Statute
of Autonomy of the Basque Country
18 December,
1979
PRELIMINARY
TITLE
Article 1.- The Basque People or «Euskal-Herria», as an expression of their nationality and
in order to accede to self-government, constitute an Autonomous Community within the Spanish State under the name of «Euskadi» or the
Basque Country, in accordance with the
Constitution and with this Statute, which lays down its basic
institutional rules.
Article 2.-l. Alava,
Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya,
and also Navarra, are entitled to form
part of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.
2. The territory of the Autonomous Community shall
comprise the Historic Territories which coincide with the provinces
of Alava, Guipúzcoa
and Vizcaya, respecting their present boundaries, and with the
province of Navarra, should it decide to join, in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Transitory Provision Four of the
Constitution.
Article 3.- Each of the Historic Territories which make up the Basque Country may,
within the framework of the same, preserve or, where appropriate,
re-establish and bring up to date their organization and such
institutions as are exclusively concerned with self-government.
Article 4.- The designation of the seat of the
common institutions of the Autonomous Community of the Basque
Country shall be effected through a Law of the Basque Parliament
and shall lie within the territory of the Autonomous Community.
Article 5.-l. The flag of the Basque Country has
two crosses, a green diagonal cross and a superimposed whit e
perpendicular cross, on a red background.
2. The flags and banners of the Historic Territories which make up the Autonomous Community
are also recognized.
Article 6.-l. «Euskera», the language of the Basque
People, shall, like Spanish,
have the status of an official language in Euskadi.
All its inhabitants have the right to know and use both languages.
2. The common institutions of the Autonomous Community,
taking into account the socio-linguistic diversity of the Basque
Country, shall guarantee the use of both languages, controlling
their official status, and shall effect and regulate whatever
measures and means are necessary to ensure knowledge of them.
3. No-one may suffer discrimination for reasons
of language.
4. The Royal Academy of the Basque Language is
the official advisory institution in matters regarding «Euskera».
5. Given that «Euskera»
is the heritage of other Basque territories and communities, the
Autonomous Community of the Basque Country may request the Spanish
Government, in addition to whatever ties and correspondence are
maintained with academic and cultural institutions, to conclude
and, where necessary, to submit to the Spanish State Parliament
for authorization, those treaties or agreements that will make
it possible to establish cultural relations with the States where
such territories lie and communities reside, with a view to safeguarding
and promoting «Euskera».
Article 7.-l. For the purposes of this Statute,
the political status of Basque citizen shall be accorded to all
those who are officially resident, according to the General Laws
of the State, in any of the municipalities belonging to the territory
of the Autonomous Community.
2. Persons residing abroad, and their descendants,
who specifically request it, shall enjoy the same political rights
as those living in the Basque Country, if their last legal residence
in Spain was in Euskadi,
and provided they retain their Spanish nationality.
Article 8.- Other territories or municipalities
placed entirely within the territory of the Autonomous Community
of the Basque Country may be added to it by fulfilling the following
requirements:
a) Membership must be requested by the Town Council
or a majority of the Town Councils concerned, and a hearing given
to the Community or province to which the Territories or Municipalities
to be added belong.
b) The inhabit ants of the Territory or Municipality
concerned must express their agreement by means of a referendum
expressly called for this purpose. Such a referendum must be duly
authorized beforehand by the competent authority and passed by
a majority of validly cast votes.
c) It must be passed by the Parliament of the
Basque Country and subsequently, by the Spanish State Parliament,
by means of an Organic Law.
Article 9.-l. The fundamental rights and duties
of the citizens of the Basque Country are those established in
the Constitution.
2. The Basque public authorities, in the areas
lying within their jurisdiction, shall:
a) Watch over and guarantee the proper exercise
of the citizens' fundamental rights and duties.
b) Lay particular emphasis on a policy aimed at
improving living and working conditions.
c) Adopt measures that will help to promote higher
employment and economic stability.
d) Adopt measures aimed at promoting favourable
conditions and removing obstacles in such a way that the freedom
and equality of the individual and of the groups of which he forms
part may be effective and real.
e) Make possible the participation of all citizens
in the political, economic and social life of the Basque Country.
TITLE
I
Concerning the jurisdiction
of the Basque Country
Article 10.- The Autonomous Community of the Basque
Country has sole jurisdiction in the following matters:
1 . Delimitation of municipal territory, without
prejudice to the powers corresponding to the Historic Territories
in accordance with Article 37 of this Statute.
2. Organization, regime and functioning of its
institutions of self-government in accordance with the rules of
this Statute.
3. Internal electoral legislation affecting the
Basque Parliament, «Juntas Generales»
(Provincial Assemblies) and Provincial Councils («Diputaciones
Forales»), in the terms laid down in this Statute and without
prejudice to the powers vested in the Historic Territories, in accordance with the provisions
of Article 37 herein.
4. Local Government and Statute for the Public
Officials of the Basque Country and of its Local Administration,
without prejudice to the provisions of Article 149.1.18 of the
Constitution.
