Standing committees
The duties of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees (CACDLG) are to:
– Deal with issues regarding the interpretation or application of constitutional precepts;
– Deal with all matters concerning the fundamental rights and duties enshrined in the Constitution and the law, in all matters inherent to the areas of competence of this Committee, as laid down by the Conference of Parliamentary Committee Chairpersons, namely:
– Rights, freedoms and guarantees (all those set out in Title II of Part I of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (CPR), namely personality rights, with the exception of those set out in Chapter III – Workers’ rights, freedoms and guarantees – and those relating to the media);
– Justice, social reintegration and prison affairs;
– Internal administration, including electoral matters, namely those relating to the exercise of voting rights and referendums – without prejudice to liaising with the committee responsible for electoral arrangements and the status of local authority officeholders –, and civil protection matters, without prejudice to the competence of other committees in relation to forest fires;
− Legal framework for immigration, asylum and refugees; migration, integration and intercultural dialogue;
− European area of freedom, security and justice;
− Human rights;
− Citizenship, equality and non-discrimination, combating violence against women, domestic violence and combating human trafficking;
− Protection of children and young people at risk and the elderly, without prejudice to the necessary coordination with the Committee on Labour, Social Security and Inclusion, which also has functional competences in this area;
− Legal frameworks for the right of petition and citizens’ legislative initiative;
− Definition of penalty regimes in sectoral areas, without prejudice to the main competence of the parliamentary committee that, in each case, is competent in the subject matter, namely in road safety, through the processing of legislative initiatives to revise or amend the Highway Code, without prejudice to the competence of the Economy, Public Works and Housing Committee;
- Monitor, supervise and issuing opinions on the actions of the Government and the Administration in the areas under the political responsibility of the Minister for the Presidency, the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, the Minister for Justice, the Minister for Internal Administration and the Minister for Youth and Modernisation.
In undertaking its duties, the Committee is responsible for:
– Giving opinions on issues regarding the interpretation of the Constitution;
– Giving an opinion on the constitutionality of bills or other parliamentary initiatives, when requested to do so by the President of the Assembleia da República or by other parliamentary standing committees, and to produce the corresponding opinions;
– Giving an opinion, at the request of the President of the Assembleia da República, on conflicts of competence between committees;
– Analysing bills, draft resolutions and regulations submitted to it by the President of the Assembleia da República and producing the corresponding reports;
– Examining questions of procedure and issuing an opinion on the interpretation and application of rules and the incorporation of gaps in the Rules of Procedure, when requested to do so by the President of the Assembleia da República, the Bureau or the Plenary;
– Considering and voting on the details of texts generally approved by the Plenary and any draft amendments, in accordance with the provisions of Article 168 of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure;
– Analysing petitions addressed to the Assembleia da República that fall within the Committee’s competences, as well as concerning subject matters which fall within the scope of the Committee’s duties;
– In accordance with the Constitution and the law, monitoring, considering and issuing opinions on Portugal’s participation in the process of constructing the European Union and on the European initiatives that fall within the areas of its competence;
– Proposing to the President of the Assembleia da República that debates on topics that fall within the areas of its competence be held in Plenary, so that the Conference of Leaders can judge their timeliness and interest, and appointing a rapporteur if the proposal is approved;
– Setting up the Selection Panel for the Human Rights Prize of the Assembleia da República and considering the applications submitted to it (under the terms of Resolution of the Assembleia da República No 69/98, of 10 December, as amended by Resolution of the Assembleia da República No 48/2002, of 20 July, as well as the Prize Regulations);
– Together with the Committee on Education and Science, setting up the Selection Panel for the António Barbosa de Melo Prize for Parliamentary Studies and to evaluate the entries for it (under the terms of Order of the President of the Assembleia da República No 56/XIII, of 15 September 2017);
– Drawing up its proposed activity plan and respective budget proposal at the beginning of each legislative session, to be submitted to the President of the Assembleia da República;
– Drawing up and approving its regulations.
