Last Updated on May 29, 2021 by LawEuro
Members of the Bundestag Act (Laws / Regulations of Germany)
Part Eleven
Parliamentary groups
Section 45
Creation of a parliamentary group
(1) Members of the Bundestag may form themselves into parliamentary groups.
(2) Further details are provided by the Rules of Procedure of the German Bundestag.
Section 46
Legal status
(1) The parliamentary groups are associations of Members of the German Bundestag with legal capacity.
(2) The parliamentary groups may sue and be sued.
(3) The parliamentary groups do not form part of the public administration; they do not exercise governmental authority.
Section 47
Duties
(1) The parliamentary groups shall assist in the performance of the duties of the German Bundestag.
(2) The parliamentary groups may work together with parliamentary groups or parties in other parliaments and with parliamentary institutions both nationally and internationally.
(3) The parliamentary groups and their members may inform the public of their activities.
Section 48
Organisation
(1) The parliamentary groups are under an obligation to arrange their organisational structure and working methods in accordance with the principles of parliamentary democracy and to align them with the said principles.
(2) The parliamentary groups shall enact their own Rules of Procedure.
Section 49
Duty of confidentiality of employees of the parliamentary groups
(1) Even after the termination of their employment contracts, employees of the parliamentary groups shall be duty-bound to treat as confidential all matters which have become known to them during the course of their work. This does not apply to facts which are obvious or whose significance does not merit confidentiality.
(2) Even after the termination of their employment contracts, employees of the parliamentary groups may not testify or make a statement on such matters without consent, either in or out of court. The chairman of the relevant parliamentary group shall be responsible for granting consent.
(3) The provisions of subsections (1) and (2) above shall apply without prejudice to the statutory duty to report crimes and to uphold the basic principles of democracy in the event of their being endangered.
Section 50
Monetary benefits and benefits in kind
(1) For the purpose of performing their duties, the parliamentary groups shall be entitled to monetary benefits and benefits in kind from the federal budget.
(2) The monetary benefits shall comprise a basic grant for each parliamentary group, an amount for each Member and an additional sum for each group which is not in government (Opposition supplement). The amount of these grants and of the Opposition supplement shall be determined annually by the Bundestag. In consultation with the Council of Elders, the President shall draft a report for presentation to the Bundestag by 30 September each year, relating to the reasonableness of the grants and of the Opposition supplement and shall at the same time submit adjustment proposals.
(3) The benefits in kind shall be provided for use, in accordance with the Finance Act (Haushaltsgesetz).
(4) Benefits provided under subsection (1) above may only be used by the parliamentary groups for duties incumbent upon them by virtue of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), the present Act and the Rules of Procedure (Geschäftsordnung) of the German Bundestag. The use of these benefits for party-political purposes is not permitted.
(5) Monetary benefits payable under subsection (1) above may be carried forward to the next accounting period.
Section 51
Budgetary and economic management; accounting
(1) Details of budgetary and economic management shall be prescribed in implementing provisions issued by the Council of Elders after consultation with the Federal Audit Office (Bundesrechnungshof).
(2) The parliamentary groups must keep accounts showing the income, expenditure and assets they are required to record. These shall be kept in accordance with the principles of orderly accounting and with regard for the purpose of this Act.
(3) Items purchased from the monetary benefits under section 50(1), except items intended for use in the short term and inexpensive items, must be identified and listed in a supporting document.
(4) The accounts must be stored for five years.
Section 52
Rendering of accounts
(1) The parliamentary groups shall be publicly accountable for the origin and use of the resources accruing to them under section 50(1) of this Act in each calendar year (accounting year).
(2) The account shall be set out as follows:
1. Income
(a) Monetary benefits received pursuant to section 50(1) of this Act
(b) Other income
2. Expenditure
(a) Total payments to group members for performing special functions within the group
(b) Total personnel expenditure on group staff
(c) Expenditure on events
(d) Experts’ fees, court costs and similar expenditure
(e) Expenditure on collaboration with parliamentary groups and parties in other parliaments
(f) Expenditure on public-relations activities
(g) Expenditure on routine business activities
(h) Investment expenditure
(i) Other expenditure
(3) The accounts must identify the assets acquired using funds received under section 50(1) and the reserves formed from these funds as well as debts and liabilities. The asset and liability statement shall be set out as follows:
1. Assets
(a) Monetary holdings
(b) Other assets
(c) Accruals and deferrals
2. Liabilities
(a) Reserves
(b) Provisions
(c) Liabilities to financial institutions
(d) Other liabilities
(e) Accruals and deferrals
(4) The statement must be examined by an auditor (chartered accountant or chartered accountancy firm) appointed in consultation with the Federal Audit Office, to ensure that it complies with subsections (2) and (3) above, and it must bear an auditor’s endorsement to that effect. The audited statement shall be submitted to the President of the German Bundestag no later than six months after the end of the calendar year or month in which the monetary benefits referred to in section 50(1) of this Act were last paid. The President of the German Bundestag may extend the deadline by up to three months for exceptional reasons. The audited statement shall be distributed as a Bundestag printed paper.
(5) For as long as a parliamentary group defaults on submission of the statement, the monetary benefits and benefits in kind payable under section 50(1) shall be withheld.
Section 53
Auditing of accounts
(1) The Federal Audit Office shall audit the accounts as well as the monetary benefits and benefits in kind with which the parliamentary groups have been provided under section 50(1) of this Act in order to ensure that they have been used economically and properly in accordance with the implementing provisions issued under section 51(1).
(2) During the audit, due consideration shall be given to the legal status and duties of the parliamentary groups. The political necessity of any measure carried out by the groups shall not form part of the audit.
Section 54
Termination of legal status and liquidation
(1) The legal status conferred by section 46 of this Act shall cease to apply
1. on the loss of parliamentary-group status,
2. on the dissolution of the parliamentary group,
3. at the end of the electoral term.
(2) In the cases referred to in subsection (1)(1) and (2) above, liquidation shall take place. The parliamentary group shall be regarded as continuing in existence until the liquidation has come to an end if the purpose of the liquidation so requires. The liquidation shall be effected by the executive committee unless otherwise provided by the rules of procedure of the parliamentary group.
(3) The liquidators must complete all unfinished business transactions, collect debts and satisfy creditors. For this purpose, they shall be entitled to enter into new transactions and convert assets into cash. They shall comply with the provisions of section 50(4) regarding the purposes for which benefits may be used. If, during the liquidation process, the liquidators are guilty of negligence, they shall be jointly and severally liable to the creditors for the damages arising therefrom.
(4) Where monetary benefits provided under section 50(1) of this Act remain after completion of the liquidation, these must be repaid into the federal budget. The same shall apply to assets purchased with these benefits. The benefits in kind provided in accordance with section 50(3) must be returned to the providing units.
(5) The remaining assets of the parliamentary group must be left to the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are the persons or authorities specified in the rules of procedure of the parliamentary group.
(6) Measures under subsections (4) and (5) above may not be taken until six months have elapsed since the event giving rise to loss of the legal status conferred by section 46 of the present Act. The provision of security for creditors must be effected in accordance with section 52 of the Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch).
(7) In the case referred to in subsection (1)(3) above, a liquidation shall not take place if, within thirty days from the start of the new electoral term, a parliamentary group is formed whose members belong to a party represented by a parliamentary group in the German Bundestag during the previous electoral term and which declares itself to be the successor to the latter group. In this case, the newly constituted parliamentary group shall be the successor in title to the old parliamentary group.
Leave a Reply