Federal Constitutional Law


The Federal Constitutional Law is a federal constitutional law in Austria serving as the centerpiece of the Constitution. It establishes Austria as a democratic federal parliamentary republic.
The Law was drafted following the 1918 collapse of Austria-Hungary and was promulgated in 1920. It underwent significant revisions in 1925 and 1929, the latter reform changing the system of government from purely parliamentary to semi-presidential. The Law was superseded by the authoritarian Federal State of Austria constitution in 1934, which itself became void with the 1938 incorporation of Austria into Nazi Germany. It was reestablished when the nation regained independence from Germany in 1945. The Law was fully restored to force with the end of the Allied occupation in 1955 and has remained in force ever since.

Content

System of government

The Federal Constitutional Law stipulates a bicameral parliament as the national legislature, the two chambers being the National Council and the Federal Council. Law is created by the National Council. The Federal Council has certain veto powers, but can be overruled by a National Council supermajority on most matters.
Members of the National Council are chosen in nationwide free elections with universal suffrage.
The Law does not prescribe any particular voting system. Austria has consistently been using party-list proportional representation, but nothing in the Federal Constitutional Law prevents the legislature from moving, for example, to single-member legislative districts with first-past-the-post voting. National Council elections are held at least once every five years.
Members of the Federal Council are chosen by the federal states, seats being apportioned to the states according to population.
Executive power lies with the President and the cabinet. The president is elected in a nationwide free election using a simple two-round system. The president's term of office is six years.
In theory, it is the president who chooses the cabinet. As a practical matter, a cabinet that does not command the confidence of the National Council is effectively unable to govern; the National Council controls the budget and has extensive monitoring and supervisory rights.

Checks and balances

The National Council can submit parliamentary inquiries that cabinet members are required to answer; its standing committees can summon cabinet members or bureaucrats for questioning and demand to inspect executive branch paperwork. It can form special parliamentary investigation committees with sweeping powers.
As a matter of simple law, the National Council can also make acts of government subject to National Council assent that the constitution places in the executive purview.
The National Council can force the president to dismiss the cabinet, or specific individual cabinet members, through a vote of no confidence. In concert with the Federal Council, it can also impeach the President before the Constitutional Court or call for a referendum to have the President removed by the electorate.
The President can dissolve the National Council
Acting on the advice of his or her cabinet, the President can also dissolve state legislatures
Legislative and administrative acts of government are subject to judicial review. The Constitutional Court reviews statutes and secondary legislation, striking laws and regulations it deems unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court also resolves demarcation conflicts between other courts, between courts and the executive branch, or between the national government and the states. A system of Administrative Courts reviews executive acts.

Defense

The Austrian army is a militia.

Regional autonomy

The republic established by the Federal Constitutional Law is an unusual hybrid of federal and unitary state. The country's provinces are defined to be "federal states" but have neither their own judiciaries nor their own law enforcement structures in general. They also do not have any significant legislative authority. All courts are "federal" courts. All police departments answer to the "federal" ministry of the interior, all prosecutors to the "federal" ministry of justice. Most legislation of everyday relevance, from family law to trade regulation and from education to the criminal code, is in the "federal" purview.
The provinces do have substantial executive responsibilities, however. Much of the nation's executive powers and duties are discharged through its system of district administrative authorities, which are "state" rather than "federal" institutions according to the Federal Constitutional Law. The national government decides who can apply for a marriage permit, for example, but when actually applying for one the resident is interacting with a province employee in a province facility.
The provinces have some limited ability to collect their own taxes and could in theory issue their own bonds, but these powers are severely circumscribed and do not result in meaningful fiscal autonomy. Only the national government can raise payroll taxes, capital gains taxes, corporate taxes, value-added taxes, or inheritance taxes, or tax real estate and other forms of property. The provinces, accordingly, depend on money doled out to them by the national government to meet even basic obligations.

Bill of rights

The Federal Constitutional Law demands that Austria be governed according to the rule of law,
prescribes the separation of judiciary and administration,
and guarantees judicial independence.
It also prescribes equality regardless of class, gender, or confession for Austrian nationals.
It does not include a comprehensive bill of rights, however, nor does it demand any kind of equality before the law extending to visitors and residents who are not citizens.
The Republic of Austria originally continued to rely on the 1867 Imperial Basic Law on the General Rights of Nationals as its main charter of civil liberties and procedural guarantees, the framers of the new constitution being unable to agree on anything to replace it.; RGBl. 142/1867
The situation first fundamentally changed in 1955. As a condition of having the allied occupation lifted and being restored to full sovereignty, Austria had to commit itself to upholding human rights, including but not limited to modern forms of freedom of religion and freedom of the press. It also had to guarantee modern forms of equality, including full civil rights for its Croat and Slovenian minorities, which had historically been discriminated against.
Stipulated in the Austrian State Treaty and thus commitments under international law, these promises cannot be rescinded by simple acts of parliament and are therefore implicitly part of the supreme law of the land.
In 1958, Austria ratified the European Convention on Human Rights; in 1964, the Convention became part of Austrian constitutional law as well.

Entrenchment

The National Council can enact constitutional law provided that at least half of the members are present and that at least two thirds of those present vote in favor. A "fundamental" change to the country's body of constitutional law additionally requires a plebiscite; the bill does not become law unless supported by a simple majority of the electorate.

Structure

The Law is divided into nine parts, most of which are divided into two or more sections.
The structure has a few quirks. For example, the chapter called "Executive" covers both the executive and the judicial branches of government, whereas the Court of Audit, a comptrolling office supervising the administration, has a chapter all by itself. Another office that has a chapter to itself is the Ombudsman Board, a powerless bureau of public advocates that mainly serves as a sinecure for aging party loyalists.
Wedged between the Court of Audit and the Ombudsman Board is a chapter of provisions regarding the administrative and constitutional courts that were omitted from the Executive chapter for reasons lost to time.
The act's articles used to be numbered sequentially, but frequent deletions and insertions have thrown the numbering into disarray. For example, there are currently only three articles between articles 106 and 115, but there are ten articles between articles 148 and 149: articles 148a through 148j.
PartArticles
1. General and European Union-related provisions
A. General provisions1–23
B. Austria as a part of the European Union23a–23k
2. Federal Legislature
A. National Council24–33
B. Federal Council34–37
C. Federal Assembly38–40
D. Legislative procedure41–49a
E. Administrative roles of the legislature50–59b
3. Federal Administration
A. Administration-
1. President60–68
2. Cabinet69–78
3. Police78a–78d
4. Army79–81
5. Schools81a–81b
6. Universities81c
B. Judiciary82-94
4. State Legislature and Administration
A. General provisions95–106
B. Vienna108–112
5. Local self-administration
A. Municipalities115–120
B. Other structures120a–120c
6. Court of Audit121–128
7. Procedural guarantees
A. Administrative courts129–136
B. Constitutional court137–148
8. Ombudsman board148a–148j
9. Final provisions149–152