In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variations to this definition. For instance, one describes it as the crisis that arises out of the failure, or at least a strong risk of failure, of a constitution to perform its central functions.[1] The crisis may arise from a variety of possible causes. For example, a government may want to pass a law contrary to its constitution; the constitution may fail to provide a clear answer for a specific situation; the constitution may be clear but it may be politically infeasible to follow it; the government institutions themselves may falter or fail to live up to what the law prescribes them to be; or officials in the government may justify avoiding dealing with a serious problem based on narrow interpretations of the law.[2][3] Specific examples include the South African Coloured vote constitutional crisis in the 1950s, the secession of the southern U.S. states in 1860 and 1861, the dismissal of the Australian federal government in 1975 and the 2007 Ukrainian crisis. While the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland does not have a codified constitution, it is deemed to have an uncodified one, and issues and crises in the UK and its constituent countries are described as constitutional crises.
Constitutional crises may arise from conflicts between different branches of government, conflicts between central and local governments, or simply conflicts among various factions within society. In the course of government, the crisis results when one or more of the parties to a political dispute willfully chooses to violate a law of the constitution; or to flout an unwritten constitutional convention; or to dispute the correct, legal interpretation of the violated constitutional law or of the flouted political custom. This was demonstrated by the XYZ Affair, which involved the bribery of French officials by a contingent of American commissioners who were sent to preserve peace between France and the United States.[4] The incident was published in the American press and created a foreign policy crisis, which precipitated the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Opposition to these acts in the form of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions cited that they violated freedom of speech and exhorted states to refuse their enforcement since they violated the Constitution.[4]
When the crisis arises because the constitution is legally ambiguous, the ultimate resolution usually establishes the legal precedent to resolve future crises of constitutional administration. Such was the case in the United States presidential succession of John Tyler, which established that a successor to the presidency assumes the office without any limitation. Politically, a constitutional crisis can lead to administrative paralysis and eventual collapse of the government, the loss of political legitimacy, or to civil war. A constitutional crisis is distinct from a rebellion, which occurs when political factions outside a government challenge the government's sovereignty, as in a coup d'état or a revolution led by the military or by civilians.
A constitutional crisis occurred in Malawi in 2012 with regard to the succession of Bingu wa Mutharika. The President and Vice-President were from different parties which led to deliberations over who the rightful successor would be and the constitutional crisis. Vice-President Joyce Banda eventually succeeded wa Mutharika.
1966 Sarawak constitutional crisis started by a group of politicians who were dissatisfied towards Stephen Kalong Ningkan's leadership as chief minister. Ningkan was later removed from the chief minister post by the Governor of Sarawak in June 1966.
The 2020 Malaysian constitutional crisis was a series of events that began when Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and associates attempted to replace his coalition partners and form a unity government supported by opposition parties.
Pakistan
Supreme Court Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah clashed repeatedly with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in late 1997, accusing him of undermining the court's independence. After Ali Shah suspended a constitutional amendment that prevented dismissal of the prime minister, Sharif ordered President Farooq Leghari to appoint a new chief justice. When Leghari refused, Sharif considered impeaching him, but backed down after a warning from the armed forces. Faced with a choice of accepting Sharif's demands or dismissing him, Leghari resigned. Ali Shah resigned shortly afterward, establishing Sharif's dominance.
Following a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan on 8 March 2022, a constitutional crisis occurred when the deputy speaker of the National Assembly rejected the no-confidence motion on the 3rd of April 2022. President Arif Alvi subsequently dissolved the national assembly, upon advice from the Prime Minister,[11][12][13] which constitutionally could not be done by a Prime Minister who is facing a no-confidence motion.
On the 26th of October 2018, President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister and dismissed incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Ranil Wickremesing refused to accept the dismissal while stating that it was unconstitutional and undemocratic.
In 1990, King Baudouin refused routine Royal Assent to the law on abortion in Belgium. The issue was resolved by (constitutionally but controversially) having Baudouin temporarily declared incapable of reigning, the Council of Ministers giving assent as provided for in the Belgian Constitution, and Baudouin declared capable again.
For events after the formation of the United Kingdom in 1707, see § United Kingdom below.
