Tuvalu 1978
The first constitution of Tuvalu came into force on October 1, 1978, when the country achieved independence from the United Kingdom. The islands became independent three years to the day after they separated from the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati) following a referendum. Separation brought an elected assembly, but the islands did not receive internal self-government; the British commissioner retained control of important decisions.
The Tuvalu House of Assembly expressed its desire to achieve independence shortly after separation. In December 1976, the assembly appointed a committee consisting of all eight elected members to draft constitutional proposals. The chief minister chaired the committee; since the assembly was divided 4-4 and the chair could only vote in case of a tie, this gave the opposition a working majority. The committee met with the public on each of the eight islands, although in the end these focused more on general political concerns than the constitution proper. The committee completed its report in February 1977. In August 1977, an election was held for an expanded House of Assembly with 12 elected members. The newly-elected assembly approved the committee report in late 1977.
As was common practice in British decolonization processes, a constitutional conference for Tuvalu was held in London from February 13-17, 1978. The British and Tuvaluan delegations combined had 43 members; the group from Tuvalu included all members of the House of Assembly and two church leaders. The conference met in private and considered the constitutional provisions section by section. The chief minister was able to reverse some of the committee's decisions to which he had objected, notably those concerning the powers of the governor-general. The conference also agreed that Tuvalu should proceed immediately to internal self-government as an interim step. After the conference concluded, British legal experts drafted the statutory language that became the actual text of the constitution.
Ratification of the constitution required the approval of both the Tuvalu House of Assembly and the British Parliament. The former approved the draft in May 1978, while the latter approved the Tuvalu Bill in June 1978. The constitution was proclaimed as British secondary legislation under the Tuvalu Bill, in the form of a schedule to an order-in-council. In 1986, the Tuvalu legislature repealed and re-enacted the constitution as Tuvaluan legislation, without making substantive changes.