CHILE

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD CONSTITUTIONS I ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD CONSTITUTIONS I EDITED BY GERHARD ROBBERS Encyclopedia of World Constitutions Copyright © 2007 by Gerhard Robbers All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Facts On File, Inc. An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Encyclopedia of world constitutions / edited by Gerhard Robbers. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-8160-6078-9 1. Constitutions. 2. Constitutional law. 3. Comparative law. I. Robbers, Gerhard. K3157.E5E53 2006 342.02—dc22 2005028923 Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.factsonfile.com Text design by Erika K. Arroyo Cover design by Dorothy M. Preston Printed in the United States of America VB Hermitage 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Contents Contributors Preface Burundi 146 Estonia 295 xxiii Cambodia 150 Ethiopia 300 xxv vii Cameroon 157 Fiji Islands 304 Afghanistan 1 Canada 162 Finland 308 Albania 8 Cape Verde 174 France 316 Algeria 13 Central African Republic 179 Gabon 325 Andorra 19 Chad 183 Gambia, The 329 Angola 25 Chile 187 Georgia 333 Antigua and Barbuda 30 China 193 Germany 337 Argentina 34 Colombia 203 Ghana 346 Armenia 42 Comoros 209 Greece 351 Australia 47 Congo, Democratic Grenada 358 Austria 57 Republic of the 213 Guatemala 362 Introduction Azerbaijan 64 Congo, Republic of the 218 Guinea 366 Bahamas 68 Costa Rica 222 Guinea-Bissau 369 Bahrain 71 Côte d’Ivoire 226 Guyana 373 Bangladesh 75 Croatia 230 Haiti 377 Barbados 81 Cuba 234 Honduras 381 Belarus 85 Cyprus 240 Hungary 386 Belgium 89 Czech Republic 244 Iceland 393 Belize 95 Denmark 250 India 397 Benin 100 Djibouti 255 Indonesia 408 Bhutan 104 Dominica 259 Iran 414 Bolivia 108 Dominican Republic 263 Iraq 422 Bosnia and Herzegovina 115 East Timor 267 Ireland 427 Botswana 121 Ecuador 272 Israel 433 Brazil 125 Egypt 276 Italy 442 Brunei 132 El Salvador 283 Jamaica 451 Bulgaria 136 Equatorial Guinea 287 Japan 456 Burkina Faso 141 Eritrea 291 Jordan 465 Kazakhstan 471 Nigeria 670 Sweden 878 Kenya 478 Norway 679 Switzerland 885 Kiribati 485 Oman 685 Syria 894 Korea, North 488 Pakistan 688 Taiwan 900 Korea, South 494 Palau 696 Tajikistan 905 Kuwait 501 Palestine 700 Tanzania 909 Kyrgyzstan 505 Panama 703 Thailand 913 Laos 509 Papua New Guinea 707 Togo 920 Latvia 513 Paraguay 713 Tonga 924 Lebanon 520 Peru 720 Trinidad and Tobago 928 Lesotho 526 Philippines 725 Tunisia 932 Liberia 531 Poland 732 Turkey 938 Libya 535 Portugal 739 Turkmenistan 947 Liechtenstein 539 Qatar 747 Tuvalu 951 Lithuania 543 Romania 750 Uganda 954 Luxembourg 547 Russia 756 Ukraine 960 Macedonia 551 Rwanda 764 United Arab Emirates 968 Madagascar 555 Saint Christopher United Kingdom 972 Malawi 559 and Nevis (St. Kitts and United States 980 Malaysia 563 Nevis) 768 Uruguay 993 Maldives 567 Saint Lucia 772 Uzbekistan 998 Mali 571 Saint Vincent and the Malta 576 Marshall Islands 581 Mauritania Vanuatu 1002 775 Vatican 1006 Samoa 779 Venezuela 1012 585 San Marino 783 Vietnam 1020 Mauritius 590 São Tomé and Príncipe 787 Yemen 1026 Mexico 594 Saudi Arabia 791 Zambia 1030 Zimbabwe 1034 Appendix I: European Union 1038 Appendix II: Special Territories 1045 Appendix III: Glossary 1050 Micronesia, Federated Grenadines Senegal 797 603 Serbia and Montenegro 804 Moldova 607 Seychelles 810 Monaco 612 Sierra Leone 813 Mongolia 616 Singapore 817 Morocco 620 Slovakia 824 Mozambique 627 Slovenia 830 Myanmar 631 Solomon Islands 837 Namibia 637 Somalia 841 Nauru 641 South Africa 844 Nepal 644 Spain 854 Netherlands, The 648 Sri Lanka 861 New Zealand 656 Sudan 866 Nicaragua 662 Suriname 870 Niger 666 Swaziland 874 States of Contributors General editor Gerhard Robbers is professor of law at the Institute for European Constitutional Law at the University of Trier, Germany, specializing in constitutional law, law of religion, and international public law. He also serves as judge at the court of appeals of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He obtained a Dr. iur. utr. from the University of Freiburg and has published extensively in the field of law, including An Introduction to German Law (fourth edition, 2006) and State and Church in the European Union (second edition, 2005). *** Kenneth Asamoa Acheampong is an associate professor of private law and public law, as well as the acting dean at the Faculty of Law, National University of Lesotho, in Roma. A barrister, he is also a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana and has published several works on human rights, humanitarian law, constitutional law, jurisprudence, and public international law. Roland Adjovi has been a legal officer at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda since 2003 and, since 2000, a tutor for a distance learning French-language radio program on human rights. From 1998 to 1999 Adjovi lectured on public law and international law at the Université de Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire, and from 2000 to 2002 on public law and international law at the Université de Paris II (Panthéon-Assas), France. Adjovi’s areas of specialty are in constitutional law, international public law, human rights, and international and criminal law. He has written several publications, including reports on human rights practices in Benin and Côte d’Ivoire and on human rights law in Africa and a commentary on the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in African Yearbook of International Law (2002 and 2004). Mohamed A. Al Roken, Ph.D., is an associate professor of public law at the University of the United Arab Emirates and the national vice president of the Union Internationale des Avocats. He was also previously the chairman of the vii United Arab Emirates Jurists Association and a member of the International Association of Constitutional Law ([ACL). Elvin Aliyev holds an LL.M. in international human rights law from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law of Lund University, Sweden. Currently a staff member of the Secretariat of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Aliyev specializes in civil and political rights, freedom of assembly and association, and the prohibition of torture. Aurela Anastasi has been a professor of constitutional law and history of institutions at the University of Tirana since 1987. The head of the Public Law Department and of the Albania Constitutionalists Association, Anastasi has also practiced civil law and acted as an adviser to several Albanian nongovernmental organizations. Anastasi is the author of several publications, including the monograph Political Institutions and Constitutional Law in Albania during 1912–1939 (1998) and two textbooks for the students of the Law Faculty: History of Institutions (2004) and Constitutional Law (2004). In addition Anastasi has written numerous articles, papers, and speeches on scientific national and international activities in constitutional law, history of law, law on religion, and constitutional history. Anthony Hewton Angelo holds an LL.M. from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is a professor of law, whose research interests are comparative law, conflict of laws, and Pacific law. He is a member of Wellington District Law Society, New Zealand Association for Comparative Law, Society of Public Teachers of Law, Australasian Law Teachers Association, and International Academy of Comparative Law. Angelo is a constitutional and legal adviser to many Pacific states. Agúst Thor Árnason is a professor of law in the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences, University of Akureyri, Iceland. He is the director of the Icelandic Human Rights Center. viii Encyclopedia of World Constitutions Ayodele Atsenuwa earned an LL.B. from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria, in 1984; an LL.M. in criminology and criminal justice administration from the University of London, England, in 1987; and an LL.M. in law and development from the University of Warwick, England, in 1998. Currently an associate professor of public law at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Nigeria, Atsenuwa has extensive teaching and research experience and has published works on public law, especially on human rights in Nigeria. Atsenuwa is a social activist involved with human nongovernmental work and has been director of the Legal Research and Resource Development Centre, a Nigerian human rights nongovernmental organization, since 1995. Samir A. Awad holds a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University, New York, and is chairman of the Political Science Department at Bir Zeit University, Palestine. He has been a researcher at the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research (2003) and then the director of the Palestinian Centre for Regional Studies. In both capacities Awad has been an observer of the legislation process. Ringolds Balodis is an associate professor and head of the Department of Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Latvia. He is the former director of the National and Religious Affairs Department in the Latvian Republic Ministry of Justice, president of the Latvian Association for Freedom of Religion (AFFOR), and head of the Board of Religious Affairs, Republic of Latvia. Bernard Bekink holds a B.L.C., LL.B., and LL.M. in public law from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He is currently in the process of completing an LL.D. in public law at the same university. A senior lecturer in public law and a practicing attorney of the High Courts of South Africa, Bekink specializes in public law and especially in constitutional and local government law. He has conducted various research projects on constitutional law matters and is also currently a vice chair of the International Bar Association’s Public Law Committee. Nathalie Bernard-Maugiron, Ph.D. in law, is a senior researcher at the Institut de recherche pour le développement in Cairo, Egypt, and a professor of public law and human rights law at the American University in Cairo. She works in constitutional law, personal-status law, and the judiciary in Egypt and the Arab world. She has worked for several international and national nongovernmental organizations. Nadia Bernoussi earned an M.S. in public law from the University of Montpellier, France, in 1984 and a Ph.D. in public law from Rabat University, Morocco, in 1998. As a professor at the Ecole Nationale d’Administration since 1984, Bernoussi specializes in constitutional law. Malte Beyer holds an LL.M. from the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium, and is a J.D. candidate at the University of Trier, Germany. Chacha Bhoke Murungu holds an LL.B. (Hons) from the University of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and an LL.M. from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Bhoke Murungu has taught public international law and prepared a legal memorandum, “Joint Criminal Enterprise and Those Who Bear the Greatest Responsibility,” for the defense team of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Sophie C. van Bijsterveld, Ph.D., is an associate professor of European and public international law at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. She is a member of the Dutch Council for Public Administration (Raad voor het openbaar bestuur), a member of the Advisory Panel on Freedom of Religion or Belief of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (ODIHR/OSCE), and a member of the board of the Dutch Association for Comparative Law. Ann Black, B.A., BsocWk, LL.B. (Hons), LL.M., S.J.D., was admitted as a barrister to the Supreme Court of Queensland, Australia. She is a lecturer in law at the T. C. Beirne School of Law at the University of Queensland and a fellow of the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law at the University of Queensland. Black is the coeditor of the LAWASIA journal. Lasia Bloss, LL.M., received her LL.M. in European studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, in 2001 and was an Emile-Noël fellow and teaching/ research assistant to Professor Joseph H. H. Weiler at the Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law and Justice at Harvard Law School and New York University School of Law from 2001 to 2003. Currently, she is working in the law department of the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, Germany, while finalizing her Ph.D. dissertation. Michael Blumenstock is a researcher at the Institute for Legal Policy at the University of Trier, Germany. From 1994 to 2000 he completed law studies at the University of Trier, Germany, and the University of Sussex at Brighton, United Kingdom. He completed the first state exam in law in 2000 and the second state exam in law in 2002. Blumenstock’s areas of work include constitutional law, expert commissions in particular, and international and European law. Anja-Isabel Bohnen studied law at the University of Trier, Germany, and at the University of Málaga, Spain, from 1994 to 2001; from 2002 to 2004 she completed an obligatory two years’ work in Trier (Germany), Spain, and Luxembourg; in November 2004 she passed her second state exam in law. Since 2005 she has been employed by Contributors ix the M. M. Warburg-Luxinvest S.A. in Luxembourg and has been working on a doctoral dissertation on constitutional law. Her areas of specialization are European law, international public law, constitutional law, and law of funds. Bettina Bojarra, M.A., graduated from the Law Faculty of the University of Augsburg and then obtained a postgraduate degree from the European Master’s Program in Human Rights and Democratization, a European Union initiative to create a pool of qualified human rights professionals in Europe. She has since worked for the European Parliament in Luxembourg. After a legal training program at the Regional Court of Appeal of Munich, Germany, she was admitted to the bar in 2005. Christoffel Johannes Botha holds a B.A. (Hons) in international politics from the University of South Africa, an LL.B. from the University of Pretoria, and an LL.D. from the University of South Africa. Botha is currently a professor of public law and head of the Department of Public Law at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and teaches and publishes in the fields of legal interpretation, constitutional law, media law, human rights law, and international humanitarian law. Botha has also written a textbook on interpretation of legislation (2005). Alan Bronfman, Ph.D., is a professor of constitutional law at the Catholic University of Valparaiso, Chile. He is a member of the Political Science and Law Advisory Group for the National Research Fund. Eulogi Broto Alonso is currently a judge in the province of Barcelona, Spain. