Constitution of Luxembourg

In Luxembourg, the Constitution is considered the supreme legal rule of the state. The written constitution is considered to be "evolutionary" in nature, and has continued to develop concurrently to historical and political events in Luxembourg over the last 200 years, instead of serving as a normative force. Thus, the 1868 Constitution is a living constitution and has been amended many times since its inception, most recently in 2025. It comprised 132 Articles, divided into 12 chapters, dedicated to describing the role of the Grand Duke, the rights and liberties of citizens and the power separation in the State. Under the present Constitution, the Grand Duchy is a democratic, free, independent and indivisible state headed by a constitutional monarch and governed by a system of parliamentary democracy. It specifically outlines the roles of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of Luxembourg's system of government, as well as the ''Conseil d'Etat,'' which is responsible for moderating parliamentary procedure with respect to the Constitution. == Historical Belgian and Dutch influences ==

Although it has since been revised many times, Luxembourg's 1868 Constitution is one of Europe's oldest written constitutions remaining in force, with many of its provisions even dating back to the first Constitution of the country, granted by William II of the Netherlands in 1841. The 1841 Chartered Constitution therefore greatly resembled the Dutch Constitution, the Grondwet of 1815, vesting all powers within the grand duke and creating legislative, executive and judicial bodies with very limited powers. The authoritarian regime prescribed by the 1841 Charter was not well received in Luxembourg society, prompting William II to succumb to demands for a revised, more liberal Constitution in 1848. For the 1848 Constitution, a majority of the new constitutional provisions were inspired by the Belgian Constitution of 1831. This is because a part of Luxembourg had been governed under the 1831 Belgian Constitution in the previous decade as a consequence of the Belgian Revolution. The influence of the Belgian Constitution is still evident in the present, revised 1868 Constitution of Luxembourg. For instance, Article 87 provides for a Superior Court of Justice in Luxembourg. This is inspired by Article 147 of the Belgian Constitution which provides for a Court of Cassation to oversee uniformity and the legality of justice for the whole of Belgium. Therefore, given its historical connections to the Netherlands and Belgium, Luxembourg's constitutional tradition has been strongly influenced by the constitutional traditions of these countries. == Institutional landscape ==

The present Constitution of Luxembourg attributes the separation of powers as follows: executive power is exercised by the Grand Duke and the Government while legislative power is conferred upon the unicameral parliament (Chamber of Deputies) and the joint action of Government and the Council of State. Judicial power is attributed to courts and tribunals which function independently. Grand Duke The Constitution establishes that the sovereign power resides in the Nation. According to Article 32, the Grand Duke, Guillaume Jean Joseph Marie (2025 – present), exercises this sovereign power, conforming to this Constitution and to the laws of the country. He has only those powers that the Constitution and laws expressly confer upon him. Both within and outside the borders of Luxembourg, the Grand Duke is meant to express the identity of the country. He symbolises its independence, the unity of the territory and the permanence of the state. The Constitution places the Grand Duke in a unique position outside common law. Article 1 of the Constitution provides that the person of the Grand Duke is inviolable. In other words, he cannot be tried by any court and he cannot be asked to be held accountable for his actions at all, from a penal or political standpoint. The Grand Duke's inviolability and unaccountability ensure the stability of the monarchical institution and his impartiality with respect to the political world. The formateur usually becomes Prime Minister and introduces the members of the Government to the Grand Duke, who appoints and swears them in. They are responsible to the Chamber of Deputies of the State, which has the power to withdraw its confidence in the ministers, obliging them to resign. Chamber of Deputies (Parliament) Luxembourg's parliament, known as the Chambre des Députés (Chamber of Deputies) represents the country and primarily exercises legislative power. According to Chapter IV of the Constitution, the law of the land regulates the organization of the Chamber. The Chamber is composed of 60 Deputies, elected through a direct election conducted in the four circumscriptions of the country. Article 51 provides that the Deputies are elected on the basis of universal suffrage, on [a party] list ballot, following the rules of proportional representation, conforming to the principle of the smallest electoral quotient and following the rules to be determined by the law. Council of State The Council of State originates from the preliminary Constitution of 1856 – its organization and obligations are both regulated by the law. Article 83 of the Constitution establishes that the Council of State is called to give its opinion on the bills and proposals of law and amendments, which have been and are proposed, as well as on all other questions which have been referred to it by the Government or by the laws. The Conseil d'Etat acts as the primary advisory organ and the 'guardian of the Constitution' and exercising a moderating function within the parliamentary procedure similar to that of a second chamber. Until 1996, the Council of State also acted as the administrative court, but this function was transferred to the newly established Administrative Tribunal and Administrative Court in order for matters to be heard by an independent court. The Constitution also provides that the Council of State will have a true right of suspensive veto for legislative matters. Courts and Tribunals Article 49 of the Constitution provides that justice is rendered in the name of the Grand Duke by the courts and the tribunals. It is composed of nine members who are selected from the judges of the ordinary and administrative courts and continue to serve within those roles as well. The legal certainty principle, which requires that laws be made public, be definite with enough clarity, not have retroactive effect, and protect legitimate interests and expectations, though recognised by the Luxembourg administrative courts, had never been considered in the Constitutional Court. The Court's decision found that the principles of legal certainty, legitimate expectations, and non-retroactivity are to be seen as fundamental principles inherent in Luxembourg law, thus reaffirming the constitutionality of the legal certainty principle. == Rights and liberties ==

