THE following is the Constitution adopted at the Convention at Eidsvold on the 17th day of May, 1814, and amended and ratified by the Storthing on the 4th day of November, 1814, with all the subsequent amendments incorporated:

A. Religion and Form of Government:

Article 1. The Kingdom of Norway is a free, independent, indivisible and inalienable state, united with Sweden under one king. Its form of government is a limited, hereditary monarchy.

Article 2. The Evangelical Lutheran religion shall continue the established religion of the state. Such inhabitants as profess the same shall educate their children therein. Jesuits shall be excluded.

B. The Executive Power, the King, and the Royal Family:

Article 3. The executive power shall be vested in the King.

Article 4. The King shall constantly profess, maintain and defend the Evangelical Lutheran religion.

Article 5. The King’s person is sacred; he shall neither be censured nor impeached. His Ministry shall, however, be accountable.

Article 6. The succession shall be lineal and agnatic as prescribed in the ordinance of succession of September 26, 1810, adopted by the Legislative Assembly of Sweden and accepted by the King, a translation of which is attached to this Constitution. A posthumous child shall be deemed in the line of succession, and shall take his appropriate place therein as soon as born. When a prince, who is heir to the United Crowns of Norway and Sweden, is born, his name and time of birth shall be reported to the next Storthing in session and entered in its journal.

Article 7. If no Prince, heir to the Crowns, be living, the King may propose a successor to the Storthing of Norway, at the same time as to the Legislative Assembly of Sweden; and, as soon as the King has made his nomination, the legislative bodies of both nations shall appoint a committee from their midst, with power to choose a successor, in case the nominee of the King is not confirmed by a majority in each legislative body. The number of members of this Committee, which must be equal from each kingdom, and the manner in which the choice shall be made, shall be determined by a law, simultaneously proposed by the King to the next Storthing and to the Legislative Assembly of Sweden. One member shall withdraw, by lot, from the assembled committee.

Article 8. The age of majority of the King shall be prescribed by a law, to be enacted pursuant to an agreement between the Storthing of Norway and the Legislative Assembly of Sweden, or, in case they cannot agree concerning the same, by a committee appointed by the legislative bodies of both kingdoms, conformable to the provisions of the preceding Article 7. The King shall publicly proclaim himself of age as soon as he has attained his majority.

Article 9. As soon as the King, on coming of age, assumes the government, he shall take the following oath before the Storthing: “I promise and depose that I will govern the Kingdom of Norway conformable to its Constitution and laws, so help me God and His Holy Writ.” If no Storthing is then in session, the oath shall be deposited in writing with the Ministry, and shall solemnly be renewed by the King at the next Storthing, either orally or in writing through his representative.

Article 10. The King shall be crowned and anointed, when he is of age, in Throndhjem’s Cathedral, at such time and with such ceremonies as he himself may prescribe.

Article 11. The King shall reside in Norway a part of each year, if not prevented by serious obstacles.

Article 12. The King shall appoint a Ministry of Norwegian citizens, who shall not be less than thirty years of age. The Ministry shall consist of two Ministers of State, and not less than seven Secretaries of State. The King shall apportion the public business among the members of the Ministry in such manner as he deems best. The King, or, in his absence, the Minister of State, in conjunction with the Secretaries of State, may, on extraordinary occasions, in addition to the regular members of the Ministry, summon other Norwegian citizens, not members of the Storthing, to a seat in the Ministry. Father and son, or two brothers, shall not have a seat in the Ministry at the same time.

Article 13. The King shall commit, during his absence, the administration of the domestic affairs of the realm, in such cases as he may prescribe, to one of the Ministers of State, and not less than five of the Secretaries of State, who shall carry on the government in the name, and on behalf, of the King. They shall sacredly conform as well to the provisions of this Constitution as to the several instructions in harmony therewith, prescribed to them by the King. They shall present to the King a respectful application concerning the affairs they resolve upon. Their transactions shall be determined by vote, and in case of an equal division the Minister of State, or, in his absence, the senior Secretary of State, shall have two votes.

Article 14. (Repealed.)

Article 15. One of the Ministers of State, and two of the Secretaries of State, the latter to be changed yearly, shall constantly remain with the King while he resides in Sweden. They shall be subject to the same obligations and to the same constitutional accountability as the governing Ministry, named in Article 13, existing in Norway, and only in their presence shall Norwegian affairs be disposed of by the King. All applications from Norwegian citizens to the King shall first be presented to the governing Ministry in Norway, and supplemented with their opinion, before passed upon. As a rule, except where serious obstacles prevent, no Norwegian affairs shall be disposed of without obtaining the advice of the governing Ministry in Norway. The Minister of State shall move the consideration of public business, and shall be responsible for the due expedition of all resolutions taken.

