HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The current Constitution of the
Syrian Arab Republic Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
was adopted on 26 February 2012, replacing one that had been in force since 13 March 1973. The current
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princi ...
delineates the basic function of that state's government. Among other things, it determines Syria's character to be
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...
, democratic, and
republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
an. Further, in line with
pan-Arab Pan-Arabism ( ar, الوحدة العربية or ) is an ideology that espouses the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is referred to as the Arab world. It is closely c ...
ideology, it describes the country as a region of the wider
Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western As ...
and its people as an integral part of the Arab nation.


History


Early constitutions

The
Syrian Constitution of 1930 The Syrian Constitution of 1930, drafted by a committee under Ibrahim Hananu Ibrahim Hananu or Ibrahim Hanano (1869–1935) ( ar, إبراهيم هنانو, Ibrāhīm Hanānū) was an Ottoman municipal official and later a leader of a revolt ag ...
, drafted by a committee under
Ibrahim Hananu Ibrahim Hananu or Ibrahim Hanano (1869–1935) ( ar, إبراهيم هنانو, Ibrāhīm Hanānū) was an Ottoman municipal official and later a leader of a revolt against the French presence in northern Syria. He was a member of a notable landh ...
, was the founding constitution of the
First Syrian Republic The First Syrian Republic, officially the Syrian Republic, '; french: République syrienne was formed in 1930 as a component of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, succeeding the State of Syria. A treaty of independence was made in 1936 t ...
. The constitution required the President to be of Muslim faith (article 3). It was replaced by the Constitution of 5 September 1950, which was restored following the Constitution of 10 July 1953 and the Provisional Constitution of the United Arab Republic. It was eventually replaced by the Provisional Constitution of 25 April 1964 which itself was replaced by the Provisional Constitution of 1 May 1969.


Constitution of 1973

A new constitution was adopted on 13 March 1973 and was in use until 27 February 2012. It entrenched the power of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, its §8 describing the party as "the leading
party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...
in the society and the state", even if Syria was not, as is often believed, a
one-party system A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other partie ...
in formal terms. The constitution has been amended twice. Article 6 was amended in 1981. The constitution was last amended in 2000 when the minimum age of the President was lowered from 40 to 34.


Constitution of 2012

During the
2011–2012 Syrian uprising The early insurgency phase of the Syrian Civil War lasted from late July 2011 to April 2012, and was associated with the rise of armed oppositional militias across Syria and the beginning of armed rebellion against the authorities of the Syrian ...
, a new constitution was put to a referendum. Amongst other changes: * It abolished the old article 8, which had entrenched the power of the Ba'ath party. The new article 8 reads: "The political system is based on the principle of political pluralism, and rule is only obtained and exercised democratically through voting." * In a new article 88, it introduced presidential elections and limited the term of office for the president to seven years with a maximum of one re-election.Constitution of the Syrian Arabic Republic, SANA, 26-02-2012
/ref> The referendum resulted in the adoption of the new constitution, which came into force on 27 February 2012. The constitution guarantees equal rights and opportunities under the law, supplemented by labor laws which guarantee equal pay and maternity benefits for women. Effective power in Syria rests with the President of the Republic (since 2000,
Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the S ...
, re–elected in 2014), who, according to §84 of the old constitution, was elected in an uncontested popular
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
on the proposal of the Syrian branch of the Ba'ath Party. However, in accordance with the new constitution, other parties withheld an opportunity to assume presidential roles in the country, evident as of the 2014 Syrian election.


Overview

This current constitution was a result of a constitutional referendum held in Syria on 26 February 2012. In response to the Syrian uprising, President Bashar al-Assad ordered a new constitution to be drafted. This constitutional referendum was not monitored by foreign observers. The Constitution is divided into 6 parts (excluding the Introduction) which are called Chapters. * Introduction * Chapter 1: Basic Principles * Chapter 2: Rights, Freedoms and the Rule of Law * Chapter 3: State Authorities * Chapter 4: The Supreme Constitutional Court * Chapter 5: Amending the Constitution * Chapter 6: General and Transitional Provisions


References


External links

* The 1930 Syrian Constitution (in its French version) is integrally reproduced in:
Constitution of Syria (1973)
at the International Constitutional Law (ICL) Project
Constitution of Syria (2012)
(CC-BY-licensed English translation by Qordoba)

(English translation by the
Syrian Arab News Agency The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) ( ar, الوكالة العربية السورية للأنباء (سانا), ) is a Syrian state-controlled news agency, linked to the country's ministry of information. It was established in June 1965. We ...
) {{Constitutions of Asia Constitutions of Syria