Part V. The Opening of Estates Sessions and Forms of Consultation
Article 68
Each representative assembly shall be both opened and closed by the Grand Duke himself in person, or by a commissary whom he has appointed. This shall apply to both chambers.
Article 69
All newly joined members shall swear the following oath at the opening of the representative assembly:
“I swear loyalty to the Grand Duke, obedience to laws, observation and adherence to the State constitution, and in the Estates assembly only to counsel according to my inner conviction regarding the general welfare of the entire country, without consideration for special Estates or classes: may God and His holy Gospel truly help me.”
Article 70
No proposal of a regional authority can be brought to the chambers for discussion and voting before it has been discussed by a special commission and a report has been given by that commission.
Article 71
The commissaries of regional authorities shall appear together with the Estates commissaries for the preliminary discussion of any draft for which either side holds such to be necessary. No significant changes can be made to drafts of laws if the changes have not been discussed in such a collaborative meeting with commissaries of regional authorities.
Article 72
The chambers may send any draft brought for discussion back to the commissions.
Article 73
A draft of a law or a suggestion of any sort that has been brought from one chamber to the other can be given back to the other chamber with suggestions for improvement after being discussed by a commission according to Article 71, as long as the draft or suggestion does not concern financial matters.
Article 74
Every valid decision of a chamber requires an absolute majority of voices of the complete assembly, unless an exception has been expressly established. If there is the same number of voices on each side, the voice of the president shall make the decision. If the event should arise in which the voices of both chambers must be counted together due to financial matters, if there are the same number of voices on each side the voice of the president of the second chamber shall make the decision.
One shall vote with a loud voice and the words: Agreed! or: Not agreed! Only during the election of the candidate for the position of president of the second chamber shall the members of the committee and the members of the commissions decide by a relative majority of voices through the process of secret voting.
The first chamber shall be considered complete with the attendance of 10 members, and the second chamber shall be considered complete with the attendance of 35 members, including the president. For valid consultation regarding changes in the constitution, the attendance of three-fourths of the members of both chambers shall be required.
Article 75
- The two chambers cannot assemble themselves together in their entirety nor by means of commissions; they are limited in their relationship with each other to reciprocal notification regarding their decisions.
- They stand in direct contact only with the State ministry of the Grand Duke through transactions; they cannot issue any orders or announcements of any kind.
- Deputations may only be deputized with a special allowance obtained from the Grand Duke.
Article 76
The ministers and members of the State ministry and the commissaries of the Grand Duke shall always have access to every chamber, during both public and private assemblies, and they must be heard in all discussions if they so desire. Only for the voting process shall they take leave, if they are not members of the chamber. After they have left discussions may not be reopened.
Article 77
Only commissaries of regional authorities and members of Estates commissions are permitted to read off of written speeches; all other members are solely permitted to give oral presentations.
Article 78
The meetings of both chambers shall be public. They can be made private at the request of the governmental commissaries at openings for which they consider privacy necessary. They can also be made private at the request of three members, however, after the audience has left at least one-fourth of the members must agree that private consultation is necessary.
Article 79
The order according to which the assemblymen of the territorial nobility, of the cities and of the governmental agencies shall resign from the assembly shall be determined through lottery, once and for all, at the first representative assembly for each individual voting district. Half of the assemblymen of the territorial nobility shall resign in the year 1823, and then every four years half again. In the year 1821 one-fourth of the assemblymen of the cities and governmental agencies shall resign, and then every two years one-fourth again.
Article 80
For the first voting procedure the central commission of the regional authorities shall observe the event, due to the possibility of emerging disputes regarding the validity of the voting procedure. The commission shall be assigned with the first execution of the constitutional law.
Article 81
The time of the opening of the first representative assembly is arranged to be the first of February, 1819.
Article 82
- The present status of all branches of administration and legislature at the time of the opening of the first representative assembly, at which time the constitution shall become effective, shall continue until the first leave-taking of the representative assembly in which a new decision regarding matters proper for them has been made.
- Especially the first budget shall be executed provisionally until an agreement with the Estates has been reached.
Article 83
The present constitution shall be placed under the guarantee of the German Federation.
