Constitution of Cadiz

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Allegory of the Constitution of 1812 - Francisco de Goya

The Constitution of Cádiz from 1812 was the first written constitution that was drawn up and put into effect by the Spanish for Spain. Because of its promulgation date, March 19th, which is celebrated in Spain as the holiday of St. Joseph ( Pepe ), the constitution is also known as La Pepa . The Cádiz constitution, which was considered liberal at the time, was the model for later Spanish and foreign constitutions.

Development of the Constitution

The Treaty of Fontainebleau gave Napoleon in 1807 the right to march his troops through Spain to Portugal in order to force the country to participate in the continental blockade against Great Britain . Napoleon saw in this march permit, however, an opportunity to occupy a large part of Spain. After an uprising against the Spanish government led by Manuel de Godoy , Charles IV abdicated on March 19, 1808 in favor of his son Ferdinand VII .

In May 1808, Charles IV and Ferdinand VII were invited by Napoleon to Bayonne ( Bayona in Spanish ) in France and both were forced to renounce the throne. Ferdinand settled in Valençay Castle , almost in captivity . Napoleon installed his eldest brother as King Joseph I in Spain; the north of Spain was occupied by French troops. At the beginning of May 1808 , the population rose against the occupiers everywhere in Spain. This resistance was violently suppressed by the French troops. In order to give Joseph's claim to the throne a legal basis, a Spanish Diputación general (National Assembly) was convened in Bayonne on May 19, 1808 , which discussed a constitution that confirmed Joseph Bonaparte as king. This constitution, the Bayona Statute , was promulgated in July 1808 in the French-occupied areas of Spain.

In the part of the country not occupied by French troops, a junta Suprema Central y Gubernativa del Reino was formed in September 1808 , a kind of counter-government that acted in the name (but without commission) of the longed-for King Ferdinand VII. This Junta Suprema Central convened the Cortes Generales y extraordinarias on January 1, 1810, roughly following the procedure according to which the members of the last Cortes under Charles IV were convened in 1789. The Cortes of Cádiz met in September 1810 and promulgated the Constitution of Cádiz in March 1812. The Cortes, who met in Cádiz on September 25, 1813, had already been elected according to the rules of the Cádiz constitution.

After Napoleon was no longer able to maintain the military occupation of Spain , particularly due to pressure from the British Army, the Spanish crown was returned to Ferdinand VII in the Treaty of Valençay . After arriving in Spain, Ferdinand issued the Valencia Manifesto on May 4, 1814, in which he proclaimed that he would not approve anything that the Junta Suprema Central and the Cortes of Cádiz had enacted in his name. He annulled all laws and edicts that had been promulgated over the past six years. The existing Cortes were dissolved and no new ones convened.

After the pronunciamiento of Rafael del Riego and the unrest that followed, Ferdinand VII felt compelled in March 1820 to give in to the demand for the re-enactment of the Cádiz constitution. For the next three years, known as the Trienio Liberal , the Cádiz Constitution came into force again. At the Verona Congress at the end of 1822, the members of the Holy Alliance (with England abstaining) instructed France to intervene in Spain to enable King Ferdinand VII to reign absolutistically . The French invasion of Spain , which began in April 1823, led to the restoration of absolutist rule under Ferdinand VII. In the decree of October 1, 1823, the Constitution of Cádiz and all orders, laws and regulations of the government since March 7, 1820 were repealed .

After the mutiny of La Granja , the regent María Cristina felt compelled to re-enact the Cádiz constitution of 1812 formally in the name of her daughter Isabella II by decree of 13 August 1836 . The decree on the election of the Cortes of August 21, 1836 was therefore issued expressly in accordance with the rules of the constitution of 1812. The validity of the Cádiz constitution was then repealed by the promulgation of the new constitution on June 18, 1837.

content

Declaratory part

Illustration of the original edition of the 1812 constitution

While no direct statement about sovereignty is made in the preamble , Article 3 clearly states: Sovereignty rests with the nation. Legislation belongs to the Cortes together with the king. This also gives rise to the designation of King Ferdinand VII as "King by the grace of God and the constitution". The old basic rights of the monarchy are named as the basis of the constitution. The great aim of the constitution is to promote the honor, progress and well-being of the nation in order to achieve good government and righteous administration of the state.

The right to freedom of the person , the right to property , the right to equality before the law , the right to the inviolability of the home , the right to education were not guaranteed in a separate section, but distributed through the constitution. Primary schools are required for all cities. The freedom of the press specifically referred to political content, not necessarily religious.

