Vorarlberg state constitution
The Vorarlberg state constitution establishes the state of Vorarlberg as an independent state in the federal state of Austria and as a democratic republic , defines the most important state authorities, regulates their basic competencies, determines the relationship between the state and the federal government and those subject to norms to the state; it is also the basis of legislation of the state parliament . The state constitution must not contradict the federal constitution , insofar as federal law takes precedence over state law.
development
Emergence
During the time of the monarchy, Vorarlberg was administered from Tyrol. It did have its own state parliament, but this did not result from general elections, but rather formed an assembly of estates. Therefore, in November 1918, when the Habsburg Empire collapsed at the end of the First World War, the state parliament was not the starting point for that constitutional revolution, as it also played out at the state level, here by representatives of the former House of Representatives. Rather, on November 3, 1918, 19 Christian Socialists, 6 German Freedom and five Social Democratic representatives gathered in Bregenz, which corresponded to the result of the last elections for the House of Representatives, and declared themselves to be the legislative and executive power in the state of Vorarlberg:
- “The Vorarlberg State Assembly declares itself to be the legislative body for the State of Vorarlberg. Its members were sent by the political parties and represent the state in place of the previous state assembly, until a representative resulting from new elections has been appointed. The Vorarlberg regional assembly conducts the administration of the state through a regional council elected from among its members. As in other crown lands, the leadership of the political and autonomous administration was united in one hand; With this, the state of Vorarlberg has given itself the kind of independence that it has long been unanimously striving for. From now on, Vorarlberg no longer forms a joint administrative area with Tyrol, but declares itself as a separate, independent state within the framework of the German-Austrian state due to the right to self-determination. "This declaration is particularly noteworthy in that it belongs to German Austria , which should later be questioned by the referendum on the connection of Vorarlberg to Switzerland, which was factually established. As early as March 14, 1919 , this provisional state parliament passed a new state constitution in the 22nd state law gazette . Unlike the constitutions of other former crown lands, which constitute usually only a modification of the old national systems, the Vorarlberg state constitution included for the first time fundamental rights and regulated the relationship with the State , but was not defined exactly what the target following the Switzerland suggesting . The introduction of plebiscites and referendums is also revolutionary ; these are included here for the first time in the area of Austrian constitutional law, as elements of direct democracy . The first state constitution differed considerably from its current form. The governor was originally also the president of the state parliament , laws were notarized by him and co-drafted by the state office director. Laws of a non-urgent nature should be subject to popular vote if at least 10,000 voters request it within 21 days of enactment. Popular initiatives should require at least 15,000 support, but they should necessarily end in referendums.
The Vorarlberg state constitution was significantly influenced by the constitutions of the neighboring Swiss cantons . Above all, the ability of the people of the country to directly participate in political decision-making is probably based on the example of the Swiss cantonal constitutions.
First amendment in 1923
After the Federal Constitutional Law (B-VG) had been passed in 1920 by the provisional National Assembly and all efforts to join Switzerland because of the Treaty of Saint Germain had been buried, Vorarlberg had to comply with those provisions that did not comply with the B-VG, remove from the state constitution. This came relatively late with the amendment to the state constitution of 1923.
Repeal and reinstatement
With the elimination of the National Council and the unconstitutional adoption of the Austro-Fascist “ May constitution ” in 1934 , which was supposed to implement a corporate principle, the state constitutions were also repealed. The former Vorarlberg state governor and former German Chancellor Otto Ender was from Engelbert Dollfuss with the drafting of the "Constitution" for his corporate state were commissioned. Dollfuss changed their federal character towards centralism . A state constitution was never implemented in a comprehensive way. When German troops marched in in 1938, the Austro-Fascist system was also ended. After the Second World War, Vorarlberg , together with Vienna , reinstated its state constitution in 1945 ; the other countries followed suit in 1946 .
Amendment 1984
Finally, Vorarlberg was one of the last countries to modernize its state constitution. Its liberal character was retained and even expanded by the amendment in 1984, according to article one paragraph one: "Vorarlberg is an independent country of the federal state of Austria.", Which is also common in other federal states, with the addition of the respective name. However, paragraph two is formulated in an unusual way: "As an independent state, Vorarlberg exercises all sovereign rights that are not expressly transferred or are not transferred to the federal government." The designation of an Austrian federal state as an independent state is unique in this form. Constitutional lawyer Peter Bußjäger said that with this "amendment to the Vorarlberg state constitution [...] the Vorarlberg state parliament took the remarkable step to deviate from the much lamented 'uniformity' of the state constitution and to exhaust the constitutional autonomy of the states." Like Tyrol , Vorarlberg has its own Landesvolksanwalt , who is established by the state constitution and appointed by the state parliament .
construction
structure
The constitution is divided into four main parts, the first dealing with general provisions, the second with the legislation of the country , the third with the administration of the country and the fourth with the municipalities . The state constitution currently comprises a total of 78 articles.
