Belgium 1831 Constitution (reviewed 2014)

TITLE VIII. On the Revision of the Constitution

Article 195

The federal legislative power has the right to declare that there are reasons to revise such constitutional provision as it determines.

Following such a declaration, the two Houses are automatically dissolved.

Two new Houses are then convened, in accordance with Article 46.

These Houses make decisions, in common accord with the King, on the points submitted for revision.

In this case, the Houses can only debate provided that at least two thirds of the members who make up each House are present; and no change is adopted unless it is supported by at least two thirds of the votes cast.

Transitional provision

The Houses, as they were constituted following their full renewal on 13 June 2010, may however, in common consent with the King, pronounce on the revision of the following provisions, articles and groups of articles, but only to the effect as indicated hereafter:

1. Articles 5, second paragraph, 11bis, 41, fifth paragraph, 159 and 190, in order to guarantee the full exercise of the Regions’ autonomy towards the provinces without prejudice neither to the present specific provisions of the law of 9 August 1988 modifying the law on municipalities, the electoral law for municipalities, the law organising public centres for social welfare, the law on provinces, the electoral Code, the electoral law for provinces and the law organising simultaneous elections for the Legislative Houses and the provincial councils, nor to those relating to the office of governor, and in order to limit the meaning of the word “province” used in the Constitution to its sole territorial meaning, to the exclusion of any institutional meaning;
2. Article 23, in order to guarantee the right to child allowances;
3. Title III, in order to insert in it a provision aimed at prohibiting to modify election laws less than one year before the date when elections are to be held;
4. Articles 43, § 1, 44, second paragraph, 46, fifth paragraph, 69, 71, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83 and 168, in order to implement the reform of the bicameral system and entrust the residual legislative powers to the House of Representatives;
5. Articles 46 and 117, in order to provide that the parliamentary elections at federal level will take place the same day as the election of the European Parliament and that, in case the Federal Parliament is dissolved before its term expires, the new Federal Parliament’s term may not extend beyond the day when the election of the European Parliament following this dissolution is held, as well as in order to permit a law passed by a majority as described in Article 4, last paragraph to entitle the Regions and Communities to determine, by special decree or special ordinance, the duration of the term for which their Parliaments are elected and the date for the election of these Parliaments, and to provide that a law, passed by a majority as described in Article 4, last paragraph, fixes the date when the new rules laid down in this division with regard to elections will enter into force;
6. Article 63, § 4, in order to supplement it with a sub-paragraph providing that, for the election of the House of Representatives, the law establishes special rules with a view to protecting the legitimate interests of French and Dutch-speaking people in the former province of Brabant, and also providing that the provisions which establish these special rules can only be amended by a law passed by a majority as described in Article 4, last paragraph;
7. Title III, Chapter IV, Section II, Sub-Section III, in order to insert in it an article permitting a law passed by a majority as described in Article 4, last paragraph to attribute to the Region of Brussels-Capital, for the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital, powers that have not been assigned to the Communities in the matters referred to in Article 127, § 1, first paragraph, 1° and in the same paragraph, 3°, insofar as this 3° concerns matters referred to in the aforesaid 1°;
8. Title III, Chapter IV, Section II, Sub-Section III, in order to permit a law passed by a majority as described in Article 4, last paragraph to simplify the procedures for cooperation between entities;
9. Article 143, in order to supplement it with a paragraph that precludes the procedure relating to conflicts of interest from being initiated with respect to a law or decision of the federal authority which modifies the basis of taxation, the tax rate, exemptions or any other element playing a role in the computation of the personal income tax;
10. Title III, Chapter VI, in order to insert in it a provision according to which any modification to essential features of the reform regarding the use of languages in judicial matters in the judicial district of Brussels, as well as any modification to features relating to this issue and concerning the public prosecutor’s office, the Bench and the extent of jurisdiction, may only be made by a law passed by a majority as described in Article 4, last paragraph;
11. Article 144, in order to provide that the Council of State and, as the case may be, federal administrative courts may rule on the effects that their decisions have with respect to private law;
12. Article 151, § 1, in order to provide that the Communities and the Regions are entitled to order prosecutions regarding matters falling under their responsibility through the Minister of Justice, who immediately carries out the prosecutions, and in order to permit a law passed by a majority as described in Article 4, last paragraph to provide for the participation by the Communities and the Regions, in matters falling under their responsibility, in decisions concerning the investigation and prosecution policy of public prosecutors, the binding guidelines with respect to criminal policy, the representation in the College of Public Prosecutors General, and in decisions concerning the Guide Note on Full Security and the National Security Scheme;
13. Article 160, in order to add a paragraph providing that any modification to the new powers granted to the general assembly of the Council of State’s Administrative Litigation Section and any modification to the rules for deliberation in this assembly may only be made by a law passed by a majority as described in Article 4, last paragraph;
14. Title IV, in order to insert in it an article providing that, with respect to the election of the European Parliament, the law determines special rules with a view to protecting the legitimate interests of French and Dutch-speaking people in the former province of Brabant, and that the provisions which establish these special rules can only be amended by a law passed by a majority as described in Article 4, last paragraph;
15. Article 180, in order to provide that assemblies which legislate through federate laws or rules referred to in Article 134 may entrust tasks to the Court of Audit, for which a fee may be charged.

The Houses can only debate on the items mentioned in the first paragraph provided that at least two thirds of the members who make up each House are present and no change is adopted unless it is supported by at least two thirds of the votes cast.

This transitional provision is not to be considered as a declaration in the sense of Article 195, second paragraph.

Article 196

No constitutional revision can be started or pursued during times of war or when the Houses are prevented from meeting freely on federal territory.

Article 197

During a regency, no changes can be made to the Constitution regarding the constitutional powers of the King and Articles 85 to 88, 91 to 95, 106 and 197 of the Constitution.

Article 198

In agreement with the King, the Constituent Houses can change the numbering of articles and of subdivisions of the articles of the Constitution, as well as the subdivisions of the latter into titles, Chapters and Sections, modify the terminology of provisions not submitted for revision in order to harmonise them with the terminology of new provisions and to ensure the concordance of the Dutch, French and German texts of the Constitution.

In this case, the Houses can debate only provided that at least two thirds of the members who make up each House are present; and no change will be adopted unless it is supported by at least two thirds of the votes cast.