Article 16. The King shall prescribe rules for all public religious and church service, and for all meetings and conventions relating to religious affairs, and he shall take care that the public instructors of religion adhere to the standards prescribed them.

Article 17. The King may enact and repeal ordinances relating to commerce, customs, industrial pursuits and public order, not, however, in conflict with the Constitution or the laws of the Storthing, passed pursuant to the provisions of Article 77, 78 and 79 of this Constitution. Such acts of the King shall remain provisionally in force until the next Storthing.

Article 18. The King shall, ordinarily, cause the taxes and imposts, levied by the Storthing, to be collected. The Norwegian Treasury shall remain in Norway, and its revenue shall be devoted to the requirements of Norway alone.

Article 19. The King shall take care that the estates and regalia of the State be used and managed in the manner prescribed by the Storthing, and for the greatest advantage of the public.

Article 20. The King shall have power, in council, to pardon offenders after conviction. The offender shall, however, have the option to accept the pardon of the King or to suffer the punishment adjudged. No pardon or reprieve, except the remission of the death penalty, shall be granted in cases prosecuted by the Odelsthing in the Court of Impeachment.

Article 21. The King, after hearing his Ministry in Norway, shall appoint and induct all civil, ecclesiastical and military officials, who shall take an oath of obedience and fealty to the Constitution and the King, or who, if relieved by law from such an oath, shall solemnly declare their fealty to the same. Royal Princes shall hold no civil office.

Article 22. The King may, after taking the advice of the Ministry, without the warrant of judicial decree, remove from office the Ministers and Secretaries of State, together with officials in the bureaus of the Ministry, Ambassadors and Consuls, the chief civil and ecclesiastical officials, and the chiefs of fortifications and ships of war. Whether pensions shall be granted to officials thus removed shall be determined by the next Storthing, but, in the meantime, they shall continue to receive two-thirds of their former salary. Other officials are only liable to suspension by the King, and, when suspended, shall at once be proceeded against in the courts, and shall not, without judgment, be removed, nor transferred without their consent.

Article 23. The King, at his pleasure, may confer orders of merit, in recognition of distinguished services, to be publicly announced, but no other rank or title than that conferred by an office occupied. Such orders shall relieve no one from the duties and burdens common to all citizens, nor shall they confer any preference in securing admission to the public service. Officials, honorably discharged, shall retain the title and rank of the office they occupied. No personal or mixed hereditary prerogatives shall hereafter be conferred on any one.

Article 24. The King may, at pleasure, select and dismiss the employees and officers of his royal household.

Article 25. The King shall be Commander-in-Chief of the land and naval forces of the realm. These forces shall neither be increased nor diminished without the consent of the Storthing. They shall not be placed in the service of foreign powers, nor shall the military forces of any foreign powers, except auxiliary troops to repel hostile attack, be brought within the realm without the consent of the Storthing. In times of peace, none but Norwegian troops shall be stationed in Norway, and no Norwegian troops shall be stationed in Sweden. The King, however, may retain in Sweden a Norwegian guard of volunteers, and he may, for a short time not exceeding six weeks in any year, assemble for manoeuvres, within the limits of either country, the nearest troops of the armies of both realms; but in no case, in times of peace, shall more than three thousand soldiers, of all arms combined, of the military force of one country, be brought within the limits of the other country. Norway’s troops and coast flotilla shall not be employed in offensive war without the consent of the Storthing. The Norwegian fleet shall have its dock yards, and in times of peace its stations or havens in Norway. The ships of war of one country shall not be manned with sailors of the other country, except by voluntary enlistment. The home guard and the other Norwegian troops, not classed as troops of the line, shall never be employed outside of the boundaries of Norway.

