:: Parliamentary Committee

The Parliamentary Committee for the intelligence and security services and for State secret.

An appropriate Committee, composed of four Senators and four Deputies appointed by the Presidents of the two Chambers on a proportional basis, has been entrusted with the parliamentary control over the intelligence and security Services.

The need to identify a body exclusively delegated to oversee the Services stems from the need to protect the confidentiality of the intelligence activities, which is a fundamental pre-requisite for the operating effectiveness of the Services that could not be guaranteed if made subject to public parliamentary debates.
Therefore, the members of the Committee are bound by law to secrecy on the information obtained, as well as on the remarks and the suggestions put forth. Furthermore, the Parliamentary Committee’s proceedings are secret.
To guarantee the secrecy of the intelligence activities, the Parliamentary Committee may only have access to «the essential lines of the structures and activities of the Services». Consequently its control - which is of a political nature - does not relate to single operations, but is exercised through a general examination of the intelligence activities and of the organization of the Services.

The President of the Council of Ministers, with a brief statement outlining the grounds for his decision, may withhold information from the Parliamentary Committee which he believes exceeds the aim mentioned above and requires to be protected by secrecy.
If the Parliamentary Committee rules, by absolute majority of its members, that the requirement for secrecy is unjustified, it will inform parliament.

In order to fulfil its functions, the Committee may ask information about the organization and the actions of the Services, to the President of the Council of Ministers and to the Inter-ministerial Committee for intelligence and security (CIIS), and put forth remarks and suggestions.
However, in order to provide Parliament with a significant overview of the intelligence activities carried out by the Services, the law establishes that the Government shall report to Parliament in writing every six months, on the intelligence and security policy pursued and the results achieved.
Beyond the indications laid down by law, the relation between the Government and the Committee has been characterized by the utmost collaboration.
Finally, the Parliamentary Committee is entrusted with the control on the application of State secret: evaluating whether a claim to State secrecy, upheld in court by the President of the Council of Ministers, is founded or not. If the Parliamentary Committee, by absolute majority of its members deems the claim to secrecy to be unjustified, it will report to Parliament.