The concurrent competence of other parliamentary standing committees in terms of subject matter limits the work of this Committee to issues concerning constitutionality and the safeguarding of fundamental rights.
In undertaking its duties, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities is particularly responsible for exercising its powers and policy control in the following areas:
– Monitoring the implementation of Portuguese foreign policy, its determinants and conditions;
– Monitoring Portuguese communities living abroad;
– Monitoring co-operation policy for development;
– Monitoring the international status of the Portuguese language, as well as the external promotion of the Portuguese language and culture;
– Issuing its opinion on questions relating to foreign policy;
– Issuing opinions on motions for resolutions on international treaties and agreements submitted to the Assembleia da República for approval.
The Committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities is also responsible for:
– Giving an opinion on requests from the President of the Republic to leave the country;
– Accompanying, without prejudice to the competences of other bodies, Portuguese parliamentary representations participating in various international organisations and conferences, in cooperating with the dissemination and debate of approved recommendations;
– Maintaining and developing, without prejudice to the competences of other bodies, through contacts with international counterpart committees, the Assembleia da República’s relations with parliaments in other countries and international organisations;
– Considering the activities of the standing delegations and parliamentary friendship groups, under the terms and for the purposes referred to in Article 36 of the Rules of Procedure, thereby contributing to the effective and coherent development of external parliamentary activity;
– Giving an opinion on the proposals of the President of the Assembleia da República referred to in Article 45(1) and (2) of the Rules of Procedure.
In undertaking its duties, the National Defence Committee (CDN) is particularly responsible for exercising its powers and policy control in the areas of national defence, as well as matters under the supervision or coordination of the Ministry of National Defence.
In particular, the National Defence Committee is required to:
– Assess, in conjunction with the competent parliamentary committee, the military implications of treaties relating to national defence matters, as well as, and under the same terms, treaties dealing with matters under the supervision of the Minister for National Defence;
– Monitor the involvement of Portuguese military contingents abroad, particularly when this results from fulfilling the Portuguese State’s international military commitments or participation in humanitarian and peace missions undertaken by international organisations to which Portugal belongs;
– Without prejudice to the competences of other parliamentary bodies, monitor and assess Portugal’s participation in the process of building the European Union’s common defence policy, in the areas that fall to the Committee, in particular with regard to the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union (CFSP/CSDP);
– Monitor the implementation of technical-military cooperation policy with Portuguese-speaking countries, without prejudice to the general competence of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities with regard to the policy of cooperation.
In undertaking its duties, the European Affairs Committee is particularly responsible, without prejudice to the competence of the Plenary and other specialised committees, for:
– Monitoring and considering, under the terms of the Constitution [particularly Article 161(n) and Article 163(f)] and Law No 43/2006, of 25 August, in its current wording, all matters of interest to Portugal within the framework of European integration, the European institutions or cooperation between the Member States of the European Union, namely the actions of the Government with regard to such matters;
– Encouraging greater participation by the Assembleia da República in the activities of the European institutions, in particular by promoting meetings or hearings with the institutions, bodies and agencies of the European Union on issues of significance to Portugal’s participation in the construction of the European Union;
– Intensifying, in particular, the exchange between the Assembleia da República and the European Parliament, in proposing the granting of appropriate reciprocal facilities and regular meetings (in person or via videoconferences) with the relevant Members of the Assembleia da República, namely those elected in Portugal;
– Promoting interparliamentary cooperation within the European Union, in particular – and without prejudice to the competences of other bodies – by developing and maintaining contacts with similar committees and the Assembleia da República’s relations with the national parliaments of the Member States of the European Union, within the scope of the application of the Protocol on their role in the European Union and the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, annexed to the Treaties governing the European Union;
– Requesting from the Government the information necessary for the Assembleia da República to monitor and assess Portugal’s participation in the process of constructing the European Union;
– Promoting hearings with the Government before and after meetings of the European Council;
– Preparing and approving opinions on documents that the Government submits to the Assembleia da República concerning the European Union or that it is obliged to submit to European Union institutions;
