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[Independence, &c., of Cracow.]

Non-extension of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of Cracow to Austrian and Prussian Territories.

ART. XVII. As the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Bishopric of Cracow is not to extend to the Austrian and Prussian territories, the nomination of the Bishop of Cracow is specially reserved to His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, who, on this particular occasion, shall make the first nomination agreeably to his own choice. In future, the Chapter and Senate shall each have the privilege of recommending two candidates for that appointment, from among whom His said Majesty shall select the new Bishop.

Deposit of Treaty and Constitution among Archives of Cracow.

ART. XVIII. A copy of the Articles before mentioned, as likewise of the Constitution which forms a principal part of them, shall be formally deposited, by the joint Commission designated in Article VII, with the Archives of the Free City of Cracow, as a permanent proof of the generous principles adopted by the three High Powers in favour of the Free City and Territory of Cracow.

Ratifications.

ART. XIX. The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the Ratifications shall be exchanged in six days.

In faith of which the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have fixed thereunto the Seals of their Arms.

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(L.S.) LE PRINCE DE METTERNICH.
(L.S.) LE PRINCE DE HARDEN BERG.
(L.S.) LE COMTE DE RASOUMOFFSKY.

[Cracow.]

No. 15.-CONSTITUTION of the Free City of Cracow.* Vienna, 3rd May, 1815.

[This Constitution formed part of Annex III to the Vienna Congress Treaty of 9th June, 1815 (No. 27), and was Approved and Guaranteed by Article VII of the Treaty between Austria, Prussia, and Russia, of 3rd May, 1815 (No. 14).]

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1. Constitution of the Free City of Cracow. Religion of the Country. 2. Equality of Christian Sects.

3. Rights of Agriculturists.

4. Government by a Senate. 5. Election of Senators.

6. Duration of Office.

7. Persons eligible as Electors and as Candidates.

8. Nomination of Public Functionaries by the Senate; and to Ecclesiastical Livings, with certain exceptions.

9. Division into Communes.

10. Annual Assembly of Representatives. Duties of Legislative Assembly. 11. Composition of the Assembly. Election of President from among Dele

gates.

12. Alteration of Laws after consent of Senate. Formation of Civil and Criminal Laws, and Procedure.

13. Power of Senate to postpone Laws. Duration of Annual Law of Finance until replaced by another Law.

14. Arbitration Magistrates of Districts.

15. Court of First Instance, and Court of Appeal. Powers and Proceedings. 16. Composition of Supreme Court.

17. Proceedings in open Court, in Civil and Criminal Matters. Decision of Juries.

18. Independence of Judicial Order.

19. Conditions of eligibility for office of Senator, Judge, or Representative of a Commune. Eligibility of Functionaries previously in Office in Duchy of Warsaw.

20. Polish Language in Acts of Government, of Legislation, and of Judicial Courts.

21. Inclusion of the Academy in the General Budget.

22. Municipal Militia for internal security and Police.

security of roads and country.

Gendarmerie for

* By a Treaty between Austria, Prussia, and Russia, of the 6th November, 1846, the Independent existence of the Free City of Cracow was put an end to, and the City and its Territory were incorporated with the Austrian Dominions. The British Government protested against this infraction of the Vienna Congress Treaty, on the 23rd November, 1846. The French Government also protested against it, on the 3rd December, 1846.

[Cracow.]

Constitution of the Free City of Cracow. Religion of the Country. ART. I. The Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Religion, is confirmed as the religion of the country.

Equality of Christian Sects.

ART. II. Every sect of the Christian Religion is free, and cannot constitute any difference. with regard to social rights.

Rights of Agriculturists.

ART. III. The existing rights of the Agriculturist shall be maintained. The law knows no distinction among citizens, protecting all alike. The law protects also the sects which are tolerated.

Government by a Senate.

ART. IV. The Government of the Free City of Cracow and its Territory, shall be vested in a Senate, composed of twelve members, called Senators, and a President.

Election of Senators.

ART. V. Nine of the Senators, including the President, shall be elected by the Assembly of Representatives; the remaining four shall be chosen by the Chapter and the Academy, each of which shall have the right of returning two of their members to the Senate.

Duration of Office.

