| Field Listing - Constitution

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Country | Constitution
Afghanistan | new constitution drafted 14 December 2003-4 January 2004; signed 16 January 2004
Albania | adopted by popular referendum on 28 November 1998
Algeria | 8 September 1963; revised 19 November 1976, effective 22 November 1976; revised 3 November 1988, 23 February 1989, and 28 November 1996
American Samoa | ratified 2 June 1966, effective 1 July 1967
Andorra | Andorra's first written constitution was drafted in 1991, approved by referendum 14 March 1993, effective 4 May 1993
Angola | 11 November 1975; revised 7 January 1978, 11 August 1980, 6 March 1991, and 26 August 1992; note - a new constitution will likely be passed following the next legislative election
Anguilla | Anguilla Constitutional Order 1 April 1982; amended 1990
Antigua and Barbuda | 1 November 1981
Argentina | 1 May 1853; revised August 1994
Armenia | adopted by nationwide referendum 5 July 1995; amendments adopted through a nationwide referendum 27 November 2005
Aruba | 1 January 1986
Australia | 9 July 1900, effective 1 January 1901
Austria | 1920; revised 1929 (reinstated 1 May 1945)
Azerbaijan | adopted 12 November 1995
Bahamas, The | 10 July 1973
Bahrain | new constitution 14 February 2002
Bangladesh | 4 November 1972, effective 16 December 1972; suspended following coup of 24 March 1982, restored 10 November 1986; amended many times
Barbados | 30 November 1966
Belarus | 15 March 1994; revised by national referendum of 24 November 1996 giving the presidency greatly expanded powers and became effective 27 November 1996; revised again 17 October 2004 removing presidential term limits
Belgium | 7 February 1831; amended many times; revised 14 July 1993 to create a federal state
Belize | 21 September 1981
Benin | December 1990
Bermuda | 8 June 1968; amended 1989 and 2003
Bhutan | no written constitution or bill of rights; note - in 2001, the king commissioned the drafting of a constitution, and in March 2005 publicly unveiled it; is awaiting national referendum
Bolivia | 2 February 1967; revised in August 1994
Bosnia and Herzegovina | the Dayton Agreement, signed 14 December 1995, included a new constitution now in force; note - each of the entities also has its own constitution
Botswana | March 1965, effective 30 September 1966
Brazil | 5 October 1988
British Virgin Islands | 1 June 1977
Brunei | 29 September 1959 (some provisions suspended under a State of Emergency since December 1962, others since independence on 1 January 1984)
Bulgaria | adopted 12 July 1991
Burkina Faso | 2 June 1991 approved by referendum, 11 June 1991 formally adopted; amended April 2000
Burma | 3 January 1974; suspended since 18 September 1988; national convention convened in 1993 to draft a new constitution but collapsed in 1996; reconvened in 2004 but does not include participation of democratic opposition
Burundi | 28 February 2005; ratified by popular referendum
Cambodia | promulgated 21 September 1993
Cameroon | 20 May 1972 approved by referendum, 2 June 1972 formally adopted; revised January 1996

Canada

made up of unwritten and written acts, customs, judicial decisions, and traditions; the written part of the constitution consists of the Constitution Act of 29 March 1867, which created a federation of four provinces, and the Constitution Act of 17 April 1982, which transferred formal control over the constitution from Britain to Canada, and added a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as procedures for constitutional amendments

Cape Verde | new constitution came into force 25 September 1992; underwent a major revision on 23 November 1995, substantially increasing the powers of the president; a 1999 revision created the position of national ombudsman (Provedor de Justica)
Cayman Islands | 1959; revised 1962, 1972, and 1994
Central African Republic | 5 December 2004; ratified by popular referendum
Chad | passed by referendum 31 March 1996; a June 2005 referendum removed constitutional term limits
Chile | 11 September 1980, effective 11 March 1981; amended 1989, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2005
China | most recent promulgation 4 December 1982
Christmas Island | Christmas Island Act of 1958-59 (1 October 1958) as amended by the Territories Law Reform Act of 1992
Cocos (Keeling) Islands | Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act of 1955 (23 November 1955) as amended by the Territories Law Reform Act of 1992
Colombia | 5 July 1991
Comoros | 23 December 2001
Congo, Democratic Republic of the | 18 February 2006
Congo, Republic of the | approved by referendum 20 January 2002
Cook Islands | 4 August 1965
Costa Rica | 7 November 1949
Cote d'Ivoire | new constitution adopted 4 August 2000
Croatia | adopted on 22 December 1990; revised 2000, 2001
Cuba | 24 February 1976; amended July 1992 and June 2002

