The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-16 00:00:00

CONSTITUTION OF THE FRENCH Power to a citizen who receives thelitle of President of
REPUBLIC. the Republic.
The following is the Constitution, as definitively Art. 44. The President must be a Frenchman by
voted en the 4th inst. :-
birth, aged 30 years at the least, and have never lost
PREAMBLE.
his quality of Frenchman.
Art. 1. France, in constituting herself into a Republic, Art. 45. The President of the Republic is elected for
proposes to herself as its object to march freely in the four years, and is re-eligible only, after an interval of
path of progress and civilization; to secure a more equit-
four years. Neither can there be elected after him the
able division of the charges and advantages of society
Vice-President, nor any relations of the President, in
between all citizens; to augment, by the gradual reduc-
blood or alliance, to the sixth degree inclusively.
tion of public charges, the sum of the general advan-
Art. 46. The election takes place in full right on the
Cages and ro cause all to arrive without fresh commo- second Sunday in the month of May. In case, in conse-
tions, ,
by the successive and constant action of the quence of :death, resignation, or any other cause, the
institutions and the laws, to a higher degree of morality, President be elected at any other period, his :powers
intelligence, and comfort. shall expire on the second Sunday on the month of
Art. 2. The French Republic is democratic, one and May in the fourth year which shall follow his election.
indivisible. The President is to be nominated by ballot and by the
Art. 3. It recognises rights and duties anterior and absolute majority of voters, by the direct suffrage of all
superior to the positive laws, and independent of them. the electors of the French departments and Algeria.
Art. 4. Its dogma is Liberty, Equality, and Frater-
Art. 47. The Minutes of the electoral operations are
,
nits. It has for basis, labour, family ties, property, transmitted immediately to the National Assembly,
and public order. which decides without delay on the validity of the elec-
Ar
t. 5. It respects foreig nationalities as it compre-
tion, and proclaims the President of the Republic. If
bends making its own respected; it undertakes no war no candidate has obtained more than a moiety of the
from views of conquests, and never employs its forces express suffrages, and at least two millions of votes, or
if the conditions imposed by Art. 44 are net fulfilled, the
against the liberty of any nation. National Assembly elects the President of the Republic,
Art. 6. Reciprocal duties bind citizens towards the
by an absolute majority and the ballot, from among the
Republic, and the Republic towards citizens. five eligible candidates who have obtained the greater
Art. 7. The duty of the citizen• is to love his country,
to serve the Republic, to defend it even at the expense number of votes. f .
Art. 48. Before
.en.ering on his functions, the Presi-
of his life • to share in the charges of the State in pro-
dent ofbthe Republic takes before the National Assembly
portion to 'his fortune ; to secure to himself and his fa-
an
~oabt
before
eo therfroellnowbing effect :-In presence of God
mily by his labour the means of existence, and by care
French people represented by the Na-
3cLantleAss the
I I swear to remain faithful to the demo-
and forethought to create resources for the future ; to
concur in promoting the common welfare, by giving em7'
duties
ioßepublic, one and indivisible, and to fulfil all the
irt.w49h.
Ye
ethe Constitution imposes on me.
fraternal assistance to others, and the general order, by
has the right to Cause Bills to be presented
observing the moral and written laws which govern so-
to the National Assembly by the Ministers. He watches
ciety, families, and individuals.
overr.a.nsdaasizsuereils. the execution of the laws.
Art. 8. The Republic is bound to protect the citizen
es ,seapv,e ever
of
commanding t the armed i t fionr ee,
person. without -
in his person, his family, his religion, his property, and
his labour, and to place within the reach of each the . A ;
ingthepower o'fi
instruction indispensable for all; it is bound, .by a fra-
ternal assistance, to assure the existence of the necessi- Art.
di 51. He cannot cede any portion of the territory,
tons citizens by procuring them employment within the nor dissolve nor prorogue the National Assembly, nor
manner the empire of the Constitution
saunsdPeo 'if
thein laws.an y
limits of its resources, or, when there is no family to
provide it, giving assistance to those who are unable to
work. With a view to the accomplishment of these National Assembly, a statement of the general state ofArt. 52. He presents every year, by a message to the
duties, and to guarantee all these rights, the National
Assembly, faithful to the traditions of the great assem• the affairs of the Republic.
blies who have inaugurated the French revolution, da- Art. 53. He negotiates and ratifies treaties. No
*roes as follows the Constitution of the Republic:-
treaty is definitive until it has been approved of by the
CONSTITUTION. National Assembly.
