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CONSTITUTION OF THE
FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA The Constitution
of the Federated States of Micronesia was drafted by the Micronesian
Constitutional Convention in 1975 in Saipan. The Convention
was convened by the Congress of Micronesia, which at that time
included representation from the Ponape,
Kusaie, Truk, and Yap Districts of the Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands (TTPI), and which also included the
Marshall
Islands, Palau, and the Northern Mariana Islands Districts. An Acrobat
"pdf" copy of the two volumes of the
Micronesia Constitutional Convention
Journal of 1975 is available on the University of South
Pacific Emalus Campus Library website on the page for FSM
Legislation and Law Reports.
The FSM Constitution was ratified in 1978, with the voters of the Ponape, Kusaie, Truk, and Yap Districts approving the Constitution. The ratification of the Constitution by these four districts recognized their sovereign right to form the Federated States of Micronesia and make the FSM Constitution the supreme law of the land.
In 1990,
a Second Constitutional Convention was convened
in Palikir, Pohnpei that resulted in four Constitutional Convention proposals that
were ratified by the voters. These constitutional
amendments are listed below and have been incorporated
into the version of the Constitution available
here.
In 2001, a Third FSM Constitutional Convention was convened in Palikir,
Pohnpei. Fourteen proposals passed the Constitutional
Convention, but none were approved by the
citizens of the FSM in a referendum. To view the fourteen proposals, committee
reports, analysis, journal discussions, and other reference material dealing with
the Third FSM Constitutional Convention,
visit the web site of the Public
Information Office of the Office of the President, and see copies of the fourteen proposals from the PIO web site
below. For additional reference, see an
article on the FSM Constitution and the 2001 Constitutional
Convention by Regent Professor of the College of
Micronesia-FSM, President of the Third FSM Constitutional Convention, and former President of the Federated States of Micronesia,
the Honorable John H. Haglelgam.
CONSTITUTIONAL
AMENDMENT BULLETIN:
The three
constitutional amendments proposed by the FSM Congress and voted
upon in the March, 2005 national elections for FSM Congress two
year seats were not approved by the electorate. The proposed constitutional amendments in Acrobat
"pdf" format can be viewed by clicking the
following links:
(1) A constitutional amendment dealing
with FSM citizenship, proposing an amendment to Art. III, Sec. 3
of the Constitution
.
(2) A constitutional amendment adding a new Sec.
8 to Art. XIII of the Constitution
to add a full faith and credit
clause to the Constitution.
(3) A constitutional amendment affecting the FSM
Supreme Court's jurisdiction in cases in which the ownership of land
and water is at issue in Art. XI, Sec. 6
.
ARTICLE I. Territory of
Micronesia
ARTICLE II. Supremacy
ARTICLE III. Citizenship
ARTICLE IV. Declaration of Rights
ARTICLE V. Traditional Rights
ARTICLE VI. Suffrage
ARTICLE VII. Levels of Government
ARTICLE VIII. Powers of Government
ARTICLE IX. Legislative
ARTICLE X. Executive
ARTICLE XI. Judicial
ARTICLE XII. Finance
ARTICLE XIII. General Provisions
ARTICLE XIV. Amendments
ARTICLE XV. Transition
ARTICLE XVI. Effective
Date
PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS FROM 2022 FOURTH FSM CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION: Journals CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS FROM 2001 THIRD FSM CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (none passed in referendum): Journals Volume 1 & Volume 2:
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-01: Establishes minimum of 4 Supreme Court
justices, one per State
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-02: Allows for dual citizenship
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-05: Removes all FSM Supreme Court jurisdiction
over ownership of lands & waters
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-07: Provides for full faith and credit among the
States
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-08: Creates an Office of the Independent
Prosecutor
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-09: Provides for continual annuity for
ex-Presidents & Vice Presidents
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-11: Sets educational standards & establishes
fund to meet standards
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-13: Allows levying value-added taxes (concurrent
State/Nat'l power)
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-15: Increases States' share of tax revenues to not
less than 80%
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-16: Increases number of at-large Congress Members
& limits terms
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-21: Provides for direct election of President
& Vice President
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-24: Establishes procedure for allocating foreign
financial assistance
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-25: Changes voting & votes required to pass
bills on 2nd reading
COMMITTEE PROPOSAL NO.
01-26: Changes voting & votes required to
override a Presidential veto
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS FROM 1990 SECOND CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (adopted by voters in referendum): If you would like to view or print out the entire FSM Constitution in one document without lengthy case annotations, click the following link. Entire FSM Constitution (no annotations) |