How the Constitution has changed.
The 1978 Constitution has been amended more than twenty times. Read down the list and a pattern appears: the same argument about how much power one office should hold, fought again and again.
Amendments by year
Each dot is one amendment, marked with its number, at the year it was made. Select a dot to show only that amendment in the list; select a subject to highlight it.
The full list
A filled dot marks an amendment that significantly altered how the country is governed.
How an amendment is passed
| What is being changed | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Most of the Constitution | A two-thirds majority of the whole Parliament — 150 of 225 — not just those present (Article 82) |
| Articles 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 83 | Two-thirds majority and approval by the people at a referendum (Article 83) |
| Extending the President's term or Parliament's duration beyond six years | Two-thirds majority and a referendum |
| Shortening those terms | Two-thirds majority only — no referendum needed |
| An ordinary law that conflicts with the Constitution | Two-thirds majority, and it must be declared to operate for a stated period (Article 84). It does not amend the Constitution itself. |
Every amending Bill must also say plainly that it amends or repeals the Constitution, and be published in the Gazette at least seven days before it is placed on the Order Paper.
The pendulum
The 17th Amendment (2001) created independent commissions to take appointments out of the President's hands. The 18th (2010) removed them and scrapped the two-term limit. The 19th (2015) restored both. The 20th (2020) repealed the 19th. The 21st (2022) reversed much of the 20th. Four reversals in twenty-one years, on the same question.
Two numbering traps
There is no Twelfth Amendment — it was drafted but never enacted, so the sequence skips from 11 to 13. And the Twenty First Amendment was debated as the Twenty Second Amendment Bill, so contemporary news reports call the same law by both numbers.