CHAPTER 1.-OF THE SOVEREIGNTY. Art. 54. He watches over the defence of the State, but
h
Art. I. The sovereignty resides in the universality of he cannot undertake any war without the consent of the
wench citizens. It is inalienable and imprescriptible. National Assembly.
No individual fraction of the people can attribute ti Art. 55. He has the right to grant pardon, but he
fbemselves the exercise of it. cannot exercise this right until after lie has taken the
CHAPTER IL-RIGHTS OF CTTIZENs, GUARANTEED BY advice of the Council of State. Armistices cannot be
THE CONSTITUTION. granted but by a law. The President of the Republic,
Art 2. No man can be arrested, cr detained in custody, the Ministers, as well as all other persons condemned by
except according to the prescriptions of the law. the High Court of Justice, can only be pardoned by the
Art. 3. The dwelling place of each person inhabiting National Assembly.
the French territory is an inviolate asylum; it is not Art. 56. The President of the Republic promulgates
permitted to any tae to penetrate within its precincts, the laws in the name of the French people.
except according to the forms and in the cases provided Art. 57. Laws d'urgence are promulgated within a de-
fer by law. lay of Vireo days, and the other laws within a space of
Are 4. No citizen shall be deprived of his natural one month, from the day on which they shall have been
judges; no commissions or extraordinary courts can be adopted by the National Assembly.
created on any pretext or denomination whatever. Art. 58. Within the delay fixed for the promulgation,
Art. .5. The punishment of death is abolished in poli-
the President of the Republic may, by a menage ex-
tical matters.
plaining his motives for doing so, demand a fresh deli-
Art.s 6. Slavery cannot exist in any part of the French beration. The Assembty tadib rates ; its resolution
territory. becomes definitive, and is transmitted to the President
Art. 7. Each citizen professes freely his religion, and of the Republic. In this case the promulgation takes
place within the day fixed for laws d'urgence.
receives from the State for the exercise of his worship
Art. 59. In default of promulgation by the President
an egaal protection. The clergymen of the creeds re-
of the Repuelie within the delays fixed by the preceding
cognised lefahe law have alone a right to receive a salary
articles it shall be provided for the President of the Na-
from the State.
tional Assembly.
Art. 8. Citizens have a right to meet, to assemble
Art. 60. The Envoys and Ambassadors of foreign
peaceably, and without arms, to petition, to express
powers are accredited to the President of the Republic,
their thoughts by means of the press, or otherwise.
The exercise of these rights has no other limit than the Art. 61. lie presides at national solemnities.
rights or the liberty of others, and public security. The Art. 62. His residence is furnished at the expense of
the Republic, and he receives a salary of 600,000 n per
press cannot in any case be subjugated to censorship.
Art. 9. Instruction is free; the liberty of instruction annum.
is exercised on conditions of capacity and morality de-
Art. 63. He resides at the place where the National
termined by the law, and under the surveillance of the ' Assembly holds its sittings, and cannot quit the conti-
State. This surveillance extends to all establishments of nental territory of the Republic without being authorised
education and instruction, without any exception. so to do by a law.