5. Preservation, modification and development
of the Traditional, Regional Law and Special Civil Law, whether writ ten or
common law, belonging to the Historic Territories which make up the Basque
Country, and the establishment of the territorial area of their applicability.
6. Procedural rules and rules concerning administrative
and economic-administrative procedure arising from the special
features of the substantive law and the peculiar organization
of the Basque Country.
7. Public domain and property in the possession
of the Autonomous Community, and public servitudes in matters
under its jurisdiction.
8. Woodland and forestry resources and services,
livestock tracks and pastures without prejudice to the provisions
of article 149.1.23 of the Constitution.
9. Agriculture and livestock farming, in accordance
with the general planning of the economy.
10. Fishing in inland waters, the shellfish industry
and aquiculture, hunting and river and lake fishing.
11. Hydraulic projects, canals and irrigation
schemes when the waters flow, in their entirety, within the Basque
Country; installations for the production, distribution and transport
of energy, provided that such transport does not leave the territory
and that its use does not affect any other province or Autonomous
Community; mineral, thermal and subterranean waters. All
this without prejudice to the provisions of article 149.1.25 of
the Constitution.
12. Social welfare work.
13. Foundations and Associations of an educational,
cultural, artistic, charitable, welfare or similar nature in so
far as their activities are carried out mainly in the Basque Country.
14. Organization, regime and functioning of institutions
and establishments for the protection and guardianship of juveniles,
prisons and social rehabilitation centres, in conformity with
the general legislation on civil, penal and penitentiary matters.
15. Pharmaceutical control in accordance with
the provisions of article 149.1.16 of the Constitution, and hygiene,
taking into account the provisions of Article 18 of this Statute.
16. Scientific and technical research in co-ordination
with the State.
17. Culture, without prejudice to the provision
of article 149.2 of the Constitution.
18. Institutions concerned with the promotion
and teaching of Fine Arts. The handicraft industry.
19. Historical, artistic, monumental, archeological and scientific heritage. The Autonomous Community
shall comply with the rules and obligations to be established
by the State for the protection of this heritage from export and
spoliation.
20. Archives, Libraries and Museums not in state
ownership.
21. Agricultural and Property Chambers, Fishermen's
Guilds, Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Shipping, without prejudice
to the jurisdiction of the State in matters of foreign trade.
22. Professional Associations and exercise of
the degree professions, without prejudice to the stipulations
of articles 36 and 139 of the Constitution. Appointment
of notaries public in accordance with the State Laws.
23. Co-operatives, Mutual Benefit Societies not
belonging to the Social Security and other co-operative associations,
in conformity with the general legislation on commerce.
24. The Basque Country's own public sector, in
so far as it is not affected by other rules in this Statute.
25. Promotion, economic development and planning
of economic activity in the Basque Country in accordance with
the general planning of the Economy.
26. Institutions of corporate, public and territorial
credit and Savings Banks, within the framework of the guidelines
issued by the State concerning the control of credit and banks
and in accordance with general monetary policy
.
27. Internal trade, without prejudice to the general
price policy, the free circulation of goods in the State territory
and legislation on protection of competition. Local
markets and fairs. Control of origin
of goods and advertising in collaboration with the State.
28. Protection of consumers and users in the terms
of the previous paragraph.
29. Establishment and regulation of Commodity
Exchanges and other centres for dealings in commodities and securities
in conformity with the commercial legislation.
30. Industry, excluding the installation, expansion
and transfer of industries subject special rules for reasons of
safety, military or health interest and those needing specific
legislation for such functions, and those requiring prior contracts
for the transfer of foreign technology. In the restructuring of
industrial sectors, the Basque Country is responsible for the
development and implementation of the plan established by the
State.
31. Planning of inland territory and coastline,
town planning and housing.
32. Railways, transport by land, sea, river and
cable, ports, heliports, airports and the Meteorological Service
of the Basque Country, without prejudice to the provisions of
article 149.1.20 of the Constitution. Hiring centres and loading
terminals for transport matters.
33. Public Works not legally classified as being
of general interest or whose execution does not legally affect
other territories.
34. As regards roads and thoroughfares, in addition
to the powers contained in paragraph 5, n.º
1 of article 148 of the Constitution, the Provincial Councils
of the Historic Territories shall retain in their entirety the
legal regime and powers they already possess or which, as the
case may be, they are to recover in accordance with article 3
of this Statute.
35. Casinos, gaming and betting, except for the
national system of wagers for sporting charities.
36. Tourism and sport. Leisure
and entertainment.
37. Basque Country statistics for its own purposes
and jurisdiction.
38. Public performances.
39. Community development. Condition
of women. Policy regarding children,
youth and old people.
Article 11.-l. It is incumbent on the Autonomous
Community of the Basque Country to provide further legislative
development for, and to put into effect, basic State legislation
on the following matters:
a) Environment and ecology.
b) Compulsory expropriation, government contracts
and concessions, within the area of its jurisdiction and the system
of liability of the Administration of the Basque Country.
c) Planning of the fishing sector in the Basque
Country.