– Promoting the implementation of formal mechanisms for the effective monitoring, assessment and issuing of opinions of the Assembleia da República, namely through the preparation of an opinion, when matters that fall within the reserved legislative competence of the Assembleia da República are pending decision in European Union bodies;
– Co-operating with the other committees responsible for this subject matter in following up and monitoring dossiers within the framework of the process of constructing the European Union;
– Working with the specialised committees responsible for this matter in the exchange of information and appropriate forms of cooperation to achieve efficient interventions by the Assembleia da República in matters concerning the construction of the European Union, particularly as regards the preparation of the Assembleia da República’s opinion on the conformity of a draft legislative act with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality, which are pending before the European institutions;
– Applying the methodology specifying the process for drawing up reports and opinions on compliance with the principle of subsidiarity of draft European Union legislative acts, while considering the deadlines and procedures arising from the Protocol on the role of national parliaments in the European Union and the Protocol on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality annexed to the treaties governing the European Union;
– Submitting draft resolutions to be considered and voted on by the Plenary, concerning drafts of European acts of a legislative nature;
– Holding an annual meeting with the members of the Legislative Assemblies of the Autonomous Regions, thereby maintaining the necessary dialogue with their respective counterparts for the purposes of the practical application of the principle of subsidiarity, and additionally requesting their opinion whenever regional legislative competences are involved in the consideration of initiatives;
– Proposing the appointment of Portuguese representatives to the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs (COSAC) and assessing their performance and the results of the Conference;
– Participating, in collaboration with the other parliamentary committees involved, in the appointment of the Assembleia da República’s delegation to the Interparliamentary Conference to monitor the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union (CFSP/CSDP) as well as the Interparliamentary Conference on the Economic and Financial Governance of the European Union (Conference within the scope of Article 13 of the Budget Treaty);
– Undertaking hearings to assess the CVs of the individuals selected, to be appointed or nominated by the Government, for judicial and non-judicial posts in the institutions, bodies or agencies of the European Union;
– Promoting hearings and debates on European issues with representatives of civil society, thereby contributing to the creation of a European public space at the national level.
In undertaking its duties, the Committee on Budget, Finance and Public Administration is responsible for exercising its powers and policy control in all the areas under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, particularly the following:
– Major Planning Options and National Reform Programme;
– Budget and General State Accounts;
– Budgetary and Public Finance Policy;
– Budgetary and financial relations with the European Union, in particular with regard to participation in the conferences on Stability and Coordination and Economic Governance of the European Union;
– The State’s Shareholding Role;
– Supervision and regulation of financial activities and institutions;
– Appraisal of reports from the Court of Auditors;
– Welfare and pension systems for financial impact monitoring purposes;
– Other institutions and matters supervised by the Ministry of Finance;
– Public administration in liaison with the committees with competence for the matter in question;
– Legal framework for public employment, particularly labour matters based on the General Law concerning Public Administration Employment and related specific legislation (examples: SIADAP, ADSE I.P., Statistics Portugal (Instituto Nacional de Estatística I.P.), National Administration Institute (Instituto Nacional de Administração I.P.) etc.).
– General Careers in Public Administration, although matters relating to specialised careers should be followed up by the parliamentary committees with the duties for those specific issues.
– Welfare cover and retirement scheme for the public administration, without prejudice to the powers of the Labour, Social Security and Inclusion Committee;
– Modernisation, innovation and administrative digitalisation of the State and the Public Administration.
The Committee on Budget, Finance and Public Administration is also responsible for overseeing the operation of the Budgetary Support Technical Unit.
In undertaking its duties, the Committee on Economic Affairs, Public Works and Housing is particularly responsible for exercising its powers and policy control over the following sectoral policies:
A. Economics
– Industry;
– Industrial property management;
– Commerce and services;
– Supervision and regulation of economic activities;
– Investment and internationalisation of companies, including economic diplomacy;
– Models for attracting foreign investment;
– Entrepreneurship, competitiveness and innovation;
– Technological development and technology transfer, without prejudice to the competences specifically attributed to the Education and Science Committee for matters related to science and technology;
– Digital transition and the knowledge economy;
– Tourism;
– Competition;
– Consumer protection, including consideration of consumer rights in legislative terms, as well as in terms of the supervision of economic activities (Competition Authority and Food and Economic Safety Authority);
– Portuguese Development Bank (Banco Português de Fomento), as part of its financing and economic development policies.