Article 26. The King shall have power to call out the troops, to commence war and make peace, to enter into treaties, and to abrogate the same, and to send and receive diplomatic representatives. When the King intends to commence war, he shall communicate his purpose to the governing Ministry in Norway, and obtain their judgment concerning the same, together with a full report upon the condition of the country in respect to its finances, means of defence, and other matters. When these steps have been taken, the King shall convene the Norwegian Minister of State and the Norwegian Secretaries of State stationed in Sweden, together with the members of the Swedish Ministry, in an extraordinary cabinet council, and shall present to them the grounds and circumstances which should in such cases be taken into consideration, and shall also place before them the report of the Norwegian Ministry concerning the condition of that country, and a like report concerning the condition of Sweden. The King shall thereupon demand their judgment in the premises, which each of them for himself shall give and have entered in the journal of the proceedings, to be accountable for as provided in the Constitution. When this has been done, the King shall have the power to take and execute such resolution as he deems for the best interest of the country.

Article 27. All members of the Ministry, without valid excuse, shall attend the cabinet councils, and no action shall be taken when not more than half of the members are present. No action shall be taken in those Norwegian affairs, disposed of in Sweden, pursuant to Article 15, unless the Norwegian Minister of State and one of the Norwegian Secretaries of State, or both of the Secretaries, be present.

Article 28. Communications concerning appointments to office and other matters of importance, except diplomatic affairs and military commands, shall be presented for consideration to the Ministry by the member thereof in whose department the business belongs, and he shall dispose of the same conformable to the resolve of the Ministry.

Article 29. In case a member of the Ministry is unable, for valid cause, to attend and present for consideration the matters pertaining to his department, the same shall be presented by another member of the Ministry, appointed for that purpose by the King, if present, or, in his absence, by the presiding member of the Ministry, in conjunction with the other members of the Ministry. If, for valid cause, so many are absent that not more than half of the regular members are in attendance, then other officials shall be appointed, in the mode aforesaid, to sit in the Ministry, in which case a report thereof shall at once be made to the King, who shall determine whether the officials thus appointed shall continue to serve.

Article 30. The Ministry shall keep a record of all business transacted. It shall be the duty of every person who has a seat in the Ministry to express his opinion fearlessly, to which the King shall listen, but he may resolve according to his own judgment. In case any member of the Ministry finds that the resolve of the King is in conflict with the form of government or the laws of the realm, or is manifestly detrimental to the country, then it is his duty to vigorously protest against the same, and to enter his objections in the record. He who does not thus protest, shall be deemed to have concurred with the King, and shall be accountable therefor, as subsequently determined, and may be impeached by the Odelsthing in the Court of Impeachment.

Article 31. All decrees issued by the King himself, except military commands, shall be countersigned by one of the Ministers of State.

Article 32. Resolutions taken by the Ministry in Norway, during the absence of the King, shall be issued in his name, and attested by the Ministry.

Article 33. All communications relative to Norwegian affairs, as well as the expedition of the same, shall be in the Norwegian language.

Article 34. The heir apparent, if son of the reigning King, shall bear the title of Crown Prince. The other royal heirs shall be known as Princes, and the royal daughters as Princesses.

Article 35. As soon as the heir apparent has filled his eighteenth year, he shall be entitled to take his seat in the Ministry, but without vote or accountability.

Article 36. No Prince of the blood shall marry without the consent of the King. If he violates this rule he shall forfeit his right to the crown of Norway.

Article 37. The royal Princes and Princesses shall personally only be answerable to the King, or to such judge as he may ordain for them.

Article 38. The Norwegian Minister of State, as well as the two Norwegian Secretaries of State, remaining with the King, shall have a seat and deliberative voice in the Swedish Ministry when matters affecting both kingdoms are there considered. The views of the Ministry in Norway shall also be obtained, in such cases, unless the urgency for immediate action is so great that there is no time therefor.

Article 39. If the King dies and his successor is still under age, the Norwegian and Swedish Ministries shall immediately assemble, and jointly issue a call convening the Storthing in Norway and the Rigsdag in Sweden.

Article 40. Until the legislative bodies of both realms are convened and have provided for the government during the minority of the King, the administration of the kingdoms, conformable to their respective Constitutions, shall be conducted by a Ministry composed of an equal number of Norwegian and Swedish members. The Norwegian and Swedish Ministers of State, having a seat in this Ministry, shall determine, by lot, who shall preside.

Article 41. The provisions of Articles 39 and 40, aforesaid, shall also be complied with in all those cases in which, under the Constitution of Sweden, the Swedish Ministry, as such, is entitled to conduct the government. When, however, the King, by reason of travels abroad or sickness, is unable to conduct the administration, the Prince, entitled to the succession, if of age, shall conduct the administration as the temporary representative of the King, with the same power as belongs to an ad interim government.