2. It is also incumbent on the Autonomous Community
of the Basque Country to provide further legislative development
for, and to put into effect, in the way therein laid down, the
basic legislation, on the following matters:
a) Planning of credit, banking and insurance.
b) Reservation for the public sector of, essential
services, especially in the case of monopolies or the control
of companies when demanded by the public interest.
c) Mining and Energy regime. Geothermic
resources.
Article 12.- It is incumbent on the Autonomous
Community to execute State legislation on the following matters:
1. Prison legislation.
2. Labour legislation, taking up the powers and
jurisdiction at present held by the State in respect of labour
relations; also, the power of organizing, directing and safeguarding,
in conjunction with the State inspectorate, the State services
for the implementation of labour legislation, ensuring that working
conditions are suited to the level of development and social progress
and promoting the acquisition of skills by workers and their full
training.
3. Appointment of Real Estate Registrars, Stock-brokers
and Commercial Brokers. Intervention in the outlining of
the corresponding demarcations where appropriate.
4. Copyright and patent rights.
5. Weights and measures; hallmarks.
6. International trade fairs held in the Basque
Country.
7. Public and State sector within the territorial
area of the Autonomous Community, which will participate in such
cases and activities as are deemed appropriate.
8. Ports and airports classified as being of general
interest, when the State does not reserve their direct management
for it self.
9. Planning of the transport of goods and passengers
whose point of departure and destination lie within the territory
of the Autonomous Community, even when such transport is effected
on infrastructures belonging to the State referred to in number
21 of clause 1 of Article 149 of the Constitution, without prejudice
to such direct execution as the State may keep for it self.
10. Rescue work at sea and dumping of industrial
waste and pollutants in the territorial waters of the State off the Basque
coast.
Article 13.-l. As regards the Administration of Justice,
except military justice, the Autonomous Community of the Basque
Country shall exercise, within its own territory, the powers which
the Organic Laws of Judiciary and of the General Council of the
Judiciary recognize as the Government's or reserve or attribute
to it.
2. In accordance with the General Laws, the right
of pardon and the organization and functioning of the Public Prosecutor's
Office lie wholly with the State.
Article 14.-l. The jurisdiction of the judicial authorities
in the Basque Country extends:
a) In civil suits, to all instances and degrees,
including appeals for review and high-court appeals in matters
of Traditional, Regional Civil Law pertaining to the Basque Country.
b) In penal and social cases, to all instances
and degrees, except high-court appeals and appeals for review.
c) In administrative law cases, to all instances
and degrees when the act involved has been ordered by the Administration
of the Basque Country in matters where legislation is incumbent
solely on the Autonomous Community, and in the first instance,
when the act involved has been ordered by the State Administration.
d) To questions of jurisdiction among the judicial
organs of the Basque Country.
e) To appeals concerning the classification of
documents referring, specifically, to Basque Law which should
have access to the Real Estate Registers.
2. In other matters, appeals may be lodged with
the Supreme Court in accordance with the laws. The Supreme Court
shall likewise resolve conflicts of powers and jurisdiction between
the judicial organs of the Basque Country and the remaining State
organs.
Article 15.- It is incumbent on the Basque Country
to set up and organize its Parliament by means of a law, and as regards the
institution established by Article 54 of the Constitution, to create a similar
organ that, in co-ordination with the former, will exercise the functions
to which the aforesaid Article refers and any other with which the Basque
Parliament may entrust it.
Article 16.- In application of the stipulations
in the First Additional Provision of the Constitution, responsibility lies
with the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country for education in its entirety,
regardless of what level, degree, kind or speciality it may be, without prejudice
to Article 27 of the Constitution and the Organic Laws which are to develop
it , or to the powers assigned to the State by Article 149.1.30 of the Constitution,
or to the inspection necessary for its proper execution and safeguarding.
Article 17.-l. By means of the process of updating
of the general system of Traditional, Regional Law provided for in the First
Additional Provision of the Constitution, responsibility shall lie with the
institutions of the Basque Country, in the manner set out in this Statute,
for the general organization of the Autonomous Police Forces in respect of
the protection of persons and property and the maintaining of public order
within the autonomous territory; the State Security forces and Corps retaining
in all cases responsibility for police services of an extra- and supra-Community
nature, such as guarding ports, airports, coasts and frontiers, customs, controlling
the entry and exit from national territory of Spaniards and foreigners, general
organization of alienage, extradition and expulsion,
emigration and immigration, passports and national identity cards, arms and
explosives, fiscal protection of the State, smuggling and tax fraud involving
the State.
2. Supreme command of the Basque Autonomous Police
Forces shall lie with the Government of the Basque Country, without prejudice
to the powers that may be vested in the Provincial Councils and local Corporations.
3. The Judicial Police and Forces which perform
these functions shall be organized in the service and under the vigilance
of the Administration of Justice, under the terms which the laws of procedure
stipulate.
4. For the sake of co-operation between the Autonomous
Police Forces and the State Security Forces and Corps, there shall be a Security
Council consisting of an equal number of representatives of the State and
of the Autonomous Community.
