THE STORTING'S STANDING COMMITTEE ON SCRUTINY AND CONSTI­TUTIONAL AFFAIRS 2005-2009

The Functions of the Storting

The Norwegian Parliament - the Storting - consists of 169 members who are elected every four years. The Storting's powers were laid down in the Constitu­tion. The Storting's main duties, according to § 75 of the Constitution are to:

·         Pass new laws and amend or repeal existing laws.

 

·         To adopt the Fiscal Budget, i.e. to fix the annual revenue (taxes, duty etc.) and expenditure (grants for various purposes) of the State.

 

·         To scrutinise the government and public administration.

 

The supervisory authority of the Storting

The Constitution assigns a number of supervisory functions to the Storting, including:

 

·         Examining the Records of the Council of State (the decisions taken in Council)

 

·         Reviewing treaties

 

·         Auditing the State Accounts.

 

However, perhaps the most important duty is not laid down in the Constituti­on. This is the Government's political accountability to the Storting. By means of the parliamentary system, the Storting has control over the Government and its policy. However, the extent of the Storting's power in relation to the Go­vernment is largely dependent on the parliamentary situation.

The breakthrough for parliamentarism in 1884 and subsequent developments have given the Storting a quite different and much broader basis for supervi­sing Government policy.

The Storting at work - the Standing Committees

The majority of matters which are put before the Storting and Odelsting are first debated by a committee. Each of the members of the Storting serves on one of the thirteen permanent committees. It is the job of the committees to prepare the matters which are to be deliberated by the Storting and Odelsting. As from autumn 2005 the Storting has the following standing committees:

·         The Standing Committee on Labour and Social Affairs

 

·         The Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment

 

·         The Standing Committee on Family and Cultural Affairs

 

·         The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs

 

·         The Standing Committee on Defence

 

·         The Standing Committee on Health and Care Services

 

·         The Standing Committee on Justice

 

·         The Standing Committee on Education, Research and Church Affairs

 

·         The Standing Committee on Local Government and Public Administration

 

·         The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs

 

·         The Standing Committee on Business and Industry

 

·         The Standing Committee on Transport and Communications

 

·         The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs

 

The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs

History

The Storting has organised its supervisory work in different ways over the years. From 1814 to 1972 it was the responsibility of the Protocol Committee. From 1972 to 1981 it was dealt with by the various standing committees. A separate Standing Committee on Scrutiny was established in 1981. Its areas of responsibility were limited initially and its members also sat on other standing committees.

Since1993 the Storting has had a separate supervisory committee: the Stan­ding Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs. The creation of this new committee represented a strengthening of the Storting's supervisory role. Today's committee has wider powers than its predecessors.

The Committee's main responsibilities

The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs deals with two key areas; matters relating to the Storting's supervisory authority and constitu­tional matters. The committee's duties are set out in § 12, paragraph 10 of the Rules of Procedure:

"The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs: The commit­tee shall review and submit recommendations to the Storting on:

a. records of proceedings etc. of the Council of State, cf. section 75, subpa­ragraph f, of the Constitution, including the Government's reports on ap­pointments of senior government officials,

b. the annual report from the Government concerning the follow-up of resolutions of the Storting containing requests to the Government and concerning private proposals submitted by the Storting to the Govern­ment for consideration and comments

c. documents from the Office of the Auditor General, and other matters concerning the Auditor General's activities,

d. reports from the Parliamentary Ombudsman and other matters concer­ning the Ombudsman's activities,

e. reports from the Storting's Committee for the Monitoring of Intel­ligence, Surveillance and Security Services and other matters concerning the committee's activities,

f. reports from commissions of inquiry appointed by the Storting.

The Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs decides in each case whether the draft recommendation shall be submitted to the appropriate stan­ding committee for comment before the recommendation is presented.

Furthermore the committee deals with constitutional matters, legislation rela­ting to elections, allocations to the Storting and to the Royal Household.

The committee may also make any further inquiries within the administration deemed necessary for the Storting's scrutiny of the public administration. Such a decision shall be made by one-third of the committee's members. Before the committee itself makes such inquiries, the minister concerned shall be notified and requested to procure the information required. The committee shall make recommendations on the matters it deals with.