Article 42. The King shall submit to the next Storthing in Norway and the next Rigsdag in Sweden a bill, based on the principles of perfect equality between both kingdoms, to carry out the provisions of Articles 39, 40 and 41, aforesaid.

Article 43. The election of a Regency, to conduct the administration for the King during his minority, shall take place according to the same rules and in the same manner prescribed in Article 7, aforesaid, for the election of a successor to the Crown.

Article 44. The Norwegian members of the joint Ministry, to conduct the administration in the cases provided for in Articles 40 and 41, aforesaid, shall take the following oath before the Storthing:

Article 45. As soon as the administration of the joint Ministry shall cease, they shall render an account of the same to the King and the Storthing.

Article 46. If those, on whom it is incumbent, pursuant to Articles 39 and 41, fail to immediately convene the Storthing, it shall be the peremptory duty of the Supreme Court, after a lapse of four weeks, to convene the same.

Article 47. The management of the education of the King, under age, shall, if his father has left no written directions concerning the same, be provided for in the manner prescribed in Articles 7 and 43. It shall be the invariable rule to give the King, during his minority, ample instructions in the Norwegian language.

Article 48. If the royal male line be extinct, and no successor has been selected, a new line of kings shall be chosen in the manner prescribed in Article 7; and in the meantime provision shall be made for the executive power as prescribed in Article 43 (40).

C. Citizenship and the Law-making Power:

Article 49. The people shall exercise the legislative power through a Storthing, composed of two bodies, a Lagthing and an Odelsthing.

Article 50. All Norwegian citizens, dwelling within the realm, who have attained the age of twenty-five years, and have been residents of the country for five years, shall be qualified voters.

Article 51. All qualified voters shall be registered, in every city by the magistrate, and in every rural parish by the parson and tax collector. Changes that in the course of time may occur shall immediately be noted in the registry. Every voter shall, before he is registered, publicly in court, take an oath of fealty to the Constitution.

Article 52. The right of suffrage shall be suspended by:

(a) Indictment for an offence subject to the punishment described in Article 53; by

(b) Being placed under guardianship; by

(c) Assignment or bankruptcy, not caused by loss of fire or other evident misfortune, until the debtor, through full liquidation or composition, shall again regain control over his estate; and by

(d) Being supported, or having during the year immediately preceding the election been supported, as a public pauper.

Article 53. The right of suffrage shall be forfeited by:

(a) Having been sentenced to hard labor, removal from office, or imprisonment for an offence described in any of the chapters of the Criminal Code, relating to perjury, larceny, robbery or fraud; by

(b) Entering the service of a foreign power, without the consent of the government; by

(c) Acquiring citizenship in a foreign country; and by

(d) Being convicted of buying votes, or selling one’s own vote, or of voting in more than one election precinct.

Article 54. Elections and electoral meetings shall be held every third year. They shall be concluded before the end of the month of December.

Article 55. Elections shall be held, at the chief church of the parish, in the rural districts, and at a church, the town hall, or other suitable place, in the towns. The parish priest and his vestrymen shall be the judges of election in the rural districts, the magistrate and selectmen in the towns. The vote shall be taken in the order the names appear on the registry. Controversies about the right to vote shall be determined by the judges of election, whose decision may be appealed from to the Storthing.

Article 56. The Constitution shall be audibly read, in the towns by the chief magistrate, and in the rural districts by the priest, before the polls are opened.

Article 57. In the towns, one elector shall be chosen for every fifty inhabitants qualified to vote. Within eight days after their election, the electors shall assemble at the place designated therefor by the magistracy, and shall elect, either from their own number or from the other qualified voters in their electoral district, thirty-eight representatives, to meet and sit in the Storthing. Of this number, unless otherwise constitutionally provided, one shall be elected from Aalesund and Molde combined, one from Arendal and Grimstad combined, four from Bergen, one from Brevig, four from Christiania, HÓnefas and Kongsvinger combined, two from Christianssand, one from Christianssund, two from Drammen, one from Flekkefjord, one from Frederickshald, one from Fredericksstad, one from Hammerfest, VardÓ and VadsÓ combined, one from Holmestrand, one from Kongsberg, one from KragerÓ, one from Laurvig and Sandefjord combined, one from Lillehammer, Hamer and GjÓvik combined, one from Moss and DrÓbak combined, one from Porsgrund, one from Sarpsborg, one from Skien, two from Stavanger and Haugesund combined, one from TromsÖ, four from Throndhjem and Levanger combined, one from Tunsberg, and one from OsterrisÓr. When a town, not herein named, shall have fifty or more inhabitants, who are qualified voters, it shall be attached to the nearest town-electoral district. The same rule shall apply to towns that may hereafter be founded. A town attached to a town-electoral district shall choose one elector, even though the number of inhabitants qualified to vote shall become less than fifty. In no case shall less than three electors be chosen in a town which, by itself alone, constitutes one representative district.

