The process of constitutional amendment in Belgium

• Autores: Christian Behrendt
• Localización: Engineering Constitutional Change: A comparative perspective on Europe, Canada and the USA / Xenophon Contiades (ed. lit.), 2012, ISBN 978-0-415-52976-1, págs. 35-50
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • In September 1830, the Belgian revolution broke out and, on 4 October that year, the provisional Government proclaimed the independence of the new state.1 Two days later, on 6 October, a 14-member Commission was entrusted with the preparation of a draft Constitution, which could serve as a basis for the discussions of the future constitution-making Assembly, the National Congress. The elections to the National Congress (i.e. the fi rst national votes in the history of Belgium) took place on 3 November 1830, and the Congress held its opening session on 10 November. Within less than three months, the National Congress adopted the new Constitution. This impressive speed was mainly due to the fact that the Congress closely followed the draft text of the 14-member Commission, only departing from the text when it found serious reasons to do so. Formally promulgated on 7 February 1831, the Constitution came into force two weeks later, on 25 February.2 In addition to the text of the Constitution itself, the Belgian National Congress of 1830-1831 adopted two decrees with constitutional force (i.e. the decrees of 18 and 24 November 1830), which are, as the Constitution sensu stricto, still in force today