Chapter XI: Section III: The President of the Realm and the Government of the Realm

ARTICLE 41.

The President of the Realm shall be elected by the whole German people.

Every German who has completed his thirty-fifth year is eligible, and an act of the Realm shall make further provision.

ARTICLE 42.

The President of the Realm shall take the following oath on assuming office----

I swear that I will devote my powers to the good of the German
people, that I will promote and protect the people's
interests, will maintain the constitution and the laws, will
fulfil my duties conscientiously, and will exercise justice
towards all.

The addition of a religious oath is permissible.

ARTICLE 43.

The President holds office for seven years and is re-eligible.

The President of the Realm may be deposed from office before the expiry of his term by popular plebiscite on initiative of the Reichstag. The resolution of the Reichstag must have a two-thirds majority. It precludes the President from any further exercise of office. Should the plebiscite reject deposition, such vote counts as a new election and entails the dissolution of the Reichstag.

The President of the Realm may not be criminally prosecuted without consent of the Reichstag.

ARTICLE 44.

The President of the Realm cannot be concurrently a member of the Reichstag.

ARTICLE 45.

The President of the Realm represents the Realm in international intercourse. He contracts alliances and other treaties with foreign Powers in the name of the Realm. He accredits and receives ambassadors.

Declaration of war and conclusion of peace shall be by act of the Realm.

Alliances and treaties with foreign States concerning subjects of national legislation require the consent of the Reichstag.

ARTICLE 46.

The President of the Realm appoints and dismisses officials and officers of the Realm, except as may be otherwise provided. He can exercise his rights of appointment and dismissal through other authorities.

ARTICLE 47.

The supreme command over the whole armed forces of the Realm resides in the President of the Realm.

ARTICLE 48.[23]

Should any Land fail to fulfil the obligations imposed on it by the constitution or laws of the Realm, the President of the Realm may constrain it thereto by armed force.

Should public order and safety be seriously disturbed or threatened in the German Realm, the President of the Realm may take the necessary measures to restore public order and safety; in case of need he may use armed force. For this purpose he may, for the time being, suspend wholly or partly the fundamental civil rights detailed in Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124, and 153.

The President of the Realm is bound without delay to communicate to the Reichstag all measures taken by him in virtue of Clause 1 or Clause 2 of this Article. The Reichstag may require such measures to be abrogated.

A Land Government may take temporary measures of the nature indicated in Clause 2, should delay be dangerous. The President of the Realm or the Reichstag may require such measures to be abrogated.

An act of the Realm shall make further provision.

ARTICLE 49.

The President of the Realm exercises the right of pardon. Amnesties affecting the whole Realm require an act of the Realm.

ARTICLE 50.

All orders and decrees of the President of the Realm, including those regarding national defence, require for validity the counter-signature of the Chancellor or of the competent Minister of the Realm. Responsibility is assumed with this counter-signature.

ARTICLE 51.

Should the President of the Realm be prevented from acting, he shall be represented in the first place by the Chancellor. Should it seem probable that he will be so prevented for a lengthy period, an act of the Realm shall provide for his representation.

The same applies in the case of a premature vacancy in the Presidency for the period preceding a new election.

ARTICLE 52.

The Government of the Realm consists of the Chancellor and the Ministers of the Realm.

ARTICLE 53.

The President of the Realm appoints and dismisses the Chancellor and, on his recommendation, the Ministers of the Realm.

ARTICLE 54.

Chancellor and Ministers of the Realm require the confidence of the Reichstag for the exercise of office. Any one of them must resign should the Reichstag withdraw its confidence by express resolution.

ARTICLE 55.[24]

The Chancellor presides over the Government of the Realm and conducts its business on the basis of Standing Orders, which shall be drawn up by the Government of the Realm and approved by the President of the Realm.

ARTICLE 56.

The Chancellor lays down general policy and is responsible therefor to the Reichstag. Each Minister of the Realm carries on his Department independently within such lines, and is individually responsible therefor to the Reichstag.

ARTICLE 57.

The Ministers of the Realm shall submit for discussion and resolution to the Cabinet all Bills; further, all matters which either the constitution or the laws require to be so submitted; also, differences of opinion on topics which touch more than one Ministerial Department.

ARTICLE 58.

The Government of the Realm decides by simple majority. Where the voting is equal the Chair has a casting vote.

ARTICLE 59.

The Reichstag may impeach the President of the Realm, the Chancellor, and the Ministers in the State Court of Judicature, on the ground of conscious violation of the constitution or law of the Realm. The resolution calling for impeachment must be signed by at least one hundred members of the Reichstag, and requires, in order to be valid, the same majority as in the case of a constitutional amendment. The act instituting the Supreme Court of the Realm shall make further provision.