Article 58. In every parish in the rural districts, the inhabitants qualified to vote shall choose, in proportion to their numbers, electors as follows: One hundred or less shall choose one; from one hundred to two hundred, two; from two hundred to three hundred, three, and so on in the same proportion. The electors shall, within a month after their election, assemble at a place designated therefor by the high sheriff of the county, and shall then elect, either from their own number or from the other qualified voters in their county, seventy-six Representatives, to meet and sit in the Storthing, of whom five shall be chosen from the county of Agershus, five from the county of Nordre Bergenhus, five from the county of SÓndre Bergenhus, five from the county of Christians, two from the county of Finmarken, five from the county of Hedemarken, five from the county of Nordland, five from the county of Romsdalen, five from the county of Stavanger, two from the county of TromsÖ, and four from each of the other eight counties of the kingdom. Ex-Ministers or ex-Secretaries of State shall be eligible for Representatives in any electoral district, if, barring residence, they are qualified voters and have not already been elected in some other district. But no district shall elect more than one non-resident Representative.

Article 59. (Repealed.)

Article 60. Qualified voters, being within the country, who, by reason of sickness, military service, or other valid excuse, are unable to attend the polls, may, in writing, transmit their votes to the judges of election before the polls are closed.

Article 61. No one shall be elected Representative unless he is thirty years of age and has resided ten years within the realm.

Article 62. Members of the Ministry, the officials employed in its bureaus, and the officials and pensionaries of the Court, are all ineligible for Representatives.

Article 63. Whoever is elected Representative, except ex-members of the Ministry elected under the last clause in Article 58, shall be required to accept the office, unless prevented by an excuse deemed valid by the electors, whose decision may be reviewed by the Storthing. Whoever has served as a Representative in three regular sessions of the Storthing succeeding the same election, shall not be bound to accept election to the next Storthing. If a Representative is prevented by valid excuse from attending the Storthing, the person receiving the next highest vote shall take his place, unless an alternate was elected at the district electoral meeting, in which case he shall take the place of the Representative.

Article 64. Immediately after their election, the Representatives shall be furnished with certificates of election, subscribed in the rural districts by the magistracy, in the towns by the chief magistrate, and in both cases by several electors, as evidence that they have been elected in the manner prescribed in the Constitution. The validity of these credentials shall be passed upon by the Storthing.

Article 65. Each Representative shall be entitled to compensation, from the State Treasury, for expenses of travel to and from the Storthing, and for subsistence during attendance.

Article 66. Representatives shall, except when apprehended in public offences, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the Storthing, and in going to and returning from the same; and they shall not be answerable, outside of the sessions of the Storthing, for the expression of their views therein; but every Representative shall conform to the established rules of procedure.

Article 67. The Representatives, elected in the manner aforesaid, shall constitute the Storthing of the Kingdom of Norway.

Article 68. The Storthing shall, as a rule, convene on the first week-day in the month of February in each year, at the capital of the Kingdom, except when the King, on account of extraordinary circumstances, such as hostile invasion or contagious disease, shall designate another town in the realm therefor. Timely notice of such designation shall, in such case, be published.

Article 89. The King may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Storthing at other than the usual time. In such case the King shall issue a proclamation, which shall be read in all the churches of the Episcopal towns at least fourteen days before the members of the Storthing shall assemble at the place prescribed.

Article 70. Such special Storthing may be adjourned by the King at his pleasure.

Article 71. The members of the Storthing shall serve as such for three successive years, as well at all special, as at all regular, sessions that may in the meantime be held.

Article 72. If a special Storthing be in session at the time a regular Storthing convenes, the former shall adjourn before the latter assembles.

Article 73. The Storthing shall select from its members one-fourth who shall constitute the Lagthing; the other three-fourths shall constitute the Odelsthing. The selection shall be made at the first regular Storthing which convenes after an election, and thereafter the Lagthing shall remain unchanged in all Storthings assembled after the same election, except in cases of vacancy, which shall be filled by special election. Each Thing shall hold its sessions separately, and appoint its own President and Secretary. Neither Thing shall be in session unless two-thirds of its members are present.

