Article 48 (Weimar Constitution)

Article 48 (Weimar Constitution)

Article 48 of the constitution of the Weimar Republic of Germany (1919–1933) allowed the President, under certain circumstances, to take emergency measures without the prior consent of the Reichstag. This power was understood to include the promulgation of "emergency decrees (Notverordnungen)".

The text of the Article did not precisely define the kind of emergency that would justify its usage, and did not expressly give the President the power to enact, issue or otherwise promulgate legislation. However, such an inherent Presidential legislative power is fairly to be implied, since the Article expressly gives the Reichstag the power to cancel the emergency decree by a simple majority vote, and this parliamentary power implies that the issuance of the decree could, by its express terms or its operation, impinge on the Reichstag's constitutional function.

Article 48 did require the President to inform the Reichstag immediately of the issuance of the emergency decree, and it permitted the Reichstag to nullify the emergency decree by simple majority action, but the upper house of the Reichsrat was not involved in this process at all. If the Reichstag objected to the emergency decree, it could retaliate by nullifying the decree by majority action, but the President could in effect counter-retaliate under Article 25 and dissolve the Reichstag, and call for new elections within 60 days.