ART. VI. Six members shall be appointed for life. The President of the Senate shall remain in office for three years, with the power of being re-elected. Half of the remaining Senators shall retire from the Senate every year, to make room for the newly elected; the three members who are to vacate their seats at the end of the first year, shall be regulated according to age; that is to say, the youngest members shall go out the first. With regard to the four Senators elected by the Chapter and Academy, two of them shall remain in office for life; the other two shall be replaced at the end of every year.

Persons eligible as Electors and as Candidates.

ART. VII. The members of the secular clergy, and of the University, as well as the owners of lands, houses, or any other kind of property, who pay 50 Polish florins land tax; all proprietors of manufactories, merchants, and all who are registered as members of the Exchange, distinguished artists, and professors of schools, shall, as soon as they have attained the required age,

[Cracow.]

have the political right of voting. They may also be elected, provided they fulfil the other conditions which the law enjoins. Nomination of Public Functionaries by the Senate; and to Ecclesiastical Livings, with certain exceptions.

ART. VIII. The members of the Administration shall be appointed by the Senate, which has the privilege of dismissing, at pleasure, public officers employed under its authority. It has likewise the nomination to ecclesiastical livings, the presentation to which belongs to the State; with the exception of four places in the Chapter, which shall be reserved for the doctors of the faculties discharging the offices of instructors, and to which places the Academy shall appoint.

Division into Communes.

ART. IX. The City of Cracow with its territory shall be divided into city and country Communes. The former shall, each of them, as far as local circumstances may permit, have a population of 2,000 souls, and the latter 3,500, at least. Each of these communes shall have a mayor, freely elected and charged with carrying the orders of Government into effect. In the country Communes, mayoralties may be discharged by deputy, if circumstances require it.

Annual Assembly of Representatives.

Assembly.

Duties of Legislative

ART. X. The Assembly of Representatives shall meet in the month of December each year, and their sitting shall not exceed four weeks. The legislative power shall be vested in this assembly; it shall examine the annual accounts of the public administration, and shall prepare the budget every year; it shall elect the members of the Senate, according to the contents of the organic Article in this respect; the election of judges is also vested in this assembly, and they shall have the right (by a majority of two-thirds) to impeach public officers, of whatever rank, if suspected of embezzling money, or guilty of exaction, or of any other abuse in the discharge of their offices, and to bring them before the Supreme Court of Justice.

Composition of the Assembly. Election of President from among

Delegates.

ART. XI. The Assembly of Representatives shall be com

posed;

[Cracow.]

1. Of the deputies of communes, each electing one.

2. Of three members chosen by the Senate.

3. Of three prelates, appointed by the Chapter.

4. Of three doctors of the faculties, appointed by the University.

5. Of six magistrates of arbitration, actually in office, who shall serve in rotation. The President of the Committee shall be chosen from the three members, appointed by the Senate. No project of a law, tending to introduce any alteration in an existing law or regulation, shall be proposed to the Committee of Representatives, unless it shall have been previously communicated to the Senate, and have received their sanction by a majority.

Alteration of Laws after consent of Senate. Formation of Civil and Criminal Laws, and Procedure.

ART. XII. The Assembly of Representatives shall employ itself in framing a civil and criminal code of laws, and in regulating the forms of proceeding. They shall appoint without delay a Committee to prepare the same, in the framing of which due regard shall be had to the local circumstances of the country, and to the habits of the people. Two members of the Senate shall be attached to this Committee.

Power of Senate to postpone Laws. Duration of Annual Law of Finance until replaced by another Law.

ART. XIII. If a law has not received the consent of seveneighths of the Representatives, and if the Senate declares, by a majority of nine votes, that the public interest requires it to be submitted again to the consideration of the Legislators, it shall be referred a second time to the decision of the Assembly of the following year. If it be an object of finance, the law of the preceding year shall remain in force until the new law has passed.

Arbitration Magistrates of Districts.

ART. XIV. The Assembly of Representatives shall appoint a Magistrate of Arbitration to every district, consisting of not less than 6,000 souls. He shall exercise his functions for three years. Besides his duty as Arbitrator, his business shall be to watch over the interests of minors, as well as to take cognisance of all suits relating to funds and landed property belonging to

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