The Catholic faith is not only declared the state religion, the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman religion is designated as the only true religion and the practice of any other religion is prohibited. It was a ban on even private, non-public practice of another religion.

Organizational part

Monument in Plaza de España in Cádiz to the introduction of the Constitution of Cádiz in 1812

According to the Cadiz Constitution, the Cortes were a unicameral parliament in which the estates were of no importance. The indirect electoral system was precisely defined in the constitution. All male, over 25-year-olds elected electors in the municipalities in secret elections, these electors then elected the electors together with other electors who were also elected, who then elected the representatives in the provincial capital. Neither active nor passive voting rights were linked to income or property. An electoral term lasted two years. The constitution guaranteed the MPs immunity and indemnity .

The annual sessions of the Cortes were fixed. An express convocation was not required. The king was forbidden to intervene in the course of the meetings; besides, he couldn't dissolve the Cortes.

Legislative initiatives could come from the king or from parliament. The constitution gave the king a veto right . He could refuse to sign a law passed by the Cortes and refer it back. The Cortes were able to pass a similar law the next year. The king was able to reject the law for the second time. Only with the third bill would the king have been forced to proclaim the law.

The king's rights and duties were set out in a separate section of the constitution. The king directed the government and administration. In principle, he could appoint and dismiss the ministers (Secretarios de Despacho) according to his will. In practice he was dependent on showing consideration for the majority in the Cortes.

The constitution provided for a council of state (Consejo de Estado) of 40 people as the only advisory body to the king. The members were appointed by the king on the proposal of the Cortes. The Cortes presented the king with a triple list of proposals from which to choose. Exactly four of the members had to belong to the clergy. Four other members had to be Grandes de España and at least twelve had to come from the overseas provinces. The Council of State should advise the king on all important questions of legislation, but also on the appointment of judges or the conclusion of contracts. The members of the State Council could only be removed from office by a decision of the Supreme Court.

Neither the members of the Cortes nor the king were allowed to perform judicial functions. The courts had exclusively judicial tasks. Judges could only be dismissed after a judicial conviction. There were special courts for clergy and for members of the military.

The constitution provided for a “sensible reallocation of Spain” as soon as political circumstances permitted. In practice, the constitution was based on the division of all of Spain into provinces. At the head of the provinces stood a Jefe Superior appointed by the king . This was supported by a Diputación provincial , which was determined by the electors in the Cortes elections. The tasks of the provincial administrations were laid down in detail in the constitution. The same was true for the election and the tasks of the city administrations ( ayuntamientos ).

The strength of the regular army and navy should be redefined annually by the Cortes. Every Spaniard was obliged to do military service. In addition, national militias were provided for each province , made up of the inhabitants of the provinces. Service in these militias was not necessary all the time, but only when the circumstances required it. These militias were not allowed to be deployed in other provinces without the consent of the Cortes.

An amendment or addition to the constitution should be excluded for the first eight years after it came into force. Constitutional amendments should be carried out in a complicated procedure with several readings and new elections in the meantime through a resolution with a two-thirds majority.

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literature

  • Andreas Timmermann: The national sovereignty in the constitution of Cadiz (1812). In: The State . Journal of State Theory, Public Law and Constitutional History. 39 Vol., 2000, pp. 570-587.
  • Andreas Timmermann: The "moderate monarchy" in the constitution of Cadiz (1812) and the early liberal constitutional thinking in Spain. Aschendorff Verlag, Münster 2007, ISBN 978-3-402-14865-5 .
  • Anna Gianna Manca: Between constitutional and administrative reform. A preliminary investigation of the parliamentary incompatibilities in the Spanish constitution of March 19, 1812. In: Gerald Kohl, Christian Neschwara (Ed.): Legal history with an international perspective. Festschrift for Wilhelm Brauneder on his 65th birthday. Manz Verlag, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-214-00388-3 , 307-387.

See also

Web links

Wikisource: Constitution of Cadiz  - sources and full texts (Spanish)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Convocatoria para las Juntas superiores (1 de enero de 1810) - Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes. In: cervantesvirtual.com. Retrieved December 30, 2014 .
  2. ↑ NÚMERO XLV. REAL DECRETO. In: ih.csic.es
  3. ↑ Manifiesto de SM declarando ..., Documentos Tomo II. P. 338
  4. ↑ Royal Decree on the Convocation of the Cortes (www.ih.csic.es/paginas/jrug/leyes/18360821.doc)
  5. ^ Constitution of 1837 s: es: Constitución española de 1837