ART. 68. The following may not be elected to the Chamber of Deputies:

1. Those who are not Ottoman subjects.

2. Those who, in virtue of the special law on the subject, enjoy privileges as being temporarily in foreign service.

3. Those who do not know Turkish.

4. Those under the age of 35.

5. Those who are in the service of a private person at the time of the election.

6. Those who have been declared bankrupt and have not been rehabilitated.

7. Those who are notorious for their evil ways.

8. Those who have been placed under a judicial injunction, unless the injunction has been removed.

9. Those who have lost their civil rights.

10. Those who lay claim to a foreign nationality.

In the elections which take place 4 years later, a knowledge of how to read Turkish, and, as far as possible, to write it, shall also be a condition of eligibility for election.

ART. 69. The general election for the Chamber of Deputies shall take place once every 4 years. The mandate of every deputy is for 4 years only; but he may be reelected.

ART. 70. The general election shall begin at least four months before the date fixed for the first sitting of the Chamber, that is, 1 November.

ART. 71. Every member of the Chamber of Deputies is the representative, not exclusively of the constituency which has elected him, but of all the Ottomans.

ART. 72. Electors are bound to choose their deputies from among the population of the province to which they belong.

ART. 73. If the Chamber of Deputies is dissolved by imperial irade, the general election shall be begun so as to allow of the meeting of the Chamber within six months at most from the date of the dissolution.

ART. 74. If a member of the Chamber of Deputies dies, or suffers from some lawful impediment, or absents himself from the Chamber for a long period, or resigns, or loses his seat by reason of the sentence of a court of law or of an appointment to a government post, another shall be elected in his place according to practice, so that he may sit at the latest in the next session.

ART. 75. The mandate of a deputy elected to fill a vacant seat only remains in force until the next general election.

ART. 76. Every deputy shall receive 30,000 piastres from the Treasury for each session, and traveling expenses both ways ac

1 As amended in 1909.

cording to the law on civil servants, and calculated on a salary of 5,000 piastres a month. If the session is prolonged beyond the date specified by law, they shall receive a supplementary allowance of 5,000 piastres a month.

ART. 77. Every session the Chamber of Deputies shall elect a president and two vice-presidents by a majority, and their election shall be submitted to His Imperial Majesty the Sultan.

ART. 78. The debates of the Chamber of Deputies shall be public; but if the Cabinet or 15 deputies propose that the debate on some important matter shall be secret, the place in which the Chamber is sitting shall be cleared of all persons except the deputies, and the question of accepting or rejecting the proposal shall be submitted to a majority vote.

ART. 79. While the Chamber is sitting, no deputy shall be arrested or tried, except when taken in flagrante delicto, unless the Chamber decides by a majority that there is good ground for the charge.

ART. 80. The general expenditure of the State shall be examined in detail in the Chamber of Deputies, in accordance with the budget law, and the total shall be voted by the Chamber in the presence of the Cabinet. The nature and the amount of the revenues by which the expenditure is to be met, and the distribution of and method of levying the same, shall likewise be decided upon in the presence of the Cabinet.

COURTS OF LAW.

ART. 81. Judges appointed by the State in accordance with the law ad hoc and furnished with commissions (berat) are irremovable; but they may resign. The promotion of judges, their career, replacement, retirement on a pension, and dismissal in consequence of a condemnation for a criminal offense are also subject to the provisions of the law ad hoc. This law also specifies the qualifications necessary in the case of judges and other judicial officials.

ART. 82. The hearings of cases of all kinds in the courts are public, and the sentences may be published. But a court may hold a secret sitting for any one of the reasons clearly laid down by law.

ART. 83. Every person may use any lawful means he thinks necessary in defending his rights in court.

ART. 84. A court may not refuse, on any pretext whatsoever, to hear a case which comes under its jurisdiction; and when once the hearing, or the preliminary investigations necessary for the hearing, have begun, the case may not be postponed or hindered, unless the plaintiff withdraws his action; and even then, if the case is penal,

1 As amended in 1909.

the government shall continue to exercise its rights according to the law.

ART. 85. Every action shall be heard by the court to whose jurisdiction it belongs. Actions between private persons and the government shall also be within the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts. ART. 86. The courts shall be free from interference of any kind. ART. 87. Matters concerning the Sheri shall be heard in the Sheri courts; those concerning the Nizam in the civil courts.

ART. 88. The various classes of courts, their duties, jurisdiction and divisions, and the emoluments of the judges are laid down by law.

ART. 89. Apart from the courts sanctioned by law, no extraordinary court may be formed, nor any commission having a right to pass sentence, under any name whatsoever, with the object of hearing certain special matters and giving judgment. But where the law appoints, the nomination of a judge-delegate (muvella) or an arbitrator is lawful.

ART. 90. No judge may occupy any other paid government post simultaneously with his judgeship.

ART. 91. In penal affairs the rights of the public shall be protected by public prosecutors. The duties and grades of these public prosecutors shall be laid down by law.

THE HIGH COURT.

