- Olmütz, March 4, 1846
Section I. Of the Empire
Art. I. The Empire of Austria consists of the following Crown dominions:
The Archduchy of Austria above and below the Enns, the Duchy of Salzburg, the Duchy of Styria; the Kingdom of Illyria, consisting of the Duchy of Carinthia, the Duchy of Krain, the County Palatine of Gorizia, and Gradiska, the Margravate of Istria, and the town of Trieste with its dependencies; the County Palatine of the Tyrol and Vorarlberg; the Kingdom of Bohemia; the Margravate of Moravia; the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia; the Kingdoms of Galicia and Lodomeria, with the Duchies of Auschwitz and Zator, and the Grand Duchy of Cracow; the Duchy of the Bukowina; the Kingdoms of Dalmatia, Croatia, and Slavonia, with the Croatian coast, the town of Fiume and its dependencies; the Kingdom of Hungary; the Principality of Transylvania, including the Saxon territory and the re-incorporated counties of Kraszna, Mittel Szolnok, and Zarand, the districts of Kovar and the town of Zilah; the Military Frontier districts, and the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom.
Art. II. These Crown dominions compose the free, independent, indi-visible, and constitutional hereditary Empire or Austria.
Art. III. Vienna is the capital of the empire and the seat of the Executive power.
Art. IV. The independence of the respective Crown dominions will be assured to each of them, within such limits as shall be laid down by this constitution.
Art. V. Equal justice will be given to all races, and each race has the inviolable right of preserving and maintaining its own nationality and language.
Art. VI. The boundaries of the empire or of any one of the Crown dominions may only be changed by a law.
Art. VII. The whole empire is placed on the same footing as regards duties and commerce. Interior duties can not exist under any pretence, and where such duties at present exist between separate parts of the empire, they are to be done away with as soon as possible. The exclusion of any particular districts from the Austrian Zollverein, or the admission of foreign Powers into the same, is a matter for the consideration of the Executive.
Art. VIII. The arms and colours of the empire and of the Crown dominions respectively remain as before.
Section II. Of the Emperor
Art. IX. The Crown of the empire and of each separate Crown domain is hereditary in the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, according to the Pragmatic Sanction and the domestic laws of Austria.
Art. X. The laws at present in existence regarding the age at which the heir to the Crown attains his majority, and the appointment of guardians or of a regency, remain in force.
Art. XI. The Emperor, in addition to his present titles, takes also that of Grand Duke of Cracow and Duke of the Bukowina.
Art. XII. The Emperor is crowned as Emperor of Austria. An express statute will fix the details.
Art. XIII. At his coronation the Emperor swears to maintain the Constitution, which oath is also to be taken by his successors at their coronation, as well as by the Regent when accepting the Regency.
Art. XIV. The person of the Emperor is sacred and inviolable
Art. XV. The Emperor has the command over the whole armed force, either in person or through his generals.
Art. XVI. The Emperor makes war or peace.
Art. XVII. The Emperor receives and sends Ambassadors, and concludes Treaties with foreign Powers.
Clauses in any such Treaties which impose new burdens on the empire require the sanction of Parliament.
Art. XVIII. The Emperor proclaims the laws and issues the necessary regulations. Every such proclamation must be countersigned by a responsible Minister.
Art. XIX. The Emperor names and dismisses the Ministers, disposes of all official appointments in the State, and confers nobility, orders, and marks of distinction.
Art. XX. Throughout the empire justice is administered in the name of the Emperor.
Art. XXI. The Emperor has the right of granting full pardon, of mitigating punishment, and of giving amnesties, with the exception of the particular regulations which refer to the Ministers.
Art. XXII. The right of coining is carried into execution in the name of the Emperor.
Section III. Of Municipal Rights
Art. XXIII. For all nations of the empire the right of Austrian citizenship is one and the same. An Act of Parliament will deter-mine under what conditions this right is earned, how carried into effect, or how it may be lost.
Art. XXIV. There can be no difference made between the dependents of one province and those of another, as regards their municipal rights or their penal liabilities, in judicial proceedings or in the imposition of burdens.