5. Initially, the Autonomous Police Forces of
the Basque Country shall comprise:
a) The Corps of «Miñones»
belonging to the Provincial Council of Alava, currently
in existence.
b) The Corps of «Miñones»
and «Miqueletes» dependent on the Provincial Councils
of Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa
which are hereby re-established. At a later stage, the Institutions of the
Basque Country may agree to reorganize into a single group those mentioned
in the foregoing paragraphs, or carry out whatever reorganization is needed
for the proper fulfilment of the powers assumed.
All this without prejudice to the continuing
existence, for representational purposes, of the «Miñones» and «Miqueletes».
6. Notwithstanding the stipulations of the preceding
numbers, the State Security Corps and Forces may intervene in the maintenance
of public order in the Autonomous Community in the following cases:
a) When called upon by the Government of the Basque
Country. Intervention shall cease at the request of the same.
b) On their own initiative, when they consider
that the general interest of the State is gravely compromised. The approval
of the Security Council referred to in number 3 of this Article shall be required.
In cases of particular urgency and in order to fulfil the functions directly
entrusted to them by the Constitution, the State Security Corps and Forces
may intervene directly under the sole responsibility of the Government, which
shall report to the Spanish State Parliament. The Spanish State Parliament,
through constitutional procedures, may exercise the powers invested in it.
7. In the case of the declaration of a state of
alarm, exception or siege, all the police forces in the Basque Country shall
come under the direct orders of the civil or military authority, as the case
may be, in accordance with the legislation regulating these matters.
Article 18.-l. The Basque Country is responsible
for the legislative development and the implementation of the basic legislation
of the State in matters of domestic health.
2. In Social Security matters the Basque Country
shall be responsible for:
a) The legislative development and the execution
of basic State legislation, except the rules which govern the economic organisation
of the Social Security.
b) The management of the economic organisation
of the Social Security.
3. It shall also be incumbent on the Basque Country
to execute State legislation on pharmaceutical products.
4. The Autonomous Community may organize and administer,
for these purposes, and within its own territory, all the services connected
with the matters previously expressed and shall supervise institutions, organizations
and foundations as regards Health and Social Security matters. The State shall
keep for itself the inspection powers so as to ensure the fulfilment of the
duties and powers container in this article.
5. The Basque Public Authorities shall adapt the
exercise of the powers they may take up in Health and Social Security matters
to criteria of democratic participation on the part of all those involved,
including the Employees' Unions and Employers' Associations in the terms the
law may establish.
Article 19.-l. The Basque Country is responsible
for the legislative development of the basic rules of the State in matters
regarding the social communications media, always provided the stipulations
of Article 20 of the Constitution are respected.
2. Implementation in matters referred to in the
previous paragraph shall be co-ordinated with that of the State, with respect
to the specific regulations applicable to the media in State ownership.
3. In accordance with the stipulations of the
first paragraph of this article, the Basque Country may regulate, set up and
maintain its own television, radio and press, and in general,. all
the social communications media for the accomplishing of its purposes.
Article 20.-l. The Basque Country shall have legislative
and executive powers in whatever other matters are transferred to it by Organic
Law or which are delegated to it by the State in accordance with the Constitution,
at the request of the Basque Parliament.
2. The Autonomous Community of the Basque Country
may enact legislation in the terms of Article 150.1 of the Constitution, when
the Spanish State Parliament passes the basic laws which that provision refers
to.
3. The Basque Country shall implement the treaties
and agreements in everything affecting the matters assigned to its jurisdiction
in this Statute. No treaty or agreement may affect the powers and jurisdiction
of the Basque Country except by means of the procedure of article 152.2 of
the Constitution, save for the provisions of article 93 of the same.
4. The powers of execution which this Statute
assigns to the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country in those matters
which do not fall under its sole jurisdiction include the power of administration
and that of issuing internal regulations for the organization of the corresponding
services.
5. The Basque Government shall be informed of
the concluding of treaties and agreements and of projected customs legislation,
in so far as they affect matters of particular interest to the Basque Country.
6. Except in the event of an express provision
to the contrary, all the powers and responsibilities mentioned in foregoing
Articles and others in this Statute, shall be understood to refer to the territorial
area of the Basque Country.
Article 21.-The law emanating from the Basque
Country in matters of its exclusive jurisdiction is applicable in preference
to any other and only in its absence shall State law be applied to supplement
it.
Article 22.-l. The Autonomous Community may conclude
agreements with other Autonomous Communities for the management and provision
of services falling under their exclusive jurisdiction. The concluding of
such agreements must be communicated to the Spanish State Parliament before
they become effective. If the Spanish State Parliament, or either of the Chambers,
should express objections within the space of thirty days from the receipt-
of the communication, the agreement must follow the procedure provided for
in the third paragraph of this article. If once this period has lapsed, no
objections to the agreement have been expressed, it shall come into effect.
2. The Autonomous Community may conclude agreements
with other Historic Territories that have particular regional or legal
privileges for the management and provision of services in matters under its
jurisdiction, it being necessary to communicate this to the Spanish State
Parliament. Twenty days after such notification, the agreements shall take
effect.
