Parliamentary Committees of Inquiry as an Effective Tool to Enhance Democracy and Fight Corruption in Austria?

The Working Paper takes a closer look at the challenges of rule of law and democracy in Austria, in particular corruption, and links it to one of the main democratic instruments for fighting corruption: Parliamentary Committees of Inquiry (PCIs). This instrument was fully reformed in 2015, structuring it as a minority right and introducing a competence of the Austrian Constitutional Court to rule on disputes concerning PCIs. By analysing the subject matter of the investigation and the obligation to provide information of PCIs it is assessed if PCIs are enhancing democracy and the fight against corruption in Austria. Those two topics are interrelated and core essentials of PCIS and their functioning. Thereby, the focus is on the case law of the Austrian Constitutional Court.

Keywords: Austria; Constitutional Court; Corruption; Democracy; Committees of Inquiry; Parliament; Populism; Rule of Law