Cyprus

16 August 1960; from December 1963, the Turkish Cypriots no longer participated in the government; negotiations to create the basis for a new or revised constitution to govern the island and for better relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been held intermittently since the mid-1960s; in 1975, following the 1974 Turkish intervention, Turkish Cypriots created their own constitution and governing bodies within the "Turkish Federated State of Cyprus," which became the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" when the Turkish Cypriots declared their independence in 1983; a new constitution for the "TRNC" passed by referendum on 5 May 1985

Czech Republic | ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993
Denmark | 5 June 1849 adoption of original constitution; a major overhaul of 5 June 1953 allowed for a unicameral legislature and a female chief of state
Djibouti | multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992
Dominica | 3 November 1978
Dominican Republic | 28 November 1966; amended 25 July 2002
East Timor | 22 March 2002 (based on the Portuguese model)
Ecuador | 10 August 1998
Egypt | 11 September 1971; amended 22 May 1980
El Salvador | 23 December 1983
Equatorial Guinea | approved by national referendum 17 November 1991; amended January 1995
Eritrea | a transitional constitution, decreed on 19 May 1993, was replaced by a new constitution adopted on 23 May 1997, but not yet implemented
Estonia | adopted 28 June 1992
Ethiopia | ratified December 1994, effective 22 August 1995

European Union

based on a series of treaties: the Treaty of Paris, which set up the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951; the Treaties of Rome, which set up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957; the Single European Act in 1986; the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht) in 1992; the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1997; and the Treaty of Nice in 2001; note - a new draft Constitutional Treaty, signed on 29 October 2004 in Rome, gave member states two years for ratification either by parliamentary vote or national referendum before it was scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2006; defeat in French and Dutch referenda in May-June 2005 caused a suspension of the ratification process

Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) | 3 October 1985; amended 1997 and 1998
Faroe Islands | 5 June 1953 (Danish constitution)
Fiji | promulgated on 25 July 1990; amended on 25 July 1997 to allow nonethnic Fijians greater say in government and to make multiparty government mandatory; effective 28 July 1998
Finland | 1 March 2000
France | adopted by referendum 28 September 1958, effective 4 October 1958; amended concerning election of president in 1962; amended to comply with provisions of 1992 EC Maastricht Treaty, 1996 Amsterdam Treaty, 2000 Treaty of Nice; amended to tighten immigration laws in 1993; amended in 2000 to change the seven-year presidential term to a five-year term
French Guiana | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
French Polynesia | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Gabon | adopted 14 March 1991
Gambia, The | 24 April 1970; suspended July 1994; rewritten and approved by national referendum 8 August 1996; reestablished January 1997
Georgia | adopted 24 August 1995
Germany | 23 May 1949, known as Basic Law; became constitution of the united German people 3 October 1990
Ghana | approved 28 April 1992
Gibraltar | 30 May 1969
Greece | 11 June 1975; amended March 1986 and April 2001
Greenland | 5 June 1953 (Danish constitution)
Grenada | 19 December 1973
Guadeloupe | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Guam | Organic Act of Guam, 1 August 1950
Guatemala | 31 May 1985, effective 14 January 1986; note - suspended 25 May 1993 by former President Jorge SERRANO; reinstated 5 June 1993 following ouster of president; amended November 1993
Guernsey | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
Guinea | 23 December 1990 (Loi Fundamentale)
Guinea-Bissau | 16 May 1984; amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, NA 1996
Guyana | 6 October 1980
Haiti | approved March 1987; suspended June 1988 with most articles reinstated March 1989; in October 1991, government claimed to be observing the constitution; returned to constitutional rule in October 1994
Holy See (Vatican City) | new Fundamental Law promulgated by Pope JOHN PAUL II on 26 November 2000, effective 22 February 2001 (replaces the first Fundamental Law of 1929)
Honduras | 11 January 1982, effective 20 January 1982; amended 1995
Hong Kong | Basic Law, approved in March 1990 by China's National People's Congress, is Hong Kong's "mini-constitution"
Hungary | 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; 1997 amendment streamlined the judicial system
Iceland | 16 June 1944, effective 17 June 1944; amended many times
India | 26 January 1950; amended many times
Indonesia | August 1945; abrogated by Federal Constitution of 1949 and Provisional Constitution of 1950, restored 5 July 1959; series of amemdments concluded in 2002
Iran | 2-3 December 1979; revised 1989 to expand powers of the presidency and eliminate the prime ministership
Iraq | ratified on 15 October 2005
Ireland | adopted 1 July 1937 by plebiscite; effective 29 December 1937
Isle of Man | unwritten; note - The Isle of Man Constitution Act of 1961 does not embody the unwritten Manx Constitution
Israel | 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
Italy | passed 11 December 1947, effective 1 January 1948; amended many times
Jamaica | 6 August 1962
Japan | 3 May 1947
Jersey | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
Jordan | 1 January 1952; amended 1954, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1965, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1984
Kazakhstan | first post-independence constitution adopted 28 January 1993; new constitution adopted by national referendum 30 August 1995
Kenya | 12 December 1963; amended as a republic 1964; reissued with amendments 1979, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1997, 2001
Kiribati | 12 July 1979
Korea, North | adopted 1948; completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992, and September 1998
Korea, South | 17 July 1948
Kuwait | approved and promulgated 11 November 1962
Kyrgyzstan | adopted 5 May 1993; note - amendment proposed by President Askar AKAYEV and passed in a national referendum on 2 February 2003 significantly expands the powers of the president at the expense of the legislature; following the spring 2005 demonstrations, a new Constitutional Council was appointed and the reform process is ongoing
Laos | promulgated 14 August 1991
Latvia | 15 February 1922; an October 1998 amendment on Fundamental Human Rights replaced the 1991 Constitutional Law, which had supplemented the constitution
Lebanon | 23 May 1926; amended a number of times, most recently Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation (Ta'if Accord) of October 1989
Lesotho | 2 April 1993
Liberia | 6 January 1986
Libya | 11 December 1969; amended 2 March 1977
Liechtenstein | 5 October 1921
Lithuania | adopted 25 October 1992
Luxembourg | 17 October 1868; occasional revisions
Macau | Basic Law, approved in March 1993 by China's National People's Congress, is Macau's "mini-constitution"
Macedonia | adopted 17 November 1991, effective 20 November 1991; amended November 2001 by a series of new constitutional amendments strengthening minority rights and in 2005 with amendments related to the judiciary
Madagascar | 19 August 1992 by national referendum
Malawi | 18 May 1994
Malaysia | 31 August 1957; amended 16 September 1963
Maldives | adopted 1 January 1998
Mali | adopted 12 January 1992
Malta | 1964 constitution; amended many times
Marshall Islands | 1 May 1979
Martinique | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Mauritania | 12 July 1991
Mauritius | 12 March 1968; amended 12 March 1992
Mayotte | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Mexico | 5 February 1917
Micronesia, Federated States of | 10 May 1979
Moldova | new constitution adopted 29 July 1994, effective 27 August 1994; replaced old Soviet constitution of 1979
Monaco | 17 December 1962
Mongolia | 12 February 1992
Montserrat | effective 19 December 1989
Morocco | 10 March 1972; revised 4 September 1992, amended (to create bicameral legislature) September 1996
Mozambique | 30 November 1990
Namibia | ratified 9 February 1990, effective 12 March 1990
Nauru | 29 January 1968; amended 17 May 1968 (Constitution Day)
Nepal | 9 November 1990
Netherlands | adopted 1815; amended many times, most recently in 2002
Netherlands Antilles | 29 December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the Netherlands, as amended
New Caledonia | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
New Zealand | consists of a series of legal documents, including certain acts of the UK and New Zealand Parliaments, as well as The Constitution Act 1986, which is the principal formal charter; adopted 1 January 1987, effective 1 January 1987
Nicaragua | 9 January 1987; reforms in 1995 and 2000
Niger | new constitution adopted 18 July 1999
Nigeria | new constitution adopted May 1999
Niue | 19 October 1974 (Niue Constitution Act)
Norfolk Island | Norfolk Island Act of 1979
Northern Mariana Islands | Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands effective 1 January 1978; Covenant Agreement fully effective 4 November 1986
Norway | 17 May 1814; amended many times

Oman

none; note - on 6 November 1996, Sultan QABOOS issued a royal decree promulgating a basic law considered by the government to be a constitution which, among other things, clarifies the royal succession, provides for a prime minister, bars ministers from holding interests in companies doing business with the government, establishes a bicameral legislature, and guarantees basic civil liberties for Omani citizens

