Parliamentary Control Panel
In accordance with the Act on the Parliamentary Control of the Federation's Intelligence Services, a Parliamentary Control Panel is responsible for scrutinizing the work of the intelligenc services. The Bundestag itself decides on the number of its members, its composition and its working methods. At present, it comprises nine Members of the Bundestag. The Panel can demand the submission of detailed information by the Federal Government on the federal intelligence services' general activities and on operations of paricular importance. (The Federal Government must also permit access to files and databases, interviews with intelligence service staff and visits to their premises.) The Bundestag re-appoints the Parliamentary Control Panel at the beginning of each electoral term; until it does so, the Panel appointed in the preceding electoral term continues its work.