Dezemberverfassung#

Dezemberverfassung (December Constitution), the 5 Fundamental Laws passed by the Cisleithanian Reichsrat. They amended the Compromise of 1867 and were sanctioned by Emperor Franz Joseph on December 21, 1867. Their contents include: a) the determination of the competence of the Reichsrat, b) general rights of the citizens, c) the exercise of governmental and executive powers, d) the judicial power and the establishment of a Reichsgericht court. The Dezemberverfassung permanently established the constitutional form of government in the Austrian half of the Empire and put the February Patent of 1861 back into effect, under the name of "Gesetz ueber die Reichsvertretung" (law on the representation of the Empire). The principles of equality in the constitution of the Republic of Austria are based on article 19 (later 21) of the Dezemberverfassung.

Texts: Die neue Gesetzgebung Oesterreichs, vol. 1, 1868.

Literature#