Strasbourg, 23 April 2008 CDL-AD(2008)004 Study no. 389 / 2006 Or. Engl. EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW (VENICE COMMISSION) REPORT ON THE DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OF THE ARMED FORCES Adopted by the Venice Commission at its 74th Plenary Session (Venice, 14-15 March 2008) on the basis of comments by Mr Bogdan AURESCU (Substitute Member, Romania) Mr Carlos CLOSA MONTERO (Member, Spain) Mr Hubert HAENEL (Substitute Member, France) Mr Jan HELGESEN (President of the Venice Commission) Mr Ergun ÖZBUDUN (Member, Turkey) Mr Hans BORN (Expert, Netherlands) Mrs Flavia CARBONELL (Expert, Spain) This document will not be distributed at the meeting. Please bring this copy. www.venice.coe.int CDL-AD(2008)004 - 2 - TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ 5 REPORT ............................................................................................................................... 10 I. Introduction................................................................................................................... 10 II. The Scope of the study................................................................................................. 10 III. The necessity for the democratic control of armed forces............................................ 13 A. The domestic dimension ........................................................................................... 16 B. The international dimension ...................................................................................... 18 IV. The role of armed forces in Council of Europe Member States.................................... 22 A. External role of armed forces........................................................................................ 24 1. Defence against external threats .............................................................................. 24 2. Collective Defence .................................................................................................... 25 3. Peacekeeping, crisis management and peace-building operations .......................... 25 B. Internal roles of armed forces....................................................................................... 26 1. Military assistance in maintaining public order.......................................................... 27 a. Counter-terrorism operations ................................................................................ 27 b. Protection of public buildings and installations...................................................... 28 c. Protection of borders, coastal waters and airspace .............................................. 28 2. Military assistance in case of disasters ..................................................................... 29 3. Other activities of the armed forces .......................................................................... 30 V. Actors, acts, moments and procedures of control ........................................................ 30 A. General Overview..................................................................................................... 30 B. Domestic Level.......................................................................................................... 33 1. Preliminary Issues..................................................................................................... 33 a. Historical context of national democracies............................................................ 33 b. Forms of government ............................................................................................ 34 c. Constitutional rules................................................................................................ 34 d. The control organ .................................................................................................. 35 2. The role of Parliaments ............................................................................................. 35 a. Organs involved .................................................................................................... 36 i) Parliamentary Committees for oversight and control of armed forces.....................36 ii) Constitutional status of defence committees ...........................................................38 iii) Other peculiarities of defence committees ..............................................................39 b. Acts and issues under control ............................................................................... 41 i) Approval and control of the military budget...............................................................41 ii) Sending troops abroad .............................................................................................44 c. Mechanisms of control .......................................................................................... 48 i) Legislation ..................................................................................................................48 ii) Decisions taken by the Parliament in the military field.............................................49 iii) Direct control ............................................................................................................50 1) Co-participation in the decision ..................................................................... 50 2) Control a posteriori of military decisions with the possibility to revoke or substitute them .................................................................................................. 50 iv) Indirect control..........................................................................................................51 1) Appointment and dismissal of top commanders ........................................... 51 2) Participation of the Parliament in general defence policy ............................. 51 3. The role of the Executive .......................................................................................... 53 - 3 - CDL-AD(2008)004 a. Organs involved .................................................................................................... 53 i) Position of the Head of the State...............................................................................53 1) Monarchies.................................................................................................... 53 2) Parliamentary Republics ............................................................................... 55 3) Presidential Republics................................................................................... 55 ii) National Defence Council .........................................................................................55 iii) The Minister of Defence...........................................................................................56 b. Acts and issues under control, and mechanisms of control .................................. 57 i) Requesting and controlling the use of armed forces in states of emergency..........57 ii) Appointment of top commanders .............................................................................59 4. The role of the Judiciary............................................................................................ 60 a. The role of the Constitutional Courts..................................................................... 60 b. Constitutional provisions referring to military jurisdiction....................................... 61 i) Constitutional regulation of military courts ................................................................61 ii) Constitutional remission to law for the creation of military courts............................62 iii) Constitutional prohibition of military courts..............................................................62 iv) Constitutions with no specific provisions on military courts....................................63 5. Other oversight entities ............................................................................................. 63 a. The Ombudsmen .................................................................................................. 63 i) Non specialist Ombudsmen without specific competences .....................................64 ii) Non specialised Ombudsmen with specific competences ......................................64 iii) Specialised (military) Ombudsmen..........................................................................65 b. Audit Offices and Courts of Auditors ..................................................................... 66 6. Internal control mechanisms on armed forces .......................................................... 67 a. Codes of conduct or professional ethics ............................................................... 68 b. Command responsibility........................................................................................ 68 C. International Dimension of the control.......................................................................... 68 1. Preliminary issues..................................................................................................... 70 a. Legal and illegal foreign military presence ............................................................ 70 b. International organisations .................................................................................... 76 c. Legitimate character of the use of force and the international body authorising it 77 2. Organs involved .......................................................................................................