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Barcelona and a doctor license in canon law from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He has been a professor of state ecclesiastical law at the University of Barcelona (1997–2003), a notary at the Ecclesiastical Court of the Archdiocese of Barcelona (1993–1999), and a judge at the courts of Huesca in the province of Aragón, Spain (2000–2001 and 2001–2002). He has been a member of the Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Barcelona, since 1998. He is an expert in and has worked on several publications about canon law, ecclesiastical law, matrimonial law, and religious freedom in Spain and other nations. Vincenzo Buonomo holds an M.S. in international law and in European law and a Ph.D. in utroque iure (canon law and comparative law) from the Pontifical Lateran University (Vatican City). He is professor of international law and international organization at the Institute of Law, Pontifical Lateran University, and has published books and articles on international institutions, human rights law, and international law and cooperation. His areas of specialization include the role and activities of the Holy See and of the State of Vatican City in the international community. Professor Buonomo represents the Holy See at the Commission for Democracy through the Law (Venice Commission) and at the Steering Committee for Human Rights of the Council of Europe and participates as legal adviser in the Delegations of the Holy See to the United Nations Bodies on Human Rights, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAO), and World Food Programme (WFP). He is a member of the Advisory Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Oerd Bylykbashi graduated in law in 1996 from the University of Tirana, Albania, and has been head of the Electoral Reform Unit in the Democratization Department of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Albania since 2001. Bylykbashi worked for the Albanian parliament as an expert for the 2002–2003 electoral reform and was cochairman of the Technical Expert Group of the assembly for the 2004 electoral reform. Licia Califano has been a professor of constitutional law at the University of San Marino since 2003. Califano is a former professor of constitutional law in the Faculty of Law of the University of Urbino (2000–2001) and is a board member of the Ph.D. program in constitutional law at the Universities of Bologna, Genova, Parma, Salerno, Urbino, and Modena–Reggio Emilia, Italy. Her areas of interest include constitutional law, local government, and European Union law. She has published several works, including Innovazione e conformità nel sistema regionale spagnolo (1988), Le commissioni parlamentari bicamerali nella crisi del bicameralismo italiano (1993), Saggi e materiali di diritto regionale (with A. Barbera) (1997), Argomenti di diritto costituzionale (2000), and Il contraddittorio nel processo costituzionale incidentale (2003). Jennifer Corrin Care, Ph.D., is the executive director of comparative law in the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law and senior lecturer in law of evidence and South Pacific comparative law in the T. C. Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland, Australia. She was formerly an associate professor in the School of Law at the University of the South Pacific in Vanuatu, where she taught contract law, civil procedure, and dispute resolution. Between 1987 and 1996 Care practiced as principal in her own law firm in the Solomon Islands, and she has also practiced as a solicitor in England. In 1999 she was a visiting fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London, England. Care has published many works in the areas of court systems, civil procedure, customary law, human rights, land law, South Pacific law, and constitutional and contract law. These works include Contract Law in the South Pacific (2001), Civil Procedure and Courts in the South Pacific (2004), and Civil Procedures of the South Pacific (1998). She is coauthor of Introduction to South Pacific Law (1999) and Proving x Encyclopedia of World Constitutions Customary Law in the Common Law Courts of the South Pacific (2002). Jesús María Casal Hernández is the dean and professor of constitutional law at the Law Faculty of the Andrés Bello Catholic University, a professor of human rights at the Center of Graduate Studies of the Central University of Venezuela, the vice president of the Venezuelan Association of Constitutional Law, and a member of the Andean Commission of Jurists. He graduated summa cum laude from the Andrés Bello Catholic University (1998). He is a specialist in administrative law at the Central University of Venezuela and received the juris doctor from Complutense University, Madrid, Spain. Casal Hernández was formerly a lawyer and subdirector of human rights at the Prosecutor General’s Office and director of the Department of Studies and Representation of the Parliamentary Council Office of the Congress of the Republic. Alma Chacón Hanson is a doctor in law and a professor of introduction to law at Venezuela’s Central University and a professor of introduction to law and philosophy of law at Andrés Bello Catholic University. She previously was an investigative attorney in the Venezuelan Parliamentary Council Office, assessor attorney of the National Legislative Commission, assessor attorney of a National Assembly Citizen Participation Commission, and external assessor of the Venezuelan Parliamentary Council Office. Juan Manuel Charry Urueña is a titular professor of constitutional theory in the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia, and was dean of the School of Law from 2001 to 2003. A graduate of Colegio Mayor Nuestra Señora del Rosario, he specializes in constitutional law and political science. Tsi-Yang Chen is a professor of law at the National Taipei University, Taiwan. Chen is a member of the Human Rights Advisory Committee, Presidential Office; an Executive Yuan member of the Petitions and Appeals Committee; Executive Board member of the Taiwan Law Society; Executive Board member of the Taiwan Administrative Law Society; executive director of the Constitutional Law and Administrative Law Committee; adviser of the Ministry of the Interior; and a member of the Petitions and Appeals Committee of the Ministry of the Interior. Chen’s areas of expertise include constitutional law, administrative law, and environmental and technology law. Chen has published several works in the field of constitutional and administrative law. Danwood Mzikenge Chirwa earned an LL.D. in the area of obligations of nonstate actors in relation to socioeconomic rights from the University of the Western Cape; his LL.M. from the University of Pretoria, South Africa; and his LL.B. (Hons) from the University of Malawi. He is currently a senior lecturer in law at the University of Cape Town, where he has taught human rights law and business law since January 2004. He was admitted to practice law in the High Court and Supreme Court of Malawi in 2001. Chirwa practiced law with the firm of Savjani & Company of Malawi from 2000 to 2002 and worked as a doctoral researcher in the SocioEconomic Rights Project of the Community Law Centre between 2002 and 2004. He has published widely in the field of socioeconomic rights, the horizontal application of human rights, children’s rights, privatization, women’s rights, and the protection of human rights under the Malawian constitution. Chongko Choi is a professor of law at the College of Law, Seoul National University, South Korea. He studied law at Seoul National University from 1966 to 1972 and received a doctor of jurisprudence degree at Freiburg University in Germany in 1979. Choi was formerly a visiting professor at University of California–Berkeley and Harvard Law Schools and a visiting professor at University of Hawaii. In 2002 Choi was a distinguished visiting professor at Santa Clara University Law School, teaching East Asian law and comparative law. Since 2003 Choi has been a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Legal Philosophy and Social Philosophy (IVR) and the president of the Korean Association of Legal History and of the Korean Biographical Society. Choi has published more than 20 books on Korean law and jurisprudence. Choi’s English titles include Law and Justice in Korea: South and North (2005) and East Asian Jurisprudence (2006). Moshe Cohen-Eliya, Ph.D., is an associate professor of constitutional law at the Ramat-Gan Law School, Israel. He received both LL.B. and LL.D. degrees from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, and has done his postdoctoral work at Harvard University. Abdulai O. Conteh has been chief justice of Belize since 2000. Conteh has practiced and taught law in both the University and the Law School of Sierra Leone and has practiced law in Gambia. A member of Parliament in Sierra Leone from 1977 to 1992, Conteh served for several years as minister of foreign affairs of Sierra Leone. Conteh also served as minister of finance, attorney general, and minister of justice and was first vice president and minister of internal affairs. Conteh’s areas of work include constitutional law, international public law, human rights, and the environment. Conteh is author of several articles on law, governance, democracy, and the environment and of the book Constitution of Sierra Leone (1991). Pierre Delvolvé has been a professor at the University Panthéon-Assas-Paris II, France, since 1981. He received his doctor of law from the Faculty of Law of Paris in 1966. Delvolvé was president of the concours d’agrégation de droit public (the competition for France’s highest teaching degree in public law) from 1999 to 2000. He is vice Contributors xi president of the Supreme Tribunal of Monaco. Delvolvé has published many articles and books, including Le Système français de protection des administrés contre l’administration (coauthored with Doyen Vedel) (1991), Droit public de l’économie (1998), and Le droit administratif (2002). Ioana Dumitriu holds an M.A. from the Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, Romania, and an M.A. from the French College of European Studies. Dumitriu has worked as an agent of the government for the European Court of Human Rights Department and has been the third secretary in the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since November 2003. Satyabhoosun B. Domah is a Supreme Court judge in Mauritius and has published three books on Mauritian law: The Essentials of the Mauritian Legal System (1989), The Theory and Practice of the Mauritian Law on Swindling (1988), and The Mauritian Road Traffic Offences (1993). He holds a Ph.D. in comparative law from Aix-Marseille University, France, and an LL.M. from University College, London, England, and was called to the bar at Middle Temple, London. Domah is a fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London; a member of the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association; and a lecturer in administrative law at the University of Technology, Mauritius, and in principles of legal and judicial administration at the University of Mauritius. Inger Dübeck is a professor of law at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She received her J.D. at the University of Copenhagen in 1978. She was candidate in law at the Law Faculty of the University of Copenhagen, where she was also a senior lecturer in legal history (1977–1991). She was a professor in family law at Aarhus University, Denmark (1991–1999). In 1999 she returned to the University of Copenhagen, where she studies and teaches legal history. Dübeck is specialized in Danish and European legal history. Her spheres of interest are church law, law of personal status and rights, and women’s law. Achilles Emilianides is an advocate with the firm Achilles & Emile C. Emilianides, Cyprus, who specializes in constitutional law, human rights, and law and religion. He holds a degree in law from the Aristotelian University Thessaloniki, Greece; an LL.M. from the Leicester University, England; and postgraduate degrees from the Aristotelian University. He is also a researcher and a member of the Cyprus Institute of Mediterranean, European and International Research and a member of the Executive Board of the Human Rights Cyprus nongovernmental organization. Emilianides is coeditor of the Cyprus Yearbook of International Relations. His major publications include The Constitution of Cyprus after the EU Accession (2005), The Constitutional Aspects of the Annan Plan for the Solution of the Cyprus Problem (2003), and The Parliamentary Co-Existence of Greeks and Turks in Cyprus (2003). Further publications relate to ecclesiastical law, history of law, constitutional law, constitutional history, European Union law, intellectual property law, competition law, and human rights law. Petros Evangelides received a doctorate at the University of Berne and is currently an assistant at the University of Zurich. Carolyn Evans is the deputy director at the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne, Australia, and a former stipendiary lecturer, Exeter College, Oxford University, England. She specializes in constitutional and international law, particularly in the area of religious freedom and institutional protection of human rights. Evans has several publications, including Religious Freedom under the European Court of Human Rights (2000), Religion and International Law (coedited) (1998), and Mixed Blessings: Women, Laws and Religion in the Asia-Pacific Region (coedited) (2006). João Miguel Fernandes holds an LL.B. from Catholic University of Mozambique Law School, a master of arts in development management (M.A.D.M.) from the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy RuhrUniversity Bochum, Germany, and a master of laws in human rights and democratization in Africa from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Edmund Amarkwei Foley received his LL.B. from the University of Ghana in 2000. He entered the Ghana School of Law, Accra, in the same year in the professional law course and was called to the Ghana Bar in 2002. In 2004 he graduated from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, with an LL.M. in human rights and democratization in Africa. Foley is currently an associate barrister and solicitor with the law firm Sam Okudzeto and Associates, based in Accra, Ghana, and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Africa Office Coordinator for the “Enhancing Police Accountability in Ghana” project. Since 2004 he has been developing his expertise in human rights, conflict resolution, and constitutional law through research, notable among which was a working visit to Rwanda during the 10th anniversary of the genocide. During this period he also worked and studied human rights in the Middle East and Africa at the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt. He was involved with human rights advocacy training for Egyptian human rights lawyers and activists at the International Human Rights Law Outreach Project at the American University in Cairo. Idi Gaparayi holds an LL.M. from both Harvard Law School and the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Formerly a lecturer of public law at the National University of Rwanda, Gaparayi is now a legal officer in chambers at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. xii Encyclopedia of World Constitutions Vivianne Geraldes Ferreira earned her bachelor in law in 2002 and her master in civil law in 2005, at the University of São Paulo School of Law, Brazil. Associated with the Brazilian Bar Association since 2003, Geraldes Ferreira is a lawyer in São Paulo and specializes in civil and business law. She has done extensive research in the area of civil law and philosophy and theory of law, along with the relationship between fundamental rights and civil law, specifically with regard to contract law. Dimitar Gochev is a former judge in the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Bulgaria and a judge at the Court of Arbitration, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Paris. He is the former vice president of the Supreme Court and the former president of the Commercial Department of the Supreme Court of Arbitration. Miguel González Marcos is an associate with the Heinrich Böll Foundation and a lawyer admitted to the bar in the Republic of Panama, Minnesota, and New York. An attorney with Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, he previously was a professor of law at the University of Panama. Gonzáles received an LL.B. from the University of Panama; a Dr. iur. from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany; a J.