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Right to make proposals and recommendations

The Parliamentary Commissioner may give the agencies involved in a certain matter an opportunity to settle it themselves. For instance, once an investigation has been completed which revealed deficiencies or incorrect behaviour he may request that certain measures be taken to ensure that there is no recurrence. He may also refer a matter to the authority responsible for initiating criminal or disciplinary proceedings. The Parliamentary Commissioner’s right to make proposals and recommendations enables him to be actively involved in the further development of the principles of Innere Führung. His proposals and recommendations do not take the form of binding instructions or orders.

The fact that the Parliamentary Commissioner’s powers are limited to gathering information and making recommendations might suggest that he is able to bring little real influence to bear. In practice, however, this is not the case. The very existence of an independent parliamentary commissioner, to whom every serviceman from private to general may have recourse, has a positive effect on the leadership behaviour of many superiors. Of particular importance in this respect is the Parliamentary Commissioner’s power to involve higher authorities, up to and including the Federal Minister of Defence, and to bring any deficiencies he detects to the attention of the Bundestag in his annual and special reports. The influence the Parliamentary Commissioner wields is not, therefore, based solely on his statutory powers but also on his moral authority, which the agencies concerned cannot easily ignore.