Constitution In 36 editions of 36.

19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976; revised 3 November 1988 and 23 February 1989

11 November 1975; revised 7 January 1978, 11 August 1980, 6 March 1991, and 26 August 1992

2 December 1990

March 1965, effective 30 September 1966

2 June 1991

13 March 1992; provides for establishment of a plural political system

new constitution came into force 25 September 1992

20 May 1972

passed by referendum 29 December 1994; adopted 7 January 1995

31 March 1995, passed by referendum

7 June 1992

• 24 June 1967, amended August 1974, revised 15 February 1978;
• amended April 1990;
• new transitional constitution promulgated in April 1994

new constitution approved by referendum March 1992

3 November 1960; has been amended numerous times, last time November 1990

multiparty constitution approved in referendum 4 September 1992

11 September 1971

new constitution 17 November 1991

transitional "constitution" decreed 19 May 1993; the promulgation of a draft constitution is expected in 1996

• none;
• constitution of 6 September 1968 was suspended 12 April 1973;
• a new constitution was promulgated 13 October 1978, but has not been formally presented to the people

new constitution promulgated in December 1994

adopted 14 March 1991

24 April 1970; suspended July 1994

new constitution approved 28 April 1992

23 December 1990 (Loi Fundamentale)

16 May 1984, amended 4 May 1991 (currently undergoing revision to liberalize popular participation in the government)

12 December 1963, amended as a republic 1964; reissued with amendments 1979, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1991, and 1992

2 April 1993

6 January 1986

11 December 1969, amended 2 March 1977

19 August 1992 by national referendum

18 May 1995; most recent revision

adopted 12 January 1992

12 July 1991

12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992

28 September 1958 (French Constitution)

10 March 1972, revised 4 September 1992

30 November 1990

ratified 9 February 1990; effective 12 March 1990

the constitution of January 1993 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996

1979 constitution still in force; plan for 1989 constitution to take effect in 1993 was not implemented

28 September 1958 (French Constitution)

18 June 1991

1 January 1989

approved March 1990; effective 10 September 1990

3 March 1963, revised 1991

18 June 1993

1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times

25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September 1979

• 27 April 1994 (interim constitution, replacing the constitution of 3 September 1984);
• note - on 8 May 1996, the Constitutional Assembly voted 421 to two to pass a new constitution which, after certification by the Constitutional Court, will gradually go into effect over a three-year period and come into full force with the next national elections in April 1999

• 12 April 1973, suspended following coup of 6 April 1985;
• interim constitution of 10 October 1985 suspended following coup of 30 June 1989;
• new constitution to be drafted following national elections held in March 1996

25 April 1977; major revisions October 1984

multiparty draft constitution approved by High Council of the Republic 1 July 1992; adopted by public referendum 27 September 1992

1 June 1959; amended 12 July 1988

• 8 October 1995;
• adopted by the interim, 284-member Constituent Assembly, charged with debating the draft constitution that had been proposed in May 1993;
• the Constituent Assembly was dissolved on promulgation of the constitution in October 1995

2 August 1991

21 December 1979

3 October 1985

5 June 1953 (Danish constitution)

16 June 1944, effective 17 June 1944

none

adopted by nationwide referendum 5 July 1995

adopted 12 November 1995

4 November 1972, effective 16 December 1972, suspended following coup of 24 March 1982, restored 10 November 1986, amended many times

no written constitution or bill of rights

note: Bhutan uses 1953 Royal decree for the Constitution of the National Assembly

most recent promulgated 4 December 1982

adopted 17 October 1995

26 January 1950

3 May 1947

adopted 28 January 1993; has been amended in April 1995 and August 1995

adopted 1948, completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992

25 February 1988

adopted 5 May 1993

note: amendment proposed by President AKAYEV and passed in a national referendum on 10 February 1996 significantly expands the powers of the president at the expense of the legislature

4 June 1968

adopted 13 January 1992

9 November 1990

10 April 1973, suspended 5 July 1977, restored with amendments 30 December 1985

adopted 12 December 1993

adopted 16 August 1978

new constitution adopted 6 November 1994

adopted 18 May 1992

new constitution adopted 8 December 1992

Anguilla Constitutional Order 1 April 1982; amended 1990

1 November 1981

1 January 1986

10 July 1973

30 November 1966

21 September 1981

1 June 1977

1959, revised 1972 and 1992

9 November 1949

24 February 1976

3 November 1978

28 November 1966

20 December 1983

19 December 1973

28 September 1958 (French Constitution)

31 May 1985, effective 14 January 1986

note: suspended 25 May 1993 by President SERRANO; reinstated 5 June 1993 following ouster of president