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo; and an LL.M. from New York University. Raúl Jaime González Schmal is a professor of constitutional law at the Iberoamerican University of Mexico. He received his license to practice law at the Autonomous National University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), his master of law at the Iberoamerican University of Mexico City (Universidad Iberoamericana de la Ciudad de México), and is a doctoral candidate at the Distance Education University of Spain (Universidad de Educación a Distancia de España). Bettina Gräf holds an M.A. in Islamic studies and in political science from the Free University and Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. She has been assistant to the director of the Center for Modern Oriental Studies, Berlin, Germany, since 2003 and is currently working on her Ph.D. project: Production and Adoption of Fatawa in the Era of Electronic Media with Reference to the Works of Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Marie-Carin von Gumppenberg is the head of Policy Studies Central Asia, Munich, Germany. Since obtaining her Ph.D. in political sciences, she has worked for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Von Gumppenberg has many years of research and practical work in and on Central Asia, conducting evaluations and fact-finding missions. Her publications include State- and Nation-Building in Kazakhstan (2002), Lexikon Zentralasien (2004), and Kyrgyzstan/Kazakhstan: Quarterly Risk Assessment, Fast Early Warning (since 2002). T. Jeremy Gunn holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and is currently the director of the Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, American Civil Liberties Union. He is also the Senior Fellow for Religion and Human Rights at Emory Law School. Gunn is the author of several works on religion and law. Angelika Günzel received a doctorate in law from the University of Trier, Germany. Currently she is working as a law clerk at the District Court of Cologne, Germany. She was formerly a research assistant at the Jean-Monnet Chair of European Economic and Environmental Policy at the University of Trier, Germany, and at the Institute of Legal Policy in Trier. Muluberhan Hagos is a High Court judge and an adjunct lecturer at the University of Asmara, Eritrea. He has an LL.M. in constitutional practice and fundamental rights from the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa, and an LL.B. and a diploma in law from the University of Asmara, Eritrea. Hagos has written several articles on fundamental and constitutional law in Eritrea and is in the process of publishing a book on constitutional development in Eritrea. Susanne Hansen holds an M.A. in Eastern European studies from Copenhagen University, Denmark, and an M.A. in public administration from Roskilde University, Denmark. In her studies Hansen has primarily focused on the institutional structures, democracy, and rule of law in some former Soviet Union countries. Living many years in the former Soviet Union has enabled her to study these areas up close. Seyed Mohammad Hashemi is a professor of public law and the director of the Public Law Group and International Law Group at the University Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran. He received a doctorate in law from the Université de Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne, France, in 1975. Hashemi has published several books, including Droit constitutionnel iranien, volume 1, Principes et fondements généraux du régime, and volume 2, Souveraineté et institutions politiques, droits de l’homme et libertés fondamentales, et droit du travail (2001). Boubacar Hassane earned a doctorate in law from the Université des Sciences Sociales, Toulouse, France, in 1996. Formerly a legal consultant at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Geneva, Switzerland, Hassane is currently a lecturer at Abdou Moumouni University, Niamey, Niger. Liam Herrick holds both a B.C.L. and an LL.M. from University College, Cork, Ireland. Herrick is currently senior legislation and policy review officer of the Irish Human Rights Commission, where he advises the government on compliance with the human rights Contributors xiii standards contained in the Irish Constitution and in international human rights law. Herrick has worked previously with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Irish Law Reform Commission, and the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. Nico Horn, Ph.D., is the executive director of the Human Rights and Documentation Centre in the Faculty of Law, University of Namibia. Before moving to Unam, he was a state advocate prosecutor in the High Court of Namibia for seven years. Horn has published several books and articles on human rights and issues of morality. His special fields of interest are constitutional development in Namibia and the protection of minority rights. He is the editor of the Namibian Online Human Rights Journal. Stepan Hulka holds a J.D. from the Faculty of Law, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic; an LL.M. from the Masterprogramme at the Westfälische WilhelmsUniversität Münster, Germany; and a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Law, Charles University. Hulka is an administrator with the Legislative Department of the Senate of the Czech Parliament, in which he gives legal opinions on international public law and European Union law and drafts implementing legislation. He is also an executive editor of Church Law Revue. Iván C. Ibán, Ph.D., has been a professor of state and church law at the University Complutense of Madrid, Spain, since 1989. He was a professor of canon law at the University of Cádiz, Spain, from 1983 to 1989. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the European Consortium for State and Church Research. His areas of work include constitutional law, canon law, and state and church relations. Amina Ibrahim holds an LL.M. in international law of war and the use of force and international human rights law from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, England, and is currently a case manager at the Office of the Prosecutor for the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda, based in Arusha, Tanzania. Sibel Inceoǧlu, formerly an associate professor of constitutional law at the University of Marmara, Turkey, is currently a member of the Human Rights Commission of the City of Istanbul. Inceoǧlu specializes in constitutional law and human rights law and has published Right to Die (1998) and Right to Fair Trial (2002), both in Turkish. Djemshid Khadjiev graduated with honors from the International Law Department of the Turkmen State University. He received an LL.M. in international human rights law from the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. After working as the staff attorney at the American Bar Association’s Central and East-European Law Initiative, Khadjiev is currently a legal adviser at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) center in Ashgabat. Hamid Khan is a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Pakistan Bar Council, and a visiting professor at Punjab University Law College, Lahore, Pakistan. He earned a B.A. from Government College, Lahore, Pakistan, in 1964; an LL.B. from University Law College, University of the Punjab, Lahore, in 1966; an M.A. in history from the University of the Punjab, Lahore (1968); and an LL.M. from the College of Law, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois. Khan is the author of Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan (2001) and Eighth Amendment: Constitutional and Political Crises in Pakistan (1994). Magnus Killander holds an M.A. in human rights and democratization from the University of Padua, Italy, and an LL.M. from Lund University, Sweden. Killander is currently an LL.D. candidate at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Kithure Kindiki, Ph.D., was previously a lecturer of constitutional and international law at Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya, and is currently a lecturer of public international law at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Kindiki specializes in public international law, human rights law, and constitutional law. Kindiki has published several works, including articles in Human Rights Law in Africa (2004), East African Journal of Human Rights (2004), Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law (2001), and Zambia Law Journal (2003). Edward C. King has been the executive director of the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC), the only U.S. national organization focused on legal issues that affect elderly and disabled low-income people, since January 2002 and has been associated with the organization more than eight years. In addition to his work with the center and as deputy director and chief of litigation of Micronesian Legal Services Corporation (1972–1976), his public interest law background includes service as directing attorney of the University of Detroit Law School Center for Urban Law and Housing from 1970 to 1972. Before moving to public interest law, he worked in private practice engaged in corporate and business law from 1964 to 1970. Merilin Kiviorg is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Oxford, England, and a lecturer in public international law and European Community law at the University of Tartu, Estonia. Kiviorg is a fellow of the Constitutional Law Institute, Estonian Law Center Foundation. Kiviorg’s areas of work are public international law, constitutional law, human rights, and law on religion. Kiviorg has been an adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Department of Religious Affairs, Legal Chancellor and Office of the xiv Encyclopedia of World Constitutions President, Estonia. Her publications include articles in Rechtstheorie: Zeitschrift für Logik, Methodenlehre, Kybernetik und Soziologie des Rechts (2001) and Church Autonomy: A Comparative Survey (2001). Andreas Kley is a professor of public law, constitutional history, and philosophy of law at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and has several publications in law and constitutional history. He received a Dr. rer. publ. and the habilitation (highest academic degree) from the University of Sankt Gallen, Switzerland. John C. Knechtle is a professor of law and the director of international programs at Florida Coastal School of Law. He teaches constitutional law, international law, comparative law, and comparative constitutional law. He received his B.A. from Wheaton College and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law, where he was the editor in chief of International Law Journal. He also studied at the Institut d’Études Européenes, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in Brussels, Belgium. Professor Knechtle is the cofounder and president of the American and Caribbean Law Initiative (ACLI), a consortium of five U.S. and three Caribbean law schools dedicated to the development of law, legal institutions, and collaborative relationships in the Caribbean basin. Jolanta Kuznecoviene is the head of the Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Saint Petersburg University. Kuznecoviene has published several works, including chapters in State and Church in the European Union (2005), Law and Religion in Post-Communist Europe (2003), Diritto e religione nell’Europa post-comunista (2004), and Cirkev a stat v Litve // Štat a cirkev v postsocialistickej Europe II: Ustav prie vztahy štatu a cirkvi (2004) and articles in European Journal for State and Church Research (1999) and Politines sistemos (1995). Eric L. Kwa is currently a lecturer in law at the University of Papua New Guinea Law School. Kwa also holds a Ph.D. from the Auckland University Law School, New Zealand. Kwa’s areas of work include constitutional and administrative law, local government law, environmental law, natural resources law, and customary or traditional law. Kwa has been actively involved in research in these areas over a period of 10 years and is a practicing lawyer, as well as a consultant to the Papua New Guinea government and international organizations. Kwa’s publications include Constitutional Law of Papua New Guinea (2001), Twenty Years of the Papua New Guinea Constitution (2001), Development of Administrative Law in Papua New Guinea (2000), and Judicial Scrutiny of the Electoral Process in a Developing Democratic State (2003). Jean-Pierre Lay learned a J.D. from the Université Jean Moulin Lyon III, Lyon, France, and is a lecturer in public law at the Université Paris XII (Val-de-Marne), France. He has published several works in the areas of administrative law, fiscal law, and constitutional law. Aristides R. Lima, LL.M., has been the Speaker of the National Assembly of Cape Verde since 2001. Formerly he was a legal adviser of the president of the republic and director in the Ministry of Justice of Cape Verde. Lima’s specialties are constitutional law and international public law. Lima’s publications include Political Reform in Cape Verde: From Paternalism to State Modernization (in Portuguese) (1992), The Constitutional Position of the Head of State in Germany and Cape Verde: A Comparative Study (in Portuguese) (2004), and Constitution, Democracy and Human Rights (2004). Azza Kamel Maghur earned a B.A. in law from the Faculty of Law, Gar Yunis University, Benghazi, Libya, in 1985 and an LL.M. from the Université de Paris I, (Panthéon-Sorbonne), France, in 1988. Fluent in Arabic, French, and English, Maghur is senior partner at Maghur & Partners, Attorneys-at-Law; a member of the Tripoli bar; and a lawyer before the Libyan Supreme Court. Maghur was a lecturer in the High College of Administration and Finance in Tripoli in 1992–1993 and at the Faculty of Law El Fateh (Tripoli) University in 1996. She has written several articles and is a member of the Lawyers Syndicate. André Mbata B. Mangu is a professor of public law at the University of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and of constitutional and public international law at the University of South Africa. He is also a resident research fellow at the Africa Institute of South Africa. Mangu was formerly a public law lecturer at the University of Kinshasa, a public law lecturer at the University of the North (South Africa), and a judge at the Peace Tribunal of KinshasaNd’jili. Mangu’s areas of work include constitutional law, public international law, and international human rights law. His publications include Nationalisme, panafricanisme et reconstruction africaine (2005); many chapters in books and articles in journals, including Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights (2005), Stellenbosch Law Review (2004), South African Yearbook of International Law (2004), and Indian Journal of International Law (2004). Ngo Due Manh is the director general of the Center for Information, Library and Research Service and head of the Legislative Research Service Division of the National Assembly Office, Vietnam. He holds a J.D. with honors and a Ph.D. in jurisprudence from Moscow State University, Russia. Manh was a Fulbright Fellow and an LL.M. graduate from the Georgetown University Law Center. He has actively participated in working sessions with government agencies in drafting new laws and regulations that resulted in promulgation of the Land Law, the Civil Code, the Law on Organization of the Government, and the Law on Organization of the People’s Councils and the People’s Committees. He has also published many Contributors xv articles on Vietnamese laws in foreign and Vietnamese law publications. Alhagi Marong is a legal officer at the Chambers Support Section of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Arusha, Tanzania. Marong has been a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of The Gambia since 1993 and is a former senior state counsel, Attorney General’s Chambers, Banjul, The Gambia. He has taught at the Department of Law, American University of Armenia, and worked as co-director for Africa programs at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C. He earned an LL.B. (Hons) from the University of Sierra Leone, 1992; a B.L. from Sierra Leone Law School, 1993; an LL.M. from McGill University, Canada, 1997; and a D.C.L from McGill University, 2003. Leonardo Martins, Ph.D., LL.M., is a professor at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil, where he teaches constitutional law; he is also a professor at the Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany, where he teaches Brazilian law. He has studied law at the University of São Paulo, Brasil, and earned the doctor iuris at the Humboldt University. Thulani Rudolf Maseko holds a B.A. and an LL.B. from the University of Swaziland. He also holds an LL.M. in human rights and democratisation from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and wrote a dissertation on the writing of a democratic constitution in Africa with reference to Swaziland and Uganda. He is an attorney of the courts of Swaziland and the secretary general of Lawyers for Human Rights, a professional organization focusing on the promotion and protection of human rights. He is also the head of the Secretariat of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a broad-based organization of civil society and political parties whose objective is to campaign for the promulgation of a constitution with a justiciable bill of rights founded on the free and democratic will of the people of Swaziland, written under an enabling political environment. John David McClean earned his doctorate from the University of Oxford, England. He is an emeritus professor of law at the University of Sheffield, England, and as a result of holding national office in the Established Church of England, he has worked with a number of parliamentary committees. McClean is an expert on civil aviation law and general editor of the standard text, Shawcross and Beaumont on Air Law. As a private international lawyer, he regularly works as an adviser to the Commonwealth Secretariat in matters that relate to international cooperation in promoting civil justice and combatting international organized crime. Michael McNamara holds a B.C.L. from the University College Cork, National University of Ireland. He has worked on human rights for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), including its Election Support Team to Afghanistan in 2004. His main areas of expertise are freedom of religion or belief and electoral issues. McNamara was also a legal officer with the Electoral Complaints Commission of Afghanistan. Florentín Meléndez holds doctor of law and master of human rights degrees from Complutense University, Madrid, Spain, and a licenciatura in judicial sciences from the Faculty of Law, University of El Salvador. He has conducted various studies on human rights and humanitarian law at the International Institute of Human Rights (Strasbourg, France), at the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (San José, Costa Rica), and at the Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Institute, Faculty of Law, American University (Washington, D.C.). Meléndez is currently a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) (Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos de la Organización de los Estados Americanos [OEA]). He is the author of several publications on human rights, international law, and constitutional law. Jörg Menzel holds a Dr. jur. degree from the University of Bonn, Germany. Menzel is currently a senior legal adviser to the Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia. His specialties are constitutional law, administrative and public international law, and legal development in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Valeria Merino Dirani is a lawyer who has worked to further democracy and transparency initiatives in Latin America for more than 15 years. Since 1999 she has been the executive director of Corporación Latinoamericana para el Desarrollo (CLD), Transparency International’s (TI’s) national chapter in Ecuador. Merino Dirani has helped to establish a network of TI chapters in Latin America. In 1995, she was appointed a member of the Council of the United Nations University and served as the university’s vice president. She has been a pro bono adviser to several committees of Congress and public entities in Ecuador and has participated in numerous programs aimed at reforming aspects of the public sector, including public procurement. Through the CLD, she was a strong advocate for Ecuador’s recently passed freedom of information law. Merino Dirani has been on the Board of TI since the 2004 Annual Membership Meeting, held in Nairobi, Kenya. Rakeb Messele, formerly a legal researcher with the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) and a Counter-Trafficking Programme coordinator for the International Organization for Migration, is currently a board chairwoman of EWLA and a country program coordinator and senior project manager of Children’s Legal Defense Center of the African Child Policy Forum. Paul Henri Meyers, a doctor of law, is a member of parliament in Luxembourg. He is an honorary president xvi Encyclopedia of World Constitutions of the Employers Pension Fund and an honorary vice president of the Council of State of Luxembourg. He is also a member of the Chamber of Deputies and president of the Parliamentary Commission for the Institutions and Constitutional Revision and member of the Committee of the Regions. Ugo Mifsud Bonnici was president of the Republic of Malta from 1994 to 1999 and is currently a member of the Council of Europe Commission for Democracy. He studied law at Malta University and graduated with an LL.D. in 1955. In 1956 Mifsud Bonnici began practicing law at the Superior and Appeals Courts in Malta, in civil, criminal, and commercial law. As Maltese civil law is based on the French Code Napoléon and public law is based on English law, Mifsud Bonnici acquired a practical grasp of both legal systems. Mifsud Bonnici became a member of the House of Representatives in 1966 and is responsible for passing the following laws through the house: the Education Law (1988), the Law for the Protection of the Environment (1990), the National Archives Act (1990), the Broadcasting Law (1991), the Law Transferring Church Property to the State (1992), and the Law for the Protection of Health and Safety at Work (1994). Mifsud Bonnici has published several works, including The President’s Manual (1997), How Malta Became a Republic (1999), and An Introduction to Comparative Law (2004). Neđjo Milićević is president of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He also is a professor at the Faculty of Law in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1971 Milićević received a master’s degree in legal sciences at the Faculty of Law in Sarajevo, and in 1978 the doctor’s degree in legal sciences at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Since 1979 he has been a professor at the Faculties of Law in Sarajevo and in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 1990 until 1997 he was a judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina; since 2002 he has been a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and until October 2004 its vice president. Milićević is a contributor to several legal textbooks, to Commercial and Labour Law and Local Self-Government in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and has written commentary on the Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of the Constitution of the Serb Republic. He is the author of Commentary to the European Chart on Local SelfGovernment. Mohamed Moghram received an undergraduate degree in law from Sana’a University, Yemen, in 1984; an LL.M. from the American University, Washington, D.C., in 1998; and a Ph.D. in law from Pune University, India (1999). Moghram is an assistant professor of public law at the Faculty of Shariah Law, Sana’a University. He was a national legal expert for a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project on transparency and accountability in the public sector in the Arab region as well as a local expert on the Yemen Judiciary Support Program founded by the Dutch government. Moghram was also a team leader of the Justice Sector responsible for input to the Yemen Common Country Assessment (CCA) Report funded by the UNDP. Currently, he is the legal and constitutional expert for Yeoman Ward International, New Zealand, on the Civil Service Modernization Project– Yemen. Sanaty Mohamed holds diplomas in environmental law and in public administration law from the University of Fianarantsoa, Madagascar, and has received an LL.M. in human rights and democratization in Africa from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She had been working for the International Committee of the Red Cross from 2003 to 2005. Mohamed’s main areas of work are human rights and humanitarian law in Africa. George William Mugwanya earned an LL.D., summa cum laude, from Notre Dame University, Indiana; an LL.M., with distinction, from the University of Pretoria, South Africa; and an LL.B., with honors from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. Mugwanya is an advocate of Uganda’s Courts of Judicature and was formerly a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Makerere University. Mugwanya’s specialties are international law and comparative constitutional law. He is an appeals counsel at the Office of the Prosecutor, United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and is the author of many works, including Human Rights in Africa: Enhancing Human Rights through the African Regional Human Rights System (2003); chapters in Constitution-Making and Democratization in Africa (2001) and Human Rights Law in Africa (2004); and articles in Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights (2001) and in East African Journal of Peace & Human Rights (2001). Abraham Mwansa received an LL.M. from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and an LL.B. from the University of Zambia. Mwansa is currently a principal advocate for the Legal Resources Foundation Zambia. His undergraduate research was on the myth of representative democracy in Zambia, and his master’s degree research was on election politics and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), comparing the 2001 elections in Zambia and Uganda. Mwansa has been a human rights activist for more than seven years for the Legal Resources Foundation, a human rights nongovernmental organization. Myint Zan holds both a B.A. and an LL.B. from Rangoon University, Burma; an LL.M. from the University of Michigan; and a M.Int.Law from Australian National University. Myint Zan is currently a lecturer at the Faculty of Social Science, Universty Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), Sarawak, Malaysia. Myint Zan has written numerous academic journal articles and chapters in books on Burmese law and legal history, international law, human rights, and comparative law in publications based in Contributors xvii Australia, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, and New Zealand. Amarjit Narang is a professor of political science, coordinator of human rights education, and coordinator of consumer rights programs at Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India. He is also the general secretary for the Centre for Development Studies and Action. He holds a Ph.D. in political science, an M.A. in political science, and a B.A. in political science and history from the University of Delhi. Juan G. Navarro Floria is a lawyer and professor of civil law and Argentine ecclesiastical law at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina in Buenos Aires. He is the president of the Consorcio Latinoamericano de Libertad Religiosa and founder and member of the Instituto de Derecho Eclesiástico and the Consejo Argentino para la Libertad Religiosa. He is also the former adviser and chef de cabinet of the Secretariat of Religious Affairs of the Argentine Republic and is currently a member of the Asociación Argentina de Derecho Constitucional. Johanna Nelles holds a law degree from the Law Faculty of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and an M.A. from the European Master’s Program in Human Rights and Democratization, a European Union initiative to create a pool of qualified human rights professionals in Europe. She has since worked for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, in Bangkok, Thailand, as well as the German Institute for Human Rights and is currently working for the Green Party in the German parliament. Joakim Nergelius earned an LL.M. from Lund University, Sweden, in 1987 and an LL.D. from Lund University in 1996. Nergelius has been an associate professor and worked in the European Union civil service in the Court of Justice and the Committee of Regions. Nergelius is currently a professor at Örebro University, Sweden. Nergelius’s published works include Konstitutionellt rättighetsskydd—Svensk rätt i ett komparativt perspektiv (1996); Amsterdamfördraget och EU: s institutionella maktbalans (1998), edited with Ulf Bernitz; General Principles on European Community Law (2000); and Challenges of Multi-Level Constitutionalism (2004), edited with Pasquale Policastro. Katja Niethammer holds an M.A. from the Free University of Berlin, Germany. She has been a researcher for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs Middle East and Africa Research Group since 2004 and was previously a researcher at the Institute for Islamic Studies, Free University of Berlin, and coordinator for social and cultural history at the Middle East Interdisciplinary Center. Martin Nsibirwa holds an LL.M. in human rights and democratization in Africa from the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, South Africa, where he is currently a program manager. He specializes in women’s and children’s rights and the democratization in Africa. Gregor Obenaus is chef de cabinet of the princely House of Liechtenstein. He studied law at the Universities of Vienna and Innsbruck, Austria, and received an M.A. in European studies at the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium. Obenaus was formerly a legal adviser in the cabinet of the chancellor of the Austrian Federal Republic (2000–2004), a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998–2000), and a legal adviser in the Constitutional Department of the Federal Chancellery (1995–1998). He is the author of several works, including Austrian Participation in the Nomination of Members of Several Bodies and Institutes of the European Union (2006), Commentary to the Law on Animal Protection (2005), and Requirements of the Community Law for the Austrian LawMaking Process (1999). Emre Öktem is an associate professor of public international law at the University of Galatasaray, Istanbul, Turkey, and has been the assistant in constitutional law at the Istanbul University. Öktem is a member of the Advisory Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe. Valerio Onida is a professor of constitutional law at the University of Milan, Italy, and is the former president of the Italian Constitutional Court. He was previously a professor of constitutional law and public law at the Universities of Verona, Sassari, Pavia, and Bologna, Italy. Bruce L. Ottley is a professor of law at DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois. He was formerly a lecturer and senior lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea and district court magistrate at the National Capitol District Court, Papua New Guinea. Valbona Pajo holds an M.A. in public law and a law degree from the University of Tirana, Albania, and is currently a visiting lecturer in constitutional law of the Law Faculty, Tirana University. Pajo has also been working as a staff member in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) office in Albania at the Democratization Department, Elections Unit, since 2003. Un Jong Pak, Ph.D., was professor of law at Ewha Woman’s University and is currently a professor of legal philosophy at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. She was formerly president of the Korean Association of Legal Philosophy and a member of International Bioethics Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). xviii Encyclopedia of World Constitutions Ruxandra Pasoi received an M.A. in human rights from Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, in 2000. She is an assistant professor of public international law at the Ecological University of Bucharest, Romania; deputy director of the European Court of Human Rights Department of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and a human rights trainer at the National Institute of Magistracy. Pasoi’s areas of expertise are public international law, human rights, and refugee law. Donald E. Paterson, J.S.D. (Yale University), is an emeritus professor of law at the University of the South Pacific. He was formerly professor of law and professor of public administration as well as deputy vice chancellor at the University of the South Pacific. Nickolay L. Peshin, Ph.D., was formerly a researcher at the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law of the government of Russia. Peshin was a consultant and deputy director of the Russian Foundation for Legal Reform (1998–2004). Since 2002 Peshin has been a docent for constitutional and municipal law at the M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia. Lourens