Constitutional transition law
In Austria, two constitutional laws are referred to as constitutional transition law, which were enacted in 1945 by the Renner Provisional State Government before the constitution of the Parliament of the Second Republic in order - in accordance with the declaration of independence of April 27, 1945 - to take into account the intention to reinstate the Austrian constitution and to put the Federal Constitutional Law in the version of 1929 and other federal constitutional law in the version of 1933 back into force.
Emergence
The two constitutional transition laws came into being through a resolution of the Provisional State Government, which was formed during the liberation of Austria by the Allied troops on April 27, 1945 from representatives of the anti-fascist parties and headed by Karl Renner as State Chancellor . The re-established Socialist Party of Austria , the Austrian People's Party , founded primarily by representatives of the former Christian Social Party, but also the Landbund, and the Communist Party of Austria participated in the government .
The constitutional procedure for passing constitutional laws was not yet applicable at the time the two constitutional laws were enacted. The state government therefore created the transitional provisions in the 1st and 2nd Constitutional Transition Act out of its own power to give its activities a legal basis until the constitution of parliament and to regulate this constitution.
The constitutional law of May 1, 1945 on the renewed entry into force of the federal constitutional law in the version of 1929 was enacted in the course of the Austrian declaration of independence at a time when large parts of Austria were still under Nazi rule. The May 1 could be chosen symbolically, in particular with regard to the (May) 1934 Constitution . Shortly before the constitution of the parliament, which was elected in November 1945, in the 2nd Constitutional Transition Act 1945 of December 13, 1945, the State Council and Council of States were replaced by the Federal Council and supplementary rules were made for the start of parliamentary work.
(First) Constitutional Transition Act 1945
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Constitutional Transition Act - V-ÜG |
| Long title: | Constitutional Act of May 1, 1945 on the renewed entry into force of the Federal Constitutional Act in the version of 1929 (Constitutional Transition Act - V-ÜG) |
| Abbreviation: | V-ÜG |
| Type: | federal Constitution |
| Scope: | Republic of Austria |
| Legal matter: | Constitution |
| Reference: | StGBl. No. 4/1945 |
| Date of law: | May 1, 1945 (decision) |
| Effective date: | May 1, 1945 |
| Last change: | never |
| Expiration date: | December 31, 2007 (Art. 2: Paragraph 1 Item 5, Paragraph 2 Item 4 and Paragraph 3 Item 5 Federal Law Gazette I No. 2/2008 ) |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version ! | |
- Article 1 V-ÜG states that the "Federal Constitutional Law in the version of 1929 as well as all other federal constitutional laws and constitutional provisions contained in simple federal laws according to the status of the legislation of March 5, 1933 [...] within the meaning of the government declaration, St. G. Bl. No. 3 from 1945, put back into effect ”. The constitutional situation before the elimination of parliament and the constitutional court by the Federal Government of Dollfuss I was restored.
- Article 2 V-ÜG repeals all federal constitutional laws, constitutional provisions and constitutional provisions that were enacted after March 5, 1933.
- Article 3 V-ÜG lists those constitutional provisions that arose between March 5, 1933 and April 27, 1945 and which, in particular, should be repealed. The constitution of the federal state of Austria of 1934 (the end of the democratic republic of Austria at the time), the connection law of 1938 (the end of Austrian sovereignty) and the Ostmark law of 1938 (the final end of the name Austria in the Nazi state) are mentioned here. . The reclassification of the federal states in Reichsgaue was also canceled.
- Article 4 paragraph 1 V-ÜG regulates the constitutional transition until the final re-enactment of the Federal Constitutional Law with the words:
- “In place of the provisions of the Federal Constitutional Law in the version of 1929, which have actually become impracticable as a result of the paralysis of parliamentary life in Austria since March 5, 1933, as a result of the violent annexation of Austria, or as a result of the armed conflict, the provisions are now in place of the Constitutional Act on the Provisional Establishment of the Republic of Austria (Provisional Constitution). "
- According to Article 4 paragraph 2 V-ÜG, the provisional constitution is to expire six months after the newly elected National Council has met .
- Article 5 V-ÜG prescribes the enactment of a separate authority transition law (B-ÜG) .
- Articles 6 and 7 VÜG determine the immediate entry into force of the Constitutional Transition Act and its implementation by the Provisional State Government.
When it was repealed in the Federal Constitutional Law Consolidation Act in January 2008, the law was determined to no longer apply.
