Reich legislation 1848/1849

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Reichsgesetzblatt 1848

The Reich legislation of 1848 and 1849 was in the hands of the Frankfurt National Assembly . The National Assembly saw itself as entitled to do so because it was elected by the people and passed a number of imperial laws . The laws were published in the Reichsgesetzblatt .

The laws of the National Assembly (which was called the Imperial Assembly) were partially recognized or adopted by the governments of the individual states. Imperial law replaced the federal law of the German Confederation .

According to the Frankfurt constitution of March 28, 1849, the emperor on the one hand and the Reichstag on the other hand participated in the legislation. However, the emperor could not prevent a law (that would have been an absolute veto ), but only postpone the resolution (suspensive veto). Both houses of the Reichstag had to approve a law, with repeated approval later a veto by the emperor could be overruled.

Legitimation of the Reich legislation

Frankfurt National Assembly

The National Assembly came about through elections initiated by the Bundestag . On June 28, 1848, it passed the Reich law on the introduction of a provisional central authority for Germany and later the Reich law on the promulgation of the Reich laws and the provisions of the provisional central authority . The central power (with imperial administrators and imperial ministers) was the executive, and the national assembly (which later became known as the imperial assembly) was the legislature of a provisional federal state with legislative and executive power. This created a revolutionary provisional imperial constitution, a provisional constitutional order of the German Empire, which was to apply for a transitional period until the final constitution was adopted.

The Bundestag expressed after the election of the Regent his consent to this election and transferred to him on July 12, 1848 its powers. Linked to this was the recognition of the Central Power Act, on the basis of which the National Assembly could elect the Reich Administrator. None of the state governments have distanced themselves from these actions by the Bundestag and, for example, claimed that they did not act with their consent. Although the governments believed (in accordance with the Bundestag resolutions on the election of the National Assembly) that the final constitution had to be agreed with them , they nonetheless recognized the constituent power of the National Assembly for the provisional constitution.

The Central Power Act saw the National Assembly as a parliament in the sense of constitutionalism . The law expressly speaks of the responsibility of the Reich Ministers to the National Assembly, the National Assembly should decide on war and peace, and it gave the Reich Administrator an executive (not legislative) power that would be inconceivable without legislative power in the rule of law, said Ulrich Huber . A legislative power can thus be derived from the provisional constituent power of the National Assembly. He sees an exception for Austria: When electing the National Assembly, Austria had reservations about the resolutions of the “Federal Assembly” (a new organ to be created by the constitution). Imperial laws were not automatically legally valid there.

Proclamation and entry into force

The imperial administrator , John of Austria , signed imperial laws, but was otherwise not involved in them.

The Central Power Act of June 28, 1848 was passed by the National Assembly and signed by the President of the National Assembly and the Secretary. The Proclamation Act of September 27th was proclaimed by the Reichsverweser, in execution of the resolution "of the Reich Assembly of September 23rd, 1848". The proclamation law itself speaks of the “proclamation” (sic) of the imperial laws by the imperial administrator, carried out by the imperial ministers. The minister concerned then publishes the law in the Reichsgesetzblatt and communicates it to the individual state governments “for the purpose of local publication”. Twenty days after the relevant piece of the Reichsgesetzblatt was issued, the law came into force “for all of Germany”.

On August 24, 1848, the Council of Ministers of the Reich deliberated on the bill for the publication of the laws. Among other things, Reich Finance Minister Hermann von Beckerath complained that the individual states were not allowed to participate in the legislation. This could lead to a break with the individual states. Prime Minister Karl zu Leiningen and the Ministers Johann Gustav Heckscher and Robert von Mohl contradicted this: The imperial power had the unconditional right to pass laws for the whole of Germany. Precisely because the relationships and competencies between individual states and imperial power were still unclear, this should be settled quickly in the sense of imperial power.

The Council of Ministers then adopted a revised draft on August 29, which had been revised in accordance with Interior Minister Anton von Schmerling : The law should be formulated in such a way that conflicts with the individual states were avoided. Justice Minister Mohl introduced the bill to the National Assembly on August 31. This referred the draft to the Legislative Committee, which reported on September 21. With a few changes, the National Assembly passed the law on September 23rd. On September 27th it was announced in Reichsgesetzblatt No. 1.

