In case the writer is known and is a resident of Belgium, the publisher, printer, or distributor shall not be prosecuted.

ART. 19. Belgians have the right, without previous authorization, to assemble peaceably and without arms, conforming themselves to the laws which regulate the exercise of this right.

This provision does not apply to assemblies in the open air, which remain entirely under the police laws.

ART. 20. Belgians have the right of association; this right shall not be restricted by any preventive measure.

ART. 21. Anyone has the right to address petitions to the public authorities, signed by one or more persons.

Legally organized bodies alone have the right to petition under a collective name.

ART. 22. The privacy of correspondence is inviolable. The law shall determine who are the agents responsible for the violation of the secrecy of letters entrusted to the post.

ART. 23. The use of the languages spoken in Belgium is optional. This matter may be regulated only by law and only for acts of public authority and for judicial proceedings.1

ART. 24. No previous authorization is necessary to bring action against public officials for the acts of their administration, except as provided for ministers."

TITLE III.-CONCERNING POWER.

ART. 25. All powers emanate from the people.

They shall be exercised in the manner established by the Constitution.

ART. 26. The legislative power shall be exercised collectively by the King, the House of Representatives and the Senate.

ART. 27. Each of the three branches of the legislative power shall have the right of initiative.

Nevertheless, all laws relating to the revenues or expenditures of the State or to the army contingent must be voted first by the House of Representatives.

ART. 28. The authoritative interpretation of the laws shall belong only to the legislative power.

ART. 29. The executive power is vested in the King, subject to the regulations of the Constitution.

ART. 30. The judicial power shall be exercised by the courts and the tribunals.

Decrees and judgments shall be executed in the name of the King.

1 Laws and royal decrees are published in French in the Moniteur; the French text is the only official text. Flemish may be used in some official documents (see DARESTE. op. cit., p. 77, note 1).

2 See below, Articles 63, 90 and 134.

ART. 31. Exclusively communal or provincial affairs shall be regulated by the communal or provincial councils, according to the principles established by the Constitution.

CHAPTER I. THE HOUSES.

ART. 32. The members of the two houses shall represent the nation, and not the province alone, nor the subdivision of the province which elected them.

ART. 33. The sessions of the houses shall be public.

Nevertheless each house may resolve itself into a secret committee upon the demand of its president or of 10 members.

It shall then decide by vote of an absolute majority whether the session shall be resumed in public upon the same subject.

ART. 34. Each house shall judge of the qualifications of its own members, and shall decide all contests which arise upon that subject. ART. 35. No person shall at the same time be a member of both houses.

ART. 36. Any member of either of the two houses, who shall be appointed by the government to any other salaried office except that of minister, and who accepts the same, shall vacate his seat immediately, and may resume his duties only by virtue of a new election.1 ART. 37. At each session, each of the houses shall elect its president, its vice president, and shall form its bureau.2

ART. 38. An absolute majority of the votes shall be necessary to pass any resolution except as otherwise established by the rules of the houses in regard to elections and nominations.3

In case of an equal division of votes, the proposition under consideration is rejected.

Neither of the two houses shall pass a resolution unless a majority of its members are present.

ART. 39. The votes shall be viva voce or by rising and sitting; the vote on a law as a whole shall always be by roll call and viva voce. The election and nomination of candidates shall be by secret ballot. ART. 40. Each house has the right to investigate the conduct of public affairs.1

ART. 41. A proposed law shall not be passed by either of the houses unless it has been voted upon article by article.

ART. 42. The houses have the right to amend and to divide the articles and amendments proposed.

1 As amended 7 September 1893. By the original article ministers were also required to seek reelection. The principle laid down in this article is developed in Articles 238 and 239 of the Electoral Law (1894).

The term "

secretaries, etc.

bureau" is used to refer to all other officers of the legislative body, e. g.,

For questions requiring a two-thirds vote, see Articles 61, 62 and 131.

'Law of 3 May 1880 to regulate the form of parliamentary investigations.

ART. 43. To present petitions in person to the houses is forbidden. Each house has the right to send to the ministers the petitions which are addressed to it. The ministers are obliged to give explanations upon the contents of such petitions whenever the house demands.

ART. 44. No member of either house shall be arrested or prosecuted on account of opinions expressed or votes cast by him in the performance of his duties.

ART. 45. No member of either house shall during the continuance of the session be prosecuted or imprisoned after trial, except by the authority of the house of which he is a member, unless he be apprehended in the commission of an offense.

No member of either house shall be arrested during the session, except by the same authority.

The detention or the prosecution of a member of either house shall be suspended during the session and for the entire term, if the house so demands.

ART. 46. Each house shall determine by its own rules the manner in which it is to exercise its powers.1

SECTION 1. THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

ART. 47. The members of the House of Representatives shall be chosen by direct election under the following regulations:

One vote is allotted to citizens who have reached the age of 25 years, resident for at least one year in the same commune, and who are not otherwise excluded by law.

