Constitution of San Marino

Constitution of San Marino
Illustration of the title page
Created	October 8, 1600
Location	San Marino
Purpose	Constitutional statutes

The Constitution of San Marino is distributed over a number of legislative instruments of which the most significant are the Statutes of 1600 and the Declaration of Citizen Rights of 1974 as amended in 2002. The constitutional system has influences from the Corpus Juris Civilis and Roman customary law. It may have the oldest surviving constitution of any sovereign state in the world.

The current legal system of San Marino began on October 8, 1600. The government gave binding force to a compilation of Statuti written by Camillo Bonelli, covering the institutions and practices of Sammarinese government and justice at that time. It was written in Latin and contained in six books. The title in Latin is Statuta Decreta ac Ordinamenta Illustris Reipublicae ac Perpetuae Libertatis Terrae Sancti Marini.

The new system was an update on the Statuti Comunali (Town Statute) which had served San Marino from about 1300. Existing institutions, such as the Council of the Sixty, were carried forward from this period. The Statutes form the basis of all law in effect today, so it may be the oldest constitution of any existing nation.

The first book contains 62 articles. It is constitutional in character and describes the various councils of San Marino, courts, a number of administrative positions, including the Captains-Regent, and the powers assigned to them. The last two articles explain how the law is to be interpreted and altered, including how the law is to be promulgated.

The second book, called Civilium Causarum, contains 75 articles. The first half provides for civil law procedures covering subpoenas, evidence, examination of witnesses and judicial expenses. The second half covers minors, education, the salaries of the civil service and wills. There is a section which promotes compromise to resolve disputes and another which regulates the salary of lawyers.