3. The Autonomous Community may also establish
co-operation agreements with other autonomous communities, with the prior
authorization of the Spanish State Parliament.
Article 23.-l. The State Civil Administration in
Basque Territory shall be adapted to the geographical
area of the Autonomous Community.
2. In conformity with Article 154 of the Constitution,
a Delegate appointed by the Government shall direct the State Administration
and shall co-ordinate it, where appropriate, with the Autonomous Community's
own Administration.
TITLE
II
Concerning the powers
of the Basque Country
PRELIMINARY CHAPTER
Article 24.-l. The powers of the Basque Country are
exercised through the Parliament, the Government and its President or Lendakari.
2. The Historic Territories shall preserve and
organize those institutions which are based on regional or legal privileges
in accordance with the provisions of article 3 of this Statute.
CHAPTER ONE
Concerning the Basque
Parliament
Article 25.-l. The Basque Parliament exercises legislative
power, approves budgets and prompts and controls the action of the Basque
Government, all of which it does without prejudice to the jurisdiction of
the Institutions to which article 37 of this Statute refers.
2. The Basque Parliament is inviolable.
Article 26.-l. The Basque Parliament shall be composed
of an equal number of representatives of each Historic Territory elected by universal, free, direct
and secret suffrage.
2. The electoral district is the Historic Territory.
3. Elections shall be held in each Historic Territory in accordance with criteria of proportional
representation.
4. The Basque Parliament shall be elected for
a period of four years.
5. An Electoral Law of the Basque Parliament shall
regulate the election of its members and shall determine the causes of ineligibility
and incompatibility affecting posts or offices held within its territorial
area.
6. The members of the Basque Parliament shall
be inviolable in respect of the votes and opinions they may express whilst
exercising their functions. During their terms of office, they may not be
arrested or detained for offences committed in the territorial area of the
Autonomous Community unless taken in the act of committing them. In all cases,
it shall be incumbent on the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country to
decide on their indictment, detention, prosecution and trial. Outside the
Basque Country, penal responsibility shall be required in the same terms before
the Criminal Division of the Supreme Court.
Article 27.-l. The Parliament shall elect from among
its members a President, a Bureau and a Standing Committee. It shall function
in Plenary Session and in Committee.
The Parliament shall establish its own Standing
Orders which must be approved by an absolute majority of its members. The
Parliament shall approve its budget and a statute for its employees.
2. Ordinary sessions shall have a minimum duration
of eight months per year.
3. The Chamber may meet in extraordinary assembly
at the request of the Government, the Standing Committee or one third of its
members. Extraordinary sittings must be convened with a specific agenda and
shall be closed as soon as it has been covered.
4. The right to initiate legislation is incumbent
on the members of the Parliament, the Government and the representative Institutions
referred to in article 37 of the Statute, in the terms established by the
law. Members of Parliament may, both in plenary session and in committee,
table requests, questions, interpellations and motions in the terms laid down
by the standing orders. Popular initiative as regards the submitting of bills
which are to be considered by the Basque Parliament shall be regulated by
the same, through a law, in accordance with whatever is established by the
Organic Law provided for in article 83 of the Constitution.
5. The Laws of Parliament shall be promulgated
by the President of the Basque Government, who shall order their publication
in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country (Boletín
Oficial del País
Vasco) within fifteen days of their adoption and in the Official State Gazette
(Boletín Oficial del Estado). They shall take effect on the date of their publication
in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country.
Article 28.- It is also incumbent on the Basque
Parliament:
a) To appoint the Senators who are to represent
the Basque Country, in accordance with the provisions of Article 69.5 of the
Constitution, by means of a procedure to be stipulated in a Law adopted by
the Basque Parliament itself which shall ensure proper proportional
representation.
b) To request the State Government to adopt a
bill or to refer to the Congressional Bureau a proposal for a bill, delegating
the members of the Basque Parliament entrusted with the defence of the said
bill.
c) To lodge appeals of unconstitutionality.
CHAPTER II
Concerning the Basque
Government and the President or Lendakari
Article 29.- The Basque Government is. the corporate body which exercises the executive and administrative
functions of the Basque Country.
Article 30.- The powers of the Government and its
organization, based on a President and Councillors, and the Statute of its
members, shall be regulated by the Parliament.
Article 31.-l. The Basque Government shall resign
after the holding of elections to Parliament, in the event of a loss of parliamentary
confidence or upon the resignation or death of its President.
2. The outgoing Government shall remain in office
until the new Government takes office.
Article 32.-l. The Government is collectively responsible
for its actions to the Basque Parliament, without prejudice to the direct
responsibility of each member for the management of his respective area.
2. The President of the Government and its members
may not be arrested or detained during their term of off ice for criminal
offences committed in the territorial area of the Autonomous Community unless
taken in the act of committing them. In all cases it shall be incumbent on
the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country to decide on their indictment,
detention, prosecution and trial. Outside the territorial area of the Basque
Country, penal responsibility shall be required in the same terms before the
Criminal Division of the Supreme Court.
Article 33.-l. The President of the Government shall
be nominated from among the members of the Government and appointed by the
King.
