<base href="http://t3urednik.sigov.si/varuh-rs/typo3/" />

Petitionsausschuss Deutscher Bundestag, Germany

Conference of the Chairpersons of the Petitions Committee of the Länder and the Federation in Düsseldorf

The Chairpersons of the Petitions Committees of the German Bundestag and the Parliaments of the Länder (federal states) met on Sunday, 2 May and Monday, 3 May 1999 in Düsseldorf. Their meeting was also attended by the Ombudsmen from Rhineland-Palatinate, Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania and Schleswig-Holstein, and, as a special guest, the President of the European Ombudsman Institute. The invitation to the meeting, which took place at the seat of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, had been extended by the President of the Bundestag. The meeting was the latest in a series of conferences traditionally held every two years. Their purpose is to promote an exchange of views and experience between these bodies, which under the Basic Law and the constitutions of the Länder are independent of one another, and to consolidate their cooperation. The previous meeting took place in Munich in 1997.
As the Chairwoman of the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag, Heidemarie Lüth, reports, the focus of discussion at this year's meeting was on aliens and asylum law, petition law and the expellee allowance act.

Against the background of the Kosovo crisis, special attention was given to topical issues of aliens and asylum law. A head of department from the Federal Ministry of the Interior was on hand to answer questions relating to regulations for long-stay asylum seekers, to the suspension of deportation for refugees from Kosovo, and to special rules for cases of hardship among civil-war refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

As reported by Mrs. Lüth, other topics discussed at the meeting included the crediting of child-raising period to pension entitlements in the case of older adopted children, complaints of the social imbalances created by the new regulations on child benefit contained in the income tax act, the collection of church tax and the cancellation of retroactive turnover tax claims for speech therapists.

Participants also exchanged their views and experience with regard to the way in which the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag and the state parliaments deal with petitions. This included the application by the various bodies of new technologies and their treatment of petitions received by e-mail via the internet. With regard to the latter question, participants agree to monitor developments as regards the introduction of electronic signatures and to keep one another up-to-date.

To round off the conference, the President of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia invited participants to take part in a boat trip on the Rhine around Düsseldorf.

Petitionsausschuss Deutscher Bundestag, Germany

Conference of the Chairpersons of the Petitions Committee of the Länder and the Federation in Düsseldorf

The Chairpersons of the Petitions Committees of the German Bundestag and the Parliaments of the Länder (federal states) met on Sunday, 2 May and Monday, 3 May 1999 in Düsseldorf. Their meeting was also attended by the Ombudsmen from Rhineland-Palatinate, Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania and Schleswig-Holstein, and, as a special guest, the President of the European Ombudsman Institute. The invitation to the meeting, which took place at the seat of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, had been extended by the President of the Bundestag. The meeting was the latest in a series of conferences traditionally held every two years. Their purpose is to promote an exchange of views and experience between these bodies, which under the Basic Law and the constitutions of the Länder are independent of one another, and to consolidate their cooperation. The previous meeting took place in Munich in 1997.
As the Chairwoman of the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag, Heidemarie LĂĽth, reports, the focus of discussion at this year's meeting was on aliens and asylum law, petition law and the expellee allowance act.

Against the background of the Kosovo crisis, special attention was given to topical issues of aliens and asylum law. A head of department from the Federal Ministry of the Interior was on hand to answer questions relating to regulations for long-stay asylum seekers, to the suspension of deportation for refugees from Kosovo, and to special rules for cases of hardship among civil-war refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

As reported by Mrs. LĂĽth, other topics discussed at the meeting included the crediting of child-raising period to pension entitlements in the case of older adopted children, complaints of the social imbalances created by the new regulations on child benefit contained in the income tax act, the collection of church tax and the cancellation of retroactive turnover tax claims for speech therapists.

Participants also exchanged their views and experience with regard to the way in which the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag and the state parliaments deal with petitions. This included the application by the various bodies of new technologies and their treatment of petitions received by e-mail via the internet. With regard to the latter question, participants agree to monitor developments as regards the introduction of electronic signatures and to keep one another up-to-date.

To round off the conference, the President of the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia invited participants to take part in a boat trip on the Rhine around DĂĽsseldorf.