Constitution of Chile


The current Constitution of Chile was approved by Chilean voters in a controversial plebiscite on 11 September 1980, under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. It was partially enacted on 11 March 1981 and has been fully effective since 11 March 1990. It was amended considerably on 17 August 1989 and on 22 September 2005, and also in 1991, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. It is Chile's eighth constitution, replacing the constitution of 1925.

Legitimacy

According to the law professor Camel Cazor Aliste, the Constitution of 1980 has problems of legitimacy stemming from two facts. First, the constitutional commission was not representative of the political spectrum of Chile since its members had been handpicked by the Pinochet dictatorship, and opponents of the regime had been deliberately excluded. Also, the constitution's approval was achieved by the government in a controversial and tightly-controlled referendum in 1980.
Despite controversy about its conception, it has been frequently modified since democracy was reinstated, with corresponding Parliamentary approval.

Timeline of Constitutions