du Plessis is a professor of public law at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, and has published widely on issues of constitutional interpretation and constitutional theory. He received a B. Jur. et Comm., a B.Phil. and an LL.D. from the North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa, and a B.A. (Hons) from the University of Stellenbosch. Du Plessis teaches statutory and constitutional interpretation and comparative constitutionalism and chaired the technical committee responsible for drafting South Africa’s first bill of rights in the transitional constitution of 1993. Roman Podoprigora, Ph.D., was formerly an associate professor at the Kazakh State National University and is currently a professor and department chair at the Adilet Law School, Kazakhstan. Vardan Poghosyan holds an M.A. in political science from Bonn University, Germany, and is currently a Legal Advice Project coordinator in Armenia in the German Agency for Technical Cooperation. Latchezar Popov is a barrister at law. He serves as a chairman of the board of directors of the Rule of Law Institute, Bulgaria, a nongovernmental organization established in 1995 that has begun working closely with the Ministry of Interior on a variety of projects. Popov is president of Advocates Europe; his specialty is human rights. Popov is a licensed mediator and trainer from San Diego, California, National Conflict Resolution Center. Richard Potz has been a professor of law of religion at the University of Vienna, Austria, since 1981 and is currently the head of the Institute for Legal Philosophy, Law of Religion and Culture, at the University of Vienna. He is also a member of the European Consortium for Church and State Research, Madrid, Spain. His areas of work include law on religion, law and culture, legal history, human rights, religious law, and Christian-Muslim dialogue. Potz has published numerous articles and books, including Religionsrecht (2003) and Kulturrecht (2004). Ofa Pouono holds an LL.B. and a P.D.L.P. from the University of the South Pacific and an LL.M. with a specialty in maritime law from the University of Queensland. Pouono was appointed as an assistant Crown counsel, and later as an acting senior Crown counsel, of the Crown Law Department. A commissioner for oaths, Pouono has a private law practice as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court in Tonga. Martha Prieto Valdés is a professor of state theory and the law, philosophy of law, general constitutional and comparative law, and Cuban constitutional law, is chair of constitutional law, and is president of the scientific council of the Faculty of Law, at Havana University, Cuba. She is adviser to several national organs. Prieto Valdés has undertaken many years of research about state and local organizations, rights and guarantees of Cuban citizens, and themes of legal philosophy. She has also written many publications about Cuban constitutional law and theory of law. Emmanuel Kwabena Quansah holds an LL.B. (Hons) and an LL.M. from the University of London, England, and an LL.D. from the University of South Africa. Quansah is a barrister in England and Ghana, as well as an attorney in Botswana. Quansah is an associate professor of law at the University of Botswana and specializes in family law, succession law, law of evidence, company law, and legal institutions. His publications include The Botswana Law of Evidence (2004), Introduction to Family Law in Botswana (2002), Family and Succession Law of Botswana (2002), and Introduction to the Botswana Legal System (2001). Michael Rahe holds an Ass. iur. and has studied law at University of Trier, Germany, and Lancaster University, England. Rahe is currently an assistant and J.D. candidate at the Institute of European Constitutional Law, University of Trier. Mianko Ramaroson holds an LL.M. in human rights and democratization in Africa from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, where she is currently a candidate for the LL.D. Her specialty is human rights law as it relates to human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Victor V. Ramraj, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS), and has qualifications in both law (LL.B., University of Toronto, Canada, 1993) and philosophy (B.A., McGill, Contributors xix Canada, 1989; M.A., Toronto, 1990, Ph.D., Toronto, 1998). He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario). Before joining NUS, he served as a judicial law clerk at the Federal Court of Appeal in Ottawa and as a litigation lawyer in Toronto. He is the coauthor/editor of three books and numerous journal articles on criminal law, constitutional law, and anti-terrorism law and policy and has presented papers to audiences in Canada, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Ireland, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Barbara Randazzo holds a Ph.D. in constitutional law from the University of Milan, Italy, where she is currently an associate professor of public law, an assistant researcher at the Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic, and a lawyer. Hartmut Rank graduated from the University of Potsdam, Faculty of Law, Germany, in 2003, after his studies in law and languages in Germany and the Russian Federation. During his studies, he also worked with Russian nongovernmental organizations as well as with the German delegation to the Council of Europe. Currently, he is enrolled at the German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer. In 2006 he will be admitted to the bar. As a member of the German Society for Eastern European Studies, he is especially involved with legal questions of the region. He has also been seconded as an observer to several Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) election observation missions in postSoviet countries, including Armenia and Ukraine. Martin Risso Ferrand is a professor of constitutional law and dean of the School of Law of the Catholic University of Uruguay. He is also a member of the Directive Board of the World Association of Jesuit Schools of Law. Jaqueline Robinson López is an English major at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. She specializes in Spanish-to-English translation, mainly in the cultural-academic fields. Her translations include the book Guadalupe and the international bilingual magazine Museos de México y del Mundo. Tim Rogan is a student in the Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne, Australia. Johan Shamsuddin Sabaruddin is a lecturer in law at the University of Malaya, Malaysia. He holds an LL.B. (Hons) from the University of Malaya and an LL.M. from the University of London, England. Sabaruddin’s specialties are constitutional law, law and society, the Malaysian legal system, and Malaysian constitutional law. Solomon Sacco holds a bachelor of laws degree with honors from the University of Zimbabwe and is currently a staff development fellow in the Legal Aid and Advice Scheme at the Faculty of Law of the University of Zimbabwe. Sacco is the winner of the University of Zimbabwe Book Prize for 1999 and 2000. Sacco’s specialties are development law, human rights, labor law, media law, access to justice, land reform, and intellectual property. Ludmila Samoila holds a diploma in international law from the State University of Moldova, as well as an LL.M. in European and comparative law from the Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Samoila was formerly a legal consultant of the nongovernmental organization Legal Clinic and a legal assistant at the law firm Brodsky, Uscov, Looper, Reed and Partners. She is currently a human rights assistant at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to Moldova. Salvador Sánchez González holds an LL.B. from the Universidad Santa María La Antigua, Panama. He is a lawyer admitted to practice in the Republic of Panama and a professor at the Universidad Santa María La Antigua, School of Law. Sánchez González is also the former director for the Admission of Complaints at the Panamanian Ombudsman Office and the current secretary for government, human rights, and indigenous issues of the Panamanian National Assembly. Balázs Schanda earned a degree in legal and political sciences at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. He holds a licenciate in canon law and a Ph.D. in legal sciences. He serves at the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Hungary as a senior counseler and as an assistant professor at Pázmány Péter Catholic University and Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary. Martin Scheinin, Ph.D., a former professor of law at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and visiting scholar at the University of Toronto, Canada, is currently a professor of constitutional and international law at Åbo Akademi University, Finland, where he is director of the Institute for Human Rights. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Constitutional Law. Christine Schmidt-König, Dr. iur., holds a maîtrise and master of law from the University Nancy, France, and an LL.M. from the University of Trier, Germany. SchmidtKönig is currently an assistant at the Institute for European Constitutional Law at the University of Trier and lecturer for French law and French legal language at the Universities of Trier and Darmstadt, Germany. Branko Smerdel is a professor of constitutional law and comparative government at the University of Zagreb Law Faculty, Croatia; chair in constitutional law; and editor in chief of Collected Works of the Zagreb Law School. Researching and teaching since 1973, Smerdel specializes in constitutional law, comparative government and politics, federalism, the European xx Encyclopedia of World Constitutions constitution, and legal English. Smerdel participated in drafting the Croatian Constitution in 1990 and its major revision in 2000 and has been involved in a number of statutes related to elections and human rights. Smerdel is an adviser to the Committee on the Constitution and Standing Rules of the Croatian Parliament. Smerdel’s publications include Ministerial Responsibility in Parliamentary Government (1977), Evolution of Presidential Government in the US: Congressional Veto (1986), Organization of Government (1988), American Theories of Federalism (1989), Constitutional Law (1992, 1995, 1998, and 2006), Constitutional Choice in European Union (2003), and English for Lawyers (2005). Marek Šmid, Ph.D., is the deputy director of the International Law Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic; the vice dean and head of the Department of International Law and European Law, Faculty of Law, University of Trnava, Slovakia; a member of the Attorney Chamber of the Slovak Republic; the vice president of the Slovak Society for International Law; and the conciliator pursuant to Article 2 of the Annex V to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. José de Sousa e Brito is a justice (emeritus) of the Constitutional Court, Lisbon, Portugal, and a professor at Universidade Nova, Lisbon. Formerly a visiting professor at the University of Munich, president of the European Consortium of Church and State Research, and president of the Committee for the Reform of the Law of Religious Liberty of Portugal, Sousa e Brito is currently the Portuguese expert at the Committee of Experts for the Development of Human Rights of the Council of Europe. His specialties are philosophy of law, criminal law, constitutional law, and law on religion. Igor Spirovski is a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia, the former secretary general of the Parliament and of the Constitutional Court, a former member of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, and a current member of the Council of the International Association of Constitutional Law. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles in the field of constitutional law, notably works on parliamentarism, constitutional justice, separation of powers, European Union law, public administration, and human rights, and has published works in the United States, France, Germany, Poland, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Macedonia. Philippos C. Spyropoulos, LL.M., Ph.D., is a professor of constitutional law at the University of Athens, Greece. He is a former secretary-general of the Ministry to the Prime Minister and of the Ministry of Justice. Lovro Šturm, Ph.D., is the minister of justice of the Republic of Slovenia and a professor of public law at the University of Ljubljana. Sturm was previously a judge and president of the Constitutional Court and minister of education. Demba Sy is professor of public law, specializing in administrative law and constitutional law, at the University of Dakar, Senegal. His current positions are thesis director (curateur aux thèses) at the Faculty of Jurisprudence and Political Science (since 1995), coordinator of graduate studies (Troisièmes Cycles) at the Faculty of Jurisprudence and Political Science (since 1995), and director of the Laboratory for Law Studies and Political Studies of the faculty (LEJPO) (since 1994). He was also a member of the Reform Commission of the Senegalese Constitution in 2000. Lidiya Syvko, holds an LL.M. in international law from National Taras Shevchenko University, Kiev, Ukraine. She is currently an assistant at the Faculty of Law of that university. Eiichiro Takahata is an assistant professor of constitutional law at Nihon University, Japan. Takahata’s specialties are constitutional law, comparative constitutional law, and law on religion. Takahata’s publications include articles in Comparative Law (1998), Nihon Hougaku (2000), and The Religious Law (2000). Norman Taku holds an LL.B. (Hons) from the University of Buea, Cameroon, and an LL.M. in human rights and constitutional practice from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Taku is currently an assistant director at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. Taku is responsible for the overall management and administration of the master of laws (LL.M.) degree program in human rights and democratization in Africa, a regional cooperation initiative involving six other African universities. In addition he is the coeditor of the French translation of the Compendium of Key Human Rights Documents of the African Union (2006). Laurentiu D. Tanase holds a D.E.A. in sociology of religion from the Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, France, and a D.E.A. from Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg, Institute for High European Studies. He also holds a Ph.D. in sociology of religions, Marc Bloch University, Faculty of Protestant Theology. Tanase has been a university titular lector at the University of Bucharest, Bulgaria, Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Board of Sociology of Religions, since 2002. He was secretary of state for religious affairs, Romanian Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs from 2001 to 2004. Ingvill Thorson Plesner earned a Cand. polit. in social science and public law from the University of Oslo, Norway, in 1998 and is currently a research fellow at the Norwegian Center for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo. In addition to receiving a degree in public law, including Norwegian constitutional law, Contributors xxi from the University of Oslo, Thorson Plesner has been working with constitutional law in relation to her work in Norwegian public ministries (senior executive officer at the Norwegian Ministry for Research, Education and Church Affairs, 1999–2002; senior executive officer at the Norwegian Ministry for Cultural Affairs, 2002–2003) and her Ph.D. dissertation on freedom of religion or belief and state relations to religion. Rik Torfs is a professor of canon law and the religionstate relationship at the University of Leuven, Belgium. His specialties are law on religion, canon law, and constitutional law. Torfs is also a columnist and writer and an adviser to several national governments, churches and religious groups, and international organizations. The editor in chief of the European Journal for Church and State Research, he is the author of 10 books and 300 articles. Dahmène Touchent was chargé d’enseignement (responsible for teaching and evaluation) for