Last update 01 January 2014
In the face of the scene of devastation into which the survivors of the 2nd World War were led by a godless state and social order which lacked any conscience and respect for human dignity, with the firm ?intention of permanently securing for the future generations the blessings of peace, humanity and justice and mindful of its history of more than a thousand years, the Bavarian people herewith bestows upon itself the following
Democratic Constitution
First Part
The structure and the tasks of the state
Section 1
The foundations of the Bavarian State
Art. 1
(1) Bavaria is a free state
(2) The state colours are white and blue
(3) The coat of arms shall be determined by law
Art. 2
(1) 1 Bavaria is a peoples state 2 The state authority shall emanate from the people
(2) 1 The people shall express their will through elections and votes 2 Majority votes shall be decisive
(3)
Art. 3
(1) 1 Bavaria is a cultural and social state governed by the rule of law 2 It shall serve the public good
(2) 1 The state shall protect the natural basis of life and cultural traditions 2 It shall further and secure equal living and working conditions in all urban and rural areas throughout Bavaria
Paragraph 2 sentence 1 has been incorporated by the act dated 20 June 1984 (GVBI page 223), sentence 2 has been incorporated by the act dated 11 November 2013 (GVBI page 638)
In accordance with the legal practice of the Bavarian Constitutional Court, the constitutional provision shall neither grant any basic rights nor personal (subjective)rights to the citizen but it shall be directly applicable law rather than a mere programme objective, Article 3 corresponds to the requirements stipulated by Art. 28 (1) sentence 1 GG [Basic Law] regarding the constitutional order in the federal states, cf. Art. 20 GG
Art. 3a
1 Bavaria declares itself to be part of a unified Europe, which is committed to democratic, social and federal principles governed by the rule of law and the principle of subsidiarity, which safeguards the independence of the regions and ensures their involvement in European decisions 2 Bavaria shall work together with other European regions
Art. 4
The state authority shall be exercised by the citizens who are entitled to vote themselves, through the parliament elected by them and through the executive bodies and the judiciary directly or indirectly authorised by such parliament
Art. 5
(1) The legislative power shall be the exclusive prerogative of the people and the parliament
(2) The executive power shall rest in the hands of the state government and its subordinated executive bodies
(3) The judicial power shall be exercised by an independent judiciary
Art. 6
(1) State citizenship shall be acquired
1by birth,
2by legitimation ,
3by marriage,
4by naturalization
(2) No citizen may be deprived of his/her citizenship
(3) Further details shall be governed by a law on citizenship
Art. 7
(1) Each citizen aged 18 or older shall be granted the rihts and duties of citizenship regardless of birth, race, sex, faith and profession
(2) Citizens shall exercise their rights by participating in elections, local petitions for referendums and local referendums as well as state-wide petitions for referendums and state-wide referendums
(3) Exercising these rights may be made dependent on residence of up to one year
Art. 8
All German citizens who have their place of residence in Bavaria shall have the same rights and duties as Bavarian citizens
Art. 9
(1) The state territory shall be divided into regions (administrative regions), their boundaries shall be determined by law
(2) 2 The regions shall be subdivided into counties, the independent cities shall have the same rights as the counties 2 The classification shall be determined by a statutory instrument of the State Government, for this purpose, the prior permission of the Bavarian State Parliament must be obtained
Art. 10
(1) For the territory of each region and county, an association of municipalities shall exist as a self-administration body
(2) The associations of municipalities' own sphere of activity shall be governed by the law
(3) 1 By law, further tasks may be assigned to the associations of municipalities, which they must perform in the name of the state 2 They shall either perform those tasks according to the instructions of the state authorities or independently by virtue of special provisions
(4) The independent economic and cultural existence within the associations of municipalities must be protected and maintained
(5)
Art. 11
(1) 1 Each part of the state territory is allocated to a municipality 2 Exceptions to this are certain uninhabited areas (areas not incorporated into a municipality)
(2) 1 The municipalities are original administrative units under public law 2 They shall be entitled to order and manage their affairs themselves within the framework of the laws and in particular to elect their mayors and representative bodies
(3) By law, further tasks may be assigned to the municipalities , which they must perform in the name of the state
(4) The self-administration of the municipalities shall serve the purpose of establishing a democracy in Bavaria from the bottom up
(5) The self-administration of the municipality shall be subject to the principle of equality of the political rights and duties of all citizens living in the municipality
Art. 12
(1) The principles for the Bavarian State Parliament election shall also apply to the municipalities and associations of municipalities (2) 1 Under no circumstances may the property of the municipalities and associations of municipalities be subsumed into the state property 2 The donation of such property shall be inadmissible
(3)
The citizens shall be entitled to regulate affairs within the sphere of the municipalities and administrative districts by means of local petitions for referendums and local referendums
Further details are governed by the respective law
Section 2
The Bavarian State Parliament
Art. 13
(1) The Bavarian State Parliament consists of 1801) members representing the Bavarian people
(2) 1 The Bavarian State Parliament members are the representatives of the people rather than of a party 2 They shall only answer to their own conscience and shall not be bound by instructions
Footnotes
1)For the 14th Bavarian State Parliament please refer to Section 2 (3) no 2 of the act of 20 February 1998 (GVBI page 39)
Art. 14
(1) 1 The members of the Bavarian State Parliament shall be elected by all citizens entitled to vote in the constituencies and electoral districts in a universal, equal, direct, and secret election in accordance with an improved system of proportional representation 2 Each administrative region shall form a constituency 3 Each administrative district and each independent municipality shall constitute an electoral district 4 If required by the principle of electoral equality, geographically contiguous electoral districts must be formed in deviation from sentence 3 5 The maximum number of electoral districts formed for each constituency may only exceed the number of members to be voted into the Bavarian State Parliament from the constituency list by one electoral district
