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Germany 1949 (rev. 2012)
2. Decisions of the Bundestag shall require a majority of the votes cast unless this
Basic Law otherwise provides. The rules of procedure may permit exceptions
with respect to elections to be conducted by the Bundestag.
3. Truthful reports of public sittings of the Bundestag and of its committees shall
not give rise to any liability.
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Legislative committees
•
Publication of deliberations
Article 43: [Right to require presence, right of access and right to be heard] •
Legislative committees
1. The Bundestag and its committees may require the presence of any member of
the Federal Government.
•
Legislative oversight of the executive
2. The members of the Bundesrat and of the Federal Government as well as their
representatives may attend all sittings of the Bundestag and meetings of its
committees. They shall have the right to be heard at any time.
Article 44: [Committees of inquiry] •
Legislative committees
1. The Bundestag shall have the right, and on the motion of one quarter of its
Members the duty, to establish a committee of inquiry, which shall take the
requisite evidence at public hearings. The public may be excluded.
•
Legislative oversight of the executive
2. The rules of criminal procedure shall apply mutatis mutandis to the taking of
evidence. The privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications shall
not be affected.
3. Courts and administrative authorities shall be required to provide legal and
administrative assistance.
4. The decisions of committees of inquiry shall not be subject to judicial review.
The courts shall be free to evaluate and rule upon the facts that were the subject
of the investigation.
