Constitution of Portugal (1976)

The post revolutionary charter of 1976, born of the Carnation Revolution and later revised toward a market democracy.

Overview

Approved by an elected Constituent Assembly on April 2, 1976 and in force from April 25, the second anniversary of the Carnation Revolution that ended the Estado Novo dictatorship, the Portuguese Constitution created a semi presidential republic with a directly elected president, a unicameral Assembly of the Republic, and an unusually long catalog of civil, social, and economic rights. Its original text committed Portugal to a transition toward socialism and gave the military Council of the Revolution a constitutional role. The 1982 revision abolished that council and created a Constitutional Court, and the 1989 revision opened the way to privatization. It remains one of the longest constitutions in Europe.