The judicial sentences of the courts throughout the Austrian Crown domains are there at once valid and to be put into execution.
Art. XXV. Within the boundaries of the empire no restraint may be laid upon the freedom of the person. Right to emigrate is restricted by the State only as far as regards the duty of bearing arms.
Art. XXVI. Every kind of serfdom, every kind of feudal subjection is now and for ever abolished.
On touching the Austrian soil, or the deck of an Austrian ship, every slave becomes free.
Art. XXVII. All Austrian citizens are equal in the eye of the law and are liable to the same legal treatment.
Art. XXVIII. The public offices and employments in the service of the State are open to all who are capable of filling them.
Art. XIX. Property is under the protection of the empire: it cannot be curtailed or limited except for the sake of the public welfare, and for a compensation determined by law.
Art. XXX. Every Austrian citizen has the right of settling in any part of the empire, and of exercising his trade.
Art. XXXI. No limitation is placed upon the right of freely transferring property from one part of the empire to another. No deductions will be made upon property drawn from Austria into a foreign country, unless it is in the way of reprisal.
Art. XXXII. Every obligation or service arising out of feudal liabilities or out of the title of a divided property, which still encumbers an estate, may be redeemed, and in future no estate may be burdened with any feudal service.
Section IV. Of the Commune
Art. XXXIII. The following are granted as fundamental rights to the communes:
The election or their Representatives;
The reception of new members into the commune;
The independent administration of their affairs;
The right to publish the state of their circumstances; and
(Generally speaking) the debates of their Representatives.
The details of these fundamental rights of the communes, and particularly conditions for admission into a commune, are contained in the Communal Laws.
Art. XXXIV. A particular law for the purpose will determine the formation of districts for the administration of their domestic affairs in common.
Section V. Of the Affairs of the Provinces
Art. XXXV. Under this head come
All regulations respecting
Agriculture;
Public buildings from the public funds;
Charitable institutions in the country;
The estimation and valuation of the land;
Both as regards the revenues arising from the administration of the land, taxation for public purposes, the application of the credit of the country;
And an regards the ordinary and extraordinary disbursements:
The more particular regulations within the jurisdiction of the laws of the empire, respecting
The affairs of the communes;
The affairs of the church and of education;
The obligation to furnish horses (for the army) and to receive and quarter the army:
And, finally,
Regulations upon all those subjects which by the laws of the empire are referred to the office of the country authorities.
Section VI. Of the Affairs of the Empire
Art. XXXVI. Under this head come
All affairs concerning the reigning Imperial House and the rights of the Crown.
The representation of the empire according to the laws of nations, in all its interests, particularly the conclusion of Treaties with foreign Powers.
The relations of the State to the Church.
The higher branches of education.
The whole army and navy.
The Imperial revenue, including the estates of the Crown and the domains of the empire, in which the following are included, i.e., state, cameral, and fiscal property. The Imperial mine works, the Imperial monopolies, the Imperial credit, and all taxes and duties for the purposes of the empire.
All affairs of trade and commerce, including navigation, customhouses, banks, the mints and the mines, and the regulation of weights and measures.
All communications by water or by roads, railroads, post, and telegraphs; generally speaking, all Imperial buildings.
All ordinances and measures for the preservation of the internal security of the empire.
Finally,
All affairs which are not declared by the constitution or the law to be affairs of the provinces (XXXV).
Section VII. Of the Legislative Power
Art. XXXVII. The Legislative Power is exercised, with reference to the affairs of the State, by the Emperor in conjunction with the Parliament; with reference to the affairs of the provinces (XXXV), by the Emperor in conjunction with the Provincial Diets.
Section VIII. Of the Parliament
Art. XXXVIII. The United Parliament of Austria is to consist of 2 houses, an Upper and a Lower House, and will be summoned to meet by the Emperor in the spring of every year.
Art. XXIX. The Parliament assembles at Vienna, but may be summoned by the Emperor to meet at any other place.
Art. XL. The Upper House is composed of Members who are chosen from the Provincial Diets of the respective Crown domains.