B. Sea and blue economy
– National Strategy for the Sea 2021-2030, in liaison, for relevant matters, with the Agriculture and Fisheries Committee;
– The Integrated Maritime Policy of the European Union, without prejudice to the competence of the National Defence Committee with regard to maritime affairs under the supervision of the Ministry of National Defence;
– Monitoring the process of extending the Portuguese continental shelf, in liaison with the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities and the National Defence Committee;
– Planning and managing the national maritime space;
– National Maritime and Port Plan;
– Development of the blue economy, particularly as regards emerging maritime industries, in conjunction with the Agriculture and Fisheries Committee and the Environment and Energy Committee;
– Monitoring the Atlantic Observatory;
– Nautical tourism and recreational boating;
– Science, innovation and technology within the scope of the blue economy, without prejudice to the competences specifically attributed to the Education and Science Committee.
C. Public works and infrastructure
– Construction and public works;
– Supervision and promotion of the quality of road infrastructures, as well as satisfying mobility needs, in accordance with the duties of the Institute for Mobility and Transport (Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes), without prejudice to the competence of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees in road safety matters;
– Land transport (road and rail);
– Maritime and river transport and the port sector;
– Air transport and the airport sector;
– Mobility;
– Communications, connectivity and postal services.
D. Housing
– Housing, real estate and leasing policies, and urban management, conservation and regeneration, and housing patrimony.
In undertaking its duties, the 7th Committee, on Agriculture and Fisheries, is responsible for exercising its powers in the areas listed below:
I. Generic competences
a) Food;
b) Gastronomy;
c) Agriculture;
d) Forestry;
e) Forests;
f) Rural Development;
g) Animal welfare;
h) Hunting activity;
i) Fisheries and aquaculture;
j) Maritime safety and Port protection;
k) Fishing harbours;
l) Rural fires;
m) Genetically Modified Organisms.
II. Funds
Monitoring the allocation and implementation of national and European funds earmarked for:
a) Agriculture;
b) Forests;
c) Rural development;
d) Fishing;
e) Aquaculture;
f) Port protection and maritime safety works;
III. Monitoring the activities of the following organisations
a) Office of Planning, Policy and General Administration (Gabinete de Planeamento, Políticas e Administração Geral);
b) Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary Science (Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária);
c) Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (Direção-Geral de Agricultura e Desenvolvimento Rural);
d) Management Authority for the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan for Portugal (Autoridade de Gestão do Plano Estratégico da Política Agrícola Comum para Portugal);
e) Ombudsperson for Animals (Provedor do Animal);
f) Vine and Wine Institute (Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho, I.P.);
g) Institute for Wines of the Douro and Porto (Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto, I.P.);
h) Agency for the Integrated Management of Rural Fires (Agência para a Gestão Integrada de Fogos Rurais);
i) Management Authority of the Mar 2020 Operational Programme (Autoridade de Gestão do Programa Operacional Mar 2020 - Mar 2020) and the Mar 2030 Operational Programme (Programa Operacional Mar 2030 - in collaboration with the 6th Committee);
j) Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services (Direção-Geral de Recursos Naturais, Segurança e Serviços Marítimos - in collaboration with the 6th Committee);
k) Docapesca - Portos e Lotas, SA;
l) EDIA – Alqueva Development and Infrastructures Enterprise (EDIA – Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infraestruturas do Alqueva, S.A., in collaboration with the 6th Committee);
m) Interministerial Committee on Luso-Spanish River Basins and their Boundaries (Comissão Interministerial de Limites e Bacias Hidrográficas Luso-Espanholas - together with the 2nd, 6th and 11th Committees);
n) Directorate-General for Territory (Direção-Geral do Território - together with the 11th Committee);
o) Office for the Investigation of Maritime Accidents (Gabinete de Investigação de Acidentes Marítimos) and the Authority for Aeronautical Meteorology (Autoridade para a Meteorologia Aeronáutica - jointly with the 6th Committee);
p) Food and Economic Safety Authority (Autoridade de Segurança Alimentar e Económica - together with the 6th Committee).