Article 74. As soon as the Storthing has organized, the King, or whoever he may appoint therefor, shall open its proceedings with a speech from the throne, wherein he shall give information touching the condition of the kingdom and the matters to which he especially desires to direct the Storthing’s attention. No deliberation shall take place in the presence of the King. After the session of the Storthing has been opened, the Minister of State and the Secretaries of State shall be entitled to sit in the Storthing and both branches thereof, and to participate in its proceedings, without the right to vote, in open session on a footing of equality with the members, and in secret session only to the extent permitted by the Thing.

Article 75. The Storthing shall have power:

(a) To enact and repeal laws; to levy taxes, imposts, duties, and other public assessments, but such levy shall not remain in force beyond the first day of July in the year in which the next regular Storthing convenes, unless expressly revived by the latter;

(b) To borrow money on the credit of the Kingdom;

(c) To regulate the currency of the Kingdom;

(d) To appropriate the money necessary for the expenditures of the government;

(e) To determine the amount which shall yearly be paid the King for the maintenance of his royal household, and to settle the appanage of the royal family, which shall not, however, consist of landed estates;

(f) To cause to be laid before them the Journal of the Ministry in Norway and all official reports and documents, not pertaining to exclusive military commands, then on file, together with verified copies and extracts of the Journals, on file with the King, kept by the Norwegian Minister of State and the two Norwegian Secretaries of State remaining in Sweden, as well as the public documents on file with them;

(g) To cause to be communicated to them the Alliances and Treaties, which the King, on behalf of the state, has entered into with foreign powers, except secret articles, which must not, however, conflict with those that are public;

(h) To require any person to appear before them, in state affairs, except the King and royal family; but this exception shall not apply to royal princes holding office;

(i) To revise temporary salary and pension lists, and to make such changes therein as they find necessary;

(k) To appoint five auditors who shall yearly audit the accounts of the state and publish printed extracts of the same; and for this purpose the accounts shall be submitted to the auditors within six months from the expiration of the year for which the appropriations of the Storthing has been made; and

(l) To naturalize foreigners.

Article 76. Every bill shall first be introduced in the Odelsthing, either by a member thereof or by the Ministry, through one of its members. If the bill is there passed, it shall be sent to the Lagthing, which may concur in or reject it; in the latter case it shall be returned with objections appended, and the same shall be considered by the Odelsthing, which may either indefinitely postpone the bill or return it to the Lagthing with or without amendment. When a bill, from the Odelsthing, has been twice presented to the Lagthing and has been returned a second time rejected, the entire Storthing shall assemble in one body, and, by a two-thirds vote, dispose of the bill. At least three days must intervene between every such distinct consideration of the bill.

Article 77. When a measure, passed by the Odelsthing, has been concurred in by the Lagthing or the united Storthing, it shall be sent by a committee of both bodies of the Storthing to the King, if he is present, or if not present, to the Norwegian Ministry, with the request for the sanction of the King.

Article 78. If the King approve the measure, he shall affix his signature thereto, whereby it becomes a law. If he disapprove the same, he shall return it to the Odelsthing with the statement that, for the time being, he does not find it expedient to sanction the same.

Article 79. If a measure has been passed without amendment, by three regular Storthings, convened after three separate and successive elections, and separated from each other by not less than two intervening regular Storthings, and no measure in conflict therewith having, in the meantime, from the first to the last passage, been passed by any Storthing, and the measure is then presented to the King with the request that his Majesty will not refuse his sanction to a measure which the Storthing, after the most mature consideration, deem beneficial, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the King fails to sanction the same before the adjournment of the Storthing.

Article 80. The Storthing may remain in session so long as it deems necessary, not, however, over two months, without the permission of the King. When, after having finished its proceedings, or after having been in session the time limited, it is adjourned by the King, he shall communicate to it his action upon the measures passed, by approving or rejecting the same. All measures not expressly approved by him shall be deemed rejected.

Article 81. All laws shall be promulgated in the Norwegian language, and, except those passed pursuant to Article 79, in the name of the King, and under the seal of the Kingdom of Norway, in the following words:

Article 82. The sanction of the King shall not be required for those resolutions of the Storthing whereby:

(a) It declares itself convened as Storthing pursuant to the Constitution;

(b) It determines its own rules of procedure;

(c) It approves or rejects the credentials of the members present;

(d) It affirms or reverses decisions in election controversies;

(e) It naturalizes foreigners;

(f) And finally, not for the resolution whereby the Odelsthing shall impeach members of the Ministry, or others.

