belge (Brussels, 1894), and Beltjens, La
constitution belge revisee (Liege, 1895). The best
treatises on the Belgian constitutional system are
P. Errera, Das Staatsrecht des Koenigreichs Belgien
(Tuebingen, 1909), and Traite de droit public belge:
droit constitutionnel, droit administratif (Paris,
1908), and O. Orban, Le droit constitutionnel de la
Belgique, 3 vols. (Liege, 1906-1911). An older but
excellent work is A. Giron, La droit public de la
Belgique (Brussels, 1884). A convenient elementary
book on the subject is F. Masson et C. Wiliquet,
Manuel de droit constitutionnel (7th ed., Brussels,
1904). A useful volume is E. Flandin, Institutions
politiques de l'Europe contemporaine (2d ed.,
Paris, 1907), I.]

*590. The Crown.*--Kingship in Belgium is hereditary in the (p. 536)
direct male line in the order of primogeniture. In default of male
descendants, the king, with the consent of the legislative chambers,
may name his successor.[747] A king or heir to the throne attains his
majority at the age of eighteen. In the event of a minority, or of the
incapacity of the sovereign, the two houses are required to meet in a
single assembly for the purpose of making provision for a regency. The
powers of regent may not be conferred upon two or more persons
jointly, and during the continuance of a regency no changes may be
made in the constitution.[748] If by chance the throne should fall
wholly vacant, the choice of a sovereign would devolve upon the
legislative chambers, specially re-elected for the purpose, and
deliberating in joint session. The civil list of the crown is fixed at
the beginning of a reign. That of Leopold II., as established by law
of December 25, 1865, was 3,300,000 francs, and that of the present
sovereign, Albert I., is the same.

[Footnote 747: This privilege was conferred by an
amendment (Art. 61) adopted September 7, 1893.]

[Footnote 748: Arts. 60, 79-85. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, I., 136, 138-139.]

*591. The Ministers and the Parliamentary System.*--The Council of
Ministers consists of ten heads of executive departments. These,
together w