One additional vote is allotted in consideration of any one of the following conditions:

1. Having reached the age of 35 years, being married or a widower with legitimate offspring, and paying to the State a tax of not less than 5 francs as a householder, unless exempt on account of his profession.

2. Having reached the age of 25 years and being the owner either of real estate of the value of at least 2,000 francs, said value to be rated on the basis of the cadastral assessment, or possessing income from land corresponding to such valuation, or being inscribed in the great book of the public debt, or possessing obligations of the Belgian government savings bank bearing at least 100 francs interest. These inscriptions and bank books must have belonged to the holder for at least two years.

1 See F. MOREAU ET J. DELPECH, Les Règlements des Assemblées législatives, vol. I (Paris, 1906), pp. 617 and 637.

2 As amended 7 September 1893. Elections of representatives are regulated by Laws of 12 April and 28 June 1894, as modified by Laws of 11 June 1896, 31 March 1898, 29 December 1899, and 18 April 1902. Proportional representation was introduced by the Law of 29 December 1899.

The property of the wife is counted with that of the husband; that of minor children with that of the father.

Two additional votes are allotted to citizens who have reached the age of 25 years and who fulfill the following conditions:

a. Holding a diploma from an institution of higher instruction, or an indorsed certificate showing the completion of a course of secondary education of the higher degree, without distinction between public or private institutions.

b. Filling or having filled a public office, holding or having held a position, practicing or having practiced a private profession which presupposes that the holder possesses at least the knowledge imparted in secondary instruction of the higher degree. These offices, positions, and professions, likewise the time during which they must have been held or practiced, shall be determined by law.

No one shall have more than three votes.

ART. 48.1 The constitution of the electoral colleges shall be regulated by law for each province.

Voting is obligatory; it shall take place in the commune, when not otherwise determined by law.

ART. 49. The number of representatives shall be determined by law, according to the population; this number shall not exceed the proportion of one representative for 40,000 inhabitants. The qualifications of an elector and the process of election shall also be determined by law.

ART. 50. To be eligible it is necessary:

1. To be a Belgian citizen by birth, or to have received full naturalization.

2. To enjoy civil and political rights.

3. To have reached the age of 25 years.

4. To be a resident of Belgium.

No other condition of eligibility shall be required.

ART. 51.2 The members of the House of Representatives shall be elected for a term of four years; one half being elected every two years, in the order determined by the electoral law.

In case of dissolution, the House shall be entirely renewed.

ART. 52. Each member of the House of Representatives shall receive an annual compensation of 4,000 francs.

He shall have, in addition, the right of free transportation upon all State and concessionary railways from the place of his residence to the city where the session is held.

1 As amended 7 September 1893. The obligation of voting is sanctioned by Article 223 of the Electoral Code. In the legislative elections of 1900, the proportion of absentees averaged 6 per cent.

2 As amended 7 September 1893.

SECTION II.-THE SENATE.

ART. 53.1 The Senate shall be composed:

1. Of members elected according to the population of each province, conformably to Article 47; though the law may require that the electors shall have reached the age of 30 years. The provisions of Article 48 are applicable to the election of senators.

2. Of members elected by the provincial councils, to the number of two for each province having less than 500,000 inhabitants, of three for each province having from 500,000 to 1,000,000 inhabitants, and of four for each province having more than 1,000,000 inhabitants.

ART. 54.2 The number of senators to be elected directly by the voters shall be equal to one half the number of members of the House of Representatives.

ART. 55. Senators shall be elected for a term of eight years; one half being elected every four years in the order determined by the electoral law.

In case of dissolution, the Senate shall be entirely renewed.

ART. 56.3 In order to be elected and to remain a senator, it shall be necessary:

1. To be a Belgian citizen by birth, or to have received full naturalization.

2. To enjoy civil and political rights.

3. To be a resident of Belgium.

4. To be at least 40 years of age.

5. To pay into the treasury of the State at least 1,200 francs of direct taxes, including licenses.

Or to be either the proprietor or the usufructuary of real estate situated in Belgium, the assessed income of which amounts to at least 12,000 francs.

In the provinces where the number of those eligible does not reach the proportion of one for every 5,000 inhabitants, the list shall be completed by the addition of as many of the highest taxpayers of the province as may be necessary to make this proportion. The citizens on this supplementary list are eligible only in the province where they reside.

ART. 56 bis. The senators elected by the provincial councils shall be exempt from all property qualification; they shall not be members

1As amended 7 September 1893. The election of senators by the provincial councils is an innovation of the reform of 1893. According to the electoral lists for 1906-1907, the number of senatorial electors was 1,356,542, and that of the supplementary votes was 887,250.

2 As amended 7 September 1893. The Law of 18 April 1902 raised the number of senators directly elected by the electoral body to 83 and of those elected by the provincial councils to 27.

a As amended 7 September 1893.

Added 7 September 1893.