Constitution of the Hungarian Socialist Federal Council Republic
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Source here, translated via Google Chrome and edited for consistency by me.
Principles of the Constitution of the Hungarian Socialist Federal Council Republic.
§ 1. In the Council Republic, the proletariat take all freedoms, rights and powers in order to abolish the capitalist order and the rule of the bourgeoisie and replace it with the socialist production and social order. However, the dictatorship of the proletariat is merely a means of ending all exploitation and all forms of class rule and preparing for a social order which knows no classes and in which the ultimate means of class rule, the power of the state, also ceases.
§ 2. The Council Republic is a republic of councils of workers, soldiers, and peasants.
The Council Republic does not permit power to be exercised by the exploiters.
In the councils of workers, soldiers, and peasants, the working people make laws, enforce them, and rule over those who break them.
The proletariat exercises all central and local power in the councils.
§ 3. The Council Republic is a free union of free peoples.
The foreign policy of the Council Republic seeks to achieve peace in the world of workers through the world revolution. It wants peace without any conquest and war reparations, based on the right of workers to self-determination.
Instead of the imperialism that caused the World War, the Council Republic wants the unification of the world's proletarians, an international Council republic of workers. It is therefore the enemy of the exploitative war, of all the oppression and subjugation of the peoples. It rejects the tools of the class state's foreign policy, especially secret diplomacy.
Workers' rights and obligations in the Hungarian Socialist Federal Council Republic.
§ 4. The Council Republic seeks to ensure that all means of production become the property of the workers' society in order to eliminate exploitation and to organize and increase production. Therefore, it takes public ownership of all agricultural, industrial, mining and transport plants beyond the scope of the small farm.
§ 5. The dominance of financial capital in the Council Republic will end with the transfer of financial institutions and insurance institutions to public ownership.
§ 6. In the Council Republic, only those who work have a place. The Council Republic imposes a general obligation to work, but establishes the right to work. The state is supported by those who are unable to work, as well as those who want to work but cannot be employed by the state.
§ 7. In order to secure the power of the working masses and to prevent the restoration of the power of the exploiters, the Council Republic is arming the workers and disarming the exploiters. The Red Army is the class army of the proletariat.
§ 8. In the Council Republic, workers are free to express their opinions in writing and orally, but the power of capital to diminish the press as a means of spreading the capitalist mindset and weakening the proletarian class consciousness is abolished. The press's dependence on capital has also ceased. The right to publish all forms belongs to the workers and the Council Republic ensures that the socialist idea spreads freely throughout the country.
§ 9. Freedom of assembly for workers is complete in the Council Republic. Every proletarian has the right to assemble freely and organise marches. By breaking the rule of the bourgeoisie, all barriers to workers' right to freedom of association have been removed and the Council Republic not only gives workers and farmers the fullest freedom of association and organisation, but also provides them with all material and intellectual support to develop and secure their freedom of association.
§ 10. The Council Republic abolishes the literary privilege of the bourgeoisie and opens the possibility for workers to actually acquire literacy. Therefore, it provides free and high-level education for workers and peasants.
§ 11. The true freedom of conscience of the workers is protected by the Council Republic by completely separating the church from the state, and the school from the church. Everyone is free to practice their religion.
§ 12. The Council Republic proclaims the idea of the unification of the proletarians of the world and therefore grants all foreign proletarians all the rights that belong to the Hungarian proletarian and authorizes all local councils to declare foreign workers Hungarians at their request.
§ 13. In the Council Republic, every foreign revolutionary has the right to asylum.
§ 14. The Council Republic knows no racial or national differences. It does not tolerate any repression of national minorities and restrictions on the use of their language. Everyone is free to use their mother tongue and all authorities are obliged to accept a related application issued in any of the languages used in Hungary and to listen to and negotiate with everyone in their own mother tongue.
Central organization of council power.
§ 15. In the Council Republic, supreme power is exercised by the National Assembly of Federal Councils.
§ 16. The National Assembly of Federal Councils is responsible for all major state affairs, but in particular:
1. the establishment and amendment of the constitution of the Hungarian Socialist Federal Council Republic;
2. establishing and changing the country's borders;
3. the declaration of war and peace;
4. concluding international agreements;
5. taking out government loans;
6. main management of external and internal policies;
7. territorial division of the country;
8. establishing the powers of local councils;
9. the general management of the economy as a whole and of its individual branches;
10. establishing and changing the monetary system, the system of weights and measures;
11. the establishment of the budget of the Council Republic;
12. determination of public burdens;
13. determination of the organization of the defence force;
14. regulation of the right of nationality;
15. public, private and criminal law;
16. the main management of public policy;
17. determination of the organization of the judiciary;
18. general or partial amnesty.