Pakistan | 12 April 1973; suspended 5 July 1977, restored with amendments 30 December 1985; suspended 15 October 1999, restored 31 December 2002; amended 31 December 2003
Palau | 1 January 1981
Panama | 11 October 1972; major reforms adopted 1978, 1983, 1994, and 2004
Papua New Guinea | 16 September 1975
Paraguay | promulgated 20 June 1992
Peru | 31 December 1993
Philippines | 2 February 1987, effective 11 February 1987
Pitcairn Islands | 30 November 1838; reformed 1904 with additional reforms in 1940; further refined by the Local Government Ordinance of 1964
Poland | adopted by the National Assembly 2 April 1997, passed by national referendum 25 May 1997, effective 17 October 1997
Portugal | 25 April 1976; revised many times
Puerto Rico | ratified 3 March 1952, approved by US Congress 3 July 1952, effective 25 July 1952
Qatar | ratified by public referendum on 29 April 2003, endorsed by the amir on 8 June 2004, effective on 9 June 2005
Reunion | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Romania | 8 December 1991; revision effective 29 October 2003
Russia | adopted 12 December 1993
Rwanda | new constitution adopted 4 June 2003
Saint Helena | 1 January 1989
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 19 September 1983
Saint Lucia | 22 February 1979
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 27 October 1979
Samoa | 1 January 1962
San Marino | 8 October 1600; electoral law of 1926 serves some of the functions of a constitution
Sao Tome and Principe | approved March 1990, effective 10 September 1990
Saudi Arabia | governed according to Shari'a law; the Basic Law that articulates the government's rights and responsibilities was introduced in 1993
Senegal | new constitution adopted 7 January 2001
Serbia and Montenegro | 4 February 2003
Seychelles | 18 June 1993
Sierra Leone | 1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times
Singapore | 3 June 1959; amended 1965 (based on preindependence State of Singapore Constitution)
Slovakia | ratified 1 September 1992, effective 1 January 1993; changed in September 1998 to allow direct election of the president; amended February 2001 to allow Slovakia to apply for NATO and EU membership
Slovenia | adopted 23 December 1991
Solomon Islands | 7 July 1978
Somalia | 25 August 1979, presidential approval 23 September 1979 note: the formation of transitional governing institutions, known as the Transitional Federal Government, is currently ongoing
South Africa | 10 December 1996; this new constitution was certified by the Constitutional Court on 4 December 1996, was signed by then President MANDELA on 10 December 1996, and entered into effect on 3 February 1997; it is being implemented in phases
Spain | 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978
Sri Lanka | adopted 16 August 1978, certified 31 August 1978
Sudan | 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 implemented on 30 June 1998 partially suspended 12 December 1999 by President BASHIR; under the CPA, Interim National Constitution ratified 5 July 2005; Constitution of Southern Sudan signed December 2005
Suriname | ratified 30 September 1987
Swaziland | the first constitution was signed into law in July 2005 and is scheduled to be implemented in January 2006
Sweden | 1 January 1975
Switzerland | revision of Constitution of 1874 approved by the Federal Parliament 18 December 1998, adopted by referendum 18 April 1999, officially entered into force 1 January 2000
Syria | 13 March 1973
Taiwan | 25 December 1946; amended in 1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2005
Tajikistan | 6 November 1994
Tanzania | 25 April 1977; major revisions October 1984
Thailand | new constitution signed by King PHUMIPHON on 11 October 1997
Togo | multiparty draft constitution approved by High Council of the Republic 1 July 1992, adopted by public referendum 27 September 1992
Tokelau | administered under the Tokelau Islands Act of 1948; amended in 1970
Tonga | 4 November 1875; revised 1 January 1967
Trinidad and Tobago | 1 August 1976
Tunisia | 1 June 1959; amended 1988, 2002
Turkey | 7 November 1982
Turkmenistan | adopted 18 May 1992
Turks and Caicos Islands | introduced 30 August 1976; suspended in 1986; restored and revised 5 March 1988
Tuvalu | 1 October 1978
Uganda | 8 October 1995
Ukraine | adopted 28 June 1996
United Arab Emirates | 2 December 1971; made permanent in 1996
United Kingdom | unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
United States | 17 September 1787, effective 4 March 1789
Uruguay | 27 November 1966, effective February 1967; suspended 27 June 1973, new constitution rejected by referendum 30 November 1980; two constitutional reforms approved by plebiscite 26 November 1989 and 7 January 1997
Uzbekistan | new constitution adopted 8 December 1992
Vanuatu | 30 July 1980
Venezuela | 30 December 1999
Vietnam | 15 April 1992
Virgin Islands | Revised Organic Act of 22 July 1954
Wallis and Futuna | 4 October 1958 (French Constitution)
Yemen | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001
Zambia | 24 August 1991
Zimbabwe | 21 December 1979

This page was last updated on 29 March, 2006