Title I
Inheritance
Imperial Family
Regency
Grand Dignitaries
Grand Officers
Oaths
Senate
Council of State
Legislative Body
Tribunate
Electoral Colleges
High Imperial Court
Judicial Class
Promulgation
Title XVI |
Constitution of the Year XII
May 18, 1804 (28 F1oréaI, Year XII)
Through this measure the life consulate was transformed into
the Empire. It should be studied in conjunction with the constitutions
of the years VIII and X, which it supplemented. Most of the institutions
created by the two preceding constitutions were retained, but with
important alterations which should be noticed. A number of new
institutions also call for notice. The question of establishing the
imperial dignity, but not the whole document, was submitted to popular
vote.
Title I.
- The government of the French Republic is entrusted to an emperor,
who takes the title of EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH.
Justice is administered
in the name of the Emperor by the officers whom he appoints.
- Napoleon Bonaparte, present First Consul of the Republic, is Emperor
of the French.
Title II. Of the Inheritance.
- The imperial dignity is hereditary in the direct natural and
legitimate lineage of Napoleon Bonaparte, from male to male, by order of
primogeniture, and to the perpetual exclusion of women and their
descendants.
- Napoleon Bonaparte can adopt the children or grandchildren of his
brothers, provided they have fully reached the age of eighteen years,
and he himself has no male children at the moment of adoption.
His
adopted sons enter into the line of his direct descendants.
If,
subsequently to the adoption, male children come to him, his adopted
sons can be summoned only after the natural and legitimate
descendants.
Adoption is forbidden to the successors of Napoleon
Bonaparte and their descendants.
- In default of a natural and legitimate heir or an adopted heir of
Napoleon Bonaparte, the imperial dignity is devolved and bestowed upon
Joseph Bonaparte and his natural and legitimate descendants, by order of
primogeniture, from male to male, to the perpetual exclusion of women
and their descendants.
- In default of Joseph Bonaparte and his male descendants, the
imperial dignity is devolved and bestowed upon Louis Bonaparte, and his
natural and legitimate descendants by order of primogeniture from male
to male to the perpetual exclusion of women and their descendants.
- In default of a natural and legitimate heir and of an adopted heir
of Napoleon Bonaparte;
In default of natural and legitimate heirs of
Joseph Bonaparte and his male descendants;
Of Louis Bonaparte and his
male descendants;
An organic senatus-consultum, proposed to the
Senate by the titular high dignitaries of the Empire and submitted for
the acceptance of the people, appoints the emperor and controls in his
family the order of inheritance, from male to male, to the perpetual
exclusion of women and their descendants.
- Until the moment in which the election of the new emperor is
completed, the affairs of the state are directed by the ministers, who
form themselves into a council of government and who make their
decisions by a majority of votes. The secretary of state keeps the
register of the deliberations.
Title III. Of the Imperial Family.
- The members of the imperial family within the order of inheritance
bear the title of French Princes.
The eldest son of the Emperor bears
that of Prince Imperial.
- A senatus-consultum regulates the manner of the education of the
French princes.
- They are members of the Senate and of the Council of State when they
have reached their eighteenth year.
- They cannot marry without the authorisation of the Emperor.
The
marriage of a French prince made without the authorisation of the
Emperor entails deprivation of all right of inheritance, both for him
who contracts it and for his descendants.
Nevertheless, if there is
no child from this marriage, and it becomes dissolved, the prince who
had contracted it recovers his rights of inheritance.
- The documents which attest the birth, marriages, and decease of the
members of the imperial family, are transmitted upon an order of the
Emperor to the Senate, which orders their transcription upon its
registers and their deposit in its archives.
- Napoleon Bonaparte establishes by statutes, to which his successors
are required to conform:
1st. The duties of the persons of both
sexes, members of the imperial family, towards the Emperor;
2d. An
organization of the imperial palace in conformity with the dignity of
the throne and the grandeur of the nation.
- The civil list remains as it has been regulated by articles 1 and 4
of the decree of May 26-June I, 1791.
The French princes, Joseph and
Louis Bonaparte, and, for the future, the younger natural amid
legitimate sons of the Emperor, shall be treated in conformity with
articles 1, 10, 11, 12 and 13 of the decree of December 21, 1790-April
6, 1791.
The Emperor can fix the jointure of the Empress and assign
it out of the civil list; his successors can change none of the
dispositions which lie shall have made in this respect.
- The Emperor visits the departments: in consequence, imperial palaces
arc established at the four principal points of the Empire.
These
palaces are designated and their appointments determined by a law.
Title IV. Of the Regency.
- The Emperor is a minor until he has fully completed eighteen years;
during his minority there is a regent of the Empire.
- The regent must be at least fully twenty-five years of age.
Women
are excluded from the regency.
- The Emperor designates the regent from among the French princes who
are of the age required by the preceding article, and in default of
them, from among the titular grand dignitaries of the Empire.
- In default of designation on the part of the Emperor, the regency is
bestowed upon the prince the nearest in degree in the order of
inheritance, who has fully completed twenty-five years.
- If, the Emperor not having designated the regent, none of the French
princes have fully completed twenty-five years, the Senate elects the
regent from the titular grand dignitaries of the Empire.
