NATURA JURIDICĂ A COMISIILOR PARLAMENTARE

In this article, the author analyzes the legal nature of the parliamentary committees and concludes, together with other authors, that they should be considered as internal working bodies of each Legislative Chamber. The role of parliamentary committees, whether standing committees or committees of inquiry, or other special committees, is to prepare the works which are going to be debated in the plenum of the Legislative Assemblies. As working bodies, the parliamentary committees do not have their own decision-making power over the matter referred to them. In other words, the parliamentary committees do not express a political will, in a deliberative sense, because their role is to examine the matters referred to them by the standing bureaux of the Legislative Chambers and to make proposals thereto. The reports and opinions they make on the matters under examination have the value of recommendation made to the plenum of each Legislative Chamber, these being free – as deliberative bodies – to accept or reject the solutions proposed by the committees. Each Chamber of Parliament has the full freedom to set up specialized committees in certain areas of activity. The Constitution obliges the Legislative Chambers to set up permanent committees and to set up – when it deems necessary – committees of inquiry or other special committees. The composition of the parliamentary committees reflects, as far as possible, the political configuration of the Chamber that has decided to set them up.