TheVidovdan Constitution was the firstconstitution of theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was approved by theConstitutional Assembly on 28 June 1921 despite the opposition boycotting the vote. The Constitution is named after the feast of St. Vitus (Vidovdan), aSerbian Orthodox holiday.[1] The Constitution required a simple majority to pass. Out of 419 representatives, 223 voted for, 35 voted against and 161 abstained.[2]
The Constitution was in effect untilKing Alexander proclaimed his6 January Dictatorship on that date in 1929.
The process of adopting the Vidovdan Constitution revealed major political conflicts in the new state. Although there were earlier plans to adopt a Constitution (see theGuidelines,the Corfu Declaration, theGeneva Declaration), the Constitution was eventually adopted by a narrow majority and overriding on a national basis.
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The SCS Kingdom is designated as aconstitutional,parliamentary andhereditary monarchy, whose language is Serbo-Croatian-Slovenian. Aunitary system was established (the theory of the tribe people). The proclaimed principles ofseparation of powers were deformed by later provisions, but in principleparliamentarianism existed.
Legislative power was shared by theKing and theNational Assembly. The king had a wide range of powers -legislative initiative,sanction,promulgation of laws as well as initiative and consent to change the Constitution. He also had the right to declarewar and concludepeace. He also possessed extensive powers regarding the appointment ofjudges and the dissolution of the assembly. In addition, he had the classic powers of thehead of state.
The National Assembly was a unicameralrepresentative body. According to the Vidovdan Constitution, citizens had political rights -voting rights, association rights, assembly andcollusion. Voting rights were limited by the relatively high age bracket and were not enjoyed by women. For women, the Constitution provided for the passage of legislation that would address the issue of their suffrage, but it was not enacted throughout the life of the kingdom. Each member of the assembly had the right oflegislative initiative,parliamentary question,interpellation. In the event of a change of Constitution, the Assembly dissolved and elected a new one, which had the meaning of a hidden constitutionalreferendum.
TheCouncil of Ministers was accountable to boththe King andthe National Assembly (Orleans parliamentarism) and theministers did not have to be MPs. There was also thecriminal andcivil liability of the ministers, with a specialState Court. The Council of Ministers had the right to legislate, to issue regulations for the implementation of the law and those with legal force in special cases.
The courts were independent and organized as first instance,appellate andcassation courts (based inZagreb).Special administrative courts (State Council and Main Control) were also envisaged.
A large number of socio-economic rights were prescribed, as well as a specialEconomic Council.
The units of territorial-administrative division were districts, districts, districts and municipalities.
The Croatian Republican Peasant Party adopted itsConstitution of the neutral peasant republic of Croatia inZagreb on 1 April 1921.[3]
The Croatian Union had proposed a confederation of the kingdom into six entities:[4]
On 30 June, an editorial in the People's Radical Party's journalSamouprava stated, "This year's Vidovdan restored an empire to us".[5] On 21 July, the Minister of the Interior and member of the People's Radical PartyMilorad Drašković was assassinated inDelnice by a group of communists.[6]
The viability of the constitution dominated the1923 parliamentary elections.[7]
TheCroatian Peasant Party did not accept the legitimacy of the constitution. After the1925 elections, entry into the government was offered to the party byNikola Pašić. The Croatian Peasant Party accepted and recognized the constitution. LeaderStjepan Radić was released from prison, along with other party officials.[8]