- If, by reason of the minority in age of the prince summoned to the
regency in the order of heredity, it has been bestowed upon a more
remote kinsman, or upon one of the titular grand dignitaries of the
Empire, the regent who has entered upon his functions continues until
the majority of the Emperor.
- No organic senatus-consultum can be issued during the regency, nor
before the end of the third year which follows the majority.
- The regent exercises, until the majority of the Emperor all the
attributes of the imperial dignity.
Nevertheless, he cannot make
appointments to the high dignities of the Empire, nor to the places of
the grand officers, which may be vacant at the time of the regency, or
which may become vacant during the minority, nor use the prerogative
reserved to the Emperor to raise citizens to the rank of senator.
He
cannot dismiss the grand judge nor the secretary of state.
- He is not personally responsible for the acts of his administration.
- All the acts of the regency are in the name of the minor Emperor.
- The regent does not propose any project of law or of
senatus-consultum, nor adopt any rule of public administration until
after he has taken the opinion of the council of regency, composed of
the titular high dignitaries of the Empire.
He cannot declare war,
nor sign treaties of peace, alliance, or commerce until after
deliberation over it in the council of regency, whose members, for this
case alone, have deliberative voice. The decision is by a majority of
the votes; and if there is an equal division, it passes, according to
the opinion of the regent.
The minister of foreign affairs takes a
seat in the council of regency, when this council deliberates over
matters relative to his department.
The grand judge minister of
justice can be summoned there by order of the regent.
The secretary
of state keeps the register of its deliberations.
- The regency does not confer any right over the person of the minor
Emperor.
- The stipend of the regent is fixed at one-fourth of the sum of the
civil list.
- The guardianship of the minor Emperor is confided to his mother, and
in her default, to the prince designated for that purpose by the
predecessor of the minor Emperor.
In default of the mother of the
minor Emperor and of a prince designated by the Emperor, the Senate
confides the guardianship of the minor Emperor to one of the titular
grand dignitaries of the Empire.
Neither the regent and his
descendants nor women can be chosen for the guardianship of the minor
Emperor.
- In case Napoleon Bonaparte shall make use of the power conferred
upon him by article 4, title II, the document of adoption shall be drawn
up in the presence of the titular grand dignitaries of the Empire,
received by the secretary of state and transmitted immediately to the
Senate in order to be transcribed upon its registers and deposited in
its archives.
When the Emperor designated either a regent for the
minority or a prince for the guardianship of a minor Emperor, the same
formalities are observed.
The documents of designation, either of a
regent for the minority or a prince for the guardianship of a minor
Emperor, are revocable at will by the Emperor.
Every document of
adoption, of designation or of revocation of designation, which shall
not have been transcribed upon the registers of the Senate before the
decease of the Emperor shall be null and void.
Title V. Of the Grand Dignitaries of the Empire.
- The grand dignitaries of the Empire are these:
Grand
elector,
Archchancellor of the Empire,
Archchancellor of
state,
Archtreasurer,
Constable,
Grand admiral.
- The titular grand dignitaries of the Empire are appointed by the
Emperor.
They enjoy the same honors as the French princes and take
rank immediately after them.
The date of their reception determines
the rank which they respectively occupy.
- The high dignitaries of the Empire are irremovable.
- The titular grand dignitaries of the Empire are senators and
councillors of state.
- They form the grand council of the Emperor;
They are members of
the privy council;
They compose the grand council of the Legion of
Honor.
The present members of the grand council of the Legion of
Honor preserve their titles, functions and prerogatives for the duration
of their lives.
- The Senate and the Council of State are presided over by the
Emperor.
When the Emperor does not preside over the Senate or the
Council of State, he designates the one of the titular high dignitaries
of the Empire who must preside.
- All the decrees of the Senate and of the Legislative Body are
rendered in the name of the Emperor and are promulgated or published
under the imperial seal.
- The grand elector performs the functions of chancellor;
1st, For
the convocation of the Legislative Body, the electoral colleges and the
cantonal assemblies; 2nd, for the promulgation of the senatus-consulta
providing for the dissolution either of the Legislative Body or of the
electoral colleges.
The grand elector presides in the absence of the
Emperor when the Senate proceeds to the appointment of senators,
legislators, and tribunes.
He can reside in the palace of the
Senate.
He brings to the knowledge of the Emperor the claims
formulated by the electoral colleges or the cantonal assemblies, for the
preservation of their prerogatives.
When a member of an electoral
college is denounced, in conformity with article 21 of the organic
senatus-consultum of 16 Thermidor, Year X, as being involved in some act
prejudicial to honor or the fatherland, the grand elector invites the
college to express its opinion. He brings the opinion of the college to
the knowledge of the Emperor.
The grand elector presents to the
members of the Senate, the Council of State, the Legislative Body, and
the Tribunate, the oath which they take at the hands of the
Emperor.
He receives the oath of the presidents of the department
electoral colleges and the cantonal assemblies.
He presents the
solemn deputations of the Senate, Council of State, Legislative Body,
Tribunate, and the elect oral colleges when they are admitted to the
audience of the Emperor.
- The archchancellor of the Empire performs the functions of
chancellor for the promulgation of the organic senatus-consulta and the
laws.
He performs, likewise, those of chancellor of the imperial
palace.
He is present at the annual report in which the high judge
minister of justice gives an account to the Emperor of the abuses which
may have been introduced into the administration of either civil or
criminal justice.
He presides over the high imperial court.
He
presides over the united sections of the Council of State, and of the
Tribunate, in conformity with article 95, title XI.
He is present at
the celebration of the marriages and at the birth of the princes, at the
coronation and at the obsequies of the Emperor. He signs the record
which the secretary of state draws up.
He presents to the titular
grand dignitaries of the Empire, the ministers and the secretary of
state, the grand civil officers of the crown, and the first president of
the court of cassation, the oath which they take at the hands of the
Emperor.
He receives the oath of the members and of the bar of the
court of cassation, and of the presidents and procureurs-general of the
courts of appeal and the criminal courts.
He presents the solemn
deputations and the members of the courts of justice admitted. to the
audience of the Emperor.
He signs and seals the commissions and
warrants of the members of the courts of justice and of tIne ministerial
officers; he seals the commissions and warrants of civil functions,
administrative and other certificates which shall be designated in the
regulation providing for the organization of the seal.
- The archchancellor of state performs the functions of chancellor for
the promulgation of treaties of peace and alliance and for the
declarations of war.
He presents to the Emperor and signs the letters
of credence and tine ceremonial correspondence with the different courts
of Europe, drawn up according to the forms of the imperial formulary of
which he is the keeper.
He is present at the annual report in which
the minister of foreign affairs gives an account to the Emperor of the
political situation of the state.
He presents to the ambassadors and
ministers of the Emperor at foreign courts the oath which they take at
the hands of His Imperial Majesty.
He receives the oath of the
resident chargés d'affaires, secretaries of embassy and legation,
commissioners-general and commissioners of commercial relations.
He
presents the extraordinary ambassadors and ambassadors, and French and
foreign ministers.
- The archtreasurer is present at the annual report in which the
ministers of finance and of the public treasury render to the Emperor
the accounts of the receipts and expenditures of the state and express
their views upon the needs of the finances of the Empire.
The
accounts of the annual receipts and expenditures are endorsed with his
signature before being presented to the Emperor.
He receives, every
three months, the statement of the report of the national accounting,
and every year the general result and the views for reform and
improvement in the different parts of the accounting; he brings them to
the knowledge of the Emperor.
He audits every year the ledger of the
public debt.
He signs the warrants for the civil pensions.
He
presides over the united sections of the Council of State and of the
Tribunate, in conformity with article 95, title XI.
He receives the
oath of the members of the national accounting, of the finance
administrations, and of the principal agents of the public
treasury.
He presents the deputations of the national accountants and
of the finance administrations admitted to the audience of the Emperor.
- The constable is present at the annual report in which the minister
of war and the director of the war administration render account to the
Emperor of the provisions taken to complete the system of defence of the
frontiers, the maintenance, repair, and supplying of the posts.
He
lays the first stone of the fortresses whose construction is
ordered.
He is governor of the military schools.
When the Emperor
does not in person transmit the flags to the corps of the army, they are
sent to them in his name by the constable.
In the absence of the
Emperor, the constable presides over the grand review of the imperial
guard.
When a général d'armée is accused of an offence
specified in the military penal code, the constable can preside over the
council of war, which must give judgment.
He presents to the marshals
of the Empire, the colonels-general, the inspectors-general, the general
officers and the colonels of all arms, the oaths which they take at the
hands of the Emperor.
He receives the oaths of the majors, and
leaders of battalions and squadrons of all arms.
lie installs the
marshals of the Empire. He presents the general officers and the
colonels. majors. and leaders of battalions and squadrons, when they are
admitted to the audience of the Emperor.
He signs the warrants of the
army and those of the military pensioners of the State.
- The grand admiral is present at the annual report in which the
minister of the navy renders account to the Emperor of the condition of
the naval forces, arsenals, and supplies.
He receives annually and
presents to the Emperor the accounts of the marine invalids'
fund.
When an admiral, vice-admiral, or rear-admiral commanding in
chief a naval force is accused of an offence specified in the marine
penal code, the grand admiral can preside over the court martial which
shall give judgment.
He presents to the admirals, vice-admirals,
rear-admirals, and captains of vessels the oath which they take at the
hands of the Emperor.
He receives the oaths of the members of the
council of prizes and the captains of frigates.
He presents the
admirals, vice-admirals, rear-admirals, captains of vessels and
frigates, and the members of the council of prizes, when they are
admitted to the audience of the Emperor.
He signs the warrants of the
officers of the naval forces and those of the marine pensioners of the
state.
- Each of the titular grand dignitaries of the Empire presides over a
department electoral college.
The electoral college sitting at
Brussels is presided over by the grand elector.
The electoral college
sitting at Bordeaux is presided over by the archchancellor of the
Empire.
The electoral college sitting at Nantes is presided over by
the archchancellor of state.
The electoral college sitting at Lyon is
presided over by the archtreasurer of the Empire.
The electoral
college sitting at Turin is presided over by the constable.
The
electoral college sitting at Marseilles is presided over by the grand
admiral.
- Each of the titular grand dignitaries of the Empire receives
annually by way of fixed stipend two-thirds of the sum appropriated for
the princes, in conformity with the decree of December 21, 1790.
- A statute of the Emperor regulates the functions of the titular
grand dignitaries of the Empire near the Emperor and determines their
costumes in the grand ceremonies. The successors of the Emperor can
deviate from this statute only by a senatus-consultum.
Title VI. Of the Grand Officers of the Empire
- The grand officers of the Empire are:
First, the marshals of the
Empire, chosen from among the most distinguished generals.
Their
number cannot exceed that of sixteen.
The marshals of the Empire who
are senators are not part of this number.
Secondly, eight general
inspectors and colonels-general of artillery and engineers, of cavalry
troops and of the navy.
Thirdly, the grand civil officers of the
crown, such as are instituted by the statutes of the Emperor.
- The positions of the grand officers are irremovable.
- Each of the grand officers of the Empire presides over an electoral
college which is especially set aside for him at the moment of his
appointment.
- If, by an order of the Emperor or by any other cause whatsoever, a
titular grand dignitary of the Empire or a grand officer happens to
discontinue his functions, he preserves his title, his rank, his
privileges, and half of his stipend: he loses these only by a judgment
of the high imperial court.
Title VII. Of the Oaths.
- Within the two years which follow his accession or his majority, the
Emperor, accompanied by
The titular grand dignitaries of the
Empire,
The ministers,
The grand officers of the Empire,
Takes
oath to the French people upon the gospel, in the presence of:
The
Senate,
The Council of State,
The Legislative Body,
The
Tribunate,
The court of cassation,
The archbishops,
The
bishops,
The grand officers of the Legion of Honor,
The national
accountants,
The presidents of the courts of appeal,
The
presidents of the electoral colleges,
The presidents of the cantonal
assemblies,
The presidents of the consistories,
And the mayors of
the thirty-six principal cities of the Empire.
The secretary of state
prepares the record of the taking of the oath.
- The oath of the Emperor is thus expressed:
"I swear to maintain
the integrity of the territory of the Republic, to respect and cause to
be respected the laws of the concordat and the liberty of worship, to
respect and cause to be respected equality of rights, political and
civil liberty, the irrevocability of the sales of the national lands;
not to raise any impost, nor to establish any tax except in virtue of
the law; to maintain the institution of the Legion of Honor; to govern
in the sole view of the interest, the welfare and the glory of the
French people."
- Before beginning the exercise of his functions, the regent,
accompanied by:
The titular grand dignitaries of the Empire,
The
ministers,
The grand officers of the Empire,
Takes oath upon the
gospel, and in the presence of The Senate,
The Council of
State,
The president and questors of the Legislative Body,
The
president and the questors of the Tribunate,
And the grand officers
of tie Legion of Honor.
The secretary of state prepares the record of
the taking of the oath.
- The oath of the regent is expresses in these terms:
"I swear to
administer the affairs of time state, in conformity with the
constitutions of the Empire, time senatus-consulta and the laws; to
maintain in all their integrity the territory of the Republic, the
rights of the nation and those of the imperial dignity, and to deliver
up to the Emperor, at the moment of his majority, the authority, the
exercise of which is confided "to me."
- The titular grand dignitaries of the Empire, the ministers and the
secretary of state, the grand officers and the members of the Senate,
the Council of State, the Legislative Body, the Tribunate, the electoral
colleges and the cantonal assemblies, take oath in these terms:
"I
swear obedience to the constitutions of the Empire and fidelity to the
Emperor."
The public, civil, and judicial functionaries and the
officers and soldiers of the army and navy take the same oath.
Title VIII. Of the Senate.
- The Senate is composed:
1st, Of the French princes who have
reached their eighteenth year;
2d, Of the titular grand dignitaries
of the Empire;
3d, Of eighty members appointed upon the presentaion
of the candidates chosen by the Emperor from the list formed by the
department electoral colleges;
4th, Of citizens whom the Emperor
deems suitable to be raised to the dignity of senator.
In case the
number of the senators shall exceed that which has been fixed by article
63 of the organic senatus-consultum of 16 Thermidor, Year X, provision
shall be made for this by a law for the execution of article 17 of the
senatus-consultum of 14 Nivôse Year XI.
- The president of the Senate is appointed by the Emperor and chosen
from among the senators.
His functions continue one year.
- He convokes the Senate upon an order issued of his own accord by the
Emperor and upon the request either of the commissioners, which will be
spoken of hereafter in articles 60 and 64, or of a senator, in
conformity with the provisions of article 70, or of an officer of the
Senate for the internal affairs of the body.
He gives an account to
the Emperor of the convocations made upon the request of the commissions
or of a senator, of their object, and of the results of the deliberation
of the Senate.
- A commission of seven members, appointed by the Senate and chosen
within its own body, takes cognizance, upon the communication made to it
by the ministers, of the arrests effected in conformity with article 46
of the constitution, when the persons arrested have not been brought
before the tribunals within ten days after their arrest.
