Compendium of Standards, Good Practices and Recommendations Constitutional Court has issued important judgments on a variety of questions touching on the Armed Forces, including the interpretation of the “democratic spirit clause”, the principle of political neutrality and conscientious objection.125 The Polish Constitutional Court has similarly interpreted the Constitution as requiring the political neutrality of the Armed Forces.126 Parliaments and the human rights of armed forces personnel Within the scope of their responsibility to create an appropriate framework for military accountability, parliaments have a number of tools that can be used to ensure that the human rights of armed forces personnel are adequately protected. These include approving legislation on the armed forces, military law and complaints and redress mechanisms, conducting inquiries into the performance of the armed forces in protecting and respecting human rights, establishing specialized bodies, such as military ombuds institutions, and receiving and debating periodic reports from the armed forces and those specialized bodies.127 Box 4.6 illustrates the operation of these procedures in the armed forces of different states. Box 4.6: Parliamentary oversight of the human rights of armed forces personnel128 • Albania: Parliamentary oversight is executed indirectly through National Security Commissions. • Austria: The Parliamentary Commission for the Federal Army accepts and verifies complaints from members of the armed forces or conscripts. • Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Parliamentary Military Commissioner is responsible for investigating specific issues as instructed by the Parliamentary Assembly and the Joint Committee for Defence and Security. The Commissioner may receive complaints from members of the Armed Forces, inspect military units, Armed Forces headquarters and units of the Ministry of Defence without prior notice and at any time, and demand reports and information from the Ministry. • Finland: The Parliamentary Ombudsman carries out inspections in the various units of the Defence Forces and peacekeeping contingents, and generally reviews public decisions and receives complaints (including from members of the armed forces). • Germany: The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces assists the Parliament in overseeing the Armed Forces, and investigates possible rights violations, both ex officio and following petitions by service personnel. 125 Jörg Luther, “Military Law in Italy”, in Nolte, op. cit., note 8, p. 433. 126 Constitutional Court of Poland, Judgment No. K 26/98 (7 March 2000). 127 DCAF and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector: Principles, Mechanisms and Practices (Geneva 2003), http://archive.ipu.org/PDF/publications/decaf-e.pdf. 128 Responses to question 5 of the ODIHR-DCAF questionnaire of 2018, and relevant parliament websites. 69