Luxembourg's 2023 Constitution: what changed and what to know

Why the 2023 Constitution matters for the Vivre ensemble exam

The Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is on the official list of study material for the exam, in the version in force since 1 July 2023. It touches two of the three exam areas. The fundamental rights questions (10 of 40) draw on its chapter on rights, and the institutions questions (20 of 40) on its chapters on the Grand Duke, the Chamber of Deputies, the Government, the Council of State and justice.

1 July 2023

entry into force of the renewed Constitution

1848

first Constitution to recognise fundamental rights

1868

the text that served for 155 years

2/3

majority needed in the Chamber to revise it

You do not need to learn articles by number. What helps is knowing the broad story, so that you are not thrown by questions that mention 1848, older wording that changed, or the new bodies created in 2023.

From 1848 to 2023: a Constitution revised, never abolished

The study material and the exam questions treat the Constitution as one continuous text. The 1848 Constitution is not the very first (a limited constitution of the Estates dates from 1841), but it is presented as the first liberal Luxembourg Constitution, the first to recognise fundamental rights, and as the starting point of the text in force today. Since then it has been amended many times, but never repealed.

1. 1841 King-Grand Duke William II grants a first, limited constitution (the Estates Constitution), which left most power with the monarch.
2. 1848 A liberal Constitution, in the year of revolutions across Europe, guarantees fundamental rights.
3. 1856 King-Grand Duke William III imposes a more authoritarian revision.
4. 1868 After the Treaty of London of 1867 and Luxembourg's neutrality, a new text restores parliamentary rule. This is the basis that served until 2023.
5. 1919 Sovereignty is placed in the nation and universal suffrage is introduced, including the vote for women.
6. 1948 The reference to perpetual neutrality is removed after the Second World War.
7. 1996 A revision creates the Constitutional Court and the administrative courts.
8. 2009 After the 2008 crisis, the Grand Duke no longer sanctions laws but only promulgates them.
9. 2023 The most complete revision in the Constitution's history enters into force on 1 July.

The early history is covered in more detail in the history chapter. For the institutions block, the dates to hold on to are 1848, 1868, 1919, 2009 and 2023.

How the 2023 reform was carried out

Work on a complete modernisation of the Constitution started in the late 2000s, under the Chamber of Deputies' committee on institutions and constitutional revision. The original plan was a single new text. After years of debate, the Chamber chose a different method: it revised the existing Constitution chapter by chapter, through a series of revision laws. Each was voted twice by a two-thirds majority, as the revision procedure requires, and they entered into force together on 1 July 2023.

That choice of method explains something that puzzles many candidates. People call it the new Constitution, and the text was rewritten, restructured and renumbered. Legally, however, it is the same Constitution, revised. This is why a practice question can ask "Is the Luxembourg Constitution still in force today?" and expect "Yes", and ask whether it has changed since 1848 and expect "Yes, it has been amended several times", not "No, it was replaced".

Luxembourg constitution changes: the main points

The 2023 revision modernised the language and order of the text and wrote into the Constitution several practices that had grown up over the decades. These are the changes most relevant to the exam.

A clearer structure

The chapters were reorganised and the articles renumbered from the beginning. The text now opens with the State, its territory and its sovereignty, then moves on to rights and freedoms, and then to the institutions. If you read an older source that cites article numbers, they will not match the current text.

Rights and freedoms regrouped

The chapter on rights was rewritten and reorganised. It starts with human dignity, which is inviolable, and then distinguishes between rights that the individual can enforce in court and constitutional objectives, which guide the State without creating a right you can claim directly. The objectives include the protection of the environment, natural resources and sustainable development, and access to appropriate housing.

The study material groups the rights into four families: freedom rights (for example freedom of expression and religion), participation rights (for example the right to vote), rights of the litigant (access to a court, a fair trial) and entitlement rights (education, healthcare, social security). This grouping is how the exam asks about them. See Fundamental rights for each family with examples.

The national language

The renewed Constitution names Luxembourgish as the language of the Grand Duchy and leaves the use of languages in administration and justice to the law. This matches the exam answer that Luxembourgish is the national language, while French remains the traditional language of legislation.

The Grand Duke's role written down precisely

The Grand Duke remains Head of State, but the text now sets out his functions more precisely and in line with how they have long worked in practice. He reigns but does not govern: the Government determines and conducts general policy, and every act of the Grand Duke needs a minister's countersignature. The rules of succession, including primogeniture without distinction of sex, and abdication are framed by the Constitution and the dynastic rules. The 2009 change, promulgation without sanction, remains.

The Government and the Prime Minister

The Government and the role of the Prime Minister are described more fully than in the older text, which said little about how governments are formed and led. The principle remains the same: the Government needs the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies and is politically responsible before it.

A new body for justice

The 2023 revision created the National Council of Justice (Conseil national de la justice). Its role is to safeguard the independence of the justice system and its proper functioning, in particular in the appointment of magistrates and in matters of ethics and discipline. The structure of the courts, with a judicial order, an administrative order and the Constitutional Court, did not change. It is explained in Courts and justice.

What did not change

For the exam, it matters just as much to know what stayed the same. The 2023 revision did not change the nature of the State or its main institutions.

• Luxembourg remains a parliamentary democracy in the form of a constitutional monarchy.
• The Chamber of Deputies still has 60 deputies elected for five years, and remains a single chamber.
• The Council of State remains a consultative body, not a second chamber, and the second constitutional vote on laws remains.
• The Constitutional Court still reviews laws only on referral from a court.
• Communes keep their constitutionally guaranteed autonomy.

The figures and roles in the institutions chapter and in Communes, elections and advisory bodies reflect the current text.

How the Constitution is revised

A revision of the Constitution is harder to pass than an ordinary law, which is what makes the Constitution the supreme norm. The Chamber of Deputies takes part in every revision.

1. First vote

   The Chamber votes the revision with a two-thirds majority of its members.

2. Waiting period

   At least three months must pass before the second vote.

3. Second vote or referendum

   The Chamber votes again with a two-thirds majority. The second vote can be replaced by a referendum if more than a quarter of the deputies, or 25,000 voters, ask for one within two months of the first vote.

Luxembourg uses referendums rarely. In 2015 voters were asked three consultative questions linked to the reform debate, including whether foreign residents should be able to vote in national elections. All three proposals were rejected by a large majority, which is why only Luxembourg citizens vote in legislative elections today.

How to study the Constitution for the exam

• Read the official English translation selectively. Focus on the chapters on rights, the Grand Duke, the Chamber of Deputies, the Government, the Council of State and justice. Skip the detailed transitional provisions.
• Keep old and new wording apart. If a source says the Grand Duke "sanctions" laws or "exercises the executive power" alone, it is outdated or simplified. The current answer is promulgation, with ministerial countersignature.
• Learn the four rights families with one example each, plus the idea of constitutional objectives. That covers a large share of the rights questions.
• Link institutions to dates. 1919 universal suffrage, 1996 Constitutional Court and administrative courts, 2009 promulgation, 2023 National Council of Justice.

The English translation of the Constitution is listed on our study materials page, along with "About Political Institutions in Luxembourg". The CivicLearn course keeps the official reference texts, the Constitution included, in its reference library, next to practice questions written from the official study material. For a quick check of where you stand, try the practice questions.

Sources

• Legilux: Constitution of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (official text)
• Chamber of Deputies (chd.lu): constitutional revision
• Guichet.lu: Vivre ensemble au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
• Ministry of Education, Children and Youth (MENJE)