John of England signs Magna Carta. Illustration from Cassell's History of England (1902)
The 1215 Barons' revolt against the rule of King John, which led to the Magna Carta. Immediately, John repudiated Magna Carta, leading to the First Barons' War.
The Brittany Affair of 1765: The king's court in Brittany forbade collection of taxes to which the provincial Estates did not consent. After King Louis XV annulled the court's decree, most of its members resigned. The chief prosecutor, Louis-René de Caradeuc de La Chalotais, was accused of writing letters denouncing the king's action and charged with treason. A court convened to try La Chalotais reached no conclusion due to questions of jurisdiction and the weakness of the evidence. The king then transferred the case to his own council, further inflaming fears of absolutism to the point that he was obligated to release La Chalotais and yield to the provincial authorities.
Crisis of the Weimar Republic (1930–1933): A series of conservative chancellors appointed by President Paul von Hindenburg were unable to secure legislation from the Reichstag, dominated first by the Social Democratic Party and later the Nazi and Communist parties. These chancellors increasingly turned to legislation by emergency presidential decrees, thereby laying the constitutional foundation of Adolf Hitler's dictatorship.[14]
Malta
The 1981 election, when, due to a quirk in that country's Single Transferable Vote system, the party winning more than half the votes won fewer than half the seats in parliament.
Order of Malta
In December 2016 Matthew Festing, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, dismissed its Grand Chancellor Albrecht von Boeselager for allowing the distribution of contraceptives in violation of the Catholic Church's policy. Boeslanger protested that the dismissal was irregular under the Order's constitution and appealed to Pope Francis. Francis ordered an investigation of the dispute, then demanded and received Festing's resignation. The Order elected Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto as Festing's successor on a program of constitutional reform and promoting religious obedience.
The constitutional crisis of 1993: PresidentBoris Yeltsin ordered the dissolution of the Supreme Soviet when it refused constitutional reforms that would allow him to implement his privatization program. After the Constitutional Court struck down Yeltsin's order, parliament impeached him and recognized a rival government of dissenting officials. Yeltsin used military force to disperse parliament, established a government by presidential decree, and pushed through a new constitution that increased the power of the presidency.[18]
2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis: The government of Catalonia under Carles Puigdemont held an independence referendum against instructions of the Spanish courts. The referendum passed by an overwhelming margin, albeit with limited voter participation, whereupon the Catalonian government declared independence. The Spanish government dissolved the Catalonian government, arrested pro-independence politicians and imposed direct rule from Madrid for more than half a year.
The regency crisis of 1788: A new Parliament convened while King George III was unable, due to illness, to charge it with its responsibilities or assent to any bills. Parliament nonetheless submitted an irregular bill that provided for George, Prince of Wales, to act as regent, and the Lord ChancellorLord Thurlow affixed the royal seal to it without the king's signature. This precedent was repeated in 1811 after the king again fell ill.
The 1936 Edward VIII abdication crisis, when King Edward VIII proposed to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson against the advice of his ministers. This was unacceptable to the leaders of the United Kingdom and the Dominions because Simpson was twice divorced and the Church of England, of which Edward nominally served as the head, forbade remarriage of divorcees if their spouses were still alive. Rather than ending their relationship the King chose to abdicate and his brother assumed the throne as King George VI.