Article 83. The Storthing shall have the right to procure the opinion of the Supreme Court upon judicial subjects.

Article 84. The Storthing shall sit in open session and its proceedings shall be printed and published, except in cases where otherwise determined by a majority vote.

Article 85. Whoever shall obey a command, the purpose of which is to interfere with the freedom and safety of the Storthing, is guilty of treason against the Fatherland.

D. The Judicial Power:

Article 86. The members of the Lagthing, together with the Supreme Court, shall constitute the Court of Impeachment, which shall try, without appeal, cases instituted by the Odelsthing, against members of the Ministry and members of the Supreme Court for malfeasance in office, and against members of the Storthing for offences committed by them in their official capacity. The President of the Lagthing shall preside in the Court of Impeachment.

Article 87. The accused may, without cause, challenge as many as one-third of the members of the Court of Impeachment, but not so many, however, as to leave the Court with less than fifteen members.

Article 88. The Supreme Court shall be the tribunal of last resort. It shall consist of not less than one Chief-Justice and six associate judges. This article shall not prohibit the final disposal of criminal cases, pursuant to law, without appeal to the Supreme Court.

Article 89. In times of peace, the Supreme Court, together with two high military officers to be appointed by the King, shall constitute a court of appeal and of final resort in all court-martial cases, involving life, honor, or loss of liberty for a longer period than three months.

Article 90. The decisions of the Supreme Court shall in no case be appealed or reviewed.

Article 91. No one shall be appointed a member of the Supreme Court before he is thirty years of age.

E. General Provisions:

Article 92. Public offices shall be filled only by Norwegian citizens who speak the language of the country and:

(a) Who are born within the realm of parents who are citizens of the country; or

(b) Who are born in foreign countries of Norwegian parents, not citizens of another nation; or

(c) Who shall hereafter reside ten years within the realm; or

(d) Who shall be naturalized by the Storthing. But persons without these qualifications may be appointed physicians, instructors in the university and grammar schools, and consuls in foreign places. No one shall be appointed a high magistrate before he is thirty years of age, nor an inferior judge, magistrate, or tax collector before he is twenty-five years of age. No one shall be a member of the Ministry unless he professes the established religion of the state; and the same rule shall apply to the other offices of the state, until otherwise provided by law.

Article 93. Norway shall not be liable for any other than its own national debt.

Article 94. Measures shall be taken to enact, at the next regular Storthing, or, if this is not possible, at the following one, a new general civil and criminal code. In the meantime the existing laws of the state shall remain in force so far as they are not in conflict with this Constitution or temporary ordinances meanwhile issued. Permanent taxes now existing shall continue as laid until the next Storthing.

Article 95. No dispensations, writs of protection, or letters of respite or reparation, shall be granted after the new general code takes effect.

Article 96. No one shall be tried except pursuant to law, nor punished except pursuant to judgment. Examination, by means of torture, is prohibited.

Article 97. No law shall be given retroactive effect.

Article 98. Fees paid to officials of Courts of Justice shall not be subject to any state tax.

Article 99. No one shall be arrested except in the case and manner prescribed by law. Whoever causes an unauthorized arrest, or unlawful detention, shall be answerable therefor to the person confined. The government shall have no right to employ military force against the citizens otherwise than pursuant to law, except in the case of an assembly disturbing the public peace and not immediately dispersing after the civil magistrate has thrice audibly read to them the articles in the public code relating to riot.

Article 100. The liberty of the press shall remain inviolate. No one shall be punished for any writing, printed or published, irrespective of its context, unless he has intentionally and clearly manifested, or urged others to manifest, disobedience to the laws, contempt for religion, morality, and the constitutional authorities, or resistance to the commands of the same, or has made false and defamatory charges against any person. Every person shall be permitted to express freely his opinion upon the administration of public affairs, or on any other subject whatsoever.

Article 101. New and permanent special privileges in industrial pursuits shall not be granted to any one hereafter.

Article 102. Domiciliary visits shall not be permitted except in criminal cases.

Article 103. No sanctuary shall be allowed to persons who hereafter become insolvent.

Article 104. Estates of inheritance, or distributive shares, shall in no case be subject to confiscation.

Article 105. If public necessity requires any person to relinquish his real or personal property for public use, he shall receive full compensation therefor from the State Treasury.

