Should we deem it necessary to seek counsel of the Diet concerning changes in the constitution of the Diet—changes which, not being limited to any particular province, are not to be arranged by the Diet of that province—we shall demand an opinion from the United Diet, for whose consideration changes in such matters of State are exclusively reserved.
Section 13.—To the United Diet belongs the right of laying before us petitions and complaints relating to the internal affairs of the whole kingdom, or of several provinces; on the other hand, petitions and complaints which concern merely the interests of particular provinces must be referred to the provincial Diets.
Section 14.—When the United Diet has determined on raising new State loans (Section 5), or the introduction of new taxes, or increasing the existing rate of taxes (Section 9), the Estate of the Nobles must take part with the other estates in the discussion and decision. In all other cases the deliberations and votes of the Estate of the Nobles in the United Diet are to take place in a separate assembly.
Section 15.—Every member of the Estate of the Nobles is entitled to a full vote in the United Diet, but when (as mentioned in Section 14) the Estate of the Nobles is united with the other estates in one Assembly, the members of that Estate, taking part in the discussions of the United Diet, have only that number of votes which belongs to them in the Provincial Diets.
Section 16.—Resolutions are to be carried by the majority of votes.
Petitions and complaints are only to be brought under our cognizance when they have been deliberated on in both Assemblies (that is, in the Assembly of the Estate of Nobles, and in the Assembly of Deputies of the Knighthood and Commoners), and when in each of these Assemblies at least two-thirds of the votes have been in favor of such petitions or complaints.
When the two above-named Assemblies, or one of them, after the discussion of a law, or of certain articles of a law, shall decide against that law by a majority less than that above-named, the views of the minority shall be submitted to our consideration.
Section 17.—If on a subject in respect to which the interests of two different estates or provinces may be at variance with each other, a particular estate or province should have reason to complain of a resolution according to the terms of Section 16, a separation of the Assembly into its component parts takes place, if a majority of two-thirds of the said estate or province be obtained.
In such case the estate or province must discuss the matter separately, or pass a separate vote, and the various views entertained on the subject will afterwards be submitted to our decision.
Also, in other cases, we reserve to ourselves the privilege of requiring, when we think fit so to do, a separate opinion from each of the estates and provinces.