http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?home The Global Legal Monitor is an online publication from the Law Library of Congress covering legal news and developments worldwide. It is updated frequently and draws on information from the Global Legal Information Network, official national legal publications, and reliable press sources. You can search previous news by searching the archive. en-us http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403594_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 21 May 2013 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403594_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403593_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403593_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403575_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403575_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403573_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403573_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403571_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403571_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403537_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403537_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403527_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403527_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403520_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 19 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403520_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403481_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403481_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403443_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403443_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403385_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403385_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403364_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403364_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403287_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403287_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403282_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 15 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403282_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403274_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 09 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403274_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403275_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 09 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403275_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403270_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403270_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403237_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403237_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403214_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403214_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403219_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403219_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403209_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 25 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403209_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403204_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403204_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403195_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403195_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403169_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 29 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403169_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403168_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 24 May 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403168_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403114_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403114_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403099_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403099_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403093_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403093_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403077_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403077_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403055_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 27 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403055_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403028_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 14 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205403028_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402952_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402952_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402953_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402953_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402890_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402890_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402790_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402790_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402778_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 16 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402778_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402769_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402769_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402762_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402762_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402754_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402754_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402728_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402728_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402725_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402725_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402724_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402724_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402717_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402717_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402652_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402652_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402593_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 30 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402593_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402585_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402585_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402570_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402570_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402532_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402532_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402510_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402510_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402471_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 14 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402471_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402461_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402461_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402441_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 