Page:The Constitutions and Other Select Documents Illustrative of the History of France, 1789-1907, Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged.pdf/111

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Constitution of 1791
81

When the two legislatures following that which shall have presented the decree shall have again presented the same decree in the same terms, the king shall be considered to have given the sanction.

3. The consent of the king is expressed upon each decree by this formula signed by the king: The king consents and will cause it to be executed.

The suspensive refusal is expressed by this: The king will examine.

4. The king is required to express his consent or his refusal upon each decree within two months from the presentation.

5. No decree to which the king has refused his consent can be presented again by the same legislature.

6. The decrees sanctioned by the king and those which shall have been presented by three consecutive legislatures have the force of law, and bear the name and title of laws.

7. The following are executed as laws, without being subject to the sanctionThe acts of the legislative body concerning its constitution in deliberative assembly;

Its internal police, and that which it is allowed to exercise in the environs which it shall have determined;

The verification of the credentials of its members in attendance;

Orders to the absent members;

The convocation of the primary assemblies which are late;

The exercise of the constitutional police over the administrators and the municipal officers;

Questions either of eligibility or of the validity of elections.

In like manner, neither the acts relative to the responsibility of the ministers, nor the decrees providing that there is cause for accusation are subject to the sanction.

8. The decrees of the legislative body concerning the establishment, the promulgation, and the collection of the public taxes shall bear the name and the title of laws. They shall be promulgated and executed without being subject to the sanction, except for the provisions which establish penalties other than fines and pecuniary constraints.

These decrees cannot be rendered except in accordance with the formalities prescribed by articles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and