economics and law at the European Institute of Corporatism (INEE, Paris) and has been chargé d’enseignement for labor law and commercial law at the University of Paris XIII (Nord), France, since 2002 and manager of the Algerian legal Web site Lexalgeria. Touchent’s areas of work include constitutional law, international public law, consumer law, European law on sale, and francophone African law. David Usupashvili, formerly an assistant professor of constitutional law at Tbilisi State University, chief legal adviser of the president of Georgia, member of the State Constitutional Commission of Georgia, president of the Young Lawyers Association of Georgia, and member of the Disciplinary Council of Judiciary of Georgia, is currently a senior legal and policy adviser at the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector (IRIS), Georgia. Carlos Valderrama Adriansén, Ph.D., was formerly a professor of commercial law at Lima University, Peru, and is currently a professor in ecclesiastic law of the state at Catholic University of Peru, Lima. He is also president of the Institute of Ecclesiastic Law of Peru (IDEC) and past president of the Latin American Consortium of Religious Freedom. Leo Valladares Lanza, Ph.D., has been a professor of philosophy of law and constitutional law at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras since 1972. He was an adviser to the National Constitutional Assembly, which created the current constitution in 1982, and is a member and the former president of the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights. He was also a national commissioner of human rights in Honduras (1992–2002). Johan van der Vyver has been the I. T. Cohen Professor of International Law and Human Rights at Emory University since 1995. He is a former professor of law at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Van der Vyver is an expert on human rights law and has been involved in the promotion of human rights in South Africa. He also served as a fellow in the Human Rights Program of the Carter Center from 1995 to 1998. He is the author of more than 200 law review articles, popular notes, chapters in books, book reviews on human rights, and works on a variety of other subjects. He holds a B.Com. (1954), LL.B. (1956, Hons), and B.A. (1965) from Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, South Africa; a doctor legum, University of Pretoria, South Africa (1974); diploma of the international and comparative law of human rights of the International Institute of Human Rights (Strasbourg, France, 1986); a doctor legum (honoris causa), University of Zululand, South Africa (1993); and a doctor legum (honoris causa), Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (2003). Olivera Vučić holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in law from the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro, where he is currently the vice dean and an associate professor of constitutional law. Vučić has written several books, including Collective Head of State (1985), Austrian Constitutional Court—the Safeguard of the Federation and Constitution (1995), and Constitutional Amendments and Validity (2005). Florian Wegelein, Dr. iur., LL.M., a former lecturer of German and European law at Tbilisi State University in Georgia, is currently a freelance consultant for European and international law in Göttingen, Germany. Wegelein’s specialties are European and international public law, and environmental law. Wegelein has undertaken many years of research and practical work and is an adviser to national and international organizations. Wegelein’s publications include Marine Scientific Research (2005) and Organic Law of Georgia (2003). Richard Whitecross, Ph.D., is a lawyer and anthropologist. He completed a thesis on the Zhabdrung’s legacy: state transformation, law, and social values in contemporary Bhutan (2002) and was a postdoctoral fellow at Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), United Kingdom, the following year. He is currently an ESRC research fellow in socio-legal studies, School for Social and Political Studies, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Michael Wiener, LL.M., completed a law degree (second state exam) after studying law at the University of Trier, Germany, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and the University of London, United Kingdom with scholarships from Cusanuswerk, Mobilité européenne, and the British Chevening Scholarship Scheme. He is currently a Ph.D. researcher on the mandate of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. xxii Encyclopedia of World Constitutions Oliver Windgätter, Ref. iur., graduated with a concentration in Anglo-American law studies from the Institute for Foreign Law Studies, University of Trier, Germany. Windgätter has been a researcher at the Institute for Legal Policy at the University of Trier since 2003. His specialties are constitutional law (federalism) and European and international law. José Woehrling has been a professor of public law at the Université de Montréal (Québec, Canada) since 1971. He specializes in Canadian and comparative constitutional law, international public law, law on religion, and law on human rights (in which he has many years of research and practical experience). He also is an adviser to several national governments and international organizations. Woehrling has published several books, including Appartenances, institutions et citoyenneté (2005) with Pierre Noreau and Les Constitutions du Canada et du Québec: Du Régime français à nos jour (1994) and Demain, le Québec . . . Choix politiques et constitutionnels d’un pays en devenir (1994), with Jacques-Yvan Morin. His other publications relate to Canadian and comparative constitutional law, international law, and law on human rights. Krzysztof Wójtowicz, Ph.D., is a professor of law at the University of Wrocław, Poland, and head of the Department of International and European Law and director of the Center of Postgraduate Studies in Law and Economics of the European Union. He is also vice rector for research and foreign cooperation of the University of Wrocław. Po Jen Yap is an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore. He is currently pursuing a master of laws degree at Harvard University on a Kathryn Aguirre Worth Endowment for Faculty Enrichment scholarship. He has published on constitutional and international law. Larissa Zabel holds a law degree from the University of Trier, Germany, specializing in European Union and international public law, and an LL.M. from the University of New South Wales, Australia. She was admitted to the bar in Germany in 2004. Zhang Shoudong is an associate professor of law at the Law School of China, University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), and teaches and researches Chinese legal history and comparative constitutional law. Author of articles on Chinese legal tradition, Zhang Shoudong is also the translator of books on jurisprudence and law. Zhou Qingfeng is a lecturer of constitutional law at the Law School of China, University of Political Science and Law (CUPL). Zhou is also a columnist on constitutionalism and human rights. Preface Easily accessible and ready at hand, Encyclopedia of World Constitutions gives a comprehensive overview of the constitutions of the world. The entries follow a common structure, making the systems easily comparable. All nation-states are covered, as are special and disputed territories. The authors are from all over the world. A large majority of articles are written by specialists in the respective country. All authors are outstanding legal and political experts; very often they hold or have held high offices in their country. The articles concentrate on information most important for the understanding of the constitutional system, while covering all areas of predominant interest. As far as necessary for this purpose, reference is also made to constitutions of subdivisions of countries with federal structures. Suggestions for further reading attached to each article provide more detailed sources of information. This section includes Web addresses for the English text of the relevant constitutional document. The glossary xxiii explains special terms that help in understanding a particular constitution. The following people and institutions to whom I am greatly indebted deserve special appreciation, in addition to all the many authors, for their assistance and contribution to this work: Claudia Lehnen, Michael Rahe, Florian Geyer, Gerhild Scholzen-Wiedmann, Christine Schmidt-König, Sylvia Lutz, Miriam Reinartz, Klaus Brokamp, and Maria Concepción Medina González from the Institute for European Constitutional Law at the University of Trier; Oliver Windgätter from the Institute for Legal Policy at the University of Trier; Sharon Zinns, Jessica Day, and Nancy R. Daspit from Emory Law School, Atlanta; Christof Heyns and Magnus Killander from the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, at the University of Pretoria; the Friedrich Ebert Foundation; the Konrad Adenauer Foundation; Barry Youngerman; and Claudia Schaab from Facts On File. — Gerhard Robbers Introduction A constitution represents the legal fundamentals of a country. It outlines the rules that are fundamental for governing the community. Today, most countries of the world have one central document in which all or most of these rules are laid down. In a few countries, such as Austria, Israel, or the United Kingdom, several documents taken together form the constitution. Sometimes, constitutional documents, be they one or more, are combined with other sources of constitutional law, such as custom or even religious rules. In any case, the idea that a country should have a constitution has been adopted throughout the world. Whatever differences or similarities between constitutions there may be, it is obvious that, at least in constitutional law, common ideas are at work in most of the world. There is hardly a country in the world that does not explicitly claim to be a democracy, which respects the rule of law and fundamental rights. At least in theory, these ideas have been accepted throughout the world. Constitutions differ. They are long or short, stable or easily changed. Government institutions as established by the constitutions vary in structure and powers. Mostly, however, constitutions give an idea of the very identity of a country. Usually, no other law of a given legal system may contradict the constitution of a specific country. All other laws and legal rules must comply with what the constitution says. Constitutions should direct the facts of life, the actions of governments. They do not always do so. Sometimes, constitutions are seen as mere symbols of the independence and sovereignty of the nation, not primarily as a source of law. In some countries, constitutions are strong, and they are implemented in fact. In other countries, the respect for the constitution is weak. In such cases there may well be a convincing constitution, nicely worded, and in perfect harmony with what can be regarded as the Good and the Just. Nevertheless, the actual situation in that country may well be intolerable. Constitutions can be misused as mere propaganda, deceiving people and deceiving the world, but even then, constitutions may serve as yardsticks for reformers to cite. Constitutions develop. Most constitutions contain explicit provisions for amendment or renewal. Usually, xxv these provisions differ from the normal process of legislation and make the change of the constitution more difficult. This difference reflects the predominant importance of the constitution within the legal system, stressing the idea of continuity and identity of the community. Many constitutions go a step further in protecting identity by excluding the possibility of amending certain provisions that are held basic for this constitutional identity, such as the rule of law and democracy or a reference to religious belief. On the other hand, no wording of a constitution can escape interpretation. Even if the words remain the same, the understanding of what these words mean develops during time. The text of a constitution can be interpreted narrowly or generously, and what equality or freedom means differs from generation to generation, from country to country, and from culture to culture. Constitutions live in language. Whoever wants to understand constitutions needs to speak the language in which they are written or must find translations. Translation of legal texts is a highly difficult task. It is not enough to find a word for a word, but the words must also fit into the legal structure of the country. Terminology varies, and sometimes the same word means a different thing in a different context. This variability may become obvious in the field of human rights or fundamental rights. Fundamental rights are those rights of the individual that are the basis of his or her legal position in a community. Most of them are the human rights of every human being. The right to life, to freedom and equality; the freedom of belief and worship; free speech and prohibition of slavery are rights of everybody, and thus they are human rights. Many constitutions acknowledge that these rights are based in human dignity. Other fundamental rights are restricted to citizens or nationals of a certain country. The right to vote in elections, equal access to public office, and often also rights such as freedom of assembly and association are linked to membership in a specific political or economic system, and they are thus restricted to those belonging to this system. Fundamental rights have developed over time. Some have early roots dating back to ancient times. In general, xxvi Encyclopedia of World Constitutions three generations of rights and freedoms are distinguished according to the time of their development. The first generation entails those fundamental rights often called liberal, classic, or civil, which are found in the early constitutions of the 18th and 19th centuries. These are guarantees such as freedom and equality; freedom of speech, assembly, and association; the right to own property; the freedom of the press; or habeas corpus—the right not to be jailed arbitrarily or without a decision by an impartial judge. These rights were developed in the era of liberalism especially in the later 18th and in the 19th century, in which the protection of the individual from government interference was seen to be paramount. The second generation of fundamental rights turned to the social needs of the individuals. In the 19th and early 20th centuries there was a growing and widespread impression that the liberal fundamental rights were not enough to secure a proper life for the individual. Only those who owned property would profit from the protection of property; only those who had work opportunities would really enjoy their freedom of profession. Social rights were added to meet such needs such as the right to work, the right to strike, and the right to form trade unions. Many constitutions included protections for the family and for mothers, and guaranteed a minimal standard of living. Rights to education, housing, and health protection are characteristic of these second-generation fundamental rights. The third generation of fundamental rights refers to groups and peoples. Whereas the first and second generations of fundamental rights predominantly care for the individual, the third generation of fundamental rights takes into account social coherence, traditions, and cultures. These third-generation fundamental rights protect minorities and preserve a diversity of languages, religions, and cultures. They provide for a right to sustainable development of developing countries and peoples. Fundamental rights have developed in history as concrete answers to concrete problems. When governments have acted arbitrarily or subdued the people, demands emerged to limit government power. From here, habeas corpus rights against arbitrary arrests emerged, as did protection of property against unfair expropriation. However, governments have not always been seen as a threat. They have positive functions in providing the people with safety and with the necessary means of life. Accordingly, fundamental