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The Constitution of Liberia is the
supreme law 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 prin ...
of the
Republic of Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
. The current constitution, which came into force on 6 January 1986, replaced the Liberian Constitution of 1847, which had been in force since the independence of Liberia. Much like the 1847 Constitution, the Constitution creates a system of government heavily modeled on the
Federal Government 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-govern ...
of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
.


Drafting process

Following the overthrow and execution of
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 f ...
William Tolbert William Richard Tolbert Jr. (13 May 1913 – 12 April 1980) was a Liberian politician who served as the 20th president of Liberia from 1971 until 1980. Tolbert was an Americo-Liberian and trained as a civil servant before entering the House o ...
by a small group of soldiers led by
Samuel Doe Samuel Kanyon Doe (6 May 1951 – 9 September 1990) was a Liberian politician who served as the 21st president of Liberia from 1980 to 1990. Doe ruled Liberia as Chairman of the People's Redemption Council (PRC) from 1980 to 1984 and then as ...
on April 12, 1980, the 1847 Constitution was suspended and governing power was assumed by the People's Redemption Council led by Doe. Doe refused to assume the presidency, instead ruling by decree as the Chairman of the PRC. On April 12, 1981, Amos Sawyer, a political science professor at the
University of Liberia The University of Liberia (UL or LU in older versions of abbreviation) is a publicly funded institution of higher learning located in Monrovia, Liberia. Authorized by the national government in 1851, the university opened in 1862 as Liberia Co ...
, was appointed Chairman of the National Constitution Committee, a 25-member body tasked with drafting a new constitution. In December 1982, the Committee finished their draft constitution, and submitted it to the People's Redemption Council in March 1983. The PRC appointed a 59-member Constitutional Advisory Committee to review the draft. On October 19, 1983, the CAA finished its review, having removed or altered several provisions. Among the changes made to the draft included an increase of presidential terms from four to six years, removal of an entrenchment provision that would have prevented amendments altering presidential term lengths and term limits, removal of a prohibition on government participation by military personnel, and deletion of provisions establishing two autonomous agencies charged with approving judicial candidates and investigating corruption. On July 3, 1984, the revised Constitution was submitted to a national referendum, where it was approved by 78.3% of voters. Following the 1985 general election, the new Constitution came into effect on January 6, 1986 with the inauguration of Doe and the newly elected
Legislature of Liberia The Legislature of Liberia is the bicameral legislature of the government of Liberia. It consists of a Senate – the upper house, and a House of Representatives – the lower house, modeled after the United States Congress. Sessions are held at ...
.


Constitutional institutions


Presidency

The executive power of the state is vested in the President of Liberia, who is entrusted to faithfully execute the laws of the country. Among the changes made to the presidency from the previous constitution include the introduction of
term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potent ...
, prohibiting the President from serving more than two terms, and the reduction of presidential terms from eight years to six. Additionally, the Constitution also requires that candidates for the presidency must own at least $25,000 in
real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or aff ...
, an increase in the original $600 requirement in the 1847 Constitution. Furthermore, the President is immune from
civil suit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...
s arising from actions taken during their tenure in office and arrest on criminal charges while in office, though the President may be prosecuted for criminal acts committed while in office upon vacating the presidency. The Constitution also includes new provisions allowing for the presidential appointment of a new
Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
, with the consent of both houses of the Legislature, in the event of the vacancy of the office. Furthermore, the Constitution provides that in the event of the assumption of the presidency by the Vice President in the event of the President's death, resignation, incapacity or removal, the Vice President will be not considered to have served a term in office for the purpose of term limits.


Legislature

The Constitution grants legislative power to the Legislature of Liberia. Few changes were made to the Legislature from the 1847 Constitution, which largely modeled the Liberian Congress on the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...
. However, due to the
unitary Unitary may refer to: Mathematics * Unitary divisor * Unitary element * Unitary group * Unitary matrix * Unitary morphism * Unitary operator * Unitary transformation * Unitary representation * Unitarity (physics) * ''E''-unitary inverse semigrou ...
nature of Liberia, the Legislature is not restricted in its power to make laws, so long as those laws do not violate any provision of the Constitution.


