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On Friday 4 February 2022, a request for the organisation of a referendum provided for in article 114 of the Constitution of Luxembourg was presented to Prime Minister, Minister of State, Xavier Bettel, by an initiative committee within the framework of the revision of Chapters I, II, III, V, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII of the Constitution.

Luxembourg's Constitution can only be modified following the revision procedure that it determines itself in its article 114. This article stipulates that a revision of the Constitution must be adopted by the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg Parliament) in two successive votes. separated by an interval of at least three months and each obtaining at least two-thirds of the votes of the members of the Chamber.

Article 114 also says that the text of constitutional revision adopted in first reading (first vote) can, under certain conditions, be submitted to a referendum which then replaces the second vote of the Chamber.

The conditions for organising a referendum in this case are set out in the amended law of 4 February 2005 relating to referendums at national level (articles 3 to 19):

Request from the initiative committee to the Prime Minister

  • An initiative committee, made up of at least five electors, must present a request to the Prime Minister no later than the fourteenth day following the adoption of the text in first reading by the Chamber of Deputies. This request must include:
    • the title and text of the constitutional amendment;
    • the surnames, first names, dates of birth and addresses of the members of the initiative committee;
    • the handwritten signatures of the members to certify their membership of the initiative committee;
    • the certificate that they are registered as voters on the electoral lists for the legislative elections;
    • the elected address of the initiative committee.
  •     The Prime Minister has three days to decide whether the request meets the requirements set by the amended law of 4 February 2005.

Publication of a communication in the Official Journal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

If the Prime Minister considers that the request meets the conditions set by the amended law of 4 February 2005, a communication will be published within eight days in the Official Journal and in at least three daily newspapers. This communication contains the title and the text of the constitutional revision, the contact details of the members of the initiative committee as well as the start and end dates of the period for collecting signatures.

Information by municipalities

Subsequently, the municipalities must inform the voters of the request for the organization of a referendum and indicate the places where the voters can, during the planned collection period, support the request by registering on the lists. The municipalities must also indicate the times and days during which registrations can be received. The opening hours are to be set at a minimum of six hours per week and the opening days must include Saturdays.

Collection of signatures

The collection of signatures begins no later than fifteen days after the date of publication of the Prime Minister's communication in the Official Journal.

To support the request for the organization of a referendum, the voter, provided with a valid identity document, must go in person to his commune of residence and register there on the lists. A municipal agent checks his identity and checks that he is indeed registered on the list of voters.

Signature on behalf of a third party is prohibited.

Publication of results

At the end of the signature collection period, each municipality sends the result obtained to the Prime Minister who checks them and determines the total number of signatures. No later than three weeks after the end of the period for collecting signatures, the results are communicated to the initiative committee and published in the Official Journal.

The result published in the Official Journal may be contested within five days of the date of its publication by any voter before the Administrative Court.

25,000 signatures for the organisation of a referendum

The request for the organisation of a referendum has succeeded if the total number of valid signatures, collected in the two months following the first vote on the text of constitutional revision in the Chamber (Art. 114 of the Constitution), exceeds 25,000.

The referendum

In this case, the referendum must be organised within six months. In the event of legislative or European elections within this period, this period is extended by another six months.

The day of the referendum must be a Sunday or a legal holiday. Under no circumstances may it be held during the three months preceding or following the legislative or European elections.