This
commission is called the senatorial commission of personal liberty.
- All persons arrested and not put on trial within ten days after
their arrest, can apply directly by themselves, their relatives, or
their representatives, and by way of petition, to the senatorial
commission of personal liberty.
- When the commission considers that detention prolonged beyond ten
days after arrest is not warranted by the interest of the state, it
invites the minister who has ordered the arrest to cause time detained
person to be put at liberty or to send him before the ordinary
tribunals.
- If, after three consecutive invitations, renewed within the share of
one month, the detained person is not put at liberty nor sent before the
ordinary tribunals, the commission requests a meeting of the Senate,
which is convoked by the president and which renders, if there is need,
the following declaration:
"There are strong presumptions that
N-------is arbitrarily detained."
Thereafter proceedings are in
conformity with the provisions of article 112, title XIII, Of the
high imperial court.
- A commission of seven members, appointed by the Senate and chosen
from within its own body, is charged to watch over the liberty of the
press.
Periodical works printed and distributed by subscription are
not included within its powers.
This commission is called the
senatorial commission of the liberty of the press.
- Authors, printers, or publishers. who believe that there is ground
for complaint over restrictions placed upon the printing or circulation
of a work can have recourse directly and by way of petition to the
senatorial commission of the liberty of the press.
- When the commission thinks, that the restrictions are not warranted
by the interest of the state, it invites the minister who has given the
order to revoke it.
- If, after three consecutive invitations renewed within the space of
one month, the restrictions remain, the commission asks for a meeting of
the Senate, which is convoked by the president and which renders, if
there is need, the following declaration:
"There are strong
presumptions that the liberty of the press has been violated."
After
that, proceedings are in conformity with the provision of article 112,
title XIII, Of the high imperial court.
- One member of each of these senatorial commissions discontinues his
functions every four months.
- The projects of law decreed by the Legislative Body are transmitted
to the Senate on the day of their adoption, and deposited in its
archives.
- Every decree rendered by the Legislative Body can he denounced to
the Senate by a Senator:
1st, As tending to the reestablishment of
the feudal régime; 2d, as contrary to the irrevocability of the sales of
the national lands; 3d, as not having been deliberated upon in the forms
prescribed by the constitutions of the Empire, the regulations and the
laws; 4th, as constituting an attack upon the prerogatives of the
imperial dignity and those of the Senate; without prejudice to the
execution of articles 21 and 37 of the acte of the constitutions
of the Empire of the date of 22 Frimaire, Year VIII.
- The Senate, within the six days which follow the adoption of the
project of law, deliberating upon the report of a special commission,
and after having heard three readings of the decree in three sittings
held on different days, can express the opinion that there is no need
to promulgate the law.
The president conveys to the Emperor the
resolution of the Senate with a statement of the motives for it.
- The Emperor, after having heard the Council of State, either
declares by a decree his adherence to the resolution of the Senate, or
causes the promulgation of the law.
- Any law whose promulgation tinder that circumstance has not taken
place before the expiration of the interval of ten days, can no longer
be promulgated, unless it has been newly deliberated upon and adopted by
the Legislative Body.
- The entire operations of an electoral college and the partial
operations which are relative to the presentation of the candidates to
the Senate, Legislative Body, and Tribunate cannot be annulled on
account of unconstitutionality, except by a senatus-consultum.
Title IX. Of the Council of State.
- When the Council of State deliberates upon projects of law or
regulations of public administration, two-thirds of the members of the
council in ordinary service must be present.
The number of the
councillors of state present cannot be less than twenty-five.
- The Council of State is divided into six sections, to
wit:
Section of legislation,
Section of the interior,
Section
of the finances,
Section of war,
Section of the navy,
And
section of commerce.
- When a member of the Council of State has been carried for five
years upon the list of the members of the council in ordinary service he
receives a commission of councillor of state for life.
When he ceases
to be carried upon the list of the Council of State in ordinary or
extraordinary service, he has a right to but one-third of the stipend of
councillor of state.
He loses his title and his rights only by a
judgment of the high imperial court, involving afflictive or infamous
penalty.
Title X. Of the Legislative Body.
- The retiring members of the Legislative Body can be re-elected
without interval.
- The projects of law presented to the Legislative Body are sent back
to the three sections of the Tribunate.
- The sittings of the Legislative Body are divided into ordinary
sittings and committees of the whole.
- The ordinary sittings are composed of the members of the Legislative
Body, the orators of the Council of State, and the orators of the three
sections of the Tribunate.
The committees of the whole are composed
only of the members of the Legislative Body.
The president of the
Legislative Body presides over the ordinary sittings and over the
committees of the whole.
- In ordinary sitting, the Legislative Body hears the orators of the
Council of State and those of the three sections of the Tribunate, and
votes upon the project of law.
In committee of the whole, the members
of the Legislative Body discuss among themselves the advantages and
disadvantages of the project of law.
- The Legislative Body forms itself into committee of the
whole:
1st. Upon the invitation of the president, for the internal
affairs of the body;
2d. Upon a request made to the president and
signed by fifty members present;
In these two cases the committee of
the whole is secret, and the discussions shall not be printed nor
divulged.