One-third of the committee's members may require a committee hearing to be held pursuant to section 21.

The committee may lay down further rules for its secretariat, including the du­ties of the secretariat and the use of the secretariat that may be made by indi­vidual committee members.”

Supervisory matters

The Storting's supervisory authority is there to ensure that the Government and public administration implement decisions taken in the Storting. The Storting has established three independent supervisory bodies to assist in this work:

·         The Office of the Auditor General is the Storting's auditory and control body. The Office of the Auditor General is independent of government administration. It is responsible for auditing the central government ac­counts, monitoring administration of the government's interests in com­panies and banks (corporate control) and ensuring that the State's re­venues are paid as intended and that the State's resources and assets are used and administered in a sound financial manner and in keeping with the decisions and intentions of the Storting (performance audits). The Office of the Auditor General reports to the Storting on these areas. In addition, it issues an annual report.

 

·         The Starting's Ombudsman for public administration (Parliamentary Om­budsman) ensures that individuals do not suffer injustice at the hands of public administration, and that human rights are respected. This work is carried out first and foremost by investigating complaints brought by pri­vate individuals. The Ombudsman also takes up issues on his own initia­tive and carries out inspections and visits to the civil service, prisons, psy­chiatric hospitals and other closed institutions. In addition to endeavou­ring to prevent injustice, the Office of the Ombudsman also aims at im­proving administrative agencies in general and strengthening confidence in public administration. The Ombudsman submits an annual report to the Storting.

·         The Committee for the Monitoring of Intelligence, Surveillance and Se­curity Services is a permanent committee consisting of seven members who monitor the Police Security Service, the Defence Security Service and Military Intelligence. The committee is responsible for continuous super­vision of the work of these services, and investigates complaints. It also takes up issues on its own initiative where appropriate. The main aim is to protect the security of the individual. The committee reports annually to the Storting.

 

The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs makes recom­mendations to the Storting on issues arising from the Storting's independent supervisory bodies. These most commonly involve documents from the office of the Auditor General, of which reports on performance audits are the most frequent.

In addition to dealing with supervisory issues arising from one of the inde­pendent bodies, the committee reviews other matters which come under the Storting's monitoring of the Government and public administration. The com­mittee reviews:

·         The Records of the Council of State. These include decisions taken by the King in the Council of State. The records are submitted by the Go­vernment twice a year and the Committee makes recommendations twice annually, in the spring and autumn.

 

·         The annual reports from the Government on appointments of senior of­ficials.

 

·         The Government's annual report on follow-up of decisions of the Stor­ting that contain requests to the Government and on consideration of private proposals submitted by the Storting to the Government for inves­tigation and comment.

 

The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs is distinguished from other committees by the fact that it can take its own initiatives. This me­ans that the committee can instigate investigations into public administration which it finds necessary in order to fulfill the Storting's supervisory function. The other committees can only deal with issues referred to them by the Stor­ting in plenary.


At least one third of the members must vote in favour to allow the committee to open a case on its own initiative. Once such an agreement has been reached the committee must make recommendations to the Storting.

The committee may decide to subject a scrutiny matter to a public scrutiny hearing. Separate rules apply for these hearings. The minister responsible is requested to attend together with other parties whom the committee believes may be able to shed light on the matter. Stenographic reports are kept of pu­blic scrutiny hearings.


Constitutional Issues

The Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs reviews and makes recommendations to the Storting on constitutional bills.

A bill to amend the Constitution may be put forward by a member of the Storting or a member of the Government. Article 112 provides that proposed amendments to Constitution must be submitted during the first three Stortings of an electoral term and must be considered during the first, second or third Storting of the following term. There will therefore always be a general elec­tion between submission of a proposed amendment and the decision whether or not to adopt it. This allows the electorate to make its opinions known.

A two-thirds majority is required to adopt an amendment to the Constitution and at least two-thirds of the members must be present in the Chamber to vote on any constitutional matter.

The committee also deals with electoral legislation issues.


[PMG Note : Pictures of Members of the Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs Committee 2005-2009 not included further information email [email protected]]