New Request Filed for Referendum on Constitutional Reform

Luxembourg's Ministry of State has announced that an initiative committee on Wednesday filed a request for the organisation of a referendum on the revision of the Constitution of Luxembourg.

This request refers to the proposed revision of Chapters IV and Vbis of the Constitution.

The Constitution of Luxembourg can only be modified following the revision procedure outined in its own article 114. This article stipulates that a revision of the Constitution must be adopted by the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg's 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 MPs.

Article 114 also states 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.

In order to organise a referendum, 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. The Prime Minister has three days to decide whether the request meets the requirements set by the amended law of 4 February 2005.

If the Prime Minister considers that the request meets the conditions set by the aforementioned amended law, a communication will be published within eight days in the Official Journal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and in at least three daily newspapers. The municipalities must then inform voters of the request and indicate the location(s) where they can support the request by signing it during the planned signature collection period. The opening hours are to be set at a minimum of six hours per week and the opening days must include Saturdays. Signature on behalf of a third party is prohibited.

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.

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 results may be contested within five days of the date of publication by any voter before the Administrative Court.

At least 25,000 signatures are required for the request for the organisation of a referendum to be successful.

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 six months. The day of the referendum must be a Sunday or a legal holiday.