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Petitions to the Parliamentary Commissioner

Submitting a petition to the Parliamentary Commissioner does not preclude service personnel from resorting to other forms of legal protection or redress such as, for instance, reports, counterstatements, complaints submitted under the Military Complaints Regulations, or petitions addressed to the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. When a petition is submitted to the Parliamentary Commissioner, any time limits set, for example on complaints filed in accordance with the Military Complaints Regulations, continue to apply. Especially in the case of disciplinary and administrative matters, therefore, service personnel must observe the statutory time limits if they do not wish to lose their formal right to legal protection.

Because service personnel may request a parliamentary review of their submissions not only by the Parliamentary Commissioner but also by the Petitions Committee of the Bundestag, these two agencies must work together. They do so in accordance with special rules of procedure, which, in order to avoid duplication and ensure the consistency of decisions, establish channels of consultation and notification. If the Petitions Committee and the Parliamentary Commissioner are requested to review the same matter, the latter takes the lead in processing it.

Here, reference must also be made to the Military Personnel Representation Act which seeks to enhance the rights of service personnel. Under this Act, service personnel of each rank group elect a spokesperson, the aim being to foster cooperation in a spirit of trust between superiors and their subordinates and to strengthen comradeship among service personnel.