The duties of the Committee are to monitor policies in the areas for which the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation is responsible, particularly the following:
– Education, including all systems and levels of education, without prejudice to liaising with the Committee on Culture, Communication, Youth and Sport with regard to school sport;
– Science and technology, which includes matters related to scientific research and technological development, science and technology-based innovation, space, digital competences guidelines, scientific computing, the dissemination of scientific and technological culture and international scientific and technological cooperation, particularly with Portuguese-speaking countries;
– Information and Knowledge Society in Portugal, in matters coordinated by the Foundation for Science and Technology, a public agency supervised by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation;
– The 8th Committee’s handling of copyright and related rights in relation to creators in the field of education and science will be conducted without prejudice to the specific competence of the 12th Committee in relation to media and culture.
The Committee is also responsible for coordinating the development of the “Youth Parliament” programme.
In undertaking its duties, the Health Committee is particularly responsible for exercising its legislative and supervisory powers in the sectors supervised by the Ministry of Health, monitoring the National Health Service and health policy, particularly in the following areas:
– Access to health care;
– Primary health care;
– Long-term health care and palliative care;
– Monitoring of the National Health Plan, through indicators in the fields of oncology, mental health, HIV/AIDS, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and women’s and children’s health;
– Pharmaceutical policy;
– Hospitals and hospital management;
– Quality of health care;
– Drug addiction: preventive action, deterrence, treatment, risk reduction, harm minimisation and psychosocial reintegration;
– Public health – lifestyle-related diseases;
– The relationship between the National Health Service and the social and private health sectors;
– Science and health research;
– National Health Service financing and sustainability;
– Public-private health care partnerships;
– Monitoring the activities of international organisations in the health sector.
1. In undertaking its duties, the Committie on Labour, Social Security and Inclusion is particularly responsible for exercising its powers and policy control in the following areas:
– Labour, including labour relations and working conditions;
– Solidarity and Social Security Policies;
– Employment and Vocational Training Policies;
– Labour issues that cut across the public and private sectors (e.g. the regime applicable to exacting professions), without prejudice to the necessary liaison with the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee;
– Social protection and retirement schemes for the civil service, without prejudice to the powers of the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee;
– Safety and Health at Work;
– Social policies to support the family, children, parenthood, senior citizens and dependent care;
– Policies to combat poverty and promote social inclusion;
– Social economy, co-operative sector and volunteering;
– People with disabilities and inclusion policies;
– Protection of children and young people at risk in matters relating to social security, without prejudice to the necessary liaison with the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees, with competency in this area.
2. The CTSSI is also specifically responsible for the legal framework regulating the creation, organisation and operation of public professional associations (Chambers and Professional Orders) and all subsequent amendments.
3. As for the legislative processes relating to the statutes of public professional associations, these are considered by the parliamentary committee with competence for this matter, depending on the Member of the Government exercising supervisory powers (in accordance with the law for the creation of and the statutes of each public professional association), with this competence involving liaising with the CTSSI.
4. For the purposes of applying the provisions of the previous paragraph, the annex to this document, which forms an integral part of it, contains a table with the distribution of the committees’ competences in relation to each of the public professional associations (Chambers or Professional Associations).
In undertaking its duties, the Committe on Environment and Energy is specifically responsible for exercising its powers and political control in the areas supervised by the Member of the Government responsible for the environment, energy, nature conservation and biodiversity.
