Ten-year review
Every ten years a body drawn by lot examines whether the Constitution serves the people bound by it.
Article 318(1): every ten years, the Assembly convenes a deliberative body drawn by lot under Article 142 to examine whether this Constitution serves the persons bound by it.
Article 318(2): the body examines, upon evidence and upon the reports of this Office, of the courts and of the offices of Title IX, whether the guarantees of Title III are attained in fact, whether residents can find, read and use the text, whether the procedures of participation operate, whether the length and complexity of the text obstruct its use, and which provisions might be simplified, consolidated or repealed.
The five questions
| Question | Evidence before the body |
|---|---|
| Are the guarantees of Title III attained in fact | The findings of the Defender of Rights and the judgments of the courts |
| Can residents find, read and use the text | The distribution figures, the intelligibility observations, and the reports of divergence received here |
| Do the procedures of participation operate | The indicators of the Office of Democratic Integrity on participation and on the operation of the assemblies |
| Does the length and complexity of the text obstruct its use | The coherence reports of this Office, and the observations of the deliberative body examining the summary |
| Which provisions might be simplified, consolidated or repealed | The record of provisions never applied, and the contradictions standing in the coherence report |
The first review
Commencement was 7 July 2026, so the first review falls due in 2036. The Office publishes the evidence continuously in the meantime, so that the body drawn by lot receives a record covering the whole decade. No part of it is assembled in the year of the review.
What the review may recommend
The body reports, and the amendment procedure of Title XII governs what follows. A recommendation alters nothing by itself. Article 223(1) entrenches the number of justices, the terms, the appointment by lot, the composition of the pool, the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court and the composition of the Judicial Council, and Article 223(2) delays the effect of an organic law altering any of them.
Certain matters lie beyond amendment altogether. Article 265(1) lists acts void whoever adopts them and by whatever procedure, and no review reaches them.
Reason for the draw by lot
The examination belongs to residents drawn by lot. The Assembly, the Office and the courts have no part in it. Each of those bodies is among the subjects of the questions asked, and each furnishes evidence to the review under Article 318(2).
Organic law governs the composition, the training and the conduct of a deliberative body drawn by lot, and the Electoral Commission conducts the draw.