All matters in respect of which the National Assembly of Federal Councils establishes its competence shall fall within the National Assembly of FederalCouncils. If the National Assembly of Federal Councils is not in session, its powers shall be exercised by the Federal Central Administration Committee.
However, the National Assembly of Federal Councils necessarily has the power to:
a) establish and amend the constitution;
(b) declare war and peace;
(c) establish the demarcation of the country's borders.
§ 17. The National Assembly of Federal Councils is convened by the Federal Central Administration Committee at least twice a year.
§ 18. The National Assembly of Federal Councils should always be convened by the Federal Central Administration Committee if requested by councils of districts and cities whose combined population represents at least one-third of the population of the country.
§ 19. The Federal Central Administration Committee, elected by the National Assembly of Federal Councils, consists of up to 150 members. All nations living in the country are adequately represented in the Federal Central Administration Committee in proportion to their population.
§ 20. The Federal Central Administration Committee, in the absence of a convened National Assembly of Federal Councils, is the chief administrator of the affairs of the country, and exercises supreme legislative, executive, and judicial power.
The Federal Central Administration Committee is also directly involved in the conduct of public affairs. In addition to the People's Commissars, its members include committees attached to the People's Commissariats and supplementing and monitoring the work of the People's Commissars. In addition, the Administration Committee may set up other committees from among its members to carry out specific tasks and may entrust certain of its members with certain tasks.
§ 21. The Federal Central Administration Committee directs the work of the councils of workers, soldiers, and peasants, as well as all council bodies. It ensures the practical implementation of the council constitution, implements the decisions of the National Assembly of Federal Councils.
§ 22. It reports to the National Assembly of Federal Councils on the operation of the Federal Central Administration Committee. It reports there on the general political and economic situation as well as on important issues.
§ 23. The National Assembly of Federal Councils is responsible for the operation of the Federal Central Administration Committee.
§ 24. The Federal Central Administration Committee elects the Revolutionary Governing Council and its chairman.
§ 25. The members of the Revolutionary Governing Council are the People's Commissars. The Revolutionary Governing Council appoints the People's Commissars to head the departments of the individual People's Commissariats and the National Economic Council. A People's Commissar can be appointed to head several People's Commissariats and several departments of the National Economic Council.
§ 26. The Revolutionary Governing Council is responsible for conducting the affairs of the Council Republic in accordance with the instructions of the National Assembly of Federal Councils and the Federal Central Administration Committee.
§ 27. The Revolutionary Governing Council may issue regulations. In general, it can take whatever measures it deems necessary to accomplish its duties.
§ 28. It shall immediately notify the Federal Central Management Committee of the regulations and decisions of the Revolutionary Governing Council on its actions in major matters.
§ 29. The Federal Central Administration Committee reviews the regulations, decisions, and measures of the Revolutionary Governing Council, the National Economic Council and all other committees and has the right to change them.
§ 30. In matters of major importance to the state, the Revolutionary Governing Council may act only in cases of extreme urgency without prior guidance from the Federal Central Administration Committee.
§ 31. The members of the Revolutionary Governing Council are responsible to the National Assembly of Federal Councils and the Federal Central Administration Committee.
§ 32. The individual People's Commissariats are:
1. the National Economic Council,
2. foreign affairs,
3. the military,
4. internal affairs,
5. justice,
6. welfare and public health,
7. public education,
8. German community,
9 the Ruthenian community.
§ 33. Each People's Commissar may issue regulations and instructions in matters within the competence of his or her Commissariat, and the National Economic Council in matters within his or her competence. Before issuing regulations of principle, the National Economic Council shall seek the consent of the Revolutionary Governing Council. The Revolutionary Governing Council may amend the regulations of the National Economic Council and individual People's Commissariats.
§ 34. The National Economic Council is responsible for the uniform management of production and the distribution of goods, the issuance and implementation of regulations governing management, as well as the technical and economic control of production and the bodies carrying out the distribution.
§ 35. The sections of the Economic Council are:
a) general production management, materials management and foreign trade,
b) farming and animal husbandry,
c) technical management and operation of industrial lifting,
d) financial management,
e) local supply,
f) transport,
g) economic organization and control,
h) centralization,
i) labour.
The People's Commissars in the National Economic Council form the Presidency of the National Economic Council with the involvement of the German and Ruthenian People's Commissars. The presidency shall have the right of discretion.