In 1841 presidential duties passed to Vice President John Tyler upon the death of President William Henry Harrison. The Constitution was unclear as to whether Tyler should assume the office of President or merely execute the duties of the vacant office. Tyler insisted that politicians recognize him as President and returned, unopened, all mail addressed otherwise. Despite opposition from some Whig members of Congress, including John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, both houses passed a resolution confirming Tyler's position. This precedent was later codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment.[27]
The secession crisis (1860–1861): Sectional divisions in the Democratic Party resulted in the election of Abraham Lincoln. Alarmed by Lincoln's intention to prohibit slavery in western territories, eleven southern slaveholding states withdrew from the federal union and formed a confederacy. Lincoln refused to recognize the secessions and restored the states to the union by force in the Civil War.[28]
The 1952 steel strike: President Harry S. Truman nationalized the country's steel industry on the basis of his inherent powers in order to prevent a strike by the United Steelworkers that would impede the Korean War. This action reopened the "Great Debate" of 1950–51 regarding the extent of Truman's authority to counter the spread of communism. The Supreme Court annulled Truman's order in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, holding that presidential actions must proceed from constitutional or legislative authority. Truman used the threat of a second nationalization to push steel workers and management to an agreement.[29][30]
In the Watergate scandal (1972–1974), President Richard Nixon and his staff obstructed investigations into their political activities. Nixon resigned, under threat of impeachment, after the release of an audio tape showing that he had personally approved the obstruction. Congressional moves to restrain presidential authority continued for years afterward.[31][32]
The 1975 Australian constitutional crisis saw the Prime MinisterGough Whitlam and his government dismissed by the nation's Governor-GeneralSir John Kerr, in response to a prolonged budget deadlock in Parliament. Whitlam's Labor government had the confidence of the lower house, the House of Representatives. In the Australian Constitution, the Senate has equal powers with the House of Representatives, except it may not initiate or amend a supply bill. It can, however, reject or defer consideration of such a bill, and that is what it did on this occasion. The Constitution permits the Governor-General to dismiss the government if they cannot command the confidence of Parliament and will not call an election. Though the government lacked the confidence of the Senate, they commanded the confidence of the lower house, where government is formed, and confidence motions introduced. Whitlam also stated his intention to call an election, but Kerr nonetheless dismissed him without prior warning and installed Malcolm Fraser as Prime Minister, despite Fraser's inability to command the confidence of either house of Parliament. After Fraser's Liberal government passed several important appropriations bills, Kerr declared a double dissolution of Parliament and the 1975 federal election, which Fraser won in a landslide.
In the Fiji constitutional crisis of 1977, the winning party in a general election failed to name a government due to internal conflicts. The Governor-General intervened, appointing a prime minister from the opposition party.
The Tuvaluan constitutional crisis of 2013 occurred when Prime Minister Willy Telavi sought to continue governing after having lost his parliamentary majority. He deferred allowing Parliament to sit, and his ally Speaker Kamuta Latasi did not allow a motion of no confidence to be tabled when it finally did sit. The Opposition accused the government of acting unconstitutionally, and Governor General Sir Iakoba Italeli intervened, removing the Prime Minister from office so that Parliament could decide who should form the government. Telavi sought in vain to ask the Queen of Tuvalu, Elizabeth II, to remove the Governor General. Parliament elected Opposition Leader Enele Sopoaga to the premiership.
South America
Chile
1973 Chilean coup d'état: Accusing Salvador Allende's government of increasing authoritarianism, the Supreme Court, Comptroller General and Chamber of Deputies[38] declared him out of order, and the Chamber urged the military to put an end to constitutional breaches. The military deposed Allende a few weeks later and abolished the constitution.
2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis: The constitutional chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice ruled that the country's legislature, the National Assembly, was operating in contempt of the constitution due to prior rulings that some members had been improperly elected and assumed legislative power for itself. Politicians opposed to the government of President Nicolás Maduro, as well as Maduro's Prosecutor General, denounced the ruling for undermining the constitutional order, and the Tribunal rescinded it the following day. Maduro summoned a Constituent Assembly, nominally to draft a new constitution, but in practice to assert his authority against that of the National Assembly. As of 2021 the crisis remains unresolved, with National Assembly President Juan Guaidó claiming the presidency in opposition to Maduro.
^ abSinopoli, Richard (1996). From Many, One: Readings in American Political and Social Thought. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. p. 185. ISBN0878406263.
^Hoskyns, Catherine (1968). The Congo since independence, January 1960-December, 1961.
^Paulson, Stanley L. (2016). "Chapter 19: Hans Kelsen and Carl Schmitt: Growing Discord, Culminating in the "Guardian" Controversy of 1931". In Meierhenrich, Jens; Simons, Oliver (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Carl Schmitt.
^Joyetter Feagaimaali'i (22 May 2021). "Head of State suspends Parliament". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 22 May 2021. Samoa has been thrown into a constitutional crisis
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