28 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402441_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402365_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402365_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402366_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402366_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402309_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 13 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402309_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402303_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402303_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402293_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402293_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402264_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402264_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402226_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402226_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402154_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402154_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402105_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402105_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402098_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402098_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402083_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402083_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402048_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205402048_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401979_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 13 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401979_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401978_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 12 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401978_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401968_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it:... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 10 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401968_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401965_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 07 May 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401965_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401913_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401913_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401911_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401911_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401886_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401886_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401858_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401858_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401850_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401850_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401807_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401807_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401802_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401802_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401739_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401739_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401710_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401710_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401697_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401697_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401689_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401689_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401681_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401681_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401634_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401634_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401637_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401637_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401584_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401584_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401579_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), part of the... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401579_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401458_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), part of the On July 25, 2009, after a year-long trial, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled that Vice President Parmananda Jha's taking of the oath of office in Hindi, instead of Nepali, on July 23, 2008, was unconstitutional.... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401458_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401404_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), part of the On July 25, 2009, after a year-long trial, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled that Vice President Parmananda Jha's taking of the oath of office in Hindi, instead of Nepali, on July 23, 2008, was unconstitutional. On June 21, 2009, Somalia's Puntland State's parliament adopted a new constitution which is said to have 141 provisions and which, for the first time in Puntland's history, provides for the introduction of a multiparty political... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401404_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401376_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), part of the On July 25, 2009, after a year-long trial, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled that Vice President Parmananda Jha's taking of the oath of office in Hindi, instead of Nepali, on July 23, 2008, was unconstitutional. On June 21, 2009, Somalia's Puntland State's parliament adopted a new constitution which is said to have 141 provisions and which, for the first time in Puntland's history, provides for the introduction of a multiparty political On June 4, 2009, Mauritania took a step toward a return to constitutional order and democratic rule. The country had undergone a coup d'tat in 2008, when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallah, elected in 2007, was... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401376_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401348_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), part of the On July 25, 2009, after a year-long trial, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled that Vice President Parmananda Jha's taking of the oath of office in Hindi, instead of Nepali, on July 23, 2008, was unconstitutional. On June 21, 2009, Somalia's Puntland State's parliament adopted a new constitution which is said to have 141 provisions and which, for the first time in Puntland's history, provides for the introduction of a multiparty political On June 4, 2009, Mauritania took a step toward a return to constitutional order and democratic rule. The country had undergone a coup d'tat in 2008, when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallah, elected in 2007, was The Council of Ministers of Niger has scheduled a referendum on a proposed new constitution; the vote will take place on August 4, 2009. The poll will determine whether the President of the country,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401348_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401345_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), part of the On July 25, 2009, after a year-long trial, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled that Vice President Parmananda Jha's taking of the oath of office in Hindi, instead of Nepali, on July 23, 2008, was unconstitutional. On June 21, 2009, Somalia's Puntland State's parliament adopted a new constitution which is said to have 141 provisions and which, for the first time in Puntland's history, provides for the introduction of a multiparty political On June 4, 2009, Mauritania took a step toward a return to constitutional order and democratic rule. The country had undergone a coup d'tat in 2008, when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallah, elected in 2007, was The Council of Ministers of Niger has scheduled a referendum on a proposed new constitution; the vote will take place on August 4, 2009. The poll will determine whether the President of the country, It was reported that under a model constitution proposed on May 21, 2009, Nepal would have a parliamentary form of government, with a Prime Minister and a President. The territory of the new Federal Democratic Republic... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401345_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401336_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), part of the On July 25, 2009, after a year-long trial, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled that Vice President Parmananda Jha's taking of the oath of office in Hindi, instead of Nepali, on July 23, 2008, was unconstitutional. On June 21, 2009, Somalia's Puntland State's parliament adopted a new constitution which is said to have 141 provisions and which, for the first time in Puntland's history, provides for the introduction of a multiparty political On June 4, 2009, Mauritania took a step toward a return to constitutional order and democratic rule. The country had undergone a coup d'tat in 2008, when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallah, elected in 2007, was The Council of Ministers of Niger has scheduled a referendum on a proposed new constitution; the vote will take place on August 4, 2009. The poll will determine whether the President of the country, It was reported that under a model constitution proposed on May 21, 2009, Nepal would have a parliamentary form of government, with a Prime Minister and a President. The territory of the new Federal Democratic Republic A new constitution has been drafted for the Cayman Islands and approved by 62 percent of the electorate in a referendum held on May 20, 2009. (Carol Winkler, New Constitution Coming, CAYMAN COMPASS, May 24, 2009,... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401336_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401257_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), part of the On July 25, 2009, after a year-long trial, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled that Vice President Parmananda Jha's taking of the oath of office in Hindi, instead of Nepali, on July 23, 2008, was unconstitutional. On June 21, 2009, Somalia's Puntland State's parliament adopted a new constitution which is said to have 141 provisions and which, for the first time in Puntland's history, provides for the introduction of a multiparty political On June 4, 2009, Mauritania took a step toward a return to constitutional order and democratic rule. The country had undergone a coup d'tat in 2008, when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallah, elected in 2007, was The Council of Ministers of Niger has scheduled a referendum on a proposed new constitution; the vote will take place on August 4, 2009. The poll will determine whether the President of the country, It was reported that under a model constitution proposed on May 21, 2009, Nepal would have a parliamentary form of government, with a Prime Minister and a President. The territory of the new Federal Democratic Republic A new constitution has been drafted for the Cayman Islands and approved by 62 percent of the electorate in a referendum held on May 20, 2009. (Carol Winkler, New Constitution Coming, CAYMAN COMPASS, May 24, 2009, The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a warrantless search of a vehicle incident to an arrest is constitutional only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the car's passenger compartment at the time of... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 05 May 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401257_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401193_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), part of the On July 25, 2009, after a year-long trial, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled that Vice President Parmananda Jha's taking of the oath of office in Hindi, instead of Nepali, on July 23, 2008, was unconstitutional. On June 21, 2009, Somalia's Puntland State's parliament adopted a new constitution which is said to have 141 provisions and which, for the first time in Puntland's history, provides for the introduction of a multiparty political On June 4, 2009, Mauritania took a step toward a return to constitutional order and democratic rule. The country had undergone a coup d'tat in 2008, when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallah, elected in 2007, was The Council of Ministers of Niger has scheduled a referendum on a proposed new constitution; the vote will take place on August 4, 2009. The poll will determine whether the President of the country, It was reported that under a model constitution proposed on May 21, 2009, Nepal would have a parliamentary form of government, with a Prime Minister and a President. The territory of the new Federal Democratic Republic A new constitution has been drafted for the Cayman Islands and approved by 62 percent of the electorate in a referendum held on May 20, 2009. (Carol Winkler, New Constitution Coming, CAYMAN COMPASS, May 24, 2009, The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a warrantless search of a vehicle incident to an arrest is constitutional only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the car's passenger compartment at the time of The Turks and Caicos Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom with a Constitution that gives its ministerial government and its House of Assembly jurisdiction over most internal affairs, but reserves to the British... