Estonian Constitution of 1934

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The Estonian Constitution of 1934 (officially Eesti Vabariigi põhiseadus - "Basic Law of the Republic of Estonia") was the second constitution of the Republic of Estonia, founded in February 1918 . With the amendment of the Estonian constitution of 1920 , Estonia intended to convert from a parliamentary to a semi-presidential system of government . The constitution was in effect de jure from January 24, 1934 to December 31, 1937, when a new constitution came into force. However, since the bloodless coup d'état of March 12, 1934 , the constitution has de facto no longer applied.

Emergence

The liberal constitution of 1920 placed the parliament ( Riigikogu ) as the only directly elected state body at the center of political life. She strongly emphasized democratic principles and the government's feedback to parliament. Under the 1920 Constitution, the Riigikogu could dismiss the government at any time with a simple majority. In practice, this led to frequent changes of government, short terms of office for the respective heads of government and high political instability. Between December 1920 and January 1934, Estonia had 16 governments, some of which only stayed in office for a few months. The average tenure of an Estonian government at the time was only eleven months. This meant that the government was barely able to pursue sustainable policy approaches from the end of 1929, especially during the period of economic depression . Furthermore, the balancing role of a state president, which was not provided for in the constitution, was missing.

At the same time, with the worsening economic situation since the early 1930s, the political establishment of Estonia was under increasing pressure from the Estonian Union of Freedom Fighters ( Eesti Vabadussõjalaste Liit ), a veterans' association of soldiers in the Estonian War of Independence against Soviet Russia (1918-1920 ), which was close to right-wing authoritarian ideas ). The supporters of the federal government, or Vapsid for short , found their ideas more and more popular among the Estonian population. They were finally able to prevail with the demand for a constitutional reform that should strengthen the executive branch.

Constitutional reform

The undisputed deficits of the constitution of 1920 should be compensated for with a new Basic Law. A de facto presidential system with an elderly state elected directly by the people ( Riigivanem ) , who determined the main lines of government work, was supposed to reverse the previous one-sided distribution of power between the executive and legislative branches in favor of the state elder.

The new Basic Law of the Republic of Estonia was adopted in a referendum on October 14-16, 1933. The constitution came into force on January 24, 1934. At the same time, elections for the head of state and parliament ( riigikogu ) were to take place a hundred days after they came into force .

Constitutional provisions

The new constitution left the extensive basic rights and freedoms of the Basic Law of 1920 largely unchanged. The changes in state organization law, on the other hand, were radical. They meant the conversion from a parliamentary to a semi-presidential system of government .

The constitution halves the previous number of members of parliament ( Riigikogu , literally "State Assembly") to fifty. They are elected for four years in equal, free and secret elections. The ordinary session of Parliament begins on the first Monday in October each year and does not last longer than six months (Section 41). The state elder has the right to shorten the annual session if this is “required by state considerations”.

The constitution provides for an elder ( riigivanem ) as the core of the executive as head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. He determines the guidelines of politics. The term of office of the state elder is five years. It is directly elected by the people and is therefore on an equal footing with Parliament in its democratic legitimation. If none of the applicants achieved the required absolute majority of the votes cast in the first ballot, a second ballot will take place within three weeks. New applicants can also compete there. Whoever can get the most votes in the second ballot is elected (§ 58). If the state elder is prevented from exercising his office, the prime minister represents him.

The office of a Prime Minister ( Peaminister ), who is appointed by the State Elder, is newly created . The Prime Minister presides over the meetings of the government. Its position in the political system is weak. The Prime Minister and the Ministers constantly require the trust of the State Elder and Parliament (Section 63). Parliament can express mistrust of the government, the prime minister or individual ministers and remove them from office. The elder of state has the same right.

The judicial system remains essentially untouched by the new constitution. According to Section 69, the highest Estonian court remains the State Court of Justice ( Riigikohus ). The judges of the State Court of Justice are no longer appointed by Parliament, but by the State Elder from a list of proposals by the State Court, which in practice only had an advisory role. Under the new law, lower-level judges are no longer appointed by the State Court, but by the state elder.

