Memorandum submitted by Liam Laurence
Smyth, Clerk of the Overseas Office House of Commons (2007-08
P 61)
SUMMARY OF
RESPONSES (AT
3 JULY 2008) TO
ECPRD REQUEST 996: COMPLAINTS
ABOUT ANSWERS
BY MINISTERS
TO WRITTEN
QUESTIONS
On 9 June 2008, we asked correspondents in other
national parliaments belonging to the European Centre for Parliamentary
Research and Documentation: what is the mechanism for Members
to complain about replies by Ministers to questions for written
answer which are late or inadequate?
We received answers from Andorra, Armenia, Austria
(Nationalrat), Belgium (Senate and Chamber of Representatives),
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic
(Senate), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (National Assembly
and Senate), Germany (Bundestag and Bundesrat), Georgia, Greece,
Iceland, Italy (Chamber of Deputies and Senate) Latvia, Lithuania,
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Norway, Poland (Sejm),
Portugal, Romania (Chamber of Deputies), Russia (Federation Council),
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (Senate), Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
We also received answers to a similar request
made to the private Canadian Clerks-at-Table network from Alberta,
British Columbia, the Canadian House of Commons, the Canadian
Senate, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Qu
bec, Saskatchewan, Yukon and from New South Wales
(Australia).
We are very grateful to all those who took the
trouble to reply.
In general, there is no appeal mechanism for
arbitrating on the quality of Ministerial answers to parliamentary
questions for written answer. Most respondents indicated that
it was up to the individual Member to press the matter, possibly
by asking further questions or raising the matter publicly in
a plenary sessions.
On late answers, some parliaments have deadlines
fixed in their Rules of Procedure. Ministers may be asked by the
Presiding Officer to explain their non-compliance with these Rules
or Standing Orders. In the Belgian Parliament, each House publishes
under a special rubric the list of written questions which have
not been replied to within the required deadline (20 working days).
List and statistics of late answers, for each Minister, are also
published on the parliamentary website. In Finland, a parliamentary
official calls the Ministry to ask for an explanation if the deadline
(21 days) is missed.
In the Canadian House of Commons, any failure
of the Government to reply to a written question within 45 calendar
days is automatically referred to a standing committee determined
by the Member, usually the standing committee that has the mandate
to study the subject matter of the question. The Chair of the
committee must then convene a meeting within five sitting days
of the referral so that the committee can address the issue of
the Government's failure to respond to the question. The committee
may choose to do nothing more with the question and not report
to the House; write a letter to the department(s) in question
expressing concern about the lack of response within the 45-day
timeframe; decide not to take any action based upon information
that the Government response is soon scheduled to be tabled in
the House; call upon witnesses; and/or report to the House and
make recommendations on ways to improve the departmental or agency
response process. Since this procedure of referring to a committee
the failure to respond within 45 days has been implemented, the
Government has rarely missed the prescribed deadline. Alternatively,
Members whose questions remain unanswered after 45 days may decide
to take the matter up during Adjournment Proceedings. This procedure
is rarely used for written questions, but if a Member chooses
to proceed in this way, the reference to the committee is dropped.
Similarly, in the Italian Chamber of Deputies,
if the Government does not give its answer within the 20-day time
limit, the President of the Chamber, at the request of the questioner,
includes the question in the agenda of the next sitting of the
appropriate Committee.
In Sweden, a Member may complain about lateness
of Ministerial replies to the Riksdag's Committee in the Constitution.
July 2008
|