Art. 64. The President of the Republic appoints and
Art. 10. Citizens are admissible to all public employ-
dismisses the Ministers. He appoints and dismisses, in
meats, without other motives of preference but their
a
merit, or the rights acquired according to the law. The Council of Ministers, the diplomatic agents, the com-
Constitution recognises no title or distinction of birth, mandants in -chief of the land and sea forces, the prefects,
class, or caste. All titles, distinctions of nobility, of the superior commandant of the National Guards of the
class, and of caste, are for ever abolished. Seine, the governors of Algeria and the colonies, the
Art. 11. All properties are inviolable; nevertheless the procureurs ganasaux, and other functionaries of a
superior order. He appoints and dismisses on the pro-
State can require the sacrifice of property for cause of
position of the competent Minister, and in the regulating
public utility, legallroved, and on payment of a just
conditions determined by the law, the secondary agents
and previous indemnity
Art. 12. The confiscation of property can never be of the Government.
re-established. Art. 65. He has a right to suspend the agents of the
Art. 13. The Constitution guarantees to all citizens executive power elected by the citizens for a term which
cannot exceed three months. He cannot dismiss them
the liberty of labour and industry. Society favours and
but with the advice of the Council of State. The law
encourages the development of labour by gratuitous pri- determines the cases in which the agents so dismissed
mary instruction; by professional education, equality of
may be declared ineligible to the same functions. This
relations between the employer and the workman; insti-
declaration of ineligibility cannot be pronounced but by a
tutions of eredit and provident establishments, voluntary
associations, agricultural establishments, and the este,-
judgment.
blishment by the State, the departments, and the com-
Art. 66. The number of the Ministers and their at-
mnnes, of public works proper to employ unoccupied tributions are fixed by the Legislative power.
hands. It furnishes assistance to children who may have Art. 67. The acts of the President of the Republic,
been abandoned, to the infirm and to the old without re-
other than those by which he appoints or dismisses the
sources, and whom their families cannot succour.
'misters, are of no effect, unless they are countersigned
Art. 14. The public debt is guaranteed. Every kind ~ by a Minister.
Art. 68. The President of the Republic, the Ministers,
of engagement entered into by the State with its credi-
tors is inviolable. the agents and holders of public authority, are responsi-
Art. 15. All taxes are established for the common ble, each as far as it concerns him, for all the acts of the
utility ; each citizen contributes to them in proportion to Government and of the Administration. Any measure
his faculties and his fortune. by which the President of the Republic dissolves the
Art. 16. No tax can be established and levied, except National Assembly, prorogues it, or places any obstacle
in the way of the exercise of its mandate, is a crime of
in virtue of a law.
Art. 17. Direct taxes are consented to only for one high treason. By this sole fact, the President is deprived
of his funetienes The oWacaa arc bucuut to refuse obedi-
yeareinctirece cases may be consented re for ocrects2rcarz. '
CHAPTER 111.- OF THE PUBLIC POWER. ence to him; the executive power passes by full right to
Art. 18. All the public powers, of every description, the
Justice immediately assemble, on pain of forfeiture;
emanate from the people. They cannote be delegated the National Assembly; the Judge of the High Court
hereditarily. they convoke the juries in the places which they point
Art. 19. The separation of the powers is the first con- out, to proceed to the trial of the President and of his
dition of a free government. accomplices; they themselves appoint the magistrates
CHAPTER W.-OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER. charged to fulfil the functions of public prosecutor. A
Art. 20. The French people delegates the legislative law shall determine the other cases of responsibility, as
power to one Assembly. well as the forms and the conditions of the prosecution.
Art. 21. The total number of the representatives of Art. 69. The Ministers have admission to the National
the people shall be seven hundred and fifty, inclu- Assembly; they are heard whenever they demand to be,
and can require the assistance of the Commissioners
sine of the representatives of Algeria and the French
named by a decree of the President of the Republic.
colonise. Art. 70. There is a Vice-President of the Republic,
Art. 22. That number will be raised to nine hundred
chosen by the National Assembly, on the presentation
for assemblies called on to revise the Constitution.
