Repeal of the Imperial Constitution of 1849 and Principles of the New State Organisation

Daily Report.

Bozen, 4 January. The „Wiener Zeitung“ of 1 January publishes two imperial patents of great importance for the structuring of our state affairs. Because of space limitations, we cannot reproduce their full text, and therefore provide an extract here.

The first patent declares the Imperial Constitution of 4 March 1849 null, void, and without legal force. The equality of all citizens before the law, the abolition of the status of serfdom and of the attached land charges are confirmed. The institutions suited to the needs of the various parts of the Empire shall be created through special organic laws, the main principles of which are established forthwith.

The second patent invalidates the political rights granted in the patent of 4 March 1849; however, the already recognised churches and religious societies shall be protected in their right to the public practice of worship, in the autonomous administration of their affairs, and in the possession of their institutions and foundations.

An imperial cabinet letter of 31 December 1851 conveys to Prince Schwarzenberg the aforementioned basic principles of the new organic institutions, with instructions to have them executed without delay by the relevant ministries. – These basic principles are essentially as follows:

1. The Empire remains indivisible in its present components as an imperial Austrian hereditary monarchy.

2. The provinces shall be referred to generally only as „Crown lands“; otherwise, each of them shall retain its own distinct territorial title.

3. The geographical extent of the Crown lands shall generally be retained.

4. In each province, district offices shall be established in which the various branches of administration are united.

5. Above the district offices, circle authorities shall be established in administrative matters.

6. Above the circle authorities stand the governorships and the head of the province.

7. The present municipal division shall be retained, without precluding the feasibility of merging several communes.

8. In the organisation of municipalities, a distinction between rural and urban communes must be maintained.

9. Formerly manorial landed estates may be separated from the rural communes and subordinated directly to the district offices.

10. Municipal leaders are subject to confirmation and, depending on circumstances, also to appointment by the government.

11. The election of the same and of municipal committees remains with the commune.

12. The titles of municipal heads and committees shall be retained in accordance with prior local customs.

13. The sphere of activity of the commune extends primarily to local communal affairs; however, they shall also assist the sovereign authorities in public matters. More significant communal acts and resolutions are subject to confirmation by the authorities.

14. Public access to municipal council deliberations is to be discontinued.

15. As a rule, communes are directly subordinate to the district offices; by exception, also to the circle authorities or governorships.

16. In accordance with these principles, municipal codes shall be drafted separately for each province, ensuring decisive preponderance for predominant interests, namely landed property and commercial enterprise.

17. The judicial office is exercised throughout the Empire in the name of the Emperor.

18. Judicial officers are independent in the exercise of their judicial duties, but are otherwise to be treated like other civil servants.

19. As a rule, in the courts of first instance, administration is merged with the judiciary; the only exceptions are the courts of first instance in the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom and the collegiate courts of justice; in higher instances, the separation of both branches of service is to be maintained.

20. In contentious as well as non-contentious civil cases and in criminal matters, three tiers of jurisdiction shall exist.

21. The purely judicial instances and those functioning as district offices alongside political administration shall handle civil matters within limits to be defined, and in criminal matters petty infractions and certain misdemeanours; they shall also provide assistance to the criminal courts.

22. In appropriate districts, collegiate courts of first instance shall be introduced for adjudicating crimes and certain misdemeanours, and for civil matters insofar as these do not fall within the remit of the district offices.

23. Higher provincial courts shall form the second instance, and

24. The Supreme Court of Justice shall form the third instance.

25. In the district offices, inquisitorial proceedings shall take place in as simple a form as possible.

26. In criminal cases assigned to collegiate courts, the principle of indictment, the appointment of defence counsel, and oral proceedings in the final hearing shall apply.

27. The general public is excluded; only the accused, with permission of the presiding judge, and the judge himself may admit spectators up to a designated number.

28. The sphere of action of the public prosecutor's office is restricted to criminal proceedings.

29. Trial by jury is to be eliminated.

30. Judgments are to be pronounced only by fully qualified judges.

The forms of verdict in criminal matters are: guilty - not guilty - acquitted of the charge.

31. Proceedings in the second and third instances are conducted in writing only.

32. Detailed regulations regarding the operation of the courts shall be set out in special laws.

33. The civil code and the penal code shall be introduced with few modifications in all Crown lands.

34. In the Crown lands, separate statutes shall be enacted governing the estate nobility and hereditary nobility holding specified landed property, and all facilities for establishing fideicommissa shall be granted to them.

35. Advisory committees composed of the landed hereditary nobility, large and small landowners, and industrial interests shall be attached to circle authorities and governorships. The scope and object of their activity will be specifically determined.

36. At the district offices, meetings of municipal leaders shall take place from time to time regarding their affairs.