§ 36. The Board of the Economic Council may consist of up to 80 members. Of these, 40 members are elected by the Trade Union Council. These members of the Board are also members of the National Assembly of Federal Councils. In addition, other bodies of workers may elect members of the Board of the National Economic Council in a number and manner to be determined by the Federal Central Administration Committee, who, however, are not members of the National Assembly of Federal Councils.
§ 37. The Presidency of the National Economic Council takes into account the opinion of the Board on all important issues.
The Board may also make proposals to the Presidency on its own initiative.
Organization of local councils.
§ 38. Members of the National Assembly of Federal Councils are elected by district and city councils. District and city councils send one councilor to the National Assembly of Federal Councils for every 50,000 residents.
§ 39. The affairs of villages and towns are handled by local councils of workers, soldiers, and peasants. In general, the question of whether a municipality is a village or a city is governed by the old administrative position until further notice. However, every village with less than 6,000 inhabitants counts as a village, and every village with more than 25,000 inhabitants counts as a city, even if the old administrative position provided otherwise.
§ 40. The working people of the village send a councilor for every 100 inhabitants to the village council. However, the council may not consist of less than three or more than 50 members.
§ 41. To the city council, the working people of the city send one council member for every 500 inhabitants of the city. Cities cannot elect councils with more than 300 members. In Budapest, the districts form a district council, to which the district sends one council member for every 500 inhabitants. However, the district council may have a maximum of 300 members. The district councils send members to the 500-member central council of Budapest in proportion to their population.
§ 42. The village and city council form a committee to deal directly with the affairs. The steering committee may consist of a maximum of 5 members in villages and a maximum of 20 members in cities and districts of Budapest. The Budapest Central Council forms an 80-member Executive Committee headed by a five-member Central Presidency. The members of the Executive Committee of the Central Council are also members of the National Assembly of Federal Councils.
§ 43. The village and city councils form the district workers', soldiers', and peasants' council. Both the councils of the villages and the councils of the neighboring towns send one member to the district council for every 1,000 inhabitants. However, city delegates may not account for more than half of the members of the district council. Cities bordering several districts in the same district (county) shall send members to each district council, but the total number of members sent from the cities to the district council shall not exceed half of the council. The number of members of the district council may not exceed 60.
§ 44. The members of the district councils are elected by the members of the city council and the election commissioners of the village councils. Each village council elects an election commissioner. The election shall take place in a district not bordering a city, at the seat of the district, and in a district bordering one or more cities, in the next largest city.
§ 45. The district council elects a management committee of up to 15 members to manage the affairs directly.
§ 46. The district (county) councils of workers, soldiers, and peasants are elected by the city and district councils in the district. Legislative cities in the district also send council members to the district council. A district councilor must be elected for every 5,000 residents. The district management committee determines how many council members a city or district sends to the district or city council. The number of members of the district council may not exceed 300.
§ 47. The district council elects an administration committee of up to 40 members to deal directly with the affairs.
§ 48. The vocation of village, town, district, and county councils is to promote the economic and cultural well-being of the working people living in the area of the village, town, district or county in question. To this end, in all matters of local significance, the regulations of the supreme councils and the People's Commissariats referred to them are taken and implemented.
§ 49. The former organization of local government will be abolished. The staff of the offices and utilities taken over by the councils shall be at the disposal of the councils. Offices and other public buildings, if they have previously served the purposes of the local administration in question, will be placed at the disposal of the councils together with their equipment.
§ 50. The councils deal with matters themselves in a council meeting or through their management committees or other bodies.
§ 51. The councils may issue regulations of general application (decrees) in their competence; these ordinances shall not be inconsistent with the ordinances of the Supreme Councils, the Revolutionary Governing Council, and the People's Commissariats. The regulation shall be presented to the immediate superior council and the district and city regulations to the Revolutionary Governing Council immediately after its adoption.
§ 52. The councils constantly monitor whether the regulations of the superior authorities have proved their worth in practice. Deficiencies shall be brought to the attention of the superior councils or the public safety committees and shall be submitted to them if they observe that the rulemaking or action of the superior council or other authority is necessary.
§ 53. Advice to the population on food, health, economic, cultural, etc. public utilities to meet their needs may also maintain institutions, establish new ones, and initiate the establishment of such ones with the superior council.
§ 54. Villages, towns, districts, and counties manage their finances independently within the framework of a regulation established by the National Economic Council.
§ 55. The councils elect and dismiss officials and other skilled workers, including staff taken over by the previous administration.
The assignment of any employee of the Council Republic may be revoked at any time.