Art. 23. The election has for its basis the population. of three candidates made by the President in one month
Art. 24. The cuff e is direct and universal. The after his election. The Vice-President takes the same
rag
oath as the President. The Vice-Presidents cannot be
vote is by ballot. chosen from among the relations and family connexions
Art. 25. Are electors, all Frenchmen aged 21 years,
of the President to the sixth degree inclusively. In case
and in enjoyment of their civil and political rights.
and
.of the President being unable to attend to his duties, he
Art. 26. All Frenchmen who are 25 years of age,
is replaced by the Vice-Presidents. If the President-
in enjoyment of their civil and political rights, are en-
s chi
.becomes vacant by death, the resignation of the
titled to be representatives without condition of pro-
President, or otherwise, the election of a new President
perty, qualification, or residence. shall take place within the month.
Art. 27. The electoral law shall determine the causes
CHAPTER VI.-01, THE COUNCIL OF STATE.
which may deprive a French citizen of the right of Art.
71. There shall be a Council of State, of which
electing or being elected. It shall designate the citizens
the Vice-President shall be by right the President.
who exercised or having exercised functions in a depart-
ment of territorial district cannot be elected within it. Art. 72. The members of this Council are appointed
Art. 28. Every public functionary with a salary is in-
by the National Assembly for six years. They are re-
compatible with the election as a representative of the newed the half at a time, within the first two months of
people. No Member of the National Assembly can, each legislature,by secret ballot, and by the absolute
during the Legislature, be named or promoted to salaried majority. They are indefinitely re-eligible.
public functions, the holders of which are chosen at will Art. 73. Such of the members of the Council of State
by the executive power. The exceptions to the two as shall be chosen from among the members of the Ns-
preceding paragraphs shall be determined by the elec- tional Assembly shall be immediately replaced as repre-
toral organic law. sentatives of the people.
Art. 29. The provisions of the preceding article are Art. 74. The members of the Council of State cannot
not applicable to assemblies elected for the revision of be dismissed but by the Assembly, and en the proposi-
the Constitution. lion of the President of the Republic.
Art. 30. The election of representatives shall be by Art. 75. The Council of State is consulted on the Bills
o
departments and by ballot. The electors shall vote at of the Government, which, according to law, are to be
the chief town of the canton ; nevertheless, by reason submitted to its previous examination, and on the initia-
of local circumstances, the canton may be divided into tive Parliamentary measures which the Assembly may
several circumscriptions in manner and on conditions to lay before it. It prepares the regulations of the public
administration; it alone makes those regulations, with
be decided by the electoral law.
Art. 31. The National Assembly is elected for three regard to which the National Assembly has delegated a
special authority. It exercises, with regard to the public
years, and is renewed integrally. Forty-five days at
administrations, all the powers of control and latest before the end of the Legislature, a law fixes the
tendence which are conferred on it by the law. The
superin-
period for the new elections. If no law is made within
the delay fixed by the preceding paragraph, the electors law will regulate its other attributions.
assemble in fall right on the thirtieth day preceding the CHAPTER VII.-OF THE INTBRNAL ADMINISTRATION.
and of the Legislature. The new Assembly is convoked Art. 76. The division of the territory intddepartments,
.
In full right on the morrow of the day on which the arrondissements, cantons, and communes, is maintained.
nlanArdta.te3...o.f
Itthe . preceding Assembly terminates. The present circumscriptions cannot be changed but by
;,„„... toe_
,y is permanebt. Nevertheless, it may ad- a law.
tra7olaa 6enttirt,o
.be fixed by itself. During the proro- Art. 77. There is, 1, in each department an adminis-
talon, composed of the members of the tration composed of a prefect, a council-general, and a
Ewes% ri
bad twit-five Assembly y ballot, and hTrepaoresentatives, named by the council of prefecture; 2. In each arrondissement a sub-
right of convoking it in of absolute majority, has the prefect; 3. In each canton acantonal council; neverthe-
of the Republic has also the urgency. The President less, in cities divided into several cantons there shall be
sembly. The National right to convoke the As-
determlnes upon the but one cantonal council; 4. In each commune an ad-
place of its sittings. It fixer: the importance of the cipal council.
military composed of a mayor, deputies, and muni-
military forces established for its safety, and disposes of
them. Art. 78. A law shall determine the composition and
the attributions of the councils general, the cantonal
Art. 33. The representative are always rks-seligible.