• approved March 1987, suspended June 1988, most articles reinstated March 1989;
• in October 1991, government claimed to be observing the constitution;
• return to constitutional rule, October 1994

11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982

6 August 1962

28 September 1958 (French Constitution)

present constitution came into force 19 December 1989

29 December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the Netherlands, as amended

9 January 1987

11 October 1972; major reforms adopted April 1983

• ratified 3 March 1952;
• approved by US Congress 3 July 1952;
• effective 25 July 1952

19 September 1983

22 February 1979

27 October 1979

1 August 1976

introduced 30 August 1976, suspended in 1986, restored and revised 5 March 1988

Revised Organic Act of 22 July 1954

• an interim basic law was approved by the People's Assembly on 29 April 1991;
• a draft constitution was rejected by popular referendum in the fall of 1994 and a new draft is pending

Andorra's first written constitution was drafted in 1991; adopted 14 March 1993

1920; revised 1929 (reinstated 1 May 1945)

adopted 15 March 1994; replaces constitution of April 1978

7 February 1831, last revised 14 July 1993; parliament approved a constitutional package creating a federal state

• first promulgated in 1974 (under the Communists), amended 1989, 1990, and 1991;
• constitution of Muslim/Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ratified April 1994;
• under the Dayton Agreement signed 21 November 1995, the Muslim/Croat Federation and the Serb republic government agreed to accept new basic principles in their constitutions

adopted 12 July 1991

adopted on 22 December 1990

ratified 16 December 1992; effective 1 January 1993

1849 was the original constitution; there was a major overhaul 5 June 1953, allowing for a unicameral legislature and a female chief of state

adopted 28 June 1992

5 June 1953 (Danish constitution)

17 July 1919

• 28 September 1958, amended concerning election of president in 1962, amended to comply with provisions of EC Maastricht Treaty in 1992;
• amended to tighten immigration laws 1993

23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990

30 May 1969

11 June 1975

unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

Apostolic Constitution of 1967 (effective 1 March 1968)

• 18 August 1949, effective 20 August 1949, revised 19 April 1972;
• 18 October 1989 revision ensured legal rights for individuals and constitutional checks on the authority of the prime minister and also established the principle of parliamentary oversight

29 December 1937; adopted 1 July 1937 by plebiscite

1961, Isle of Man Constitution Act

1 January 1948

unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

newly elected Parliament in 1993 restored the 1933 constitution

5 October 1921

adopted 25 October 1992

17 October 1868, occasional revisions

1964 constitution substantially amended on 13 December 1974

new constitution adopted 28 July 1994; replaces old Soviet constitution of 1979

Published as “Constitution”

17 December 1962

Published as “Constitution”

17 December 1962

17 February 1983

adopted 17 November 1991, effective 20 November 1991

17 May 1814, modified in 1884

• interim "small constitution" came into effect in December 1992 replacing the communist-imposed constitution of 22 July 1952;
• new democratic constitution being drafted

25 April 1976, revised 30 October 1982 and 1 June 1989

8 December 1991

8 October 1600; electoral law of 1926 serves some of the functions of a constitution

27 April 1992

ratified 1 September 1992, fully effective 1 January 1993

adopted 23 December 1991, effective 23 December 1991

6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978

1 January 1975

29 May 1874

adopted 28 June 1996

unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice

26 May 1973, effective 6 December 1973

• 16 August 1960;
• negotiations to create the basis for a new or revised constitution to govern the island and to better relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been held intermittently;
• in 1975 Turkish Cypriots created their own constitution and governing bodies within the "Turkish Federated State of Cyprus," which was renamed the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" in 1983;
• a new constitution for the Turkish area passed by referendum on 5 May 1985

2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency and eliminate the prime ministership

22 September 1968, effective 16 July 1970 (provisional Constitution); new constitution drafted in 1990 but not adopted

no formal constitution; some of the functions of a constitution are filled by the Declaration of Establishment (1948), the basic laws of the parliament (Knesset), and the Israeli citizenship law

8 January 1952

approved and promulgated 11 November 1962

23 May 1926, amended a number of times

none

provisional constitution enacted 2 April 1970

none; governed according to Shari'a (Islamic law)

13 March 1973

7 November 1982

2 December 1971 (provisional)

16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994

8 June 1968

amended British North America Act 1867 patriated to Canada 17 April 1982; charter of rights and unwritten customs

5 February 1917

28 September 1958 (French Constitution)

17 September 1787, effective 4 March 1789

ratified 1966, in effect 1967

9 July 1900, effective 1 January 1901

4 August 1965

• 10 October 1970 (suspended 1 October 1987);
• a new Constitution was proposed on 23 September 1988 and promulgated on 25 July 1990;
• the 1990 Constitution is under review;
• the review is scheduled to be complete by 1997