Art. XLI. The number of Deputies for the Upper House is to consist of half that which the Constitution shall allot to the Lower House. The distribution of this number will be regulated so that each domain shall send 2 Members of its Diet as Members of Parliament, and that the surplus shall be distributed proportionally among all Crown domains.
Art. XLII. The 2 Members of the Provincial Diets sent to Parliament must be in full enjoyment of their municipal and political rights, Austrian citizens of more than 5 years' standing, and 40 years at least.
The other Members of the Upper House are to be elected by the Provincial Diets, but only from amongst those citizens of the State who possess the above-mentioned qualifications, and pay at least 500 florins in direct taxes within the empire.
In the Crown domains, where the number of such citizens pay 600 florins direct taxes does not reach the proportion of 1 in 6000, it will be filled up from the class which next follows in the taxation.
Art. XLIII. The Lower House will be formed by the direct popular choice.
Every Austrian citizen is a voter, who is of age, in the full-enjoyment of his municipal and political rights, and who either pays the yearly contribution in direct taxes which is fixed by the Electoral Law, or who, without the payment of such taxes, possesses by his position in a commune of the Austrian dominions the right of voting.
Art. XLIV. The elections for the Lower House take place in districts and towns, to be determined on by the Electoral Law.
This law will also fix the numbers of the members according to population.
This number will be so regulated that for every 100,000 inhabitants there shall be at least 1 Deputy. The yearly contribution mentioned in the preceding section will be fixed by the Electoral Law in each of the Crown domains, with a due consideration of peculiar circumstances, and on the following principle, viz., that for the country and for towns whose population does not exceed 10,000 persons, this contribution be not less than 10 florins c.m.; and for towns, whose population exceeds 10,000, not less then 5 florins c.m.; but in no case may the sum be fixed at a higher rate than 20 florins c.m.
Art. XLV. Every Austrian citizen, in order to be eligible to the Lower House must be 30 years old, and have been acknowledged to have been in the full enjoyment of his municipal and political rights for at least 5 years.
Art. XLVI. All votes at the elections for the Upper and Lower Houses must be oral and public.
Art. XLVII. Members who occupy a public office cannot be refused leave of absence.
Art. XLVIII. If any Member of Parliament accepts a paid appointment of the State, a new election must take place.
Art. XLIX. The Members of the Upper House are elected for a period of 10, and the Members of the Lower House for a period of 5 successive years. At the expiration of their writs they are re-eligible.
Art. L. The Members of the Upper House receive no remuneration; those of the Lower House will receive for each session a certain stipend.
Art. LI. No one can be at the same time a Member of the Upper and Lower House.
Art. LII. Each Member on taking his seat must take the oath to the Emperor and to the Constitution.
Art. LIII. The Members are not to receive instructions, and can only exercise their personal right of voting.
Art. LIV. Each House of Parliament have the right to examine and decide on the legality of the election of its Members.
Art. LV. Each House have the right of electing its President and Vice- Presidents for the duration of the session.
Art. LVI. Neither House can come to any resolution unless the number of Members required by the Constitution be present.
Art. LVII. Secret voting, except in the case where elections are to be made, cannot take place in either House.
Art. LVIII. A resolution can only be passed by an absolute majority; where there is an equal number of votes the motion is lost.
Art. LIX. The sittings of the Parliament are public; but each House has the right, on the motion of the President or of at least 10 of its Members, to hold secret sittings.
Art. LX. Only Members of Parliament can present petitions in the Houses to which they belong.
Art. LXI. Deputations to the Parliament are not to be admitted into the House.
Art. LXII. No Member of Parliament may be either held to account or be judicially prosecuted out of the House, for any expressions used during the sittings.
Art. LXIII. No Member of Parliament, so long as it is assembled, can, unless taken in the act, be either arrested or prosecuted without the consent of the House to which he belongs.
Art. LXIV. Each House must regulate the order or its business on the principles laid down in its constitution. The relations in matters of business between the Upper and Lower Houses are to be regulated by themselves.
Art. LXV. The right to propose laws belongs to the Emperor, as well as to each House.
