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The constitutional position of the Parliamentary Commissioner

By stating that the Commissioner “shall assist the Bundestag” and by using the term “Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces”, Article 45b of the Basic Law, and the federal law enacted pursuant to it, make it quite clear that this institution is in all respects part of the German Bundestag, and thus of the legislature.

The fact that the Parliamentary Commissioner is an organ of the German Bundestag is underscored in particular by the following legal provisions:

• the Bundestag and the Defence Committee have the right, albeit limited, to issue instructions to the Parliamentary Commissioner;
• the Parliamentary Commissioner cannot take any action if the Defence Committee has made the matter in question the subject of its own deliberations;
• the Parliamentary Commissioner has a duty to report to the Bundestag;
• the Bundestag and the Defence Committee may at any time request the Parliamentary Commissioner to attend their deliberations.

The Federal Minister of Defence, over whom the Parliamentary Commissioner exercises control, is part of the executive. As a consequence of the separation of powers, the Defence Minister has no right to issue instructions to the Parliamentary Commissioner. The converse also applies.