§ 56. The councils elect their management committees and the members to be sent to the superior councils. The appointment of the elected may be revoked at any time by a majority of all members of the Council, ie not only those present at the meeting.
§ 57. The management committees elected by the councils prepare and implement the decisions of the councils, they perform the administration, if they are not referred to a special authority.
The management committees shall also take urgent measures on a temporary basis in matters reserved to the council. The council may repeal such measures.
The management committee manages the property and plants, its chairman or deputy chairman and at the same time, through a committee member, vouchers for the treasury, further controls the officials, and has control over the army.
§ 58. The council may send smaller commissions to deal with certain matters, in which experts may be elected in addition to the members of the council.
In districts, cities and counties, special commissions (subcommittees) are usually formed for the following matters: 1. economic, financial and operational, 2. public and public transport, 3. public welfare, popular movement and public health, 4. public supply, 6. public education.
Where local conditions so warrant, several subcommittees may be merged or matters may be grouped differently.
The division of village councils into subcommittees can be dispensed with.
§ 59. The management committee shall be divided into subcommittees as necessary or otherwise share the management of matters among its members. Certain members of the committee may be seconded to deal with certain matters independently.
§ 60. The councils shall meet in ordinary session at least once a month, but shall hold an extraordinary meeting if necessary by decision of the management committee or at the request of a number of council members specified in the rules of procedure.
The management committee and the other committees shall meet as necessary.
§ 61. The councils and committees elect their own chairmen and their deputies from among their own members, who preside over the deliberations, maintain its order and represent the authority externally. The registrars shall be seconded from among the officials in the required number.
The language of the administration shall be determined by the rules of procedure of the council. Meetings are usually public. Members are required to appear at the meeting. The penalty for their unjustified failure shall be determined by the rules of procedure.
Decisions shall be taken by simple majority, unless the rules of procedure or a special rule provide otherwise.
§ 62. The councils are obliged to ensure that the parties receive prompt and thorough information in their mother tongue in all cases, without any formality; that appropriate media are available to receive oral complaints and requests; that requests be dealt with as soon as possible after the hearing of the parties concerned and after the matter has been fully clarified, preferably on the basis of a straightforward view of the situation, and without undue delay.
§ 63. Decisions are usually subject to an out-of-office and only one-way complaint from interested parties, which can be submitted to the decision-making authority in writing or orally within 15 days and is dealt with by the immediate superior authority or its council.
§ 64. The management committees are accountable to the councils that elect them.
The councils or the management committee shall have the right to change of its own accord any previous decision of the council.
§ 65. Regarding which matters fall within the competence of the village, city, and district or county authorities, the guideline is that the case falls within the competence of the superior authorities only if the matter is of significance, either territorially or for the population concerned. It is beyond the sphere of interest of the local authority in question if the need in question can expediently be met only by a higher authority. In case of doubt, the councils can deal with all matters dealt with by the previous authorities they have replaced.
Disputes are decided by the Federal Central Administration Committee and the Revolutionary Governing Council, respectively.
The right to vote.
§ 66. In the Hungarian Socialist Federal Council Republic, only the working people have the right to vote. Voters and council members, regardless of gender, are all those who have reached the age of eighteen and make a living from work useful to society as workers or employees, and so on, or engaged in domestic work for the aforementioned workers, employees, etc. Voters and Red Army soldiers, as well as workers and soldiers of the Council Republic who have lived on useful work but have lost all or part of their ability to work, may also be elected.
§ 67. Voters and citizens of other states may also be elected if they meet the conditions mentioned in the previous section.
§ 68. Non-voters and those not eligible to be elected:
a) who employ wage labour in order to gain profit,
b) who live on unemployment income,
c) traders,
d) priests and monks,
e) the mentally ill or under guardianship,
f) whose political rights are up suspended because of offenses committed as established by law.
§ 69. The Federal Central Administration Committee sets up an election committee in each city and in each district in Budapest to conduct city council elections. To conduct village and district council elections, the Federal Central Administration Committee sets up a special election committee at the district headquarters, which has the right to appoint separate election committees for larger municipalities or entire districts.
§ 70. Voting shall be by secret ballot before the collecting committees, with lists of the names of the candidates. The candidates who received the most votes shall be considered elected.
§ 71. In villages and towns where the number of voters so requires, more polling commissions should be set up.
§ 72. The members of the collecting committees are ineligible for the election committees and vice versa.
§ 73. Minutes of the vote shall be taken in duplicate. All members of the collecting committee shall sign both copies.
§ 74. Minutes of both votes shall be sent to the relevant election committee.