2. The President appoints and dismisses the Government
Councillors, and directs their activity. He holds the highest representation
of the Basque Country and the ordinary representation of the State in this
territory.
3. The Basque Parliament shall determine by law
the manner of electing the President and his functions and also the relations
of the Government with Parliament.
CHAPTER III
Concerning the Administration
of Justice in the Basque Country
Article 34.-l. The organization of the Administration
of Justice in the Basque Country, at the apex of which there shall be a High
Court, with jurisdiction in the whole territory of the Autonomous Community,
which shall be the court of last appeal, shall be structured in accordance
with the stipulations of the Organic Law of the Judiciary.
The Autonomous Community, in accordance with the
provisions of article 152 of the Constitution, shall share in the organization
of the judicial demarcations below the provincial level and in deciding on
their seat. It shall in all cases fix their boundaries.
2. The President of the High Court of Justice
of the Basque Country shall be appointed by the King.
3. In the Autonomous Community, facilities shall
be given for the exercise of popular action and for the participation in the
Administration of Justice through the institution of the Jury, in the manner
and in respect of those criminal actions as may be determined by procedural
law.
Article 35.-l. The appointment of Judges, Magistrates
and Secretaries shall be carried out in the manner stipulated in the Organic
Laws of the Judiciary and of the General Council of the Judiciary. Knowledge
of Traditional Basque Law and of the Basque language («Euskera») shall be qualifications for which preference shall
be given. No exception shall be made because of origin or place of residence.
2. At the request of the Autonomous Community,
the competent body shall organize competitive examinations to cover vacancies
for Magistrates, Judges and Secretaries in the Basque Country, in accordance
with whatever the Organic Law of the Judiciary may stipulate. Any vacancies
that are not filled by such competitions and examinations shall be filled
by the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country, by applying the rules
contained for this contingency in the Organic Law of the Judiciary.
3. It shall be incumbent on the Autonomous Community,
within its territory, to provide personnel to serve in the Administration
of Justice and the material and economic means necessary for its proper functioning,
in the same terms as this power is assigned to the Government in the Organic
Law of the Judiciary. In the systems for the providing of staff, preference
shall be given to persons with knowledge of Traditional Basque Law and of
the Basque language.
4. The Autonomous Community and the Ministry of
Justice shall maintain the necessary collaboration to ensure the orderly management
of the jurisdiction assumed by the Basque Country.
Article 36.- The Basque Autonomous Police Forces,
in so far as they act as Judicial Police, shall be in the service of, and
dependent on, the Administration of Justice, in the terms laid down by the
laws of procedure.
CHAPTER IV
Concerning the Institutions
of the Historic Territories
Article 37.-l. The traditional legal institutions
of the Historic Territories shall be governed by the judicial
regime exclusive to each.
2. The stipulations of this Statute shall not
entail any alteration of the nature of the specific legal regime based on
Traditional, Regional Law or of the jurisdiction of the particular regimes
of each Historic Territory.
3. In all cases they shall have sole jurisdiction
within their respective territories in the following matters.
a) Organization, regime and functioning of their
own institutions.
b) Drawing up and approval of their own budgets.
c) Territorial demarcations of supra-municipal
scope but not exceeding the provincial boundaries.
d) System of provincial and municipal property,
both public domain and heritage, or their own and Community property.
e) Municipal electoral system.
f) All matters specified in this Statute or which
are transferred to them.
4. They shall also be responsible for the development
of regulations and for the implementation within their territory, of the matters
entrusted to them by the Basque Parliament.
5. The election of the representative bodies of
the Historic Territories shall be effected on the basis of
criteria of universal, free, direct and secret suffrage, on the basis of proportional
representation and with electoral districts that attempt to secure adequate
representation of all areas in each territory.
CHAPTER V
Concerning control over
the powers of the Basque Country
Article 38.-l. The laws of the Basque Parliament
shall be subjected to control for their Constitutionality by the Constitutional
Tribunal only.
2. In the cases provided for in article 150.l
of the Constitution, the provisions of the said article shall be followed.
3. The acts and agreements and rules and regulations
emanating from the executive and administrative bodies of the Basque Parliament
shall be open to appeal before the Administrative Law Courts.
Article 39.- Any conflicts of jurisdiction which
may arise between the institutions of the Autonomous Community and those of
each of the Historic Territories shall be referred, for a decision, to an
arbitration committee, composed of an equal number of representatives freely
nominated by the Basque Government and by the Provincial Council of the Territory
concerned, and presided over by the President of the High Court of Justice
of the Basque Country, in accordance with the procedure to be determined by
a Law from the Basque Parliament.
TITLE
III
Finance and Property
Article 40.-
For the proper exercise and financing of its powers the Basque Country shall
have its own Autonomous Treasury.
Article 41.-l. Tax relations between the State
and the Basque Country shall be regulated by the traditional system of the
Economic Agreement or Conventions.