Art. LXVI. The unanimity of the Emperor and of both Houses of Parliament is necessary for every law. Motions about laws which have been rejected by the Emperor or either of the Houses cannot be brought on again during the same session.
Art. LXVII. The Parliament has a right to take part in the making of laws on those affairs which in the Constitution of the empire are described as affairs of the empire.
Art. LXVIII. The Deputies from all the Crown dominions take a part in legislative measures respecting the affairs of the empire. This common participation also takes place when measures are passed respecting municipal rights, penal rights, the constitution of tribunals, and judicial proceedings.
But in Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, and Slavonia, as well as the Croatian coast and Fiume, so far as peculiar laws and ordinances differing from those of the rest of the Crown dominions, may exist with regard to this branch or the legislature, the Provincial Diets maintain their competence.
It will nevertheless be the task of the Provincial Diets in these Crown dominions to submit to a revision of the Legislature in these branches, in order as soon as possible to arrive at a desirable similarity of legislation in all parts of the empire. Until this is accomplished the Deputies from those Crown dominions in which a different system of legislation in the above branches exists, are to abstain from participation in the Parliamentary proceedings respecting the same.
Art. LXIX. The Emperor prorogues and closes the Parliament, and can of any period order the dissolution of the whole Parliament or of either House.
Should the Parliament be prorogued, or but 1 of the Houses dissolved, the sittings in both are immediately suspended.
The calling together of the Parliament must in the event of its having been dissolved take place within 3 months from the time of its dissolution.
Section IX. Of the Provincial Constitution and of the Provincial Diets
Art. LXX. The Crown dominions mentioned in [Art.I] are to be represented by Provincial Diets for the administration of those affairs which the Constitution or laws of the empire declare to be provincial affairs (XXXV).
Art. LXXI. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Hungary is to a great extent maintained, but those regulations which are not in harmony with this Constitution are done away with, and equal justice will be done to all nationalities as regards their native languages and all the relations of public and domestic life. For this purpose institutions will be formed, and a special statute will regulate these relations.
Art. LXXII. The Palatinate of Servia is guaranteed such arrangements as will tend to the maintenance of the freedom of their church and of their nationality. These arrangements will be founded upon ancient charters and Imperial manifestos of the present day.
The union of the Palatinate with another of the Crown dominions will, after that the Deputies from thence have been consulted, be determined by an express ordinance.
Art. LXXIII. In the Kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia, including the coast, the town of Fiume and its dependencies, their own peculiar institutions, as far as is consistent with the union of these countries by this Constitution with the whole empire are maintained, and their full independence of the Kingdom of Hungary assured.
Deputies from Dalmatia and the National Assembly of these kingdoms will discuss the plan and conditions for their union, and submit the result of their deliberations to the Emperor for his sanction.
Art. LXXIV. The internal administration and constitution of the Principality of Transylvania will be fixed by a special statute; on the principle, however, of its entire independence of Hungary, and of equal justice being done to all races inhabiting the country and in harmony with this Constitution.
The privileges of the Saxon nation are assured to them and maintained by this Constitution.
Art. LXXV. The Military Frontier establishment which exists for the preservation of the integrity of the empire, maintained as it is in its military organisation, and continue to form all integral part of the standing army under the orders of the Executive. A special statute will confer upon the inhabitants of the Military Frontier the same advantages with respect to their property as are bestowed upon the inhabitants of the other Crown dominions.
Art. LXXVI. A special statute will determine the Constitution of the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom and the relations of this Crown dominion to the rest of the empire.
Art. LXXVII. All the rest of the Crown dominions will receive their own peculiar Constitutions.
The former establishment of the "States" is no longer in operation.
Art. LXXVIII. The composition of the Provincial Diets is to be made with due consideration for all the interests of the province. The Members of these Diets are to be chosen by a direct election.
Art. LXXIX. The authority necessary for the jurisdiction of the pro-vincial electoral district will be exercised either by the Provincial Diet itself, or by a Provincial Committee chosen by the Diet.
Art. LXXX. Every Provincial Diet has a right to take a part in the legislation for provincial affairs and in proposing laws, as well as to watch over the carrying out of the laws.
