Parliamentary committees of inquiry

By virtue of article 56 of the Constitution and the law of 3 May 1880, the Chamber of representatives and the Senate may establish committees of inquiry.

The procedure

A representative or senator is entitled to request that an inquiry be held.

This request is handled in the same manner as a bill. After the debate in committee, the request goes to the plenary meeting for discussion and voting. If the request is approved, the house of Parliament in which the request was made must appoint the committee of inquiry, upon which the investigation can proceed.

According to the law of 3 May 1880, the inquiry may be held by the Chamber or the Senate in their entirety or by a special committee. In practice, it is always a special committee which conducts the inquiry.

The committee of inquiry and its chairperson hold the same competencies as an examining magistrate. They may, amongst other things, call on and hear witnesses and experts. An inquiry may take anywhere from 1 month (e.g. Heizel drama), to 2 years (e.g. advertising on television).

Upon conclusion of the inquiry, the rapporteur designated by the committee gives an account of the inquiry to the plenary session. The plenary considers the report and makes a statement about the possible conclusions, recommendations or resolutions of the committee of inquiry. This may lead to a legislative initiative.

In practice

A great number of committees of inquiry were set up after 1950. In recent years, however, there has been some tension between the Parliament and the judiciary when both were investigating the same matters (e.g. the Transnuklear case).

List of the committees of inquiry established by the Senate since 1880 :

2001

Parliamentary committee investigating the legal and illegal exploitation and trade of natural resources in the Great Lakes region in view of the current conflict situation and Belgium's involvement.

1997

Committee of inquiry in charge of the investigation of the events in Rwanda.

1996

Committee of inquiry in charge of the investigation of the organized crime in Belgium.

1990

Committee of inquiry in charge of the investigation of the recent unveiling of the existence of a clandestine international intelligence network, known as "Gladio".

1988

Committee of inquiry in charge of the investigation and the evaluation of the regulations concerning nuclear safety, the measures to inform and protect the population and the evacuation procedures in the event of elevated radioactivity on the Belgian territory. (First requested in 1986).

1987

Parliamentary committee of inquiry in charge of the investigation of the circumstances in which Belgium would, directly or indirectly, be implicated in the arms trade and transportation of weapons and ammunition to countries against which an embargo has been imposed by the Government.

1980

Parliamentary committee of inquiry to investigate the problems with the maintenance of public order in general and the observance and the enforcement in particular of the law of 29 July 1934, which outlaws private militias and, in addition, the law of 3 January 1933 on the manufacturing, the trade and carrying of weapons and ammunition.

1951

Parliamentary committee of inquiry to investigate the activity of the Department of Sequestering.

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