Wojciech Bogumił Jastrzębowski’s Draft of the European Constitution of 1831 – Genesis, Main Assumptions and Significance

Abstract

Wojciech Bogusław Jastrzębowski’s federative concept of a united Europe was developed during the November Uprising. The printed text of the 1831 pamphlet Constitution for Europe, the manuscript of which is kept by the Archive of Old Records in Warsaw, was conceived as a project for a pan-European constitution. The main aim of the future federation of nations was to prevent any further wars on our continent. In the 77 articles of the Constitution, Jastrzębowski specified, inter alia, the principles of the functioning of the common institutions of the monarchical federation and the national institutions. He also defined the mutual relations between nations and community authorities, criminal sanctions for breaching European and national laws, as well as the fundamental rights and duties of citizens of a united Europe. The author of the project stipulated the equality of all before the law and the abolition of all state privileges.