Bundeswehr’s foreign deployments and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the the recent change of course towards col- Armed Forces is to watch closely to en- lective defence in Europe have made is- sure that Innere Führung remains firmly sues of equipment and training consider- rooted in the culture of the armed forces, ably more prominent. especially at a time when they are oper- The development of the principles of ating in many different parts of the world. Innere Führung (leadership and civic This brochure provides an introduction education) was informed by Germany’s to the Office of the Parliamentary Com- historical experience. Even before the missioner for the Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr had been founded, when Commissioner’s functions and the previ- the intensive discussions about its inter- ous holders of this position. In addition nal structure were just starting, it was to this, it offers an overview of their clear that the lessons learned from the Office’s development, their powers and attempted coup of 20 July 1944 had to duties, and the legal foundations for form the starting point for moves that their work. Hans-Peter Bartels, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces. 5 Democracies are at pains to integrate their armed forces into the rest of society and effectively oversee their use of force. Parliamentary oversight is of particular significance here. The Bundeswehr was consequently conceived as a parliamentary army. Introduction 6 The armed forces play a significant role in the fabric of every state. By virtue of their mission, their structure and the The instruments of parliamentary over- instruments of power with which they sight in Germany take diverse forms, are entrusted, they occupy a special po- ranging from Parliament’s right to fix sition. It is in the interests of the demo- the budgetary resources allocated to the cratic state that the armed forces should armed forces and the accountability of only exploit their opportunities to exert the civilian Federal Minister of Defence influence in accordance with the consti- before Parliament to measures that guar- tutional order. This applies not only to antee service personnel have forms of the use of military force as such, but also legal protection open to them. to the treatment of the servicewomen The specific ways parliaments exercise and men who serve in them. oversight over the armed forces in de- Democratically constituted states are mocracies have developed along what at pains to integrate their armed forces are, in some respects, highly varied strongly into the rest of society and to lines. The form such oversight takes can ensure effective oversight of how those often only be understood in the light forces use their capabilities. In this re- of history. This applies to a particular spect, parliamentary scrutiny is of par- degree for the Federal Republic of ticular significance. Germany. Visiting Parliament: members of the Bundeswehr follow a sitting of the Bundestag on the visitors’ gallery in the Plenary Chamber. 7 When the Bundeswehr was founded, care was taken to ensure that it would be subject to robust parliamentary oversight. The creation of the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces is regarded as one of the most important achievements in this field. Historical development 8 It is a distinctive feature of the history of the constitutional provisions concerning the armed forces in Germany that, both in the > Weimar Republic and until the In 1949, the population in the western fall of the ‘Third Reich’ in 1945, the part of Germany adopted a constitution head of state was simultaneously com- modelled on the principles of democracy mander-in-chief of the armed forces. and the rule of law that held sway in However, the absence of democratic other Western European countries and structures in the armed forces was just North America. It did not initially envis- as characteristic. Even in the Weimar age the establishment of armed forces. Republic, democracy ended at the bar- Just a few years later, against the back- racks gate: servicemen were forbidden drop of deepening East-West tensions, any political activity, and were not the USA and Britain began to argue that allowed to either vote or stand in elec- the young Federal Republic of Germany tions. High-ranking representatives of too should be contributing militarily the armed forces made no secret of their to the preservation of freedom in the disdain for the democratic constitution. Western world. Weimar Republic Following the First World War and the forced abdication of Emperor William II, the Weimar Republic was established in 1918 with Germany’s first democratic, parliamentary constitution. At the head of the Republic stood a Reich President directly elected by the people for seven years, who was part of the executive and held the right to issue emergency decrees. The Reich Government was led by the Reich Chancellor, who was however dependent on the President and the majority in parliament, the Reichstag. The Weimar Republic was swept away in 1933 when the National Socialists seized power and the Reichstag voted for Adolf Hitler’s Enabling Act, thus relinquishing its own rights. 9 An impassioned debate ensued in parliament and society about the re-establishment of armed forces this would entail. possibility of any future misuse of power Memories of the Wehrmacht’s involve- by the military was to be ruled out from ment in the tyranny of the Nazi dictator- the outset. This political will was trans- ship and the experiences of a criminal lated into reality by placing the armed war were still very much alive. Ultimate- forces, as part of the > executive, under ly, the founding of new armed forces the control of a minister accountable to became inescapable as the Cold War be- Parliament, while a Defence Committee tween the East and West escalated. There was set up and endowed with special was broad political agreement that they rights otherwise enjoyed only by the would require special oversight. The Bundestag’s committees of inquiry. Executive The executive is the branch of the state with the power to imple- ment (‘execute’) legislation.

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