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Boceto para la Jura de la Constitución de 1830, by Juan Manuel Blanes.

Uruguay
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Uruguay
Constitution Current constitution (1997) Previous constitutions 1830 1918 1934 1942 1952 1967
Executive President (list) Tabaré Vázquez Vice President Lucía Topolansky Cabinet
Legislative General Assembly Senate Chamber of Deputies Palacio Legislativo
Judiciary Supreme Court
Administrative divisions Departments Municipalities
Elections Political parties Recent elections General: 2004 2009 2014 Municipal: 2005 2010 2015 Electoral Court Ley de Lemas (voting system)
Foreign relations
See also Law of Uruguay Civil Code State companies
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The first Constitution of Uruguay dates back to 1830. Drafted by the Constituent Assembly, summoned in the Church of La Aguada in 1829,^[1] it was sworn by the citizens on 18 July 1830.

This political constitution was in force until 1918, when it was replaced by a new constitutional text.

Overview

The 1830 constitution has been regarded as Uruguay's most technically perfect charter. Heavily influenced by the thinking of the French and American revolutions, it divided the government among the executive, legislative, and judicial powers and established Uruguay as a unitary republic with a centralized form of government. The bicameral General Assembly was empowered to elect a president with considerable powers to head the executive branch for a four-year term. The president was given control over all of his ministers of government and was empowered to make decisions with the agreement of at least one of the three ministers recognized by the 1830 constitution.^[2]

Like all of Uruguay's charters since then, the 1830 constitution provided for a General Assembly composed of a Chamber of Senators (Cámara de Senadores), or Senate (Senado), elected nationally, and a Chamber of Representatives (Cámara de Representantes), elected from the departments. Members of the General Assembly were empowered to pass laws but lacked the authority to dismiss the president or his ministers or to issue votes of no confidence. An 1834 amendment, however, provided for juicio político, or impeachment, of the ministers for "unacceptable conduct".^[2]

As established by the 1830 constitution, the Supreme Court of Justice, and lesser courts, exercised the judicial power. The General Assembly appointed the members of the high court. The latter – with the consent of the Senate in the case of the appellate courts – appointed the members of the lesser courts. The constitution also divided the country into departments, each headed by a governor appointed by the president and each having an advisory body called a Neighbors' Council (Consejo de Vecinos).^[2]

Although the 1830 constitution remained in effect for eighty-seven years, de facto governments violated it repeatedly. In the 1878–90 period, the Blancos and Colorados, helped also by the Constitutional Party, initiated the framework for a more stable system through understandings called "pacts between the parties." This governing principle, called coparticipation (coparticipación), meaning the sharing of formal political and informal bureaucratic power, has been formally practiced since 1872.^[2]

Memorials

• The anniversary of the 1830 promulgation of this original constitution on July 18 is a public holiday in Uruguay.


• Many squares in Uruguay bear the name of the Constitution, notably the Constitution Square in Montevideo.


• Many streets in different cities of Uruguay are named after the date of the First Constitutional Oath, notably 18 de Julio Avenue in Montevideo.


• The Centennial of 1830 was an occasion to celebrate a century of constitutional life; the Estadio Centenario was named after that anniversary.


• Also in the framework of the Centennial, the Obelisk of Montevideo was erected as a memorial to the First Constitution.

Bibliography

• 
  Nahum, Benjamín (1994). Manual de Historia del Uruguay 1830–1903. Montevideo: Ediciones de la Banda Oriental..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
  

• 
  Méndez Vives, Enrique (1990). Historia Uruguaya. Montevideo: Ediciones de la Banda Oriental.
  

See also

• Treaty of Montevideo (1828)


• Constitution of Uruguay

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Uruguayan Constitution of 1830.

• 
  Text of the Constitution of 1830 (in Spanish)