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401193_text http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401192_text Constitutional law - On April 7, 2013, the Thai Parliament voted to approve three bills in furtherance of the government's plan to amend the Constitution. The bills were submitted separately, because there are three very different subjects addressed by It was reported in early May 2013 that the Government of Sri Lanka is now drafting a constitutional amendment to reduce the terms of office of the President and the Chief Justice to five years each, On April 2, 2013, the Mexican Executive Branch officially published a Decree in the Diario Oficial of the Federation (the official gazette) promulgating the Amparo Law, which regulates articles 103 and 107 of the On April 24, 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court issued a judgment in which it largely upheld the constitutionality of a German anti-terrorist database, while requiring the legislature to change a few provisions of the enabling legislation On February 20,2013, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a petition of the National Democratic Party of Germany (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands, NPD) for a declaratory judgment on the NPD's conformity with the Federal Constitution (docket no. Indonesia's Constitutional Court ruled on March 28, 2013, that the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah, or DPD) would have additional lawmaking authority. According to On March 16, 2013, in a nationwide referendum held in Zimbabwe, almost 95% of those who cast votes approved the country's draft new constitution. (Samuel Franklin, On March 11, 2013, Hungary's Parliament approved a number of controversial amendments to the country's constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Magyarorszag Alaptrv;nye). The changes were adopted It was reported on February 1, 2013, that Zimbabwe's parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) has formally adopted a draft new constitution for the country, following a settlement On September 18, 2012, the Assembly of Albania (the parliament) approved constitutional amendments that provide for automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution for legislators, judges, and other high-level government officials in corruption cases. (Press The assembly in charge of drafting a new constitution for Egypt released a preliminary draft, available in Arabic, on its website (last visited Oct. 25, 2012). On October 16, 2012, the Supreme Constitutional Court On September 24, 2012, the day that new provisions allowing access by individuals to Turkey's Constitutional Court came into effect, seven persons filed petitions with the Court. The aim of the newly applicable measures, which comprise On August 14, 2012, the El Nahda Islamic Party of Tunisia announced that the final draft of the country's new Constitution will be submitted for a vote at the end of April 2013 to the National On August 12, 2012, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi issued a new constitutional declaration, repealing the June 2012 Declaration issued by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) that had effectively stripped the legislature and the executive On August 1, 2012, Somalia's special, 825-member National Constituent Assembly approved a new constitution for the country by a large majority over 96% of the 645 votes cast. (Dan Taglioli, Somalia Special Assembly Approves Turkey's Constitutional Reconciliation Commission reconvened on August 1, 2012, to resume its preparation of a new constitution for the country. The parliamentary body will reportedly start to discuss some articles that have given rise to heated Thailand's ruling Phuea Thai party has for the moment withdrawn plans to amend the nation's Constitution, in part due to a court decision. In late July 2012, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled on five complaints that had On July 8, 2012, Egypt's recently elected President Muhammed Morsi issued Decree No. 11-2012 to restore the Parliament, which had been dissolved by a previous decision of the Supreme Constitutional Court. The Decree also states that It was reported on June 18, 2012, that Norway's Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk Venstreparti, or SV) has proposed and presented to Norway's Parliament (Storting), a constitutional amendment requiring a parliamentary decision before Norwegian forces can participate At present there are four proposed amendments to the Norwegian Constitution in the initial stage of consideration by the Storting, Norway's parliament. The proposals have to do with: strengthening the role of parliament On June 16, 2012, Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a supplementary constitutional declaration amending provisions of the constitutional declaration of 2011. The supplementary declaration amends articles 30, 53, 53/1, 53/2, 56 B, On June 15, 2012, Denmark's Eastern High Court ruled that the country's government need not have held a referendum before signing the Treaty of Lisbon. The decision came in response to a class action lawsuit that On June 13, 2012, the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court declared two recently drafted laws unconstitutional. The court ruled that paragraph 1 of article 6 of Law 108-2011, on the structure of the membership of the People's On May 24, 2012, Nepal's Supreme Court ordered the country's government to finish a draft of a new constitution by May 27, denying a request from the government for a three-month extension. (Maureen Cosgrove, Nepal On May 22, 2012, the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had hailed constitutional amendments issued by the monarch of Bahrain. The amendments had first been enacted by the Parliament, an elected It was reported on April 17, 2012, that a group of Members of the Parliament of Uganda, led by MP Gerald Karuhanga, are preparing to move a motion aimed at amending the Constitution and re-instating presidential On April 10, 2012, the Egyptian Administrative Judicial Court issued a decision suspending the constitutional panel. The suspended panel included 100 members, half of whom were parliamentarians representing Islamic interest groups including the al Jama'a al On March 22, 2012, the Constitutional Court of South Africa unanimously declared unconstitutional five laws issued by the legislatures of five of the country's nine provinces. The laws were designed to regulate the financial management of On April 1, 2012, Amadou Haya Sanogo, the de facto head of Mali since the military took control in a coup on March 22, announced that the country's 1992 Constitution will be reinstated. (La Constitution On March 21, 2012, the Assistant Minister of Justice in the current cabinet rejected the draft law submitted by Members of Parliament on the impeachment of the President. The draft law would grant to the legislative On March 8, 2012, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled that from now on, analysis and approval of provisional measures by the National Congress must follow the procedures provided in article 62, section 9, of the On January 19, 2012, the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Expert Panel) presented its final report to the Australian government. (Press Release, Prime Minister andamp; Minister for Indigenous Affairs, On January 17, 2012, President Jose Manuel Barroso of the European Commission (EC) announced the initiation of legal action against Hungary by means of three Letters of Formal Notice, regarding three issues in new Hungarian legislation On November 13, 2011, Equatorial Guinea held a referendum on proposed constitutional