rights have developed in specific cases to answer specific needs: for education, minimal standards of living, or protection against others. These specific answers to specific problems have soon developed into a broad system of rights and freedoms forming a basis of communal life. Differences between various constitutions as to which fundamental rights are guaranteed often reflect the specific needs of the specific country in a specific time. Very often, when a new need arises, constitutions are not amended, but jurisprudence, the courts, and public opinion interpret existing constitutional law in a way that includes new answers to new questions. In other constitutions, however, new needs may well lead to the introduction of an explicit new fundamental right. One of the striking current developments is the extension of fundamental rights from a mere governmental perspective to a broad application within society. A first and primary function of fundamental rights was to structure the relationship between the individual and the government. Fundamental rights did not give direct answers to ways individuals should relate to each other. Today, in many constitutional systems, fundamental rights also give directives of the ways individuals should treat each other. Constitutions tell about political participation of people. The systems vary considerably. Some countries have strong systems of a direct democracy in which the people decide directly by way of referendums about specific questions such as projects of laws or other issues. However, indirect representation prevails. People elect representatives, who then decide about specific questions. Many election systems provide for a decision between individually competing candidates. Then, the one who receives more votes would win the office; this constitutes the “first-past-the-post principle” or the principle of “the winner takes it all.” Many other constitutions, however, provide for a proportional representation. In these systems political parties or other entities establish lists of candidates, and these lists are voted on by the electors. The number of votes a list wins in the elections decides the number of candidates who are elected from that list. Many constitutions provide for necessary representation of minorities by reserving seats in parliament or other offices for a certain part of the population. Constitutions relate to religion. Religion is a central topic of constitutions throughout the world. Some sort of separation between churches or other religious communities and the state is predominant. That separation may be radically or moderately expressed. It can be hostile in order to push away religion, or it can be friendly to let religion have the freedom to flourish. As it usually does, much depends on practice. There are a number of constitutions declaring a certain religion or confession to be the religion of the state, the predominant religion, or a church to be the people’s church. Others define themselves explicitly as Islamic republics or refer to Christianity. These explicit identities as secular or religious do not necessarily lead to unequal treatment of other religions or even to a loss of religious freedom. Constitutions constitute identity and they represent the identity of their country. They do so in their text and they do so in the way they are implemented. Understanding a constitution is a step to understanding a people. — Gerhard Robbers CHILE At-a-Glance OFFICIAL NAME DATE OF INDEPENDENCE OR CREATION Republic of Chile September 18, 1810 CAPITAL TYPE OF GOVERNMENT Santiago Presidential POPULATION TYPE OF STATE 15,018,000 (2005 est.) Unitary state SIZE TYPE OF LEGISLATURE 292,260 sq. mi. (756,950 sq. km) Bicameral congress LANGUAGES DATE OF CONSTITUTION Spanish October 24, 1980 RELIGIONS DATE OF LAST AMENDMENT Catholic 89%, Protestant 11% August 19, 2005 NATIONAL OR ETHNIC COMPOSITION White and white-Amerindian 95%, Amerindian 3%, other 2% C hile is a democratic republic with a presidential system based on the separation of powers that has operated since 1830. The constitution defines Chile as a unitary state, although a considerable part of its administrative organization is decentralized into two territorial levels that enjoy far-reaching autonomy. The constitution guarantees, in Article 19, the protection of classic fundamental rights as well as essential rights recognized through treaties. Article 20 guarantees judicial review of administrative action to anyone whose fundamental rights are infringed. The president of the republic is the chief of state and is in charge of the government and the administration. The president has the constitutional power to appoint and dismiss the ministers of state, who directly cooperate with the president. Neither the president nor the ministers are politically responsible before the National Congress, although they can be removed by impeachment. The National Congress provides popular representation in its two branches. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are both elected by popular vote in districts of two seats. There is a system of stable parties that tend to operate in two large coalitions when making major political and electoral decisions. The economic system, after the failure of the stateplanned-economy model in the 1970s, is predominately liberal. The liberal principles guiding state economic management are promoted by explicit constitutional norms. The armed forces are subject to civil power. The commanders in chief of army, navy, and air force are appointed and dismissed by the president and have four-year terms. CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY Chile’s constitutional history as an independent state begins with the creation of the first governing body in September 1810. After the destitution and capture of the Spanish king, Ferdinand VII, by the French emperor, Napoléon, a political and military confrontation began throughout the Spanish colonies between those who remained close to the king and Spanish institutions and those who wanted autonomy while maintaining ties to the monarchy. 187 188 Chile Between 1810 and 1814, supporters of autonomy controlled the government. Unsure of the direction that events in Spain would take, and with only a scarce majority in favor of separation, it was only possible to elaborate provisional constitutional adjustments. During this period known as Patria Vieja, three major constitutional instruments were approved (1811, 1812, 1814), none of which managed to establish stable institutions. The new rulers tried to persuade the aristocracy of the advantages of independence by creating collective, and therefore weak, government organs. In 1814, the supporters of the monarchy regained power. Their punitive measures pushed popular sentiment toward independence. Finally. the royalists were defeated in the Battle of Maipú in April 1818. Chile’s independence was formally declared that year. Toward the end of the revolution, power resided in the hands of Bernardo O’Higgins, one of the military leaders of the emancipation movement. The absence of consensus on the form of government and the danger of new attacks from troops loyal to the monarchy motivated O’Higgins to approve a provisional constitution in which the only counterbalance to the executive (headed by the so-called supreme director) was a Senate of five members appointed by the same supreme director. A new constitution to replace the provisional constitution was approved in 1822. The new constitution extended O’Higgins’s term as supreme director for another 10 years, triggering a rapid loss of legitimacy that led to the 1823 constitution. But this document, which tried to create an original system of government, was too complex and was for the most part not applied. In 1828, liberal political forces won approval for a new constitution that combined popular federal ideas and traditional institutions of liberal constitutionalism with a technical quality not shown by previous texts. Nonetheless, political support declined, and it produced no visible results. In 1830, the struggle within the governing class between liberals and conservatives ended in military confrontation and the victory of the conservatives at the Battle of Lircay. The conservative triumph meant that parliamentary rule faded away in favor of an executive with great political power, although the idea of a leader for life was rejected as incompatible with constitutional institutions. The conservatives also favored the idea of a progressive democracy: Political participation could not be implemented at once without an adequate citizen base but should be introduced in a gradual manner. The 1833 constitution expressed this conservative vision. Its provisions reinforced presidential powers and reduced the powers of congress. The main innovation, however, was more political than legal recognition of the president as a ruler with ample powers, including interference in the elections. The text of 1833 prevailed until 1925. While it underwent few reforms, its interpretation changed in a radical manner. Three great periods can be distinguished: presidentialism (1833–61), moderate parliamentarism (1861–91), and parliamentarism (1891–1925). During the presidential period, the president’s leadership was unquestioned. His mandate was for five years, invariably transformed by reelection into a 10-year term. Presidential interference in the elections for deputies and senators was accepted by the ruling class. The president also benefited from emergency powers. Toward the middle of the century emerging political parties started to criticize the presidential system. In a gradual but steady manner, congress limited the presidential privileges by way of normative reforms. In 1861, the constitution was modified to prevent presidential reelection. In addition, the power to manage election results passed to the political parties. At last, the congress found itself in a political position to negotiate on equal terms with the president. Toward the end of 19th century, the growing power of congress became intolerable for the president. In 1891, the president refused to abide by the will of the congress, which in response refused to approve the budget. Congress triumphed in the ensuing civil war, and with it the parliamentary interpretation of the 1833 constitution. At the beginning of 1891, the superiority of the congress over the president was recognized within the institutional framework of the 1833 constitution. The main change was the liberal use of the vote of no confidence. This generated a rotation of cabinet ministers that followed the luck of the unstable majorities in both chambers. The parliamentary regime failed to deal with deep social problems. Social crisis, suffrage limitations, elitist parties, concentration of wealth, and a slow legislative process wore down the regime. In 1920, a reformist president, Arturo Alessandri, gained power. In 1925, a constitutional reform explicitly favoring a presidential-type regime won a popular plebiscite, and in September of that year, 1925, the new constitution was promulgated. The document established the central constitutional order that prevails to this day. Throughout this time, congress defended its prerogatives, firmly based on more than 90 years of uninterrupted functioning, complicating the relationship with the president. From the executive perspective, the only solution to the recurring conflicts was to increase the president’s powers and to reduce the powers of parliament. In 1943, a constitutional reform reduced the parliamentary initiative on public spending. In 1970, a new constitutional reform limited the powers of the congress in economic issues. The existing political parties in 1925 were replaced in the second half of the 20th century by radically different political forces. These parties had a rigid ideological base. The new doctrines advocated an ambitious agenda of social transformation. The replacement of the old traditional parties was manifested during the presidential elections of 1952 and 1958, with the victory of two independent candidates. In 1964, Eduardo Frei Montalva assumed power by a solid majority, heading an administration that proposed deep social changes. Politics began to transform into a battlefield where neither values nor principles were shared but just a few formal rules established by the constitution. Chile 189 Salvador Allende’s triumph in the presidential election of 1970 followed the same path initiated in 1964. President Allende did not benefit from a clear majority in either chamber, and legislative deadlock resulted. Without legislative support, the president began employing alternative means to develop his policies. These actions generated profound political criticism and constitutional problems. The parliamentary elections of 1973 ratified the existing institutional deadlock. In August 1973, the Chamber of Deputies approved a statement that the president had broken the law. Similar claims had previously been made by the Supreme Court. In September 1973, the military intervened. The National Congress was closed, and the 1925 constitution was suspended. Political parties were dissolved, and all party activity was forbidden. The military dictatorship launched repression entailing numerous human rights abuses. According to the National Committee’s Truth and Reconciliation Report presented in 1991, nearly 2,300 people were killed by the actions of the state. In October 1973, the military government began a constitutional reform process; after seven years, a text was finally presented for a plebiscite, which approved the document (although many questioned the legitimacy of a plebiscitary conducted under military rule). The new constitution reinforced presidential powers in line with the proposals of three previous democratic presidents in 1964, 1969, and 1971 (Alessandri, Frei, and Allende). All provisions linked to political rights remained suspended until 1989. The rest began to take effect in October 1980. In 1989, following the transition program anticipated in the constitution itself, presidential and parliamentary elections were held. As well, more than 50 constitutional reforms were submitted to a plebiscite, resulting in the approval by an ample popular majority. To many, this second plebiscite constitutes the democratic foundation of the new constitution. From 1990 to the present, more than 10 additional reforms have been applied to the constitution. Most important were the creation of regional governments (1992) and a national prosecutor’s office (1997) and the reform of the Senate, Constitutional Court, and National Security Council (2005). FORM AND IMPACT OF THE CONSTITUTION Chile has a strong tradition of written constitutions. Constitutional jurisprudence, however, became important only in recent decades. The constitution states that any person may make a claim to the rights recognized in Article 19 before the Court of Appeals. Recent jurisprudence, together with the regular functioning of the Constitutional Court, has strengthened the standing of the constitutional text. Laws interpreting the constitution are not frequently passed; when they are, they need the same degree of approval as constitutional amendments themselves, and they require prior approval by the Constitutional Court. The historical background for this requirement are the various indirect modifications made under the constitutions of 1833 and 1925. The constitution rules above all other legal acts and practices, including those derived from international instruments and treaties. The doctrine of the primacy of international human-rights treaties (born along with the 1989 reform) was overturned by the Constitutional Court in 2001. Ample consensus supports the courts in matters concerning human rights, even in cases in which judges clearly extended the protection beyond the text. Some other values explicitly protected in the constitution have been more problematic, such as the principles of Catholic morality and liberalism, which reflect the sentiments of a portion of the population. BASIC ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Chile is a unitary state, and its territory is divided in regions. Each of the 13 established regions constitutes an administrative unit, headed by a regional government and defined by the constitution as decentralized. The regional government is made up of an indirectly elected assembly and an executive, the intendant. The president of the republic appoints and dismisses the intendants at will, calling into question the practical extent of decentralization. The regional budgets are assigned by the central government. The most important budget item is the National Fund for Regional Development, an interterritorial compensatory fund distributed according to preestablished poverty and development indexes. Investments, however, are controlled by fixed rules that prevent the regional governments from developing their own policies. Each region is divided into provinces with their own governments who help to implement regional policies. A third level of territorial organization is the municipality, which is controlled by a directly elected mayor and council. The municipalities have their own sources of funding (such as local taxes), as well as some assistance from the center (such as the Municipal Common Fund, another interterritorial compensation fund). This allows them a degree of autonomy. LEADING CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES Chile is a democratic and presidential republic. The constitution establishes a clear division of powers, complemented by checks and balances. 