Imperial Law
A Reich law is a law passed in a Reich at the Reich level . In Germany, laws with a comparable normative character are now called federal laws .
definition
Imperial laws were passed in the Holy Roman Empire (until 1806) by the Diet . Both the emperor and the college of electors had the right to make proposals . Each proposal was first discussed in the Council of Electors and, together with its expert opinion, went to the Imperial Council of Princes and then to the College of Imperial Cities . In order to take effect, however, they required the imperial confirmation (confirmation).
In 1871 the German Empire was founded as a nation state; it emerged from the North German Confederation of 1867. Its laws were adopted as the current imperial laws .
In the German Reich , the Reichstag passed the laws, then the Bundesrat (the representation of the federal states ) had to approve them and finally they were "executed and promulgated" by the emperor . The emperor was no longer able to change this, but was legally obliged to announce it.
Laws from the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and also from the time of National Socialism continue to apply in the Federal Republic of Germany unless they contradict the Basic Law (so-called pre-constitutional law ).
Origin of the imperial laws
The imperial laws arose from laws of the Holy Roman Empire , which were general and accepted basic laws there, which were written in different centuries. Not all laws and texts of the Holy Roman Empire were counted in the imperial constitution , as their recognition in the constitution was often not uniform.
The first quasi constitutional regulation to be found in the Worms Concordat of 1122 included a certain independence from spiritual power. This step can be seen as the beginning of the equality of the state with the church, which lasted centuries and as a result the investiture dispute was finally ended. The first constitutional milestone arose about 100 years later, the tribal principalities became imperial principalities . In 1231 Frederick II had to cede rights to the imperial princes at the Worms Reichstag in favor of the princes, and on the same day, the princes' right to legislate was recognized by Frederick II.
The most important imperial constitutional rule was the " Golden Bull " of 1356, which ensured an orderly and regulated election of a king, limited the right to feud and prevented an increase in the number of electors, whereby a papal right to have a say in all points was excluded.
The " German Concordats " from 1447, through which the papal rights and the freedoms in the church in the empire were determined, were regarded as the third imperial law. This imperial law was intended to develop a relevant basis for the role and structure of the church as an imperial church in the years that followed.
The fourth Reich constitutional law was the "Ewige Landfrieden" of August 7, 1495, which was published in the Reichstag in Worms and was to be consolidated with the creation of the Reich Chamber of Commerce. This fundamental law also established a ban on the hitherto customary right to feud in order to enforce the state's monopoly on force. In addition, disputes and self-help of the nobility were viewed as unlawful and were resolved through a court in the relevant territory. If the country's peace was broken, the Reichsacht or a large fine was imposed as a punishment for this offense .
The fifth Imperial Basic Law was the Worms Imperial Register of 1521. This law was a register of the Imperial Estates, which served to maintain the Imperial Army. Other laws and regulations that were recognized as imperial laws were the Augsburg Religious Peace of 1555, the Reich Execution Ordinance and the Ordinance of the Court Council . After the exchange of the ratification document of 1694, the agreements of the Peace of Westphalia were declared the perpetual constitution of the empire. In this treaty, in addition to territorial changes, the territorial sovereignty was granted to the imperial territories and the Calvinists were recognized as a fully entitled denomination in the empire. Due to this, regulations on religious peace and denominational imperial institutions were agreed. This essentially concluded the development of the imperial constitution.
Overview of imperial laws in the Wilhelmine Empire from 1871
The constitution of the German Empire is referred to as the Bismarckian Reich constitution ; it established the empire's legislative competence in the following areas, in which imperial laws can be passed:
- Citizenship Law
- Customs and trade
- Coinage and central banking
- Banking law
- Patent law
- Property right
- Protection of trade and shipping abroad as well as consular services
- Railway and waterway construction
- Ship operation and waterway maintenance for interstate waterways, as well as river and water tariffs
- Post and telegraph services
- Cross-border enforcement in civil law
- Public Document Law
- Obligations, criminal, commercial and judicial constitutional law
- War navy and military affairs of the Reich
- Medical and veterinary police law
- Association and press law
In several of these areas, the Reich legislative competence did not extend to Bavaria, which was able to enact its own laws for these areas. In Württemberg this applied to the post and telegraph system.
The constitution was valid until it was repealed by the constitution of the Weimar Republic .
Differences - laws of the countries in the empire
In addition to the general imperial laws, there were different legislations in the kingdoms of the German Empire. At first there was no catalog of basic rights in which human rights were recorded, but the extensive lack of basic rights in the constitution had hardly any effect, so there were only guaranteed basic rights in the constitutions of the states of the empire.
Various imperial laws in the Kingdom of Bavaria, for example, were carried over from laws of the North German Confederation , which mainly contained both political rights and human rights.
Within the Kingdom of Prussia, the imperial laws took precedence over the state laws. These laws received their binding force through their promulgation from the Reich, which was done by means of a Reichsgesetzblatt .
Individual evidence
- ↑ HRR Basic Laws
- ↑ Europe and the world around 1500 , Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin, 1st edition, 4th printing 2010, pp. 88–89.
- ^ Law on the Constitution of the German Empire. Retrieved January 16, 2014 .
- ↑ http://www.verfassungen.de/de/de67-18/verfassungs71.htm
- ↑ Bismarck's Imperial Constitution
- ^ Constitution of Bavaria. Retrieved January 16, 2014 .
- ^ Prussian Reich legislation. Retrieved January 16, 2014 .