§ 75. Electoral committees determine the outcome of council elections. A record of the results shall be recorded in duplicate. A copy of the minutes will be sent to the Federal Central Administration Committee, which may override the determination of the election results and invalidate irregular elections.
§ 76. After the election of the village and city councils, the members of the district councils are elected, after the election of the district councils the county councils are elected, and after the election of the county councils the members of the National Assembly of Federal Councils are elected. The validity of any election is ultimately decided by the National Assembly of Federal Councils. The term of the councils last for six months.
§ 77. A new ballot shall be ordered if as many as at least one-third of the voters who voted in the previous election request so.
Voters may, in the same way as council members are elected, revoke their mandate by a new vote.
Budgetary law.
§ 78. The Council Republic is guided in its financial policy solely by meeting the needs of the workers. There is no regard for unemployment income.
§ 79. The bodies of the Council Republic may collect revenue and implement expenditure only within the limits of the approved budget.
§ 80. The budgets of the villages, districts, towns, and counties shall be established by the relevant local councils on the proposal of the management committees, and the budget of the Council Republic by the National Assembly of Federal Councils on the proposal of the Revolutionary Governing Council and the Federal Central Administration Committee.
§ 81. The budgets of the local councils are subject to the approval of the direct superior council, the budgets of the district and city councils are subject to the approval of the Revolutionary Governing Council and the Federal Central Administration Committee, respectively. The right of the councils to change previous decisions also applies to the decision approving the budget.
Exceptionally, the approval authority may allow the amounts allocated to each item of expenditure specified in the budget to be used for other purposes and, in cases of extreme urgency, may authorize expenditure for which there is no or insufficient budget in the budget.
With regard to vouchers from public assurances, its transfer of credit, additional credit or extraordinary credit may be authorized by the management committees; such authorization shall be notified immediately to the Central Audit Committee of the Council Republic.
§ 82. Local councils shall cover their expenses either from sums made available to them in the budget of the Council Republic or from revenues which are transferred to the councils by the National Assembly of Federal Councils or by the Federal Central Administration Committee to cover their local needs.
§ 83. The Council Republic monitors compliance with the budget and, in general, financial management by a three-member central committee.
The Central Audit Committee is elected by the Federal Central Administration Committee and is responsible only to the National Assembly of Federal Councils and the Federal Central Administration Committee. The Central Audit Committee can examine the accounts of councils and management committees at any time and bring any council or committee to account. The results of its audit are reported from regularly by the Federal Central Administration Committee and make the necessary proposals for sound financial management.
The rights of nations in the Hungarian Socialist Federal Council Republic.
§ 84. In the Hungarian Socialist Federal Council Republic, all nations are free to use their language, and nurture and develop their national culture. To this end, every nation, even if it does not live in a contiguous area, can form a national council to develop its culture. The national council cannot be dismantled on a territorial basis.
The German and Ruthenian People's Commissars are elected by the German and Ruthenian National Councils, respectively. The German and Ruthenian People's Commissariats lead the affairs of the German and Ruthenian National Councils as well as the national district councils.
§ 85. As a consequence of the council system, local administration is headed everywhere by the workers of the nation whose workers are in the majority in that local area. This is also expressed in the language of local administration. However, national minorities may also use their language in contact with councils.
§ 86. Where the workers of a nation are in a majority in a contiguous area covering several districts, separate districts shall be formed.
Where a nation is in the majority in a contiguous larger area covering several districts, the districts may merge into a national district.
District councils send councilors to the central district council, one for every 10,000 residents. The central council and the management committee of the national district may not have more members than the district council or its management committee.
The districts thus united are part of the Hungarian Socialist Federal Council Republic in connection with the national district. The national district council and management committee is the supreme authority of all local councils and management committees established in the national district. The Council Republic communicates with the territory of the national districts through the central councils of the national districts. A direct consequence of the council system is that the councils of the national districts independently manage the administration, justice, public education, and culture of the districts in question.
§ 87. The German-majority and Ruthenian-majority contiguous districts of Hungary are already recognized by the Constitution of the Council Republic as German and Ruthenian national districts, respectively. In matters of general interest to the Council Republic, the provisions of the Council Republic also extend to the national districts.
In order to protect the interests of national life, the German and Ruthenian People's Commissariats set up mediation departments within each People's Commissariat and the National Economic Council.
§ 88. The Hungarian Socialist Federal Council Republic does not stand in the way of the nations of the liberated territories being able to form separate council republics federated with the Council Republic due to their population and economic power.
§ 89. The provisions of the Constitution concerning the rights of nations can be changed only with the consent of the national councils of the workers of the nations concerned.