3d. Upon the request of the orators of the Council of
State, especially authorised for that purpose.
In this case the
committee of the whole is necessarily public.
No decision can be
reached in the committees of the whole.
- When the discussion in committee of the whole is closed, the
decision is adjourned to the next day in ordinary sitting.
- The Lcgislative Body, on the day when it must vote upon the project
of law, hears, in the same sitting, the résumé which the orators of the
Council of State offer.
- The decision over a project of law cannot in any case be deferred
more than three days beyond that which has been fixed for the closing of
the discussion.
- The sections of the Tribunate constitute the only commissions of the
Legislative Body, which can form others only in the case provided for in
article 113, title XIII, Of the high imperial court.
Title XI. Of the Tribunate.
- The functions of the members of the Tribunate continue ten years.
- The Tribunate is renewed by half every five years. The first renewal
shall take place for the session of the Year XVII, in conformity with
the organic senatus-consultum of 16 Thermidor, Year X.
- The president of the Tribunate is appointed by the Emperor out of a
presentation of three candidates made by the Tribunate by secret ballot
and a majority.
- The functions of the president of the Tribunate continue two years.
- The Tribunate has two questors.
They are appointed by the Emperor
out of a triple list of candidates chosen by the Tribunate by secret
ballot and a majority.
Their functions are the same as those assigned
to the questors of the Legislative Body by articles 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,
24 and 25 of the organic senatus-consultum of 24 Frimaire, Year
XII.
One of the questors is renewed each year.
- The Tribunate is divided into three sections, to wit:
Section of
legislation.
Section of the interior.
Section of the finances.
- Each section forms a list of three of its members from whom the
president of the Tribunate designates the president of the
section.
The functions of the president of a section continue one
year.
- When the respective sections of the Council of State and the
Tribunate ask to unite, the conferences take place under the presidency
of the archchancellor of the Empire or of the archtreasurer according to
the nature of the matters to be examined.
- Each section discusses separately and in sectional meeting, the
projects of law which are transmitted to it by the Legislative
Body.
two orators of each of the three sections carry to the
legislative body the opinion of their section, and explain the grounds
for it.
- In no case can the projects of law be discussed by the Tribunate in
general assembly.
It unites in general assembly, under the presidency
of its president, for the exercise of its other attributes.
Title XII. Of the Electoral Colleges.
- Whenever a department electoral college meets for the formation of
the list of candidates for the Legislative Body, the lists of candidates
for the Senate are renewed.
Each renewal renders the former
presentations of no effect.
- The grand officers, the commandants, and the officers of the Legion
of Honor are members of the electoral college of the department in which
they have their domicile, or of one of the departments for the cohort to
which they belong.
The legionaries are members of the electoral
college of their district.
The members of the Legion of Honor are
admitted to the electoral college, of which they shall form part, upon
the presentation of a certificate which is delivered to them for that
purpose by the grand elector.
- The prefects and the military commandants of the departments cannot
be elected candidates for the Senate by the electoral colleges of the
departments in which they exercise their functions.
Title XIII. Of the High Imperial Court.
- A high imperial court takes cognizance:
1st. Of the personal
offences committed by the members of the imperial family, the titular
grand dignitaries of the Empire, the ministers and the secretary of
state, the grand officers, the senators, and the councillors of
state;
2d. Of crimes, attempts and conspiracies against the internal
and external security of the state, the person of the Emperor and that
of the heir presumptive of the Empire;
3d. Of offences of
responsibility of office committed by the ministers and councillors of
state especially charged with a part of the public
administration;
4th. Of betrayals of trust and abuse of power,
committed either by the captains-general of tine colonies, the colonial
prefects and commandants of French establishments outside of the
continent, or by the administrators-general employed extraordinarily, or
by the generals of the army or navy; without prejudice, in respect to
these, of prosecutions by the military jurisdiction in the cases
determined by the laws;
5th. Of the fact of disobedience of the
generals of the army or navy who disregard their instructions;
6th.
Of the peculations and squandering of which the prefects of the interior
make themselves guilty in the exercise of their functions;
7th. Of
the forfeitures and complaints of prejudice which may be incurred by a
court of appeal or by a court of justice or by members of the court of
cassation.
8th. Of denunciations on account of arbitrary detentions
and of violations of the liberty of the press.
- The seat of the high imperial court is in the Senate.
- It is presided over by the archchancellor of the Empire.
If he is
ill, absent, or lawfully prevented, it is presided over by another of
the titular grand dignitaries of the Empire.
- The high imperial court is composed of the princes, the titular
grand dignitaries and grand officers of the Empire, the high judge
minister of justice, sixty senators, the six presidents of the sections
of the Council of State, fourteen councillors of state, and twenty
members of the court of cassation.
The senators, the councillors of state and members of the court
of cassation are appointed by order of seniority.
- There is before the high imperial court a procureur-general,
appointed for life by the Emperor.
