Committees and inquiry
The standing committees are composed in proportion to the strength of the lists, the chairs are distributed among them, and one quarter of the members may open an inquiry.
Article 132(1): the Assembly constitutes standing committees, composed in proportion to the strength of the lists, whose chairs are distributed among them.
Article 132(2): a committee may require the attendance of any member of an executive committee, any officer of the administration, any officer of a planning body, any officer of a federation or public establishment, and any person holding a delegated public function, and may require the production of documents.
Article 132(3): one quarter of the members may constitute a committee of inquiry, whose composition reflects the strength of the lists and whose chair belongs to the members who constituted it.
Inquiry on the demand of a minority
A committee of inquiry is constituted by one quarter of the members and requires no majority. The chair belongs to the members who constituted it, so a majority can neither refuse the inquiry nor take charge of it.
Two committees of inquiry sat in the year to June 2026: one on the withdrawal of transport services from two settlements, and one on the retirement of rolling stock before the useful life entered in the plan. Both reported publicly.
Standing committees
| Committee | Field |
|---|---|
| Provision | The essential provision of Article 62 and the guarantees of Title IV |
| Ecological Order | Title II, the budgets, and the acts of the planning bodies |
| Rights and Justice | Title III, the courts, and the offices of Title IX |
| Territories | Communes, sub-regions and regions, and equalisation between territories |
| External Relations | Title XI, treaties, and licensed foreign entities |
| Public Works and Transport | Infrastructure, maintenance obligations and the transport network |
| Labour | Title IV, hours, arduous tasks and workplace assemblies |
| Constitutional Affairs | Organic laws, revision, and the reports of the Office of Constitutional Revision |
Chairs are elected by each committee from among its members and distributed among the lists so as to reflect their strength.
Attendance
The power to require attendance extends to members of executive committees, officers of the administration, officers of planning bodies, officers of federations and public establishments, and any person holding a delegated public function. A committee may also require documents.
That power stops at the judiciary. Article 193(2) admits no instruction to a judge from the Assembly or from any other body, and Article 241(4) keeps the reasoning of a judgment beyond what any body may require.
Oversight offices before committees
The annual report of each oversight office is laid before the Assembly for debate in public sitting. The Audit Office, the Defender of Rights, the Commissioner for Future Generations and the Office of Democratic Integrity each report and are each debated.
Their resources stand beyond reduction during the term of an Assembly, and a member of an office may not be removed for the content of a finding, a report or an opinion. A committee may question an office and has no power over it.