2. The content of the Agreement regime shall respect
and be adapted to the following principles and guidelines:
a) The competent Institutions of the Historic
Territories may maintain, establish and regulate, within their own territory,
the tax system, bearing in mind the general tax structure of the State, the
rules container in the Economic Agreement itself for co-ordination, fiscal
harmonization and collaboration with the State, and those to be issued by
the Basque Parliament for the same purposes within the Autonomous Community.
The Economic Agreement shall be approved by law.
b) The levying, management, demand, collection
and inspection of all taxes, except those included in the Customs Revenue
and those currently collected by means of Tax Monopolies, shall be carried
out, within each Historic Territory, by the respective Provincial Councils,
without prejudice to collaboration with the State and its inspection service.
c) The competent institutions of the Historic Territories shall adopt the relevant agreements,
with the object of applying within their respective territories whatever exceptional
or provisional tax rules the State may decide to enforce in the ordinary territory.
Such rules shall remain in force for the same length of time as in the ordinary
territory.
d) The Basque Country's transfer to the State
shall consist of an overall quota, made up of the individual quotas of each
of its Territories, as a contribution towards all State burdens that are not
directly taken up by the Autonomous Community.
e) In order to determine the quotas for each Historic
Territory which make up the overall quota referred to previously, a Joint
Commission shall be set up, consisting, on the one hand, of one representative
of each Provincial Council and a similar number of representatives of the
Basque Government, and on the other, of an equal number of representatives
of the State Administration. The quota thus agreed on shall be approved by
law at intervals to be determined in the Economic Agreement, without prejudice
to its annual updating by a procedure likewise to be established in the Agreement.
f) The system of Agreements shall be applied in
accordance with the principle of solidarity referred to in articles 138 and
156 of the Constitution.
Article 42.- The revenue of the General Treasury
of the Basque Country shall consist of:
a) The sums paid in by the Provincial Councils,
as the expression of the contribution of the Historic Territories to the Basque Country's budget expenditure.
A Law of the Basque Parliament shall establish criteria for equitable distribution
and the procedure whereby, in accordance with such criteria, the contributions
to be made by each Historic Territory shall be agreed upon and paid.
b) The proceeds of the Autonomous Community's
own taxes that may be established by the Basque Parliament, in accordance
with the provisions of article 157 of the Constitution and as stipulated in
the Organic Law on the financing of the Autonomous Communities.
c) Transfers from the Inter-Territorial Clearing
Fund and other allocations to be charged to the General State Budgets.
d) Revenues accruing from its own property and
private law income.
e) The yield from credit operations and public
debt issues.
f) Any other income which may be established by
virtue of the stipulations of the Constitution or of this Statute.
Article 43.-l. The rights and property of the State
or other public agencies attached to services and functions assumed by the
Autonomous Community shall be included in the latter's own resources.
2. The Basque Parliament shall decide to which
of the agencies of the Basque Country ownership or use of such property and
rights is to be transferred.
3. A Law of the Basque Parliament shall regulate
the administration, defence and preservation of the Heritage of the Basque
Country.
Article 44.- The General Budgets of the Basque
Country shall contain the revenue and expenditure of general public activity,
and shall be drawn up by the Basque Government and approved by the Basque
Parliament in accordance with the rules it shall itself establish.
Article 45.-l. The Autonomous Community of the Basque
Country may issue public debt to finance investment expenditure.
2. The size and characteristics of issues shall
be established in accordance with the general planning of credit policy, and
in co-ordination with the State.
3. Bonds issued shall be considered for all purposes
as public funds.
TITLE
IV
Concerning amendments
of the Statute
Article 46.-l. Amendments of the Statute shall
be carried out according to the following procedure:
a) The right to initiate amendments shall lie
with the Basque Parliament, at the proposal of one fifth of its members, with
the Basque Government or the Spanish State Parliament.
b) The proposal must be approved in the Basque
Parliament by an absolute majority.
c) It shall require in any case the approval of
the Spanish State Parliament by means of an Organic Law.
d) Finally, the approval of the electors through
a referendum shall be required.
2. The Basque Government may be empowered, by
express delegation from the State, to hold the referendums referred to in
this article.
Article 47.-l. Notwithstanding the provisions
of the previous Article, when the object of the amendment is a mere alteration
in the organization of the authorities of the Basque Country and does not
affect the relations of the Autonomous Community with the State or the exclusive
system based on the Traditional, Regional Law of the Historic Territories,
the following procedure may be adopted:
a) Drawing up of the proposed amendment by the
Basque Parliament.
b) Consultation with the Spanish State Parliament and the Basque Parliament.
c) If within the space of thirty days after receipt
of the consultation, none of the agencies consulted declare themselves to
be affected by the amendment, a duly authorized referendum shall be held on
the proposed text.
d) Finally, the approval of the Spanish State
Parliament, through an Organic Law, shall be required.
e) If within the period laid down in letter c),
any of the agencies consulted should claim to be affected by the amendment,
the procedure stipulated in article 46 must be adopted. The stages outlined
in paragraphs a) and b) of number one of this Article 46 shall be considered
to have been completed.
