Constitution of Slovenia
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The Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia was adopted by the Slovenian National Assembly (Državni zbor) on December 23 1991. The document is divided in ten chapters:
- General Provisions
- Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
- Economic and Social Relations
- Organisation of the State
- Self-Government
- Public Finance
- Constitutionality and Legality
- The Constitutional Court
- Procedure for Amending the Constitution
- Transitional and Final Provisions
The constitution was changed on three occasions since 1991:
- On July 14, 1997 foreign citizens were allowed to buy real estate in Slovenia as part of the convergence towards the European Union; this decision was part of the so called Spanish compromise, but at the time it was very much criticised by some politicians as a defeat of Slovenia's foreign policy
- On July 25, 2000 proportional voting system was entered directly in constitution to avoid legal gap that threatened to happen after the National Assembly didn't approve the law about this issue according to somewhat unclear referendum results: three voting systems were proposed to people but none of them won the absolute majority of voters. In a disputed decision, the Slovene Constitutional Court ruled that if any law is to be passed, it is to be the law according to the option that got relative majority. In the political events that followed the time was running out and changing the constitution seemed like a good escape from status quo;
- On March 7, 2003 the constitution was changed for the final time to allow Slovenia to enter the European Union and NATO, if that would be the will of the people, which indeed happened on the referendum on March 23, 2003.
External links
- Ustava Republike Slovenije (http://www.dz-rs.si/si/aktualno/spremljanje_zakonodaje/ustava/ustava.html) - in Slovene
- Slovenian Constitution (http://www.us-rs.si/en/index.php?sv_path=6,17&itlang=_L1) - English translationsl:Ustava Republike Slovenije