190 Chile Democracy is expressed in direct elections of representative authorities (president, parliamentarians, councils, and mayors) and in plebiscites. The latter can be and have, at times, been called at the local municipal level; moreover, they are available to resolve conflicts between the president and the National Congress during a constitutional reform process. The leading principles can be found in Chapter 1 of the constitution. The starting point is that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Article 1 also recognizes the importance of family as the “basic core” of society, although the scope of this declaration has changed in a radical manner since the approval of a divorce law in 2004. The article includes clauses on the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law. CONSTITUTIONAL BODIES The two political and central representational institutions in the constitutional regime are the president and the National Congress. Alongside these powers are the judiciary and the Constitutional Court and a set of organs with constitutional autonomy (the Central Bank and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic). The President of the Republic The president of the republic is the head of state and chief of the administration. The president appoints and dismisses the ministers of state. The president has considerable powers in the legislative process, including the exclusive right to initiate bills on taxes and other major economic issues. The president can also declare a bill urgent, forcing the National Congress to vote on it within 30 days. Furthermore, the president can veto bills; two-thirds of the members of each chamber are needed to override the veto. On budgetary bills, congress only has the power to reduce expenditures; it cannot increase estimates of revenues. If congress does not vote on the budgetary law proposal within 60 days, the bill enters into force. These formal powers, in addition to the president’s informal influence over the members of congress of his or her own party or coalition, explain the absolute dominance of the executive in the legislative process. Although there are legislative initiatives presented by members of congress, they usually concern minor issues or are not approved. At the request of the president, the National Congress can delegate the legislative power on certain matters to him or her for a maximal period of a year, during which the president can issues decrees that have the same mandatory force as laws. As any law, however, these decrees can be revised by the Constitutional Court. The president has the power to initiate constitutional amendments and can veto amendments proposed by congress. Even if congress overrides the veto by a two-thirds majority of the members of each chamber, the president can still call for a plebiscite on the measure. The president is also in charge of the country’s international affairs. The president can appoint ambassadors and representatives to international organizations and has the power to negotiate, approve, and ratify treaties. In general, treaties require the approval of congress, although certain executive agreements can be approved without its support. The president can appoint and dismiss undersecretaries, intendants, provincial governors, and a long list of high administrative and military positions. It is estimated that there are more than 3,000 positions at the president’s exclusive disposal. Important reforms, such as the creation of a Council of High Public Administration and a Civil Service Office, are under discussion in an attempt to guarantee the professional qualifications of top civil servants. The president appoints directors of various independent agencies. This process usually requires ratification of a majority or two-thirds of the Senate. Such ratification has become an important tool in achieving political balance. The president serves a single four-year term without immediate reelection, a rule introduced in 2005. The National Congress The legislative power belongs to a congress made up of two houses, the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The congress has functioned uninterrupted since 1933, with the exception of the 1973–90 period. The chambers participate equally in the legislative process. The Chamber of Deputies also has control powers over the administration. The most useful are the oral and written questions and investigation committees. The congress, in addition, can impeach the president, ministers, superior court magistrates, and other high authorities, for offenses, violations, or abuses described in the constitution. The guilty party is removed and may not hold public office for five years. Since 1990, there have been 22 impeachment proceedings, more than half of them against judges. The only successful conviction has been that of a justice of the Supreme Court (1993) responsible for delaying a human rights violation trial. The Lawmaking Process The 1980 constitution establishes four types of laws, distinct according to matter, quorum needed for approval, and control of constitutionality. These are laws interpreting the constitution, constitutional organic laws, laws of a qualified quorum, and common laws. Legislation can be initiated by members of congress or by the president, who has exclusive initiative in certain areas such as taxes and major economic issues. Both chambers must consent to a bill. The president can veto a bill, and a veto can only be rejected by a majority of twothirds of the members of both chambers. The Judiciary The judiciary is independent and influential in the interpretation of the constitution. Its power is organized in three Chile 191 levels: the Supreme Court, 16 courts of appeal, and more than 400 courts of first instance. The first instance courts can be used in cases concerning civil, labor, or family law. The courts of appeal and the Supreme Court have jurisdiction to hear applications for the protection of fundamental rights. These remedies have been an efficient instrument to promote and protect fundamental rights. The judges of the Supreme Court and the courts of appeal are appointed by the president from a list nominated by the Supreme Court. In the case of Supreme Court judges, the appointment must be ratified by two-thirds of the Senate. The Constitutional Court The Constitutional Court has power to determine the constitutionality of a variety of normative (legal) acts: legal dispositions or treaties, regulations, instructions, and decrees. It is composed of 10 judges: three appointed by the Supreme Court, three by the president, two by the Senate, and two by the Chamber (with the Senate’s ratification). These justices cannot be impeached, and their decisions cannot be appealed. This body has consolidated its position as the authorized interpreter of the constitution. However, its overuse as a last resort by defeated parties in the National Congress could diminish its legitimacy. THE ELECTION PROCESS All Chileans over the age of 18 and not convicted of certain offenses have the right to vote. To run for deputy, a candidate must be at least 21 years of age, have citizenship and residency, and have completed high school. To run for the Senate or the presidency of the republic, the same requirements apply, except that a candidate must be at least 35 years of age. Presidential Elections The president is chosen by a direct vote in two rounds, copied from the French ballotage system. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority of the votes cast in the first round, a second round is carried out between the two candidates who received the most first-round votes. Since 1989, only one of three presidential elections has gone to a second round. Parliamentary Elections The 120 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected in 60 districts of two seats each. Each party runs two candidates; the top two vote-getting parties each win a seat— unless one of them receives twice as many votes as the other, in which case it receives both. In the past decade, this rule favored the big parties and discriminated against smaller parties. The Senate is elected in 19 senatorial districts also of two seats each. The electoral rule is identical to the one for the Chamber of Deputies. POLITICAL PARTIES Chile has a mature pluralistic system of political parties. Of the six main parties, five have roots from the first quarter of the 20th century. The profound institutional crisis of 1973 has had a moderating effect on the main leaders of the larger parties. The electoral system has forced the formation of cohesive electoral coalitions. The parties excluded from the two main blocs lack weight in national politics. The larger of these is the Communist Party, which has received 8 percent of the votes in municipal elections. Parties that are involved in unconstitutional actions can be dissolved by the Constitutional Court. CITIZENSHIP Citizenship is acquired by birth on Chilean territory. The principle of ius soli applies as a general rule. Children of a Chilean parent born abroad can also acquire Chilean citizenship under conditions elaborated in the constitution. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS The Chilean constitution enumerates fundamental rights in Article 19, as an elaboration of the principles of equality and freedom of Article 1. The list recapitulates the contents of earlier constitutions and includes the traditional human rights recognized by conventions and treaties. The 1980 text incorporates social rights, such as the right to health care, education, and social security. The right to live in an environment free of contamination is also recognized. There are at least three types of constitutional proceedings to protect fundamental rights, excluding social rights. Article 19 begins with the right to life and the mental and physical integrity of the human being. The constitution consigns the question of how to protect unborn life to a law. Any type of abortion is punished by law. Among the guarantees are freedom of speech, personal honor, inviolability of private communication, freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of work and association, and assembly rights. Equality before the law is established with general and special clauses (equal rights for men and women), as is equality in the exercise of rights. Personal freedom is guaranteed by a detailed clause that regulates the conditions in which it may be deprived. The right to property has been subject of prolific and expanding jurisprudence. 192 Chile Impact and Functions of the Fundamental Rights The fundamental rights recognized by the constitution constitute an effective mandate for all three branches of the government. Private or public figures have effectively used litigation against executive decisions, and the constitutional prior review of bills, as means to protect constitutional rights. These procedures have been most helpful in protecting classic liberal rights against state acts. They are less useful in protecting the social rights cited in the constitution, which can often be fulfilled only by positive actions of the state. This situation has been widely criticized, but it cannot be different in a country that has a developing economy. Limitations to Fundamental Rights The constitution authorizes certain limits to enumerated rights but requires that their essential content be respected. The Constitutional Court is responsible for defining the extent of these limits. ECONOMY The constitution does not opt explicitly for any particular economic model. Nonetheless, the framers’ liberal orientation and their desire to prevent the reappearance of any form of state ownership are clear. The constitution protects the right to develop economic activity and bars the state from entrepreneurial activities, except when authorized by a qualified quorum law. The influence of international economic integration agreements is limited at the moment. Chile is an associated member of MERCOSUR (Mercado Común del Sur, or Southern Common Market) and recently signed free trade agreements with the United States, the European Union, and South Korea. RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES The constitution guarantees to all persons freedom of conscience and religious expression as well as the free exercise of all religions that are not opposed to morals, good customs, or public order. Religious communities may erect and maintain places of worship and other facilities. Equal rights are enjoyed by all churches and religious communities in terms of their assets; all facilities used exclusively for religious activities are exempt from taxes according to the constitution. MILITARY DEFENSE AND STATE OF EMERGENCY In case of war, the president takes over the supreme command of the armed forces. It is the president who declares war, subject to authorization by the National Congress. The president can declare a state of emergency and a state of catastrophe and can declare states of alert and siege with the National Congress’s approval. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION The amendment process specifies different procedures for different types of norms. Those that refer to fundamental rights require approval of two-thirds of the members of each chamber; others can be approved by a three-fifths vote. The amendment is then sent to the president for approval. If vetoed, it returns to congress, where the president’s introduced modifications can be accepted. The congress can also revive the original amendment with a majority of two-thirds of the members of each chamber. The president’s only recourse then is to call a plebiscite to resolve the controversy. Since 1989, more than 10 amendments have been approved. PRIMARY SOURCES Constitution in English. Available online. URL: http:// confinder.richmond.edu/admin/docs/Chile.pdf. Accessed on June 17, 2006. Constitution in Spanish. Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State. “Background Note and Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and International Religious Freedom Report 2004.” Available online. URL: http://www.state.gov/. Accessed on September 26, 2005. SECONDARY SOURCES Alejandro Silva Bascuñan, Tratado de Derecho Constitucional. 2d ed. Santiago: Editorial Jurídica de Chile, 2003. Enrique Navarro Beltrán, Veinte años de la Constitución chilena. Santiago; Ediar-Conosur, 2001. Bureau of Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State, “Background Note and Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and International Religious Freedom Report 2004.” Available online. URL: http://www. state.gov/. Accessed on September 1, 2005. José Luis Cea, Tratado de la Constitución Chilena. Santiago: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Santiago, 2003. Enrique Evans de la Cuadra, Los derechos constitucionales. Santiago; Editorial Jurídica de Chile, 1999. Alan Bronfman