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The Vidovdan Constitution was the first
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 pr ...
of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
. It was approved by the
Constitutional Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
on 28 June 1921 despite the opposition boycotting the vote. The Constitution is named after the feast of St. Vitus (''
Vidovdan Vidovdan ( sr-cyr, Видовдан, lit. "Saint Vitus Day") is a Serbian national and religious holiday, a ''slava'' (feast day) celebrated on 28 June (Gregorian calendar), or 15 June according to the Julian calendar. The Serbian Church des ...
''), a
Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous ( ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the population ...
holiday. The Constitution required a simple majority to pass. Out of 419 representatives, 223 voted for, 35 voted against and 161 abstained. The Constitution was in effect until King Alexander proclaimed his
6 January Dictatorship The 6 January Dictatorship ( sr-cyr, Шестојануарска диктатура, Šestojanuarska diktatura; hr, Šestosiječanjska diktatura; sl, Šestojanuarska diktatura) was a royal dictatorship established in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croa ...
on that date in 1929.


Adoption

The process of adopting the Vidovdan Constitution will reveal major political conflicts in the new state. Although there were earlier plans to adopt a Constitution (see the
Guidelines A guideline is a statement by which to determine a course of action. A guideline aims to streamline particular processes according to a set routine or sound practice. Guidelines may be issued by and used by any organization (governmental or pri ...
, the Corfu Declaration, the Geneva Agreement), the Constitution was eventually adopted by a narrow majority and overriding on a national basis.


For

* Democratic Party * People's Radical Party * Yugoslav Muslim Organization * Alliance of Agrarians * Džemijet


Against

* Yugoslav Social-Democratic Party * Yugoslav Republican Party *Foreign Minister Ante Trumbić


Boycotted

*
Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...
- left assembly in June * Croatian Republican Peasant Party - boycotted assembly since 1920 elections *
Slovenian People's Party The Slovenian People's Party ( sl, Slovenska ljudska stranka, , Slovene abbreviation SLS ) is a conservative, agrarian, Christian-democratic political party in Slovenia. Formed in 1988 under the name of Slovenian Peasant Union as the first democ ...
- left assembly in June *
Croatian People's Party Croatian may refer to: *Croatia *Croatian language *Croatian people *Croatians (demonym) See also * * * Croatan (disambiguation) * Croatia (disambiguation) * Croatoan (disambiguation) * Hrvatski (disambiguation) * Hrvatsko (disambiguation) * Se ...
- left assembly in June *Croatian Union - left assembly in May


Provisions

The SCS Kingdom is designated as a constitutional,
parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
and
hereditary monarchy A hereditary monarchy is a form of government and succession of power in which the throne passes from one member of a ruling family to another member of the same family. A series of rulers from the same family would constitute a dynasty. It is h ...
, whose language is Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian . A unitary system was established (the theory of the tribe people). The proclaimed principles of
separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typi ...
were deformed by later provisions, but in principle parliamentarianism existed. Legislative power was shared by the
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...
and the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
. The king had a wide range of powers -
legislative initiative The right of (legislative) initiative is the constitutionally defined power to propose a new law (bill) in a legislature. The right of initiative is usually given to both the government (executive) and individual legislators. However, some sys ...
, sanction, promulgation of laws as well as initiative and consent to change the Constitution. He also had the right to declare war and conclude
peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
. He also possessed extensive powers regarding the appointment of
judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...
and the dissolution of the assembly. In addition, he had the classic powers of the
head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...
. The National Assembly was a unicameral
representative body A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...
. According to the Vidovdan Constitution, citizens had political rights -
voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...
, association rights, assembly and
collusion Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...
. Voting rights were limited by the relatively high age bracket and were not enjoyed by women. For women, the Constitution provided for the passage of legislation that would address the issue of their suffrage, but it was not enacted throughout the life of the kingdom. Each member of the assembly had the right of
legislative initiative The right of (legislative) initiative is the constitutionally defined power to propose a new law (bill) in a legislature. The right of initiative is usually given to both the government (executive) and individual legislators. However, some sys ...
, parliamentary question, interpellation. In the event of a change of Constitution, the Assembly dissolved and elected a new one, which had the meaning of a hidden constitutional
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...
. The
Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...
was accountable to both the King and the National Assembly (Orleans parliamentarism) and the ministers did not have to be MPs. There was also the
criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...
and
civil liability In law, liable means "responsible or answerable in law; legally obligated". Legal liability concerns both civil law and criminal law and can arise from various areas of law, such as contracts, torts, taxes, or fines given by government agenc ...
of the ministers, with a special State Court. The Council of Ministers had the right to legislate, to issue regulations for the implementation of the law and those with legal force in special cases. The courts were independent and organized as first instance,
appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
and
cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
courts (based in
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
). Special administrative courts (State Council and Main Control) were also envisaged. A large number of socio-economic rights were prescribed, as well as a special Economic Council. The units of territorial-administrative division were districts, districts, districts and municipalities.


Alternative proposals


Croatian Republican Peasant Party

The Croatian Republican Peasant Party adopted its ''Constitution of the neutral peasant republic of Croatia'' in
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
on 1 April 1921.


Croatian Union

The Croatian Union had proposed a confederation of the kingdom into six entities: #Serbia #Croatia #Montenegro #Bosnia and Herzegovina #Vojvodina #Slovenia


Aftermath

On 30 June, an editorial in the People's Radical Party's journal ''Samouprava'' stated, "This year's Vidovdan restored an empire to us". On 21 July, the Minister of the Interior and member of the People's Radical Party Milorad Drašković was assassinated in Delnice by a group of communists. The viability of the constitution dominated the 1923 parliamentary elections. The
Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party ( hr, Hrvatska seljačka stranka, HSS) is an agrarian political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The Brothers Radić believed that t ...
did not accept the legitimacy of the constitution. After the 1925 elections, entry into the government was offered to the party by Nikola Pašić. The Croatian Peasant Party accepted and recognized the constitution. Leader Stjepan Radić was realesed from prison, along with other party officials.R. J. Crampton, ''Eastern Europe in the twentieth century''. Routledge, 1994. (p. 137)


References

* * {{Yugoslavia topics 1921 documents 1921 in Yugoslavia Constitutions of Yugoslavia 1921 in politics June 1921 events 1921 in law