Extraordinary conditions
If there are “extraordinary circumstances” according to Article 14, the governor is authorized to move the seat of the state government and, with the consent of the state parliament president, also the seat of the state parliament to another location in the state territory. With a two-thirds majority, the Landtag can determine the existence of extraordinary circumstances that make it impossible to hold a Landtag election and postpone them for up to nine months after these circumstances have ended. If the state parliament cannot meet, the so-called emergency committee is authorized to make this decision. This "consists of the Landtag Presidium and four other members who, including the members of the Landtag Presidium, are elected by the Landtag according to the principles of proportional representation, but each party represented in the Landtag with at least three members is entitled to a seat on the Emergency Committee" . The Emergency Committee currently has seven members. In addition to the President of the State Parliament Harald Sonderegger (ÖVP), who is also chairman of the committee, the first Vice President Ernst Hagen (FPÖ) as deputy chairman and the second Vice President of the State Parliament Martina Rüscher (ÖVP), as well as the club chairmen of the parliamentary groups Roland Breakfast (ÖVP ), Michael Ritsch ( SPÖ ), Daniel Allgäuer ( FPÖ ) and Adi Gross ( Greens ) represented in the emergency committee. The NEOS, which are also represented in the state parliament, only have two members of the state parliament and therefore neither form a state parliament club nor are they entitled to a representative on the emergency committee. If the committee cannot meet either, the President of the State Parliament alone decides. The state government votes with a two-thirds majority on the postponement of municipal council elections up to nine months after the extraordinary circumstances have ended. If this is prevented, the decision lies with the governor.
Further emergency ordinance rights, which concern the statutory emergency ordinance , are regulated in the Federal Constitutional Act. There Art. 97 para. 3 “authorizes the state government to take these measures by means of provisional law-amending ordinances in agreement with a committee of the state parliament appointed according to the principle of proportional representation. The state government must immediately bring them to the attention of the federal government. ”In Vorarlberg, the relevant committee is the emergency committee.
Fundamental rights
In contrast to the more recent Federal Constitutional Law , the state constitution of 1919 already contained a legal guarantee on certain basic rights , which defined themselves according to §§ 35 ff. As "rights of the people's comrades". These included the principle of equality, freedom of belief and freedom of conscience, the protection of property and the prohibition of the inalienability of real estate and of inalienable encumbrances, the latter being directed primarily against manorial rights , which, however, in principle already through Art. 7 of the constitutional law on general rights the citizens of December 21, 1867 had been revoked. In the current text of the law, the basic rights are mainly formulated as state objectives in Articles seven and eight. In Art. 7 Paragraph 1 “the free development of the personality of the individual as well as the shaping of community life”, Paragraph 2 obliges the country to “ Human dignity , equality before the law, the proportionality of the means and to respect the principles of good faith ”, in paragraph 3 the state explains the“ obligation of society to support the elderly and people with disabilities ”, paragraph 4 deals with the“ protection of life ”and“ respect for Human dignity in dying ”, Paragraph 5 protects Sundays and public holidays, Paragraph 6 focuses on environmental protection and Paragraph 7 finally states that the state's organs are“ obliged to act legally, economically, economically and expediently ”. . Article eight guarantees the protection of marriage and the family as well as the rights of parents and children.
Direct democratic elements
Right from the start, the Vorarlberg state constitution has known the direct democratic elements of referendums , referendums and referendums . The support figures have been modified over time, currently 5,000 signatures are required for a successful referendum to the state parliament. Should more than 20% of the eligible voters sign such a request, the state parliament is obliged either to pass a resolution in the sense of the content of the request or to hold a referendum. Ten municipalities, the majority of the Landtag members by request, the Landtag by resolution or 10,000 citizens entitled to vote can request a referendum on a non-urgent law within eight weeks. The state law also knows a direct democratic type of constitutional legislation as it was included in the B-VG, so certain constitutional guarantees can only be changed if this is approved by referendum. What is classified in the area of the Federal Constitution by a general clause as “ total amendment ” is listed exhaustively in the Vorarlberg state constitution. For example, "constitutional resolutions that give up Vorarlberg's position as an independent state, reduce the state territory, abolish the same and direct right to vote in the state parliament, or remove the rights of voters and the municipalities to make plebiscites and to demand referendums and referendums," [...] in any case the referendum ”.
Judicature
The only constitutional court in Austria, and thus also called to review the Vorarlberg state constitution, is the constitutional court in Vienna . The harshest interference in the current state constitutional law of Vorarlberg is a ruling by the Constitutional Court from 2001, with which Art. 33 Para. 6 LV was repealed as unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court argued that it violated the basic principle of representative democracy laid down in the federal constitution if the state parliament could be compelled by the state constitution to pass a law against its will through the vote of the electorate. The background to this finding (reference number: G103 / 00) was the compulsory provision for the drafting of a law that corresponds to the content of a referendum after a referendum has been held , if the state parliament has not previously taken into account the content of the referendum. According to the VfGH, this would not only enable people's democratic coercion against parliament, but would also dispense with the legal examination of the content if the request was directed to an area that falls within the competence of the federal government. Based on this legal opinion, the Constitutional Court recognized the unconstitutionality of the phrase “or the people of the country decided by referendum” and subsequently repealed it.
See also
literature
- Egon Gmeiner: The Vorarlberg state constitution and its creation from 1848 to 1923 . Berenkamp Verlag Schwaz, Schwaz 1991, ISBN 3-89053-008-7
- Hans Kelsen: General state theory . Verlag der Österreichische Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-7046-0469-0
- Wilhelm Brauneder: Austrian constitutional history
- Wilhelm Brauneder: Source book on the Austrian constitutional history (p. 58)
Web links
- Vorarlberg state law Legal information system of the Federal Chancellery
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Peter Bußjäger , Peter Pernthaler : Constitutional reasons and constitutional autonomy - Contributions to the development of the Austrian federal state ( Memento from August 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 220 kB)
- ↑ See: Vorarlberg became independent on Vorarlberg Online 90 years ago