Art. 34. The Members of the National councils, the municipal councils, and the mode of nomi-
nation of the mayors and deputies.
the representatives, not of the department I:lll,:hblyeleacrets
them, but of all France. Art. 79. The councils general and the municipal
Art. 35. They cannot accept any imperativen tecouncils are elected by the direct suffrages of all the
: Eachctizens resident in the department, or in the commune.
Art. 36. The representatives of the people are inviolate. canton
l elects a member of the Council General. A i
te, They cannot be impeached nor arrested, nor brought O special aw will regulate the mode of election in the de-
trial
at any time for opinions they, may have expressed pertinent of the Seine, in the city of Paris, and the towns
in the National Assembly. h__.
.Ving more than 20,000 inhabit
President Art. 37. They cannot be arrested in any criminal . Art 80. The councils general, the cantonal councils,
tofmunicipalthe
councils may be dissolved
et Stec teRA.
rrTzhi:
vilaw;rzo, f
the
Council
boyo
ot
chi the
matter unless when taken in flagrante d,dieto, nor pro- and the
e Republic, ca, with the advice o
shall take til z the delay within which a rem
aecuted, until after the Assembly has permitted their
el_ectioenn
prosecution. In case of arrest in ilagrante delicto,
. , . ice is re
erTelid EgrjauptuiltcolALuslyPi theEa.name
reference shall be immediately made to the Assembly,
rjencjhus pteopl-e. The proceedings are public, un-
which shall authorise or refuse the continuation of a
thia case the
Prosecution. This provision applies to the case of
IcBases where publicity would end= r rdge o er, or
a citizen who, while in custody, is elected a repre- loefeAst hirten
sente.tive.
be injurious to the public morality; and in
-
Art. 38. Each representative of the people receives
tribunal shall declare it by a judgment, an indemnity which he cannot renounce.
Art. 39. The sittings of the Assembly are public. - Art. 82. The jury shall continue to be applied in cri-
Nevertheless, the Assembly can form itself into a secret urinal matters.
committee on the demand of a number of representatives, Art. 83. The trial of all political offences and of
fixed by the regulation. Each representative has the offences committed by the press belongs exclusively all
to
right of parliamentary initiative, and may execute it the Jury. The organic laws shall determine the c-am"
according to the forms laid down by the regulations. petency in cases of insult and defamation against private
Art. 40. The presence of the moiety plus one of the individuals.
members of the Assembly is necessary for the validity of Art. 84. The Jury alone shall decide on the amount
the vote of the law. of damages claimed for offences of the press.
Art. 41. No project of law, except in cases of urgency Art. 85. The justices of the peace and their assistant,
shall be definitively voted until after three discussions, the justices of premiere instance and of appeal, the mem-
bers of the Court of Cessation and of the Court of Ac-
at intervals, which cannot be less than five days.
Art. 42. Every proposition for a declaration of ur-
counts, are appointed by the President of the Republic,
gooey is preceded by an eapose des motifs. If the As-
according to an order of candidateship, or according to
sembly is disposed to entertain the proposition of urgency, conditions which shall be regulated by the organic laws.
it orders it to be referred to the committees, and fixes the Art. 86. The magistrates filling the functions of public
moment when the report on the urgency shall be pre-
prosecutors are appointed by the President of th e Republic.
seated. Upon this report, if the Assembly admits the Art 87. The Judges of premiere instance and of ap-
urgency, it declares it, and fixes the moment of discus. Peal, the members of the Court of Cessation and of the
Mon. If it decides that there is no urgency, the project Court of Accounts are appointed for life. They cannot
takes the course of ordinary propositions. be dismissed or suspended but by a judgment, nor placed
Crier-emu V.-OF THE EXECUTIVE POWER.
on the retired list, except for causes and in the forms
...
determined by the law.
Art. 43. The French people delegates the Executive