The 1963 Yugoslav Constitution was the second

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 princ ...

of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

. It came into effect on April 7, 1963. The constitution was the result of beliefs of the governing structures that Yugoslav self-management relations have been sufficiently overcome in the society that it deserved a new and final constitutional definition and enthroning. The parliamentary Federal Assembly (''Skupština'') was divided into one general chamber, the Federal Chamber, and four chambers given specific bureaucratic responsibilities. The constitution directed that individual republics be represented only in the Chamber of Nationalities, a part of the Federal Chamber that in 1967 became a separate chamber of the Assembly in its own right. President Josip Broz Tito retained his position as president of the party but renounced his state position as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the Federal Executive Council, a change that further separated party and state functions. The 1963 constitution also introduced the concept of rotation, which prohibited remaining at higher or lower level executive positions for more than two four-year mandates. Moreover, it extended

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

and established constitutionally guaranteed court procedures. The constitution was superseded by the adoption of a fourth and final constitution in 1974.

Regulations

The definition of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

is characterized not only by provision that it is a

federal state A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

, but also a socialist democratic community, which was supposed to indicate the tendency towards the Marxist ideal of the

withering away of the state Withering away of the state is a Marxist concept coined by Friedrich Engels referring to the idea that, with the realization of socialism, the state will eventually become obsolete and cease to exist as society will be able to govern itself without ...

Public property Public property is property that is dedicated to public use. The term may be used either to describe the use to which the property is put, or to describe the character of its ownership (owned collectively by the population of a state). This is in ...

, self-management and self-organization of working people at the micro and macro level was declared the basis of Economic planning. The right to social self-management was declared untouchable, and districts in the state (

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, autonomous provinces of Serbia,

Socialist Republics Several past and present states have declared themselves socialist states or in the process of building socialism. The majority of self-declared socialist countries have been Marxist–Leninist or inspired by it, following the model of the S ...

and the Federation itself), became socio-political communities. In the regulation yet unseen in constitutional law, the hierarchy between these units was destroyed and a system of mutual rights and obligations was introduced. The Federal Assembly was proclaimed as the highest authority of government and social self-government, and in the federal and republican assembly, in addition to the general-political council, greater workers' communities were introduced - economic, educational, cultural, social and health, organizational and political. Assemblies of the autonomous provinces could have more. President of the Republic became independent from Federal Executive Council and became an autonomous authority of the federation. The

Constitutional Court of Yugoslavia 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 pr ...

and the constitutional courts of the member republics were introduced.

Practice

amendments An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...

were added to this Constitution until the adoption of the new

1974 Yugoslav Constitution The 1974 Yugoslav Constitution was the fourth and final constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It came into effect on 21 February 1974. With 406 original articles, the 1974 constitution was one of the longest constitutio ...

. This shows that the stability of institutions was not achieved for longer terms. New amendments strengthened the position of autonomous provinces, introduced new areas of self-government and the former federal agencies have become ''common'', instead of remaining superior.

References

External links

1963 Yugoslav Constitution
at worldstatesmen.org {{Yugoslavia topics

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

Yugoslav law 1963 in Yugoslavia 1963 documents April 1963 events in Europe 1963 in politics