Article 106. The proceeds, as well as the income, of church estates, shall be devoted exclusively to the benefit of the church and the promotion of education. The property of charitable institutions shall be devoted exclusively to their use.

Article 107. Allodial tenure and statutory entailment shall not be abolished; but the conditions under which—for the good of the state and the advantages of the people—the same shall continue, shall be prescribed by the next or the following Storthing.

Article 108. No earldoms, baronies, or entailed manorial estates, shall hereafter be established.

Article 109. Every citizen, without regard to birth or fortune, shall, without exception, render military service to his country for a limited time. The application of this rule, the limitations to be placed on it, and whether it will be for the good of the country that liability to such service shall terminate with the twenty-fifth year, shall be left to the determination of the next regular Storthing, after a committee has obtained full information on the subject; and in the meantime all existing provisions in the premises shall remain in force.

Article 110. Norway shall have its own bank and its own currency and coinage, to be established by law.

Article 111. Norway shall be entitled to have its own Merchant Flag. Its naval ensign shall be a union flag.

Article 112. If experience demonstrates that any part of this Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway requires amendment, the proposition therefor shall be presented at a regular Storthing first succeeding an election, and notice thereof shall be given by publication; but no action shall be taken thereon until at one of the regular Storthings succeeding the next election. Such amendment shall not contravene the principles of this Constitution, and shall only relate to such modifications in single provisions as will not change the spirit of this Constitution, and shall be concurred in by two-thirds of the Storthing.

THE END

FOOTNOTES:

1 Vendland, or Vindland, the country inhabited by the Vends, seems to have included Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and Prussia on the Baltic.

2 The Swedes were then still heathens.

3 Keelness (old Norse Kjalarnes) is supposed by the antiquaries to be the present Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

4 Accounts of these journeys to Vinland are contained in the Flateyar-bok, or Flatey Codex, an Icelandic manuscript, which takes its name from the island Flatey, Iceland, where it was preserved. It was written by two priests between the years 1387 and 1395. The work is a collection of sagas transcribed from older manuscripts and arranged chronologically. The book is written on parchment, and is one of the most beautiful works of penmanship from that time in Europe. It is known that Christopher Columbus came to Iceland in 1477, on purpose to gain nautical information, and it would seem next to impossible that he should not have heard of the written accounts of the discoveries recorded in the Flatey Codex.

5 A Stallare was a very influential officer, a kind of court marshal.

6 The Biarkemaal is so called because it was composed and sung by Bodvar Biarke, a Norwegian, who, with Rolf Krake and others, was killed in battle. Rolf Krake was king in Seeland (Denmark); he had twelve powerful warriors called Berserks (i.e. dressed in bear skins); among them was Bodvar Biarke. Rolf and his men were attacked during the night, and the Biarkemaal was then sung to encourage Rolf’s men to fight valiantly for their chief.

7 “The Gray Goose,” so called probably from the color of the parchment on which it is written, is one of the most curious relics of the Middle Ages, and gives us an unexpected view of the social condition of the Northmen in the eleventh century. Law appears to have been so far advanced among them that the forms were not merely established, but the slightest breach of the legal forms of proceeding involved the loss of the case. “The Gray Goose” embraces subjects not dealt with probably by any other code in Europe at that period. The provision for the poor, the equality of weights and measures, police of markets and of sea havens, provision for illegitimate children of the poor, inns for travellers, wages of servants and support of them in sickness, protection of pregnant women and even of domestic animals from injury, roads, bridges, vagrants, beggars, are subjects treated of in this code. (S. Laing.)

8 From this union descended, in direct line, the royal house of Brunswick and Saxony, whose members until lately occupied the thrones of Hanover and Brunswick and still reign in England.

9 The “guests” were one division of the king’s men. They were of a lower rank than the hird-men.

10 Ice-legs were skates made of sheep legs.

11 Ski (pronounced she), the long snow-shoe used in the North.

12 With this battle at Ree end the Sagas of the Norse Kings by Snorre Sturlason.

13 The word Edda means great-grandmother.

14 During the next twenty-five years Christian Frederick led an unnoticed life in Denmark and was soon forgotten by the Norwegian people. In 1839 he ascended the Danish throne as Christian VIII. He died in 1848.

15 The word saga means a historical tale.

Transcriber’s Notes:

Minor changes have been made to correct printer's errors and to regularize hyphenatation.

Names of some places and persons, where obvious, have been changed to conform to a single, rather than multiple spellings.