North German Constitution

Constitution of the North German Confederation
Preamble of the Constitution as published in the Bundes-Gesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette) of 2 August 1867
Overview
Original title	Verfassung des Norddeutschen Bundes
Jurisdiction	North German Confederation
Ratified	16 April 1867
System	Confederal parliamentary semi-constitutional monarchy
Government structure
Branches	2
Head of state	King of Prussia
Chambers	Upper House: Bundesrat Lower House: Reichstag
Executive	King of Prussia Chancellor
Federalism	Yes
Repealed	1 January 1871

The North German Constitution, officially the Constitution of the North German Confederation (German: Verfassung des Norddeutschen Bundes) was the constitution of the North German Confederation, which existed as a state from 1 July 1867 to 31 December 1870. The Constitution of the German Empire of 1871 was closely based on it.

The Constitution bore a strong imprint of the German chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, who wanted a loosely organized confederation in which sovereignty rested with the individual states as a whole. The upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, as the body representing the states, was thus the Confederation's sovereign.^[1] Its members were chosen by the states' governments. The members of the lower house of parliament, the Reichstag, were elected by universal manhood suffrage. The Reichstag participated on an equal footing with the Bundesrat in legislation for the Confederation.

The chancellor, who presided over the Bundesrat, was appointed by the king of Prussia and was responsible only to him. The king was head of state and was responsible for executing federal laws passed by the parliament but had no veto right. He was commander-in-chief of the federal army and navy and could declare war and make peace.

The Constitution did not provide for federal courts. Disputes between states were to be resolved by the Bundesrat. The individual states retained their statehood, constitutions, successions to the throne and electoral rights, although they lost their sovereignty to the Confederation.

The North German Constitution remained in force until the short-lived Constitution of the German Confederation, which was based largely on its predecessor, went into effect on 1 January 1871.