Judiciary

The Constitution largely follows the model set by Article IV of the 1847 Constitution, vesting judicial powers in the Supreme Court of Liberia and any subordinate courts created by the Legislature. However, the Constitution places previously absent requirements on judicial appointees, requiring Supreme Court justices to have been counselors of the Supreme Court Bar for at least five years and requiring all other judges to have been either practicing attorneys for three years or a member of the Supreme Court Bar.


Autonomous agencies

Article 89 of the Constitution mandates the establishment of three independent agencies: *
Civil Service Commission A civil service commission is a government agency that is constituted by legislature to regulate the employment and working conditions of civil servants, oversee hiring and promotions, and promote the values of the public service. Its role is roug ...
* National Election Commission * General Auditing Commission


Additional provisions

While the 1847 Constitution had provided for political rights similar to those expressed in the
United States Bill of Rights The United States Bill of Rights comprises the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed following the often bitter 1787–88 debate over the ratification of the Constitution and written to address the objections rai ...
, the current constitution expands these rights to include a variety of economic and social rights. For instance, Article 6 provides for equal access to education, while Article 5 protects traditional Liberian culture. Article 8 establishes
workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights influe ...
by prohibiting inhumane or dangerous working conditions, and Article 18 prohibits
employment discrimination Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, ...
on the basis of gender, religion or ethnicity, as well as guaranteeing equal pay. Additionally, Article 14 explicitly invokes the
separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...
and the prohibition of a
state religion A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...
. Article 27(b) of the Constitution retains the controversial nationality requirements of Article V, Section 13 of the 1847 Constitution, which limits citizenship to "persons who are
Negroes In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...
or of Negro descent." Article 95(a) of the Constitution officially repeals the 1847 Constitution, while certifying that all laws enacted before the repeal remain in effect. Article 95(a), (b) and (c) also certifies the validity of all statutes, treaties, international agreements and financial obligations enacted by the People's Redemption Council. Additionally, Article 97 prohibits any court from questioning the validity of actions taken by the PRC or bringing charges against any PRC member for the overthrow of the Tolbert administration, the repeal of the 1847 Constitution, the establishment of the PRC, the imposition of criminal penalties or the confiscation of property by the PRC during their term in power or the establishment of the new constitution.


Amendment process

Per Article 91,
constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, ...
s may be proposed by either a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature, or by a petition signed by at least 10,000 registered voters and approved by a two-thirds vote in the Legislature. A proposed amendment must be ratified by two-thirds of voters in a
popular referendum A popular referendum (also known, depending on jurisdiction, as citizens' veto, people's veto, veto referendum, citizen referendum, abrogative referendum, rejective referendum, suspensive referendum or statute referendum)Maija SetäläReferendum ...
held no sooner than one year after its approval by the Legislature. Article 93 affirms that while the term limitations set forth in Article 50 may be amended, the term limitations of the President in office at the time of ratification of such an amendment remain in place.


2011 amendment referendum

On 17 August 2010, the Legislature passed four amendments to the Constitution. The four amendments proposed would have: * Decreased the residency requirement for presidential and vice presidential candidates in Article 52 from ten to five years; * Increased the mandated retirement of judges from 70 to 75; * Changed the date of national elections set in Article 83 from the second Tuesday in October to the second Tuesday in November; * Allowed House and Senate elections to use
first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
voting, while retaining the
two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
for presidential elections. In a referendum held on 23 August 2011, all four amendments failed to garner the required two-thirds majority for approval.


Past constitutions

Before the adoption of the current constitution, Liberia was governed by its original constitution, ratified prior to its independence in 1847: * Liberian Constitution of 1847 Additionally, Liberia was governed by two constitutions during the rule by the
American Colonization Society The American Colonization Society (ACS), initially the Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America until 1837, was an American organization founded in 1816 by Robert Finley to encourage and support the migration of freebo ...
under the Commonwealth of Liberia: * Liberian Constitution of 1820 * Liberian Constitution of 1838


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Constitution Of Liberia (1986)
Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. ...
Law of Liberia Politics of Liberia