Imperial decree concerning the organization of the Council of State and the College
The Imperial Decree, which concerns the organization of the State Council and the Collegium (French Décret imperial portant Organization du Conseil d'état et du College ) was issued by Napoleon on March 15, 1812 as an imperial decree for the Grand Duchy of Berg . The decree concerns the organization of a Council of State (in the German original text Staatsrath , in the French version Conseil d'état ) and a college (in the German original text Collegium , in the French version College ). It was seen as "the outline of a future constitution " for the Grand Duchy.
Content
The subject of the decree was primarily the regulation of the government and legislation in the Grand Duchy. Compared to complete constitutions, a large number of issues were missing, such as the definition of the national territory, definition of the form of government, fundamental rights or the judicial constitution.
The State Council then consisted of fourteen members and eight "auditeurs" (members who are not entitled to vote). His task was, among other things, to advise on the drafts of the Napoleonic decrees and to appraise them, to decide in conflicts between administration and judicial authorities and to check bills for public funds. The Minister of Justice was intended to be President of the Board.
According to the decree, the college was to be convened annually. Its task was to distribute the direct taxes to the départements, arrondissements and municipalities. It consisted of ten appointed members who had distinguished themselves in the civil or military field, as well as 75 members from the cantons. Quorum members should be called for life.
Paragraph 1, Article 8, repealed the previous general departmental councils, arrondissement councils and prefectural councils.
The appendices to the decree named the cantons and the number of their deputies for the cantonal assemblies of the notables . According to the decree, 75 deputies had to take part in the cantonal assembly; The largest number was then provided by the canton of Düsseldorf with four deputies, followed by Elberfeld with three deputies. The other cantons had to provide two or one deputy.
classification
As part of the Napoleonic Wars , a number of new states were established during the French era . In Germany, in addition to the Grand Duchy of Berg, these were the Kingdom of Westphalia and the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt . A modern administration and judiciary should be set up in these states based on the French model. These included, for example, the abolition of patrimonial courts and serfdom , the introduction of freedom of trade , the separation of powers , equal rights for Jews and the civil code . These reforms also included the introduction of constitutions.
While these constitutions were implemented in the other two states with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Westphalia and the Supreme Organizational Patent of the Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt , there was never a written constitution in the Grand Duchy.
The French representatives on site in particular were opposed to a proper constitution. Napoleon himself did not want to be bound by a constitution in his decisions. Various elaborated drafts therefore had no effect.
The Imperial Decree, which concerns the organization of the Council of State and the College , only regulated partial areas and could not fulfill the function of a constitution.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Werner Heun (Ed.): German constitution documents 1806–1849, Part II: Bavaria - Bremen. Walter de Gruyter - KG Saur, 2006, pages 177–192 ( online ; PDF; 1.2 MB)
- ↑ Joachim Lilla . Review. In: Information resources for libraries - IFB, 2007, Vol. 15, Issue 1 ( online )
- ^ Bettina Severin: Model State Policy in Rhineland Germany. Berg, Westphalia, Frankfurt in comparison . In: Francia 24/2 (1997) p. 189