Constitution of Austria
Austria
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The Constitution of Austria (Österreichis-
che Bundesverfassung) is the body of all
constitutional law of the Republic of Austria
on the federal level. It is split up over many
different acts. Its centerpiece is the Bundes-
Verfassungsgesetz (B-VG) [1], which includes
the most important federal constitutional
provisions.
Apart from the B-VG, there are a large
number of other constitutional acts (called
Bundesverfassungsgesetze, singular Bundes-
verfassungsgesetz, abbrev. BVG, ie without
the dash) and individual provisions in stat-
utes and treaties which are designated as
constitutional
("Verfassungsbestimmung").
For example, the B-VG does not include a bill
of rights, but provisions on civil liberties are
split up over different constitutional legislat-
ive acts.
Over time, both the B-VG and the numer-
ous pieces of constitutional law supplement-
ing it have undergone literally hundreds of
minor and major amendments and revisions.
Official Austrian Law online research tool,
English version (RechtsInformationsSystem,
RIS): http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/englische-rv/
RIS
in
German,
full
version:
ht-
tp://www.ris.bka.gv.at/
Austrian
Constitutional
Court:
ht-
tp://www.vfgh.gv.at/cms/vfgh-site/english/in-
dex.html
Constitutional Developments in Austria: ht-
tp://www.icl-journal.com/
History
The B-VG was based on a draft by Hans
Kelsen and first enacted on October 1, 1920.
Since