Constitution of Chile
The current Constitution of Chile was approved by Chilean voters in a controversial plebiscite on September 11th 1980, under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. It was partially enacted on March 11th 1981 and has been fully effective since March 11th 1990. It was amended considerably on August 17th 1989 (via referendum) and on 22 September 2005 (legislatively), and also in 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. It is Chile's eighth constitution, replacing the constitution of 1925.[1]
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Legitimacy
According to the law professor Camel Cazor Aliste, the Constitution of 1980 has problems of legitimacy stemming from two facts. First, the constitutional commission was not representative of the political spectrum of Chile since its members had been handpicked by the Pinochet dictatorship, and opponents of the regime had been deliberately excluded. Also, the constitution's approval was achieved by the government in a controversial and tightly-controlled referendum in 1980.[2]
Despite controversy about its conception, it has been frequently modified (nearly 20 times) since democracy was reinstated, with corresponding Parliamentary approval.
Timeline of Constitutions
- Reglamento para el arreglo de la Autoridad Ejecutiva Provisoria de Chile 1811
- Reglamento Constitucional 1812
- Reglamento para el gobierno Provisorio 1814
- Constitución de 1818
- Constitución de 1822
- Constitución de 1823
- Ensayo Federal de 1826
- Constitución de 1828
- Constitución de 1833 - Written among others by Mariano Egaña and Manuel José Gandarillas
- Reinterpreted after the 1891 Chilean Civil War augmenting the power of the National Congress of Chile
- Constitución de 1925 - Written among others by Arturo Alessandri Palma and José Maza
- Constitución de 1980 - Written among others by Jaime Guzmán
- Has been amended in 1989, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2017.
References
- "Chronology". Constitute. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
- Cazor Aliste, Camel (2000). "Democracia y constitucion en Chile". Revista de Derecho. Austral University of Chile. IX: 25–34. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2015.
- Brief review of Chile's constitutional history - Chile's Library of Congress (in Spanish) at Archive.today (archived January 1, 2013)
External links
Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
Spanish Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- 2005 recasting of the 1980 Constitution (PDF version) (Spanish original) at the Wayback Machine (archived December 7, 2006)
- Official translation of the original 1980 Constitution (PDF file)
- Text of Chilean constitutions - Library of Congress of Chile (Spanish original) at Archive.today (archived December 10, 2005)
- Untying the knot (The Economist, Oct 21st 2004)
- www.constitutionnet.org