Unlike most countries, Austria does not have just one constitutional document, like the Constitution of the United States for example, but several documents that have constitutional status. Of these documents, the most important one is the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law (Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz). It was adopted by the Constituent National Assembly on October 1, 1920—100 years ago today—and entered into force on November 10, 1920. It was amended in 1925 and 1929, and rendered inoperative in 1934. In 1945, after the end of World War II, the Federal Constitutional Law was reinstated. The Federal Constitutional Law established the Austrian State as a federal republic with a strong bicameral parliament and set out the basic structure of the state, democracy, and the courts.