The unanimity of the Emperor and of the Provincial Diet is necessary for every provincial law.
Art. LXXXI. Alterations in the provincial Constitutions may be moved in the Provincial Diets (in the first that are summoned together) in the ordinary course of legislation. In the succeeding Diets, in order to pass any such alteration, at least three-fourths of all the Members must be present, and at least two-thirds of the Members present must vote for it.
Art. LXXXII. The more particular details respecting the formation and the jurisdiction of the Provincial Diets and of the Provincial Committees may be laid down by the Provincial Constitutions and electoral laws of the several Crown dominions.
Art. LXXXIII. All the Constitutions of the several Crown dominions which compose the empire, are to come into operation in the course of the year 1849, and must be laid before the first General Austrian Parliament which shall be called together after they have come into operation.
Section X. Of the Executive Power
Art. LXXXIV. The Executive Power throughout the empire and in all the Crown dominions is one and indivisible. It is exclusively in the hands of the Emperor, who carries it into execution through his responsible Ministers and their subordinates.
Art. LXXXV. If any part of the Executive Power is placed in the hands of any body or individual, this can only be done provisionally and the Crown has always the right of making other arrangements for the exercise of the said part of the Executive Power.
Art. LXXXVI. The Executive Power must see that the laws are carried into execution and upheld, and also that the Ordinances of the Provincial Diets and Committees be carried out within their several jurisdictions.
Art. LXXXVII. When the Parliament or the Provincial Diet in not sitting, and it may be necessary to take urgent measures, which have not been provided for by the laws, and which it might be a source of danger to the empire or the province to delay, then the Emperor has the right to take the necessary steps on the responsibility of the Ministers and with Provisional Legislative Power; but at the same time he is bound to lay before the Parliament or Provincial Diet respectively the grounds for his conduct and the result.
Art. LXXXVIII. The Ministers have to conduct the administration of the empire and the several Crown dominions, to issue the necessary ordinances, and to see to the maintenance of the laws of the empire and the provinces.
Art. LXXXVIX. The Ministers have the power on their own responsibility, of suspending or prohibiting the execution or measures which would be injurious to the laws and the public welfare in those affairs, which have been left to the independent management or the Communes or of the Provincial Diets.
Art. XC. The Ministers have the right to appear in Parliament and at all times to address the House. They may also for particular discus-sions send Deputies in their stead. They can only vote in Parliament when they are Members.
Art. XCI. With respect to the responsibility of Ministers to judicial proceedings against them, and their punishment in case of condemnation, a special statute will be passed.
Art. XCII. For the several Crown dominions the Emperor appoints Viceroys, who are appointed and in duty bound as the organs of the Executive Power, to see to the maintenance of the laws of the empire and of the province, and to administer the internal affairs of the country within their jurisdiction.
Art. XCIII. The Viceroys have the right either to appear either in person or by proxy in the Provincial Diets, and at all times to address the Assembly. They con only vote in the Diets when they are Members.
Art. XCIV. The Viceroys are in their administration responsible for the due observation and maintenance of the law of the empire and of the province concerned.
Art. XCV. The Executive Power can charge the Viceroys or the authorities of the several Crown dominions with the care of affairs of the empire also, or may have these (affairs of the empire) administered by other agents in any part of the empire.
Section XI. Of the Privy Council
Art. XCVI. By the side of the Crown and of the Executive Power a Privy Council is placed, whose office will be to give advice upon all affairs upon which it shall be consulted by the Executive.
Art. XCXII. The Members of the Privy Council are appointed by the Emperor; in appointing them, the interests of the different parts of the empire must as far as possible be consulted.
Art. XCVIII. A special statute will regulate the formation and jurisdiction of the Privy Council.
Section XII. Of the Judicial Power
Art. XCIX. The judicial power is exercised independently by the tribunals.
Art. C. All judicial authority emanates from the empire. There are to be no hereditary tribunals for the future.
Art. CI. No judge appointed by the State may, after his definitive appointment, be either temporarily removed or dismissed from his post, unless it is by judicial sentence, nor is he to be transferred against his will to another post, or placed on the retired list.