changes. Official reports state that 91% of the electorate participated and that the proposals garnered 97.7% support. (Jennie Ryan, Equatorial Guinea Holds Referendum On August 26, 2011, the two major political parties in Spain, the ruling Socialists (PSOE) and the opposition Popular Party (PP), agreed on a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would limit the public debt and impose Law 2011-814 of August 1, 2011, adopted by the French Parliament, on the functioning of the institutions of French Polynesia, aims in general to improve the functioning of those institutions and, in particular, to permit the On June 10, 2011, Mexico issued a decree amending article 33 of the country's Constitution, an old provision from 1917 that granted the President "the exclusive power to expel any foreigner whose presence is judged undesirable st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } Reuters reported on July 26, 2011, that Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's President, who is currently serving his second and final term, is gearing up to propose a On July 14, 2011, Mexican President Felipe de Jesanduacute;s Calderon Hinojosa issued a decree to amend articles 19, 20, and 73 of the Federal Constitution. Under the amended second paragraph of article 19, the crime of On June 17, 2011, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that the red flag cannot have the same official status as a state symbol as the national flag. The Constitutional Court recognized that the red flag On June 17, 2011, the King of Morocco outlined the changes offered in a new constitution that will be voted on in a referendum scheduled for July 1, 2011. The King identified ten areas of change On June 23, 2011, the High Court of Australia declared that a New South Wales law aimed at combating organized crime is invalid. (Wainohu v The State of New South Wales [2011] HCA 24; see On June 15, 2011, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court ruled in favor of public demonstrations that defend the legalization of drug use, like the Marijuana March (Marcha da Maconha). The Court expressed the opinion that the On April 25, 2011, the President of Hungary, Pandaacute;l Schmitt, signed into law the country's new Constitution, the Fundamental Law of Hungary. Hungary is the last jurisdiction in Eastern Europe to effect the change to a On March 16, 2011, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal issued a ruling declaring the imposition of martial law in 1981 under the military government headed by General Wojciech Jaruzelski to have been unconstitutional, based on a consideration of On March 19, 2011, the Egyptian people participated in a public referendum and approved, by a majority of 77% of the votes cast, amendments to the 1971 Constitution relating to the election of the President of A former Burmese political party formally dissolved last year, the National League for Democracy (NLD), recently published a statement arguing that the President-elect of the country should not have appointed government ministers to his Cabinet before It was reported on February 16, 2011, that the current Parliament of Finland voted to approve constitutional amendments that include mentioning European Union membership in the Constitution. Finland joined the EU in 1995. Another amendment stipulates On January 31, 2011, the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan recognized as unconstitutional the amendment to the country's Constitution under which the term of office of the current president could be extended until 2020 On January 11, 2011, Denmark's Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, permitted a group of plaintiffs to sue the country's Prime Minister, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, over the Danish government's ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. (That treaty On December 29, 2010, the Mazhilis (lower house of the legislature) of Kazakhstan voted to support the initiative of various public groups, which were recently registered by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission, to conduct a national It was reported on December 10, 2010, that the unicameral Mongolian Parliament has agreed to further debate draft procedures on amending the country's Constitution, after its Standing Committee on the State Structure has discussed them. Nine In late October 2010, the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) submitted its model constitution to the Constitutional Select Committee and to the Constitutional Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga. Zimbabwean leaders, including President Robert Mugabe, have agreed that On November 8, 2010, the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, announced that an expert panel will be established to lead a national discussion on recognizing indigenous people in Australia's Constitution. The panel will be tasked with On October 10, 2010, an agreement between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles on constitutional reform went into effect. It was announced in September that these two parties had signed a final declaration that completed the On October 4, 2010, the coalition of ruling party factions in the Ukrainian Parliament was dissolved, and a unified parliamentary majority was formed. This move reflected Ukraine's Constitutional Court ruling of October 1, 2010, which repealed Uganda's proposed law, the Public Order Management Bill, has been criticized by a number of legislators and by civil society organizations as limiting civil liberties, as well as being counter to a recent Constitutional Court ruling. After the constitutionally required month of public discussions regarding the change of the nation's Constitution following the approval of the draft by the country's Constitutional Commission on July 21, 2010, the Parliament of Georgia added the On September 2, 2010, Niger's ruling Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy released a description of a new, draft constitution for the country. Among the reforms this draft includes, compared with earlier versions, are the A special committee of the Parliament of Bangladesh has been formed to examine past amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Constitution of Bangladesh has been amended 14 times since it was first adopted on On July 6, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Moldova approved the constitutionality of the parliamentary decision to conduct a nation-wide referendum in order to pass amendments to the country's Constitution. The parliamentary action was aimed at On July 6, 2010, members of the largest opposition party in Sri Lanka's legislature, the United National Party (UNP), held a demonstration against the constitutional amendments proposed by the current administration. The protest was staged on American Samoa is an unorganized territory of the United States that has a population of approximately 66,000 people and falls under the Administration of the Office of Insular Affairs in the Department of the Interior. (Central Pakistan has amended its Constitution in a manner that shifts power from the President to the Parliament. A bill enacting