Estonia - Constitution

{Adopted on: 28 June 1992}

 

Chapter III The People

Article 56 [Sovereignty]


The people shall exercise their supreme power through citizens who have the right to votehttp://www.trybunal.gov.pl/constit/constitu/constit/estonia/xr00005_.html - 6271

 

Article 60 [Membership]


(1) The Parliament shall be comprised of one hundred and one members. Members of the Parliament shall be elected in free elections on the principle of proportionality. Elections shall be general, uniform and direct.
Voting shall be secret.


(2) Every citizen entitled to vote who has attained 21 years of age may be a candidate for the Parliament.


(3) Regular elections to the Parliament shall be held on the first Sunday in March every fourth year following the year of previous elections to the Parliament.


(4) Early elections to the Parliament shall be held, in the cases prescribed by Articles 89, 97, 105 and 119, no earlier than twenty, and no later than forty days after elections have been declared.


(5) The procedures for the election of the Parliament shall be determined by the Law On the Parliament Elections.

 

Article 61 [Constitution]


(1) The authority of the members of the Parliament shall commence on the day the results of the elections have been announced. The authority of the previous complement of the Parliament shall cease from that same day.


(2) Before beginning to fulfil his or her duties, a member of the Parliament shall take an oath of office affirming his or her loyalty to the
Republic of Estonia and its constitutional system.

 

Article 79 [Election]


(1) The President of the Republic shall be elected by the Parliament, or, in the case described in Paragraph (4), by the Electoral Body.


(2) The right to present a candidate for President of the Republic shall rest with at least one-fifth of the complement of the Parliament.


(3) Any Estonian citizen by birth, who is at least forty years of age, may be presented as a candidate for President of the Republic.


(4) The President of the Republic shall be elected by secret ballot. Each member of the Parliament shall have one vote. A candidate who is supported by a two-thirds majority of the complement of the Parliament shall be considered to be elected. Should no candidate receive the required majority, then a new vote shall be organized on the next day. Before the second round of voting, there shall be a new presentation of candidates. Should no candidate receive the required majority in the second round, then a third round of voting shall be organized on the same day between the two candidates who received the most votes in the second round. Should the President of the Republic still not be elected in the third round of voting, the Speaker of the Parliament shall convene, within one month, an Electoral Body to elect the President of the Republic.


(5) The Electoral Body shall be comprised of the members of the Parliament and representatives of the local government council. Each local government council shall elect at least one representative, who must be an Estonian citizen, to the Electoral Body.


(6) The Parliament shall present to the Electoral Body as candidates for President the two candidates who received the greatest number of votes in the Parliament. The right to present a presidential candidate shall also rest with at least twenty-one members of the Electoral Body.


(7) The Electoral Body shall elect the President of the Republic with a majority of those members of the Electoral Body who are present. Should no candidate be elected in the first round, a second round of voting shall be organized on the same day between the two candidates who received the highest number of votes.


(8) Further procedures for the election of the President of the Republic shall be determined by the Law On Electing the President of the Republic.

 

Article 80 [Term]


(1) The President of the Republic shall be elected for a term of five years. No person may be elected to the office of President of the Republic for more than two consecutive terms.


(2) The regular election for President of the Republic shall be held no earlier than sixty and no later than ten days before the end of the term of the President of the Republic.

 

Article 105 [Referendum]


(1) The Parliament shall have the right to put draft legislation or other national issues to a referendum.


(2) The decision of the people shall be determined by the majority of those participating in the referendum.


(3) A law which has been adopted by referendum shall be immediately proclaimed by the President of the Republic. The referendum decision shall be binding on all state bodies.


(4) Should the draft law which has been put to referendum not receive a majority of yes-votes, the President of the Republic shall declare early elections for the Parliament.

Article 156 [Representation]

(1) The representative body of local government shall be the council, which shall be elected in free elections for a term of three years. The elections shall be general, uniform and direct. Voting shall be secret.

(2) In the election of the local government council, all persons who have reached the age of eighteen years and who reside permanently on the territory of that local government unit shall have the right to vote, in accordance with conditions determined by law.

Chapter XV Amendments to the Constitution

Article 161 [Initiative]


(1) The right to initiate amendments to the Constitution shall rest with at least one-fifth of the complement of the Parliament and with the President of the Republic.

(2) Amendments to the Constitution may not be initiated, nor the Constitution amended, during a state of emergency or a state of war.

Article 162 [Referendum]


Chapter I 'General Provisions' and Chapter XV 'Amendments to the Constitution' may be amended only by referendum.

 

 

 

Article 163 [Proceedings]

(1) The Constitution may be amended by a law which is adopted by:
                        1) referendum;

            2) two successive complements of the Parliament;
            3) the Parliament, in matters of urgency.

(2) A draft law to amend the Constitution shall be considered during three readings in the Parliament, whereby the interval between the first and second readings shall be at least three months, and the interval between the second and third readings shall be at least one month. The manner in which the Constitution is amended shall be decided at the third reading.

Article 164 [Majority for Referendum]

In order to put a proposed amendment to the Constitution to referendum, the approval of a three-fifths majority of the complement of the Parliament shall be mandatory. The referendum shall not be held earlier than three months from the time that such a resolution is adopted in the Parliament.

Article 165 [Majority for Adoption by Parliament]

(1) In order to amend the Constitution by two successive complements of the Parliament, the draft law to amend the Constitution must receive the support of the majority of the complement of the Parliament.

(2) If the next complement of the Parliament adopts the draft which received the support of the majority of the previous complement, without amendment, on its first reading and with a three-fifths majority of its complement, the law to amend the Constitution shall be adopted.

Article 166 [Very Qualified Majority]

 

A proposal to consider a proposed amendment to the Constitution as a matter of urgency shall be adopted by the Parliament by a four-fifths majority. In such a case the law to amend the Constitution shall be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the complement of the Parliament.

 

Article 167 [Proclamation]


The law to amend the Constitution shall be proclaimed by the President of the Republic and it shall enter into force on the date determined by the same law, but not earlier than three months after its proclamation.

 

 

Article 168 [Limit to Re-Introduction]

An amendment to the Constitution dealing with the same issue may not be re-introduced within one year of the rejection of the respective draft by referendum or by the Parliament.