Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland (
History
The Congress of Vienna obliged Emperor Alexander I of Russia, in his role as King of Poland, to issue a constitution to the newly recreated Polish state under Russian domination.[1] The new state would be one of the smallest Polish states ever, smaller than the preceding Duchy of Warsaw and much smaller than the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[2] Because it was the Congress of Vienna which de facto created the Kingdom of Poland, it became unofficially known as the Congress Poland (Kongresówka).[2]
It was signed on November 27, 1815 by the Tsar. It was a constitution octroyée: given by the ruler and not voted upon by a parliament.[2]
A significant contributor to the constitution was Prince
Summary
The Constitution had 165 articles in seven titles.[2]
General
The Kingdom of Poland was a
remained separate.King
The King was the head of all three branches (
- called, postponed and dissolved parliament (Sejm) sessions
- confirmed senators, high officials (nominated by the namestnik) and nominated and confirmed marshals of local sejmiks
- his signature was needed to pass Sejm legislation into law
- he was the only person with legislative initiative
- he had the right to temporarily annul legislation
- he had the right to declare warsand sign foreign treaties
Namiestnik
Namiestnik:
- headed the Council of State
- headed the Administration Council
- his decision need a countersignatureof a minister
- he nominated candidates for ministers, senators and high officials for the king
- he nominated and confirmed lower officials.
Administration Council
Composed of five ministers and other people nominated by the king, headed by namestnik, it:
- carried out the executive and administration duties
- prepared projects for Council of State
- took decisions that were outside the scope of individual ministers
Council of State
Composed of the ministers, councilors, secretary of the state, referendars and other people nominated by the king, it had the followed prerogatives:
- preparing legislation to be accepted by the king
- confirming the final version of legislation that was voted upon by the Sejm
- juridical powers: the right to file charges against administrative officials as well as competence and administrative court powers
- received reports from various commissions, and prepared reports for the king
Parliament
Parliament was composed of the king, the
References
- ^
- ^
- ^ a b (in Polish) konstytucja Królestwa Polskiego Archived 2006-10-01 at the Wayback Machine PWN Encyklopedia. Last accessed on 19 January 2006
- ISBN 9780313260070. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
- ^ Danuta Przekop, Maciej Janowski, Polish Liberal Thought Up to 1918, Central European University Press, 2004,
External links
- Konstytucja Królestwa Polskiego on the official page of Polish Sejm (in Polish)
- Konstytucja Królestwa Polskiego 1815 Archived 2007-10-19 at the Wayback Machine, WIEM Encyklopedia (in Polish)
- Text of the constitution (in Polish)