The Constitution of Luxembourg is known for having a relatively short and fragmented chapter on fundamental rights, with some widely recognised principles missing. Chapter II of the Constitution on public freedoms and fundamental rights provides that the State owes its citizens certain rights and liberties. These include a right to education, a right to medical and social assistance, a right against censorship and more. Importantly, pursuant to Article 10, Luxembourgers are equal before the law. Article 11 describes other important rights-based themes including affirmative action, employment rights, marriage and public life and political rights. Notably, widely recognised principles such as a general prohibition of discrimination or a general requirement of fair trial are missing. == Enactment of laws ==

A law may be initiated either by the Chamber of Deputies (Parliament) or the Government. The former is a known as a proposition de loi while the latter is known as a projet de loi. While a proposition de loi constitutes a Parliament bill, the latter are government bills. A law may only be modified by another law. The Council of State may draw the government's attention to the opportunity for new laws or new regulations or modifications to be introduced into existing laws and regulations. Without the latter, a draft could not become a law. However, the Parliament abolished the latter royal right to confirm laws in 2008 when the Grand Duke's position on euthanasia hindered the passing of a related law on the right to die with dignity. Essentially, the Luxembourg Parliament was to approve a parliamentary initiative that, under certain conditions, would authorize euthanasia and medically assisted suicide. In 2023, Luxembourg became the second country in the EU to legalise marijuana, after Malta. == Constitutional amendments ==

Procedure In terms of amending the Constitution, Article 114 provides that any revision of the Constitution must be decided upon by the Chamber of Deputies in two successive votes. The Chamber cannot proceed to a vote unless at least three-quarters of its members are present, and no amendment may be adopted unless it is backed by at least two-thirds of the votes. This time, the goal of the amendment was to bring the constitution up to date with the social and economic changes that had materialised in the country by that time. In 1999, more than twenty years after the death penalty was abolished by law, an article was inserted into the Constitution providing that the death penalty cannot be reintroduced (Article 18). In March 2007, Article 11 was amended in order to strengthen several human rights and to introduce new constitutional objectives such as protection of the environment. Notably, however, a majority of the articles in the Constitution have never been amended and the contemporary edition still closely resembles the 1868 Constitution. == Current status of the constitution ==

The frequency with which the 1868 Luxembourg Constitution has been amended historically is testament to its evolving nature as a "living" It was also intended to update the antiquated language used in the text and reduce the frequency of ad hoc revisions of the laws through amendments. At the time, there seemed to be a large cross-party consensus on the major reform issues. However, the reform proposal stalled in 2018, when the majority party unexpectedly objected in the final phases. In 2020, four separate "new" constitutional reform proposals, which split and repackaged the failed one, resurfaced to be analyzed and debated again. On 20 October 2021, the Luxembourg Parliament finally proceeded with a preliminary vote on the first of the four proposals on the constitutional reform of the judiciary. ==List of amendments==

• 15 May 1919 – National sovereignty was transferred from the monarch to the nation () (Article 32). The monarch's powers to command the armed forces and to sign treaties were reaffirmed, provided that the treaty was not secret and that the Chamber of Deputies ratified it (Article 37). All changes to Luxembourg's territory were required to be ratified by law (Article 37). • 28 April 1948 – The Grand Duchy was defined as a 'free, independent, and indivisible state' (), removing reference to, and therefore ending, its long-standing political neutrality (Article 1). • 6 May 1948 – The regulation of language use in legal and judicial affairs became regulated by statute, rather than requiring the equal treatment of French and German (Article 29). • 15 May 1948 – Suffrage was restricted to Luxembourgers living in Luxembourg, aged over 21 and in possession of their full political rights, whereas candidates were required to be 25 years old (Article 52). • 21 May 1948 - • 27 July 1956 - • 25 October 1956 - • 27 January 1972 - • 13 June 1979 - • 25 November 1983 - • 20 December 1988 - • 31 March 1989 - • 20 April 1989 - • 13 June 1989 - • 16 June 1989 - • 19 June 1989 - • 23 December 1994 - • 12 July 1996 - • 12 January 1998 - • 29 April 1999 - • 2 June 1999 - • 8 August 2000 - • 18 February 2003 - • 19 December 2003 - • 26 May 2004 - • 19 November 2004 - • 21 June 2005 - • 1 June 2006 - • 13 July 2006 - • 29 March 2007 - • 24 October 2007 - • 31 March 2008 - • 23 October 2008 - • 12 March 2009 – Sovereign only promulgates, not approves / authorises, laws • 18 October 2016 - ==Footnotes==