This last regulation, however, is not applicable to cases in which persons are placed on the retired list according to law, on account of incapability of performing their duty, nor to cases where changes in the authorities composing the tribunal become necessary from altera-tions being made in the constitution of that tribunal.
Art. CII. The judicial and administrative power are to be separated, and made independent of one another. In cases of disputes as to competency between the administrative and judicial authorities, the law will appoint persons with power to decide the question.
Art. CIII. Judicial proceedings are to be, generally speaking, oral and public. The exceptions as regards publicity will be fixed by law, in the interest of order and morality.
In criminal cases the system of public prosecution is to be adopted. In all cases of serious crime, which the law shall specify, as well as in political offences and offences of the press, sworn juries are to give the verdict.
Art. CIV. The carrying out of the aforesaid general principles, according to which all judicial proceedings will be henceforth conducted, their introduction into the various provinces, with a due regard to circumstances, is reserved and will be determined by special imperial and provincial laws. (LXVIII.)
Art. CV. All laws referring to the position of Members of the Imperial House in the eye of the law remain in force.
Section XIII. Of the Imperial Tribunal
Art. CVI. A superior Imperial Court it to be established, whose office it will be to intervene in the following cases:
As a Court of Arbitration, in cases of dispute between the empire and the several provinces of the Crown, or in disputes between the several provinces among themselves, whenever the case does not come within the jurisdiction of the ordinary judicial authorities.
As the last Court of Appeal, in cases of violation of political rights.
As the chief Court of Inquiry.
In cases where Ministers or Viceroys are accused;
In conspiracies or attempts against the Monarch or the Regent, and in cases of high treason.
Art. CVII. The seat of the Imperial Tribunal is Vienna; and a special statute will determine in what manner the judges shall be chosen (keeping in view the interests of the provinces of the Crown) of what number they shall consist, and what the proceedings of the court shall be.
Section XIV. Of the Revenue
Art. CVIII. All taxes and imposts for Imperial or Provincial objects will be determined by laws.
Art. CIX. All the receipts and expenditure of the empire must be yearly made public in an estimate. Should this estimate be exceeded, it must be submitted to a subsequent investigation before the Parliament.
Art. CX. The State Debt is guaranteed by the empire.
Art. CXI. The General Account of the Revenue of the Empire every year, together with a general statement of the State Debt, is to be laid before the Parliament every year by the Finance Department.
Art. CXII. The regulations of the Finance Department will be fixed by law.
Section XV. Of the Armed Forces
Art. CXIII. The object of the armed force is to defend the empire against external enemies, to maintain order, and to ensure the execution of the laws.
Art. CXIV. In the interior of the empire the armed force can only interfere upon the demand of the civil authorities, and in those cases only which are defined by law.
Art. CXV. The armed force is in its nature subordinate. No part of it can deliberate.
Art. CXVI. The extent and nature of the duties of an Austrian subject to bear arms, whether by land or by sea, will be determined by a law.
Art. CXVII. The army is under military jurisdiction and military laws.
The regulations for the discipline of the army and navy continue in full force.
Art. CXVIII. The oath of the army to the Constitution will be included in the oath of fidelity to the colours.
Art. CXIX. The establishment of an armed force consisting of citizens will be regulated by law.
Section XVI. General Regulations
Art. CXX. Until the necessary Organic Laws shall be passed by the Imperial Legislature in conformity with the Constitution, the requisite arrangements for carrying them into effect by means of ordinances will be made.
Art. CXXI. Existing laws remain in force until new ones are passed.
Art. CXXII. The authorities remain in the exercise of their present functions until the new Organic Laws relating to them are made.
Art. CXXIII. Alternations in this Imperial Constitution may be proposed in the ordinary manner in the first session of the Legislative bodies. In subsequent sessions to effect such changes it is requisite that at least three-fourths of the Members of each House should be present, and that at least two-thirds of those present should agree to the alterations.
Given this 4th day of March, 1849, at our Imperial residence of Olmütz.
~His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, Franz Karl I, Emperor of Austria; Apostolic King of Hungary; King of Bohemia and King of Lombardy-Venetia; Sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece
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