Structure of the constitution

The 1934 constitution is divided into two parts. The first part ( I osa ) with an introductory part ( preamble ) and ten sections ( peatükk ) contains the actual constitutional provisions:

section   §§ German Estonian
(Introductory part) (Sissejuhatav osa)
1 1-5 General provisions Üldised määrused
2 6-26 About the fundamental rights of Estonian citizens Eesti kodanikkude põhiõigustest
3 27-34 About the people Rahvast
4th 35-56 houses of Parliament Riigikogu
5 57-67 About the State Elder and the Government of the Republic Riigivanemast ja Vabariigi valitsusest
6th 68-74 About the court Kohtust
7th 75-77 About self-management Omavalitsusest
8th 78-82 About state defense Riigikaitsest
9 83-85 About state taxes and the budget Riigi maksudest yes eelarvest
10 86-89 About the validity of the Basic Law and its amendment   Põhiseaduse jõust ja muutmisest

The second part ( II osa ) contains transitional provisions in its Sections 1 to 4. After that, the new constitution comes into force on the hundredth day after the referendum. According to § 3, elections for the head of state and for parliament are to be held within one hundred days after the new constitution comes into force. With the entry into force of the new constitution, the previous state elder (since October 21, 1933 Konstantin Päts ) will hold both offices in personal union until a prime minister is appointed. According to § 4, the rights of the old parliament end when the newly elected Riigikogu takes over the powers .

Coup of March 1934

The State Elder Konstantin Päts (1934)

The first elections to parliament and the head of state were to take place under the new constitution in April 1934. Forecasts gave the Federation of Estonian Freedom Fighters a good chance of winning a majority in both elections. The incumbent state elder Konstantin Päts wanted to prevent this at all costs, who was a bitter opponent of both the (banned) Communist Party of Estonia (EKP) and the far-right Vapsid . Pats feared that Estonia would drift to the right if the Federation of Freedom Fighters should take power in the country in a democratic way.

On March 12, 1934, Pats carried out a bloodless coup with the help of the military and declared a state of emergency on the country. He had four hundred political suspects arrested and restricted freedom of assembly and association. Pats appointed his right-hand man, General Johan Laidoner , as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The appointment of Karlsbund (from 1935 established under the name Kaarel Eenpalu) as deputy prime minister and interior minister in autumn 1934 tightened the transition to an authoritarian regime.

End of the Constitution

With the coup d'état of April 1934, the constitution, fundamental rights and parliamentarism were largely suspended. The upcoming elections were canceled and civil liberties were severely restricted. Numerous officials and some judges have been fired. In September 1934, Päts extended the state of emergency for another year. Democratic elections were pushed back further. When parliament criticized the government for this, the government declared the plenary session on October 2, 1934 over. Parliament no longer met under pressure from Pats and Laidoner. In June 1934 the seat of the Tartu State Court was moved to Tallinn to give the executive greater control over the judiciary.

In 1935 all political parties were banned and brought into line in the Isamaaliit ("Fatherland Union") unity party. State control was also extended over the trade unions and youth organizations, censorship was introduced and the right to strike curtailed. Critical press organs were intimidated and political opponents were silenced by trials. The so-called "silent time" ( Estonian Vaikiv ajastu ) began in Estonian historiography .

From the beginning of 1936, the government was preparing a new constitution that was to legally enshrine the authoritarian dictatorship of Konstantin Päts. It came into effect after a referendum on January 1, 1938.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.juridicainternational.eu/index/2005/vol-x/social-and-economic-fundamental-rights-in-estonian-constitutions-between-world-wars-i-and-ii-a-vanguard -or-rearguard-of-europe
  2. ^ Mati Laur et al .: History of Estonia. 2nd edition. Avita, Tallinn 2002, ISBN 9985-2-0606-1 , p. 238 f.