Ispanijos konstitucingumo raidos ypatumai

Abstract

Due to its turbulent history, Spain has had several constitutions since the first one drafted in 1812 and the last one adopted in 1978. There were also the constitutions passed in 1837, 1845, 1869, 1873, 1876 and 1931. In 1939–1967 Spanish constitutional system was regulated by Franco’s fundamental laws.
The 1978 Spanish Constitution, based on the changes of the Franco’s fundamental laws, dismantled the political system of Franco regime and established Spain as a democratic state ruled by law. The writing of the Constitution was a long and arduous task, involving extensive negotiations and compromise. Spain has a history of failed constitutions, and the framers of the 1978 Constitution endeavoured to devise a document that would be acceptable to all the major political forces.
The 1978 Spanish Constitution proclaims Spain to be a social and democratic state governed by law and declares liberty, justice, equality and political pluralism to be the country’s foremost values. National sovereignty resides in the people, from whom all powers of the state emanate.
The Constitution defines Spain as a parliamentary monarchy, with the king as a head of State and symbol of its unity and permanence. It establish a bicameral legislature, the Cortes, and an independent judicial system.
One of the main problems that the Spanish Constitution of 1978 had to deal with was political decentralization of the Spanish State. The Constitution proclaims the indissoluble unity of the nation, but it recognizes and guarantees the right to autonomy of the nationalities and regions of which the state is composed. This transformation from unitary state into a more decentralized structure was not accomplished without bitter conflict. Reactionary elements objected to any reference to regional autonomy in the Constitution as a threat to national unity, while the extreme, militant Basques demanded the right of self-determination for the regions. Discontent in this region has been a major disruptive element in the post-Franco years.
The confused system of division of competences between the State and Autonomous Communities, the ambiguous provisions laid down by the Constitution when it defines the territorial organisation of the State, has laid to many conflicts of jurisdiction between the State and Autonomous Communities. The issues concerning the conflicts of territorial competences take the great part of the work of Constitutional Court in Spain. It should be mentioned that Constitutional Court has developed an important doctrine in the definition of „the building of the State of Autonomous Communities“.
The purpose of this article: discussion of the Spanish constitutional history, the features of Spanish constitutions, Spanish constitutional traditions and their influence on the modern Spanish constitutional law.