In particular, the Committee is responsible for monitoring issues relating to:
– Sustainable development;
– Climate crisis, including climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, national strategy for greenhouse gas control and management of extreme phenomena in climate change scenarios;
– Nature conservation, biodiversity, the National Ecological Reserve (REN), the network of protected areas and the National Agricultural Reserve (RAN), as part of land use planning;
– Policy and management of water resources and water sources, including issues relating to the right of access to drinking water, quality of water for human consumption, water resource services and management and other matters falling within the scope of the Water Framework Directive;
– Waste policy and its management and treatment;
– Circular economy and resource efficiency;
– Land recovery and reconditioning and other contaminated sites;
– Prevention, control and reduction of all forms of pollution and degradation of the environment, including the marine environment, as well as assessment of environmental impacts and repair of damage caused to the environment;
– International and regional measures and agreements on environmental and energy issues;
– Environmental implications of agricultural policy;
– Forests, in terms of conservation, environmental protection, sustainable development and social and territorial cohesion;
– Energy and geological resources and, with regard to existing resources on the soil and subsoil of the national maritime space, through liaison with the Economy, Public Works and Housing Committee;
– Energy policy, especially with regard to its integration with environmental and energy planning measures, including monitoring the National Energy and Climate Plan (PNEC) and the link between renewable energy sources and the National Climate Change Programme (PNAC), as well as monitoring energy transition projects in Portugal, such as photovoltaic, onshore and offshore wind and renewable gas projects;
– Territorial management instruments, in terms of protecting nature and biodiversity;
– Protection of the coastline, the seafront and the countryside;
– Strategy and implementation of national and EU funds under the responsibility of the Member of the Government responsible for the environment and energy, namely the Environmental Fund and the Thematic Programme for Climate Action and Sustainability – Sustainable 2030.
– Special careers in Public Administration, which is the main competence of the Member of the Government responsible for the environment and energy, without prejudice to the necessary liaison with the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee.
1. In undertaking its duties, the Committee on Culture, Communication, Youth and Sport is responsible for monitoring and supervising policy in the areas of culture, media, youth and sport.
2. As such, the duties of the Committee are:
– In the field of culture, to deal in particular with language, heritage, the arts, the creative and cultural industries and copyright and related rights (as regards cultural creators, artists and performers and the creative and cultural industries);
– In the field of communication, to deal with policies relating to the media, namely and including issues relating to its public and private bodies, public radio and television services, digital terrestrial television and new generations of broadband; to deal with policies relating to communication and new communication channels, such as social networks and blogs; to deal with matters relating to copyright as regards the media, without prejudice to the necessary liaison with the Education and Science Committee with regard to scientific creation.
– In the youth area, to deal with matters relating to youth, namely with regard to volunteering, health and sexuality, leisure activities, education, employment and entrepreneurship and housing, without prejudice to the specific duties of the other parliamentary committees, particularly the Education and Science Committee, with regard to education, the Health Committee, with regard to health and sexuality, the Labour, Social Security and Inclusion Committee, with regard to employment, and the Economy, Public Works and Housing Committee, with regard to housing;
– In the field of sport, particularly with regard to programmes generalising sports practice, ethics and violence, federated sport, including the Olympic and Paralympic cycles, high performance and monitoring day-to-day national sports and school sport activity, without prejudice to liaising with the Education and Science Committee.
In undertaking its duties, the Committee on Local Authorities and Territorial
Cohesion is responsible for exercising its powers and policy control, particularly in the following areas:
– Measures and programmes relating to local government;
– General careers in Local Public Administration;
– Administrative decentralisation, through the legislative transfer of powers from State bodies to local authority bodies and intermunicipal entities;
– Territorial cohesion;
– Europe 2020 Strategy and Europe 2030 Strategy;
– National Strategic Reference Framework and European Structural and Investment Funds;
– Recovery and Resilience Plan;
– National Reform Programme;
– Promoting, as part of the legislative process, consultation with the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) and the National Association of Parishes (ANAFRE), for any bills concerning local authorities, particularly when involving the following matters:
a) Local Authority Statutes, including the rules governing local finances;
b) System and means of setting up municipal police forces;
c) Undertaking hearings of the respective municipal bodies when creating, abolishing or modifying local authorities and their respective systems, without prejudice to the powers of the autonomous regions;
– Spatial planning model and management (within the scope of the powers given to the Ministry for Territorial Cohesion);
– National geographic information policy.
The Committee’s duties include examining matters relating to the fundamental rights and duties enshrined in the Constitution and the law, in all matters inherent to the Committee’s duties; issuing opinions on all matters relating to incompatibilities, incapacities, inability to perform functions, waiver of immunities, conflicts of interest, suspension and loss of office of Members of the Assembleia da República; issuing options on any matters that may in any way affect the office of Members of the Assembleia da República and the conditions for exercising it; and dealing with other matters assigned by law or the Rules of Procedure.
1 – In performing its duties, the Committee is fully responsible for:
a) Checking on cases of incompatibility, incapacity and impediment of the Members of the Assembleia da República and, in the event of a breach of the law or the Rules of Procedure, dealing with the corresponding cases and issuing a related opinion;
b) Receiving and registering declarations of possible conflicts of interest;
c) Analysing, when requested by the declarants or at the request of the President of the Assembleia da República, any conflicts of interest raised and issuing an opinion on them;
d) Assessing the possible existence of conflicts of interest that have not been declared and issuing an opinion on them;
e) Assessing the correctness of declarations, either ex officio or a duly substantiated request from any citizen exercising their political rights;
f) Issuing an opinion concerning the verification of Members of the Assembleia da República’s credentials;
g) Issuing an option on the waiver of immunities, under the terms of the Statute for Members of the Assembleia da República;
h) Issuing an opinion on the suspension and loss of office of a Member of the Assembleia da República;
i) Conducting proceedings to challenge eligibility and loss of seat;
j) Conducting enquiries into facts taking place within the Assembleia da República that compromise the honour or dignity of any Member of the Assembleia da República as well as into any serious irregularities committed in breach of the duties of Members of the Assembleia da República, on their own initiative, at the request of the Member of the Assembleia da República or as determined by the President of the Assembleia da República;
k) Issuing general statements and recommendations that promote best parliamentary practices;
l) Considering any other matters relating to the mandate of Members of the Assembleia da República.
2 – The assessment of any facts or procedures relating to Members of the Assembleia da República must always safeguard the political freedom to exercise their mandate and the application of any of the measures provided for requires a prior hearing of those concerned.
3 – Within the framework of co-operation with the judicial authorities, in the situations provided for in Article 11(8) of the Statute of the Members of the Assembleia da República, the decision to forward non-publicly accessible information relating to Members of the Assembleia da República falls to the Committee, after considering the request, safeguarding the secrecy of justice, where applicable.
4 – The provisions of the previous paragraph shall apply mutatis mutandis to requests made by organisations outside the Assembleia da República.
5 – Pursuant to point 1(l), the Committee is responsible for examining all issues relating to the nature and scope of the Members of the Assembleia da República’s mandate, as referred to in Article 1 of the Statute of the Members of the Assembleia da República, including, where appropriate, legislative and regulatory matters.
6 – The Committee is also responsible for ensuring that the Code of Conduct for Members of the Assembleia da República is applied and for exercising the powers laid down therein, particularly in:
a) drawing up complementary rules for the application of the legal rules on gifts and hospitality;
b) drawing up an annual report on the application of the Code and the Committee’s activity in this regard.
7 – Without prejudice to Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembleia da República, the Committee is also responsible for considering and issuing its opinion:
a) On issues relating to the regime governing the exercise of functions by political officeholders and senior public officeholders, their reporting obligations and the respective penalty regime;
b) On issues raised regarding the regime for the activity and prevention of conflicts of interest of private organisations wishing to participate, under the terms of the law, in the definition and implementation of public policies and legislation, an activity commonly referred to as lobbying;
c) On issues relating to transparency measures applicable to political officeholders and senior public officeholders;
8 – It is up to the Committee, principally or relatedly, as the case may be, to examine legislative initiatives, resolutions or decisions that have as their object the matters listed in the previous points.