ART. 92. The High Court shall consist of 30 members, of whom 10 each shall be chosen and appointed by lot from the Senate, the Council of State, and the presidents and members of the Court of Cassation and the Court of Appeal.

The High Court shall be summoned by imperial irade when necessity arises, and shall sit in the Senate. Its attributions shall be to try ministers, presidents or members of the Court of Cassation or the Court of Appeal, and any persons who commit treason against the sovereign or endanger the State.

ART. 93. The High Court shall be divided into two parts: the Charges Chamber and the Chamber of Judgment. The former shall consist of 9 members, 3 each being chosen by lot from those appointed to the High Court from the Senate, the Council of State, and the Court of Cassation and Court of Appeal, respectively.

ART. 94. The Charges Chamber shall decide by a two-thirds majority whether the persons against whom complaint is made, shall be put on their trial or not. Members of the Charges Chamber shall not form part of the Chamber of Judgment.

88381-19-39

1 The civil law.

ART. 95. The Chamber of Judgment shall be composed of 21 members of the High Court, 7 being chosen from the Senate, 7 from the Court of Cassation and the Court of Appeal, and 7 from the Council of State. It shall pass judgment, by a majority of two thirds of its membership, and in accordance with the laws in force, on cases which the Charges Chamber agree should be tried. Its decisions are subject neither to appeal nor to cassation.

FINANCIAL AFFAIRS.

ART. 96. No government tax may be imposed, distributed or collected, except by virtue of a law.

ART. 97. The State budget is a law setting forth the approximate revenue and expenditure. It is on this law that the imposition, distribution and collection of the State taxes depend.

ART. 98. The budget, that is, the public balance-sheet, shall be examined and voted by Parliament clause by clause. The accompanying tables, showing in detail the estimated revenue and expenditure, shall be divided into sections, chapters and articles, in accordance with the model laid down by law; and these also shall be discussed chapter by chapter.

ART. 99. The budget shall be submitted to the Chamber of Depu ties immediately after the opening of the Chamber, in order that it may come into force at the beginning of the year to which it applies. ART. 100. No expenditure from public funds may be incurred, apart from the budget, except in cases specified by a special law.

ART. 101. If, while Parliament is not sitting, it appears urgently necessary to incur supplementary expenditure on pressing and extraordinary grounds, the sums required to meet that expenditure may be obtained and spent in virtue of an imperial irade, on condition that the Cabinet accepts the responsibility, and that a bill on the subject is submitted to Parliament as soon as it meets.

ART. 102. The budget shall remain in force for one year; it shall have no effect apart from that year. But if, owing to extraordinary circumstances, the Chamber of Deputies is dissolved without having passed the budget, the Cabinet, in virtue of an imperial irade, shall prolong the application of the budget of the past year until the next parliamentary session, provided that the extension shall not exceed

one year.

ART. 103. The final account law shall show the actual amount of the sums obtained in revenue for the year to which it applies, and of the expenditure for that year. In form and in divisions it shall

be in complete accordance with the budget law.

ART. 104. The bill of the final account law shall be submitted to Parliament within 4 years at most from the end of the year to which

it applies.

ART. 105. A Board of Accounts shall be formed to examine the accounts of those who are appointed to collect and expend public money, and to inspect the annual accounts drawn up by the various public departments. Every year it shall communicate the result of its inspection with its conclusions to the Chamber of Deputies in a special report. This Board shall also submit a report on the financial situation to His Imperial Majesty the Sultan every three months through the intermediary of the Grand Vizier.

ART. 106. The Board of Accounts shall consist of 12 members appointed by imperial irade. They shall hold office for life, unless their dismissal is approved by a majority of the Chamber of Deputies.

ART. 107 The qualifications required by members of the Board of Accounts, the details of their attributions, the rules governing their resignation, replacement, advancement and retirement on a pension, and the organization of the offices of the Board, shall be defined by a law ad hoc.

THE PROVINCES.

ART. 108. The administration of the provinces shall be founded on the principles of decentralization and division of duties. The details shall be settled by a law ad hoc.

ART. 109. The method of election of members of the administrative councils of provinces (vilayets), sanjaks and kazas, and of the general assemblies, which meet once a year in the chief town of each province, shall be laid down on wider lines by a law ad hoc.

ART. 110. The attributions of the provincial general assemblies shall be defined in the law that is to be drawn up ad hoc. They shall include the right to discuss matters concerning public works, such as the making of roads and bridges, the organization of credit banks, the promotion of industries, commerce and agriculture, and the dissemination of public education; the right to complain to the proper authority in order to demand redress with regard to anything contrary to the laws and regulations in force which occurs in the distribution or collection of taxes or in any other connection.

ART. 111. In every kaza a council shall be formed in connection with each community. The duty of this council shall be to superintend:

1. The administration of the income derived from vakf1 real property and money, according to the terms of the vakf, or to ancient usage.

2. The allotment of money or personal property left by will for works of charity or philanthropy, according to the terms of the will.

3. The administration of the money and personal property of orphans, in accordance with the regulations ad hoc.

1 Pious foundations.