Special commissions of inquiry of the chambers of deputies

This article deals with parliamentary commissions of inquiry in the context of the oversight functions of the Chamber of Deputies in a presidential regime. It pays special attention to the 2005 new constitutional rules which explicitly authorized the establishment of commissions of inquiry, thus overcoming the doubts about their constitutionality stemming from the fact that until then they had only been recognized in the rules of procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, a situation strongly criticized by constitutional scholars. The analysis covers the governing statute of the commissions of inquiry, their powers, the scope of their authority, their purposes and limitations, and concludes with a set of proposals aimed at the achievement of real effectiveness in the functioning of the commissions, in the light of the unique role of the Chamber of Deputies in the oversight of the executive branch.