Parliament of Nauru >> Constitutional Review Process

Constitutional Review Project

 


Constitutional Review Process

The process of constitutional reform began in 2004 when the Scotty government took action to establish a parliamentary standing committee on constitutional review (the ‘CRC’), because the government had identified a number of flaws in the Constitution that needed to be addressed. In 2006 the CRC designed a six-step process of review.

The six-step process started with a public awareness campaign followed by a series of forty public consultation meetings around Nauru.  This was also an opportunity for the public to make written submissions.

The third step was the establishment of an independent Constitutional Review Commission that analysed and considered all material gathered from the public.

A Constitutional Convention was then held to debate the recommendations of the Commission and the draft bills were prepared to reflect the motions passed by the Convention.

Step five involved the consideration and passage of the bills by Parliament. The bills were introduced in November 2008, considered in detail over a five week period by a Select Committee in early 2009, and again considered in detail by the Committee of the Whole over three weeks in June and August 2009. Parliament voted unanimously on 21 August 2009 to pass the two constitutional amendment bills.

The referendum was the sixth step in Nauru’s constitutional review process.

This process is summarised in the table below.

Step 1

Public awareness

Step 2

Public consultation

Step 3

Constitutional Review Commission

Step 4

Constitutional Convention

Step 5

Passage of Bills by Parliament (see Article 84 of the Constitution)

Step 6

Referendum (see Article 84 of the Constitution)

The constitutional review is a UNDP-sponsored project, which is locally managed and executed by the Parliament of Nauru.

 

Key changes to the Constitution


The proposed changes to the Constitution include changing the method of electing the President: from election by Parliament to direct popular election, and adding new rights protections to the existing bill of rights, such as the right to information, access to education and children’s rights. These are among the matters that will require approval by referendum before they can take effect.

Some of the amendments passed that will not require approval by referendum include the insertion of a leadership code in the Constitution, and the establishment of an Ombudsman. A change to make the Speaker of Parliament a non-MP can also proceed without approval by referendum.

A number of the constitutional amendments passed by Parliament are designed to enhance accountability and transparency in relation to public finance. Others aim to make the Constitution easier to understand by clearly stating the function of each of the arms of government and main public institutions created under the Constitution.

 

The Referendum


Not every change to the Constitution of Nauru requires approval by referendum, only changes to any of the important Articles listed in the fifth Schedule to the Constitution. Accordingly, the referendum concerned only one of the two constitutional amendment bills: the Constitution of Nauru (Referendum Amendments) Bill. The Bill required the support of at least two thirds of the votes validly cast at referendum in order to become law and to take effect.

The referendum that was held on 27 February 2010 was the first time a referendum had been conducted in Nauru. Everyone who is entitled to vote at a general election was entitled to vote at the referendum. Voters were asked to vote “yes” or “no” to the question whether they approve of the Constitution of Nauru (Referendum Amendments) Bill. The referendum was preceded by an extensive information campaign, so that voters had the opportunity to gather all information they needed about what is in the bill and the opportunity to form an informed opinion about whether or not they supported it. A mobile information centre toured Nauru throughout January and February 2010, distributing written information and explaining the proposed amendments to voters. Some awareness materials were also available online. Information was broadcast on television and radio. Public meetings were conducted throughout the districts by the Referendum Team.

The referendum did not receive the two thirds' support required for the proposed changes to take effect. 67% voted "no", and 33% voted "yes".

The CRC met in the week after the referendum and resolved to conduct a survey in order to gain an understanding of the main reasons for the "no" vote, in order that the CRC can decide whether it is worthwhile pursuing the proposed referendum amendments at a later date.

 

Commencement of the changes


If at least two thirds of the votes validly cast in the referendum had been in support of the proposed constitutional amendments, all of the amendments to the Constitution would have come into effect on the day of the next general election.

Although the referendum did not receive the support of two thirds of the votes cast, some of the constitutional amendments that do not require approval by referendum may still go ahead. This will require Parliament to amend the Constitution of Nauru (Parliamentary Amendments) Act to take account of the failure at referendum of certain interrelated amendments. Amendments to the Constitution of Nauru (Parliamentary Amendments) Act are likely to be considered by the 19th Parliament after the general election on 24 April 2010.

 

More information


If you would like more detail about the constitutional review process or the proposed constitutional amendments, refer to the following documents, or contact the local project manager, Parliamentary Counsel.

Documents for download: