Of Toothless Windbags,Blind Guardians and Blunt Swords: The Ongoing Controversy about the Reform of Intelligence Services Oversight in Germany

Due to the course of European history, German intelligence services are not exactly renowned abroad for epitomizing the rule of law. This article, however, tries to leave the chamber of horrors called memories behind and discusses the question of how intelligence services oversight functions in Germany today. This will mainly be discussed from the perspective of a legal scholar. The article will examine whether, and to what extent, the existing legal framework allows for efficient oversight of the intelligence services. Where oversight deficits can be identified, recent reform proposals related to them will be discussed critically. The article concludes, not all proposals for reform are suitable for solving the problems at hand.