y, the king may dissolve the chambers, or either of
them; but the act of dissolution must include an order for an election
within forty days and a summons of the newly elected parliament to
meet within two months.[769]

[Footnote 769: Arts. 70-72. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, I., 137.]

Each house judges the qualifications of its members and decides all
contests arising in relation thereto; each elects, at the opening of a
session, its president, vice-president, secretaries, and other
officials; each determines by its own rules the manner in which its
powers shall be exercised. Sessions are normally public; but by vote
of an absolute majority, taken at the instigation of the president or
of ten members, either body may decide to consider a specific subject
behind closed doors. Votes are taken _viva voce_ or by rising, but a
vote on a bill as a whole must always be by roll call and _viva voce_.
Except on propositions pertaining to constitutional amendments and a
few matters (upon which a two-thirds vote is required), measures are
passed by absolute majority. They must, however, be voted upon article
by article.

From the essentially democratic character of the Belgian government,
it follows that the powers of the legislative chambers are comprehensive.
The functions of legislation are vested by the constitution conjointly
in the king and the two houses, but in practice they are exercised (p. 549)
in a very large measure by the houses alone. Each house, as well as
the crown, possesses full rights of legislative initiative, though it
is required that all laws relating to the revenues or expenditures of
the state, or to military contingents, shall be voted first by the
House of Representatives. Authoritative interpretation of measures
enacted is confided exclusively to the legislative power, and each
house is guaranteed the right to inquire into the conduct of public
affairs and to compel the attendance of ministers for the purpose of
interpellation, although the lower house alone is given power to
formulate charges against public officials and to arraign them before
the Court of Cassation.

IV. THE JUDICIARY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

*604. The Courts.*--Aside from special military, commercial, and labor
tribunals, the courts of Belgium comprise a symmetrical hierarchy
modelled upon that created under the Code Napoleon. At the bottom are
the courts of the 222 cantons, each consisting