Legislative process

According to the provisional constitutional order, the National Assembly passed the laws alone; the central authority only played a role in the proclamation. In the final imperial constitution of March 28, 1849, however, the central or imperial authority (the executive of the imperial level) should also be involved in the legislative process. It corresponded to the model of the constitutional monarchy , as it was common in many Western European countries and was catchy for the Frankfurt MPs.

The People's House of the Reichstag should be elected by the German people, while the House of States should represent the German states. Each state sent a certain number of representatives to the state house; half of which are delegated by the state parliament and half by the state government.

In addition, the imperial constitution provided for a hereditary emperor . A central issue in the National Assembly revolved around the emperor's right to reject laws. That would have been an absolute veto, as the right and partly the right center wished. After all, the emperor should be more than just the executor of Reichstag resolutions. The left and the center left, on the other hand, only wanted to give the emperor a suspensive, suspensive veto. In the center left the suggestion arose that a veto by the emperor could be overruled by a two-thirds majority in both houses. Behind the veto question was actually the question of parliamentarianism , of the power of parliament over the imperial government. The suspensive veto then prevailed, among other things, because the right-wing center needed the consent of the left for its plan to elect a hereditary emperor ( Simon-Gagern pact ).

Therefore, although Section 80 states that the Emperor and the Reichstag jointly participate in legislation, Section 101 restricts the participation of the Emperor:

"Section 101. A resolution of the Reichstag which has not received the approval of the Reich Government may not be repeated in the same session.

If the same resolution has been passed unchanged by the Reichstag in three consecutive ordinary session periods, it becomes law at the end of the third Reichstag, even if the Reich government does not give its consent. A regular session that does not last at least four weeks is not counted in this order. "

If the emperor rejects a resolution (for example a law), the Reichstag can still enforce the resolution in the next but one session. Sections 104-109 contain provisions on meeting periods; The Reichstag was convened by the Emperor.

For comparison: According to the later Bismarck constitution of 1867/1871, the Reichstag and Bundesrat had to approve a law. The Reichstag was a unicameral parliament elected by the people, the Bundesrat an organ of the governments of the individual states. Due to the strength of Prussia in the Bundesrat, no law could de facto be passed without the consent of the conservative Prussian government.

consequences

The laws and resolutions of the Imperial Assembly and the ordinances of the central authority have been partially recognized by the individual states, partially not. A typical example is the Reich Minister of War's homage decree in the summer of 1848: All states have their troops pay homage to the Reich Administrator, with the exception of the largest states.

The restored German Confederation instructed the states on August 23, 1851 to check whether law had been passed in their territory since 1848 that was incompatible with the principles of the federal government. At the same time as this federal reaction decision , the federal government demanded that the basic rights of the German people of December 27, 1848 in the states "be declared as having been canceled" and that they were not legally valid.

In contrast, the Reich Law on the General German Exchange Order remained in force in almost all German states. In 1869/1871 it became a law of the North German Confederation or the German Empire. The Reich election law was also used for the North German Confederation.

List of imperial laws

See also

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Ulrich Huber: The Reich Law on the Introduction of a General Exchange Order for Germany of November 26, 1848 . In: JuristenZeitung , 33rd vol., No. 23/24 (December 8, 1978), pp. 785–791, here p. 789.
  2. ↑ Ulrich Huber: The Reich Law on the Introduction of a General Exchange Order for Germany of November 26, 1848 . In: JuristenZeitung , 33rd vol., No. 23/24 (December 8, 1978), pp. 785–791, here p. 789.
  3. ↑ Ulrich Huber: The Reich Law on the Introduction of a General Exchange Order for Germany of November 26, 1848 . In: JuristenZeitung , Volume 33, No. 23/24 (December 8, 1978), pp. 785–791, here pp. 790/791.
  4. ^ Ralf Heikaus: The first months of the provisional central authority for Germany (July to December 1848). Dissertation Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main [a. a.] 1997, p. 127.
  5. ^ Ralf Heikaus: The first months of the provisional central authority for Germany (July to December 1848). Dissertation Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main [a. a.] 1997, pp. 127-129, footnote 288.
  6. ^ Manfred Botzenhart: German Parliamentarism in the Revolutionary Period 1848–1850. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1977, p. 642.
  7. ↑ Manfred Botzenhart: German Parliamentarism in the Revolutionary Period 1848–1850. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1977, pp. 646/647.
  8. ↑ Manfred Botzenhart: German Parliamentarism in the Revolutionary Period 1848–1850. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1977, pp. 688/689.