2. In the event of the contingency provided for
in Transitory Provision Four of the Constitution arising, the Congress and
the Senate, in joint session and following a regulation procedure to be determined
by common agreement, shall establish, by absolute majority, which of the requirements
laid down in Article 46 are to be applied for the amendment to the Statute.
These must, in any case, include the approval of the competent Traditional
Institution, approval through an Organic Law by the Spanish State Parliament,
and a referendum of the affected territories as a whole.
3. The second paragraph of letter b) in number
6 of Article 17 of the Statute may be suppressed by a three-fifths majority
of the Congress and the Senate, and the approval of the Basque Parliament,
with a subsequent duly authorized referendum held for this purpose.
ADDITIONAL PROVISION
The acceptance of the system of autonomy established
in this Statute does not imply that the Basque People waive the rights that
as such may have accrued to them in virtue of their history and which may
be updated in accordance with the stipulations of the legal system.
TRANSITORY PROVISIONS
First. Once this Statute has been definitively
approved, the General Basque Council shall call ,within
a maximum period of sixty days, elections to the Basque Parliament, which
shall be held within four months of the date of their announcement.
For this purpose, each of the Historic Territories that make up the Autonomous Community
shall constitute an electoral district. The political parties, coalitions
of parties and electoral groupings may put up candidates in each electoral
district in closed block lists. The distribution of seats shall be effected
on the system of proportional representation. The number of members of parliament
per electoral district shall be twenty.
Once the elections have been held, the General
Council of the Basque Country shall convene the Parliament Elect within thirty
days so that it may nominate the President of the Basque Government.
The election of the President shall require an
absolute majority in the first ballot, and should this not be obtained, a
simple majority in the succeeding ballot or ballots.
Should the President of the Government not have
been elected within sixty days of the Constitution of Parliament, the Chamber
shall be dissolved and fresh elections called.
As a supplementary measure, the rules issued to
regulate the general elections of June 15th 1977, and the current Standing Orders of
the Congress of Deputies shall be applicable.
Second. A Joint Commission, consisting of
an equal number of representatives of the Basque Government and of the State
Government, meeting within a maximum period of one month, after the constitution
of the former, shall lay down the rules that are to govern the transfer to
the Autonomous Community of the powers vested in it by virtue of this Statute
and the personnel and material means necessary for their full exercise, and
make the appropriate transfers.
On the coming into force of this Statute, the
powers and resources that have by that time been transferred to the General
Basque Council shall be deemed to have been turned over definitively.
All acquired rights of any kind or nature held
at the time of the transfer by civil servants and staff attached to state
services or other public institutions due to be transferred shall be respected.
Third.
1. Transfers that are to be made in education matters, whether of property
or staff, currently used by the State in the Basque Country to perform its
services, shall be effected in accordance with the
programmes and schedules to be established by the Joint Transfer Committee
set up in the second Transitory Provision.
2. The transfer of education services shall be
made to the Autonomous Community or to the Provincial Councils, as the case
may be.
Fourth. The Security Council to be set up
by virtue of the provisions of article 17, shall decide on the Statute, regulations,
staff, numbers and recruitment of the Autonomous Police Forces, whose positions
of command shall be appointed from among the Chiefs and Officers of the State
Armed Forces and Security Corps who, while serving in these Forces, shall
be in the administrative situation to be established in the Law on the Autonomous
Communities' Police Forces, or in the situation that the Ministries of Defence
and of the Interior may decide, and while in this situation shall be excluded
from military law. Licences for arms shall in any case be the responsibility
of the State alone.
Fifth. The Joint Transfers Committee to be
established for the application of this Statute shall conclude the appropriate
agreements whereby the Autonomous Community may assume management of the economic
system of the Social Security, whilst respecting its unified nature and the
principle of solidarity, in accordance with the procedures, time limits and
arrangements contained in such agreements for the sake of orderly management.
Sixth. The co-ordination in execution provided
for in Article 19.2 shall be applicable in the event of the State's according
to the Autonomous Community, on a concession basis, the use of a new television
channel owned by the State and set up specifically for broadcasts within the
territorial area of the Basque Country, under the terms to be laid down in
the aforesaid concession.
Seventh. Until such time as the Spanish State Parliament draws up the basic or
general laws to which this Statute refers and/or the Basque Parliament legislates
on the subjects within its jurisdiction, the current State laws referring
to such matters shall remain in force, without prejudice to their execution
by the Autonomous Community in the cases provided for in this Statute.
2. The stipulations of article 23.1 of this Statute
shall be interpreted without prejudice to the peculiarities which certain
services of the State Civil Administration, by their very nature, may require,
as regards the territorial area of their performance.
Eighth.
The first Economic Agreement to be concluded after the approval of this Statute
shall draw its inspiration from the material contents of the current Economic
Agreement with the province of Alava, without this implying any detriment
to the province. State taxation on alcohol shall not be agreed upon therein.
Ninth. Once the Organic Law approving this
Statute has been passed, the General Basque Council may agree to assume the
title of Provisional Government of the Basque Country, whilst retaining its
present functions and legal regime until the provisions of the first Transitory
Provision of the same are put into effect.