PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

An effective parliament (I): The national level I 135
the Chilean National Congress can require the attendance of ministers of state
at special sessions of either chamber convened to inform members about
issues within the competence of the relevant ministry.
Parliamentary approval of executive appointments
In presidential systems, where ministers are not members of the legislature,
an important aspect of oversight lies in the process of approval for executive
and cabinet appointments, typically involving lengthy investigations of the
appointee’s suitability for public office. Such investigations may also cover
judicial and ambassadorial appointments as well as ministerial ones. Some
parliamentary systems have also developed procedures for the oversight of
important non-ministerial appointments, though this practice is less common.
The other side of the coin is the possibility of removal from office. The
legislature’s right to impeach a president by special procedure in presidential
systems constitutes a last resort, which typically follows some significant
breach of the law or constitution. In parliamentary systems, by contrast, a vote
of no-confidence in a premier more typically indicates a loss of support on
political grounds, and one which does not have the same potential for
executive-parliament confrontation, since the government is sustained by parliament.
Some parliaments also allow for votes of no-confidence in individual
ministers, without this affecting the composition of the government
as a whole.
Special commissions of enquiry
As a further instrument of oversight, mention should be made of special
commissions of enquiry which parliaments may set up to investigate issues of
major public moment, typically spanning the province of more than one
department, and the remit of more than one of its committees. These should be
distinguished from commissions of enquiry set up by governments themselves,
in which the government sets its own terms of reference and chooses
its key personnel. These latter can sometimes become an instrument for shelving
a controversial issue, or blunting potential criticism of the government’s
own conduct, and hence not be an effective instrument of oversight at all.
An important element in commissions of enquiry is the protection that is
afforded to witnesses through ‘whistleblower’ legislation, although such
protection has a wider relevance than just in this context. The following
comment comes from the work by NDI on international standards for democratic
legislatures: