Committees of inquiry, in related literature, are often called as ‘sharpest sword’ of the opposition. However, this sharpness is highly dependent on how much rights the opposition is effectively provided by the fine details of the procedural rules, and whether these rights are justiciable. According to the German model, the inquiry must be launched if a quarter of the MPs require it, and the opposition enjoys minority rights also during the inquiry. Many countries implemented the first, but not the second element in their parliamentary procedures (Hungary, Kosovo, Albania, Lithuania), which led to ineffective inquiries. The only positive example for a successful transplant of the mandatory minority initiative for launching an inquiry is the neighbouring country, Austria. In most of the other countries, the majority is more effective in conducting inquiries, and, lacking judicial remedies, the opposition cannot put its right to inquiry in practice effectively. It seems that the mandatory minority initiative hardly works properly outside its original home country, Germany, and the only successful transplant country, Austria. Another evidence that legal transplants cannot survive if the legal environment and culture is not fertile and developed enough.

The use of omnibus legislation is increasing all around the world. This paper looks at legislative data and cases of omnibus legislation from three countries at different stages of the democratic transition process: Turkey, Indonesia and Hungary. In these countries, omnibus legislation was a tool used by dominant executives to circumvent or weaken the parliament. Omnibus legislation is a flexible tool for compromised law reforms (legal approximation of EU integration), and frequently used also for political bargaining, in order to reach package deals within the legislature (Italy, Canada, the USA). On the other hand, omnibus laws make the legislative procedure less transparent. The possibility of constant amendment packages in (negative) omnibus laws erodes legal perfection and brings uncertainty and mistakes into laws, which then call for even more amendments for corrections, creating a vicious circle.