He performs the duties of the
public ministry, being assisted by three tribunes, appointed each year
by the Legislative Body out of a list of nine candidates presented by
the Tribunate, and of three magistrates whom the Emperor appoints, also
each year, from among the officers of the courts of appeal and of
criminal justice.
- There is before the high imperial court a recorder-in-chief
appointed for life by the Emperor.
- The president of the high imperial court can never be challenged; he
can abstain for legitimate reasons.
- The high imperial court can act only upon proceedings instituted by
the public ministry in the offenses committed by those whose rank makes
them subject to the jurisdiction of the imperial court; if there is a
complaint, the public ministry becomes necessarily joint and prosecuting
party, and proceeds as is required hereinafter.
The public ministry
is likewise the joint and prosecuting party in cases of forfeiture or of
complaint of prejudice.
- The security magistrates and the jury directors are required to draw
tip and transmit, within the period of eight days, to the
procureur-general before the high imperial court all the documents of
the proceedings, when, in the offences whose reparation they seek, it
happens either from the quality of the persons, or the title of the
accusation, or from circumstances, that the matter belongs to the
jurisdiction of the high imperial court.
Nevertheless, the security magistrates continue to collect the
proofs and indications of the offence.
- The ministers or the councillors of state charged with any part
whatsoever of the public administration can be denounced by the
Legislative Body, if they have given orders contrary to the
constitutions and the laws of the Empire.
- The Legislative Body can likewise denounce:
The captains-general
of the colonies, the colonial prefects, the commandants of French
establishments outside of the continent, the administrators-general,
when they have betrayed their trusts or abused their authority;
The
generals of the army or navy who have disobeyed their
instructions;
The prefects of the interior who have made themselves
guilty of squandering or of peculation.
- The Legislative Body denounces likewise the ministers or agents of
authority when there has been, on the part of the Senate, declaration of
strong presumptions of arbitrary detention or of violation of the
liberty of the press.
- The denunciation of the Legislative Body cannot be decreed except
upon the demand of the Tribunate, or upon the application of fifty
members of the Legislative Body, who require a secret committee for the
purpose of causing the selection by way of ballot, of ten from among
themselves to draw up the instrument of denunciation.
- In either case, the request or the demand shall ho made in writing,
and signed by the president and the secretaries of the Tribunate, or by
the ten members of the Legislative Body.
If it is directed against a
minister or a councillor of state charged with a part of the public
administration, it is communicated to him within the period of a month.
- The denounced minister or councillor of state does not appear there
to reply.
The Emperor appoints three councillors of state to repair
to the Legislative Body on the appointed day, and to give information
upon the facts of the denunciation.
- The Legislative Body discusses in secret committee the facts
included in the request or the demand, and it decides by means of the
ballot.
- The document of denunciation shall be circumstantially stated and
signed by the president and secretary of the Legislative Body.
It is
addressed by a message to the archchancellor of the Empire, who
transmits it to the procureur-general before the high imperial court.
- Betrayals of trust or abuses of power of the captains-general of the
colonies the colonial prefects the commandants of the establishments
outside of the continent, and the administrators-general; the facts of
disobedience on the part of the generals of the army or the navy to the
instructions which have been given them; and the squanderings and
extravagances of the prefects are denounced by the ministers, each
within his department, to the officers charged with the public
ministry.
If the denunciation is made by the high judge minister of
justice, he cannot assist nor take part in the judgments which follow
upon his denunciation.
- In the cases prescribed by articles 110, III, 112, and 118 the
procureur-general notifies the archchancellor of the Empire, within
three days, that there is need for the high imperial court to
meet.
The archchancellor, after having taken the orders of the
Emperor, fixes within eight days the opening of the sittings.
- At the first sitting of the high imperial court it shall pass upon
its jurisdiction.
- When there is a denunciation or a complaint, the procureur-general
in concert with the tribunes and the three magistrate-officers of the
bar, considers whether there is need for prosecutions.
The decision
belongs to him; one of the magistrates of the bar can be charged by the
procureur-gencral with the direction of the prosecutions.
If the
public ministry thinks that the complaint or the denunciation ought not
to be admitted, it states the grounds for the conclusions, upon which
the high imperial court pronounces, after having heard the magistrate
charged with the report.
- When the conclusions are adopted, the high imperial court brings the
affair to an end by a definitive judgment.
When they are rejected,
the public ministry is required to continue the prosecutions.
- In the second of the cases provided for by the preceding article,
and also when the public ministry considers that the complaint or
denunciation ought to be admitted, it is required to prepare the
document of accusation within eight days, and to communicate it to the
commissioner and the alternate whom the archchancellor of the Empire
appoints from among the judges of the court of cassation who are members
of the high imperial court. The functions of this commissioner, and, in
his default, of the alternate, consist of making the examination and the
report.
- The reporter or his alternate submits the document of accusation to
twelve commissioners of the high imperial court, chosen by the
archchancellor of the Empire, six from among the senators and six from
among the other members of the high imperial court. The members chosen
do not participate in the judgment of the high imperial court.
- If the twelve commissioners conclude that there is need for
accusation, the commissioner-reporter prepares an ordinance in
conformity therewith, issues the warrants of arrest, and proceeds to the
examination.