Second constitutional transition law 1945
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | 2. Constitutional Transition Act 1945 |
| Long title: | Constitutional law of December 13, 1945, whereby constitutional orders are made on the occasion of the meeting of the National Council and the state parliaments |
| Abbreviation: | 2. V-ÜG |
| Type: | federal Constitution |
| Scope: | Republic of Austria |
| Legal matter: | Constitution |
| Reference: | StGBl. No. 232/1945 |
| Date of law: | December 13, 1945 |
| Effective date: | December 13, 1945 |
| Last change: | never |
| Expiration date: | December 31, 2007 (Art. 2: Paragraph 2 Item 6, Paragraph 3 Item 6 and Paragraph 6 BGBl. I No. 2/2008 ) |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version ! | |
With the constitutional law of December 13, 1945, whereby constitutional orders are made on the occasion of the meeting of the National Council and the state parliaments (2nd Constitutional Transitional Act 1945) , the state government passed "subject to the final regulation of the constitutional relationships by the National Council" (Article I 2 V-ÜG) Regulations on the meeting of the National Council, the re-establishment and meeting of the Federal Council, the meeting of the regional parliaments , the main features of the legislative procedure and the election of the Federal President by the Federal Assembly .
Article III, Paragraph 2 is considered relevant, " Articles 34 to 37 and 58 of the Federal Constitutional Act of October 1, 1920 in the version of BG Bl. No. 367 of 1925 are decisive for the establishment of the Federal Council " declares, and Paragraph 3, that all provisions on the State and Council of States were applicable to him in 1929.
When it was repealed in the Federal Constitutional Law Consolidation Act in January 2008, Art. III, Paragraph 3 of the Act was repealed (Art. 2, Paragraph 6) and the remainder was determined to no longer apply (Art. 2, Paragraph 2, Item 6 and Para. 3, Item 6 ).
Significance for the Austrian constitution
According to the occupation theory , which is also followed by the permanent judicature of the Constitutional Court , Austria was occupied by the German Reich on March 13, 1938 , but not annexed . This not only implies that Austria's continued existence is assumed, but it is also assumed at the same time that the republic was completely incapable of acting between 1938 and 1945, since the annexation also meant that those state bodies that had not already fallen victim to the Austro-fascist coup had been eliminated. The wording of the (1.) Constitutional Transition Act opposed the theory of occupation when it speaks of a violent annexation of Austria in Article 4 (1). The fact that laws are derogated that were never formally valid speaks against the assumption of an occupation. The Constitutional Court nevertheless included the Constitutional Transition Act in its permanent case law as part of the constitution.
With their fundamental abolition of the “Anschluss”, the two constitutional transition laws belong to the important foundations of the general victim thesis (or criticizing victim myth ) of the Austrian self-image, according to which there could be no general responsibility because of its non-existence. But they are also important for the role that Dollfuss and Schuschnigg are assigned in the Austrian understanding of history: Since they, as the independence proclamation of April 27, 1945 had demanded, in the “restoration” of Austria before May 1934, the authoritarian corporate state 1934–38, as a pioneer of Hitler, was taken out of the sense of responsibility of the republic, as the consequences of the parliamentary crisis in April 1934 (“self-elimination”) became legally ineffective for the state structure. That is why it is still a matter of opinion today whether the “First” Republic of Austria ended in 1934 or 1938.
In the RIS introduction to the consolidated version of the B-VG, the Federal Chancellery names December 19, 1945 as the date of re-entry into force. This corresponds to the prevailing doctrine and jurisprudence that contrary to Article 4 Paragraph 2 V-ÜG (6 months after meeting) the provisional constitution expired and the Federal Constitutional Act entered into force with the meeting of the newly elected National Council on December 19, 1945.
Repeal
Both laws were repealed with the (1st) Federal Constitutional Law Consolidation Act (BGBl. I No. 2/2008) passed on December 5, 2007 , with which the Federal Government of Gusenbauer made the widely scattered texts of the Austrian constitution a little clearer as part of a state and administrative reform. They were now legally irrelevant (derogated or otherwise obsolete).
See also
literature
- Theo Öhlinger: Constitutional Law. 7th edition, WUV Universitätsverlag, Vienna 2007.
Web links
- Proclamation on the independence of Austria (declaration of independence), StGBl. No. 1/1945
- StGBl. No. 4/1945 : Constitutional Act of May 1, 1945 on the renewed entry into force of the Federal Constitutional Act in the version of 1929 (Constitutional Transition Act - V-ÜG)
- StGBl. No. 5/1945 : Constitutional Act of May 1, 1945 on the Provisional Establishment of the Republic of Austria (Provisional Constitution)
- StGBl. No. 232/1945 : Constitutional Law of December 13, 1945, whereby constitutional orders are made on the occasion of the meeting of the National Council and the Landtag (2nd Constitutional Transition Law 1945)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Federal Constitutional Law, Federal Law Gazette No. 1/1930
- ↑ Ludwig Adamovich : Handbook of Austrian Constitutional Law , 6th edition, Vienna 1971, p. 33. Heinz Mayer , Robert Walter : Outline of Austrian Federal Constitutional Law , 8th edition, Vienna 1996, margin no. 69. Theo Öhlinger : Constitutional Law , 7th edition, Vienna 2007, margin no. 49
- ↑ cf. 314 of Beilagen XXIII. GP - government bill - cover sheet and explanations . In: Parliamentary materials , especially on Section 1 (Federal Constitutional Law, which is no longer valid or is repealed) , p. 14 ff (PDF; on Federal Constitutional Law, amendment; First Federal Constitutional Law Consolidation Act ).
