Chapter 403: Constitutional Convention Part I

Berengar stood within the halls of the Reichstag. Surrounding him was every prominent political and economic leader within the Kingdom of Austria. After Duke Otto von Graz had openly called for a Constitutional Convention to amend the current Constitution of Austria, the nation was in an uproar. 

How dare the Duke and father-in-law of the King question the Crown's authority for the sake of the upper nobility. However, when Berengar responded in a cordial, and welcoming manner, the people naturally calmed their wrath.

Berengar had gone a step further, and called for every titan of industry, every political representative, every noble of significant standing, to gather together in the Reichstag for a single purpose, to redraft the Constitution in a way that worked for all people. 

Currently, Berengar was addressing the massive gathering with some of his proposed changes to the current Constitution. After much bickering from the nobility, and common populace. The bicameral legislative that was based upon the United States of his previous life was thoroughly scrapped. The young King of Austria began to recount the changes to this system that had become universally accepted after several days of near-constant debate by those attending this Constitutional Convention.

"It is my understanding that we have come to some form of agreement on this matter, so allow me to reiterate for official purposes. As far as the legislative branch is concerned, there shall be two chambers of parliament.

An electorate comprised of educated common men of good moral character can elect up to one member of parliament for every twenty-five thousand citizens who dwells within the confines of the Kingdom of Austria.

Every four years there shall be an election to elect a member of parliament to fill these positions, No representative shall be allowed to run for office more than twice. The representative must be at least thirty years of age and pass a background check, as well as a written test supervised by the royal Crown itself.

Their duty, should they be elected shall be performed with the principle of serving the Austrian Crown to the benefit of the people. A member of parliament will have the right to draft bills to be looked over by the King of Austria, this will require at least a ⅔ majority to pass .

They shall also have the power to impeach government officials under the condition of a ⅔ majority. In the event of an impeachment of a member of the peerage, the Trial will be handed to the House of Lords to handle. Are there any objections to these terms?"

Berengar gazed around the Reichstag at the gathered men to see if anyone raised a hand or voice in protest to these terms. As he had previously announced, it had become universally accepted at this point, and thus not a single person raised a complaint regarding this portion of the Constitution. Upon seeing that there were no voices of dissent, Berengar cleared his throat before moving on to the next portion of the legislative branch.

"Moving on to the House of Lords...

There shall be five members of the House of Lords for every Duchy within our great realm. These Noblemen shall be elected by a simple majority from the Peerage of their respective Duchies and will serve a four-year term, with a limit of two terms. 

The requirements to become a candidate for a position within the House of Lords are as follows. The nobleman in question must be at least thirty years of age, a citizen of Austria for at least five years without dual citizenship, pass an intensive background check as well as a written test supervised by the Austrian Crown itself.

If the Duchy in question has not managed to fill its seats within the House of Lords, then the Austrian Crown will choose the remaining representatives on their behalf. The King of Austria will also be able to select a total of five lords that will represent his interests within the House of Lords.

With the greater good of the Austrian Crown in mind, the members of the House of Lords will have the power to draft and edit legislature for the King to review, the authority to remove government officials from a position of power with a fair trial, as well as the ability to suggest potential members for the King's Court."

After reviewing the terms that the Constitutional Convention had agreed upon prior, Berengar once more gazed over to see if there were any dissenting views. Yet again, not a single man present raised a voice of objection to the terms proposed. Having gained the consent of the various members of society present, Berengar began to address the Executive Branch of government. 

"As for the Executive Branch of Government, I will reiterate the consensus that was previously agreed upon throughout our deliberations.

The King of Austria shall be head of the government; he will preside over the House of Commons and Lords, where he will have the power to sign bills into law, declare war, and oversee treaties. The Crown of Austria shall receive the title of Reichsmarschall, where he is the de-facto commander-in-chief of Austria's Armed Forces.

The King shall also retain the power to issue Royal Edicts. If the reigning Monarch deems the need to personally pass legislation for whatever reason, he can issue a Royal Edict to do so. This law will remain in place until his successor is chosen, where the new King will have the power to renew these Royal Edicts or terminate them. 

As far as the laws of succession are concerned, the King will have the ability to appoint a successor of his choosing from his Dynasty. This successor shall be determined by merit rather than order of birth. Only the most competent of his male offspring shall be chosen to inherit the Crown. If there are no male offspring of the King, then the most qualified of his brothers or nephews shall be selected to succeed him. 

The Crown of Austria cannot be passed down to anyone outside the von Kufstein dynasty. As such, only full-blooded German men will be capable of succeeding the reigning Monarch. As for the female members of the von Kufstein Dynasty, all marriages pertaining to these women must be matrilineal in nature. 

If, for whatever reason, the King passes away without selecting an heir, the Royal Court will vote upon the male members of the von Kufstein Dynasty for succession; a simple majority will choose the result.

If for whatever reason, the need arises to remove the King from office, it can be done so long as a unanimous decision is achieved by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The King shall not be able to edit the Austrian Constitution unless a ¾ majority within the House of Commons and House of Lords decide otherwise."

Having spoken about the matters pertaining to the King of Austria, Berengar gazed upon the crowd; it took several days of bitter debate to achieve this result. Still, ultimately the people nodded their heads in response to the terms presented. Having seen this, Berengar immediately began to address the role of the Royal Court.

"The Royal Court will act as the personal advisors of the reigning King, as well as the heads of the various Federal Departments. They will advise the King as experts in their respective fields and control matters pertaining to their department. The members of the Royal Court will have the power to draft a bill which shall be passed to the House of Lords to review.

As for the Selection of the members of the Royal Court, they can either be chosen directly from the reigning Monarch or be suggested by the House of Lords. The minimum requirements to be selected as a member of the Royal Court are as follows. 

They must be a minimum of thirty-five years of age and a citizen of Austria for at least ten years without dual citizenship. They must pass a written exam overseen by the Austrian Crown, go through an extensive background check, and have previously held a position as a government official."

After saying this, Berengar gazed upon the crowd, who once more nodded their heads; by now, this was merely a formality to ensure that everything they had debated upon over the past few days was still in agreement. Luckily for him, nobody disagreed with the previously mentioned roles of government. It was with this in mind that he moved onto the Judicial Branch. 

"The judicial Power of the Kingdom of Austria shall be vested in one supreme Court, and such inferior Courts as Parliament may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment; shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the Duchy where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any Duchy, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as Parliament may by Law have directed."

Berengar admitted to himself that the Judicial portion of his government was copied nearly word for word from the Constitution of the United States from his Previous life. He wanted nothing to do with sentencing criminals unless related to subjects such as Treason, War-Crimes, etc. 

After getting through this final part and seeing the unanimous agreement by the members of society gathered in the Reichstag, Berengar took a deep breath; now that he had established the three branches of government, he needed to discuss other essential amendments to the Constitution such as Individual rights. 

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