- If the commissioners, on the contrary, think that there is no need
for accusation, the matter is referred by the reporter to the high
imperial court, which pronounces definitively.
- The high imperial court cannot give judgment with less than sixty
members. Ten of the whole number of members can be challenged, without
assignment of cause, by the accused and ten by the public party. The
decision is rendered by majority of the votes.
- The proceedings and the judgment take place in public.
- The accused have counsel; if they do not present any, the
archchancellor of the Empire officially gives them some one.
- The high imperial court can pronounce only the penalties provided by
the penal code.
It pronounces, if there is need, condemnation to
damages and civil interests.
- When it acquits, it can put those who are acquitted under the
surveillance or at the disposal of the high police of the state, for the
time which it determines.
- The judgments rendered by the high imperial court are not subject to
any appeal;
Those which pronounce condemnation to an afflictive or
infamous penalty can be executed only when they have been signed by the
Emperor.
- A special senatus-consultum contains the remainder of the
arrangements relative to the organization and action of the high
imperial court.
Title XIV. Of the Judicial Class.
- The judgments of the courts of justice are entitled arrêts.
- The presidents of the court of cassation, of the courts of appeal
and of criminal justice, are appointed for life by the Emperor, and can
be chosen from outside of the courts over which they shall preside.
- The tribunal of cassation assumes the denomination of court of
cassation.
The tribunals of appeal assume that of court of
appeal;
The criminal tribunals, that of court of criminal
justice.
The president of the court of cassation and those of the
courts of appeal divided into sect ions assume the title of first
president.
The vice-presidents assume that of
presidents.
The commissioners of the government before the
court of cassation, the courts of appeal and the courts of criminal
justice, take the title of imperial procureurs-general.
The
commissioners of the government before the other tribunals assume the
title of imperial procureurs.
Title XV. Of the Promulgation.
- The Emperor causes the sealing and promulgation of the organic
senatus-consulta,
The senatus-consulta,
The actes of the
Senate,
The laws.
The organic senatus-consulta, the
senatus-consulta, and the actes of the Senate are promulgated at the
latest on the tenth day following their emission.
- Two original copies are made of each of the documents mentioned in
the preceding article.
Both are signed by the Emperor, attested by
one of the titular grand dignitaries, each according to their rights and
powers, countersigned by the secretary of state and the minister of
justice, and sealed with the great seal of the state.
- One of these copies is deposited in the archives of the seal, and
the other is transmitted to the archives of the public authority from
which the acte emanated.
- The promulgation is thus expressed:
"N. (the prenomen of the
Emperor), by the grace of God and the constitutions of the Republic,
Emperor of the French, to all present and to come greeting:
"The
Senate, after having heard the orators of the Council of State, has
decreed or resolved, and we order as follows:
"(And if a law
is in question) The Legislative Body has rendered ... (the date) the
following decree, in conformity with the proposal made in the name of
the Emperor, and after having heard the orators of the Council of State
and of the sections of the Tribunate, the ...
"We command and require
that the presents, invested with the seals of the State and inserted in
the Bulletin of the Laws, be addressed to the courts, tribunals and
administrative authorities, in order that they may inscribe them in
their registers, observe them and cause them to be observed; and the
high judge minister of justice is charged to supervise the publication
of them."
- The executory copies of the judgments shall be drawn up as
follows:
"N. (the prenomen of the Emperor), by the grace of God and
the constitutions of the Republic, Emperor of the French, to all present
and to come, greeting:
"The court of ... or the tribunal of ... (if
it is a tribunal of first instance), has rendered the following
judgment:"
(Here follows the arrêté or judgment.) "We command
and require of all bailiffs upon this requisition to put the said
judgment into execution; of our procureurs-general and our procureurs
before the tribunals of the first instance, to take it in hand ; of all
commanders and officers of the public forces, to lend assistance when it
shall be legally required of them.
"In testimony whereof the present
judgment has been signed by the President of the court or the tribunal,
and by the bailiff."
Title XVI and Last.
- The following proposition shall be presented for the acceptance of
the people, in the forms prescribed by the arrêté of 20 Floréal,
Year X:
"The people desire the inheritance of the imperial dignity in
the direct, natural, legitimate and adoptive lineage of Napoleon
Bonaparte, and in the direct, natural, and legitimate lineage of Joseph
Bonaparte and of Louis Bonaparte, as is regulated by the organic
senatus-consultum of this day."
Bibliography
Title: The constitutions and other select documents illustrative of
the history of France, 1789-1901
Author(s): Anderson, Frank Maloy,
1871-
Publication: Minneapolis, The H.W. Wilson company,
Year:
1904
Description: xxvi, 671 p. p., 20 cm.
References
Cambridge Modern History, IX, 107-111; Fournier, Napoleon
275-282; Rose, Napoleon, I, 429-432; Sloane, Napoleon, II,
203-207; Lanfrey, Napoleon. II, 398-402, 406-415; Lavisse and
Ranbaud, Histoire générale, IX, 35-37, 224-229; Aulard.
Révolution française, 771-778 ; Jaurès Histoire socialiste,
VI, 195-204.
Placed on the Napoleon Series
5/00
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