the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution passed the National Assembly on April 8, 2010, and the According to Sri Lankan Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena, that country's government is preparing draft constitutional reforms. The proposal is now being considered by the Attorney General and will be presented to the Cabinet before being The Grand National Assembly (Turkey's parliament) approved a set of amendments to the Turkish Constitution on May 7, 2010. The changes, proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party, include a revamping of the Constitutional Court, On April 8, 2010, Pakistan's National Assembly, in a rare unanimous vote of the 292 members present, adopted the landmark Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, which has 102 clauses. Some highlights of the legislation are that it: On May 5, 2010, India's Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory use on suspects of narco-analysis, brain-mapping, and polygraph testing is illegal. The Court declared: "[w]e are of the considered opinion that no individual can be On April 1, 2010, the Office of the President of Seychelles made public on its website a review of the country's Constitution, which was prepared by the Seychelles Constitutional Review Committee [CRC]. President James Michel has On April 1, 2010, the Kenyan Parliament unanimously approved a new Constitution. (Daniel Makosky, Kenya Parliament Approves Constitution Draft, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST, Apr. 2, 2010, available at http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2010/04/kenya-parliament-approves-constitution.php; Proposed Constitution of Kenya, Committee of Hasan Gerceker, the President of Turkey's Supreme Court, stated in an interview on March 22, 2010, that proposed amendments to the country's Constitution made public the same day threaten the separation of powers and The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has ruled that the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, which legitimized the governments that were in power from the time of the August 15, 1975, coup through April 9, On March 1, 2010, it was reported that two-thirds of the voters in Nauru had voted against proposed changes to the island nation's constitution in a referendum that was held on February 27, 2010. (Nauruans Vote On January 28, 2010, Nepal's legislature passed the seventh amendment to the country's interim constitution. The amendment, which passed with a two-thirds majority, will permit the president, vice president, prime minister, and other high-ranking officials to On December 14, 2009, Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner issued an emergency Decree (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia [Emergency Decree or DNU] 2010/2009, BOLETIN OFICIAL (B.O.), Dec. 15, 2009, available at http://www.infoleg.gov.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/160000-164999/161506/norma.htm) creating the Fondo On October 19, 2009, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Nicaragua issued a decision that effectively permits the President, Vice-President, mayors, and vice-mayors to run for reelection. (Case No. 602-09, in the Amparo Writ On November 29, 2009, the Swiss people approved a popular initiative that inserts into the Federal Constitution a new article 72, paragraph 3, that states, "[t]he construction of minarets is prohibited." (Eidgenssische Volksinitiative 'Gegen den Bau On November 19, 2009, the Supreme Court of Israel, sitting as a High Court of Justice in an extended panel of nine justices, accepted a petition against the privatization of a prison in Israel. The Court On November 12, 2009, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India referred the question of separation of powers between legislative and judicial organs of the state to a constitutional bench of five judges. In On November 6, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court ruled that the Social Order and Maintenance Act (of June 29, 1991) is unconstitutional because it undermines the guaranteed right of equality under the Constitution (art. 7) by prescribing The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea unanimously adopted the ordinance of the SPA On Revising and Supplementing the Socialist Constitution of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea" on April 9, 2009. The contents It was reported on October 15, 2009, that the South African Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional a KwaZulu-Natal provincial law, the Elimination and Prevention of Re-Emergence of Slums Act, which mandated that municipalities evict unlawful occupiers of On September 7, 2009, President Alan Garcia P;rez of Peru promulgated Law No. 29402, amending article 90 of the Political Constitution of Peru, on legislative power. Article 90 as amended states that the legislative power In a case of first impression, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), part of the On July 25, 2009, after a year-long trial, the Supreme Court of Nepal ruled that Vice President Parmananda Jha's taking of the oath of office in Hindi, instead of Nepali, on July 23, 2008, was unconstitutional. On June 21, 2009, Somalia's Puntland State's parliament adopted a new constitution which is said to have 141 provisions and which, for the first time in Puntland's history, provides for the introduction of a multiparty political On June 4, 2009, Mauritania took a step toward a return to constitutional order and democratic rule. The country had undergone a coup d'tat in 2008, when President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallah, elected in 2007, was The Council of Ministers of Niger has scheduled a referendum on a proposed new constitution; the vote will take place on August 4, 2009. The poll will determine whether the President of the country, It was reported that under a model constitution proposed on May 21, 2009, Nepal would have a parliamentary form of government, with a Prime Minister and a President. The territory of the new Federal Democratic Republic A new constitution has been drafted for the Cayman Islands and approved by 62 percent of the electorate in a referendum held on May 20, 2009. (Carol Winkler, New Constitution Coming, CAYMAN COMPASS, May 24, 2009, The U.S. Supreme Court has held that a warrantless search of a vehicle incident to an arrest is constitutional only if the arrestee is within reaching distance of the car's passenger compartment at the time of The Turks and Caicos Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom with a Constitution that gives its ministerial government and its House of Assembly jurisdiction over most internal affairs, but reserves to the British On January 23, 2009, Taiwan's Constitutional Court, which consists of a 15-member Council of Grand Justices, issued an interpretation that deems article 23, paragraph 3, and article 28 of the Detention Law unconstitutional. (Interpretation No. 654... The Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress covers legal news and developments worldwide. Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EDT http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp3_l205401192_text h