Yugoslavia 1992
Serbia and Montenegro, the remaining two republics of the former Yugoslav Federation, adopted a constitution in 1992 as the new common state of Yugoslavia. This followed the endorsements of new constitution by Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia, all newly independent states and former republics of the Yugoslav Federation. The drafting and adoption of the constitution occurred during a civil war that involved the six former republics of the Yugoslav Federation.
Initial discussion of creating a new constitution came in March 1992, when the leaders of the federal and republican governments met to discuss the future Yugoslav state. The Yugoslav Federal parliament, the Serbian parliament and the Montenegrin parliament appointed members to an expert drafting committee. The committee took fifteen days to prepare and submit a working draft to the three parliaments.
The constitution needed to be approved by the parliaments of Montenegro and Serbia before it could be voted on by the Federal parliament. Both the Serbian and Montenegrin parliaments voted in favor of the new constitution on April 23, 1992. In the Serbian parliament, the vote was 153 in favor, 29 against and 3 abstentions. Serbian opposition parties criticized the lack of opportunity for public scrutiny of the proposed constitution. The vote of the Montenegrin parliament was 87 in favor, 1 against and 2 abstentions. Thirty Montenegrin opposition deputies boycotted the final vote in protest of Montenegro’s close ties with Serbia. On April 27, 1992, the Yugoslav Federal parliament approved the new constitution with a vote of 73 in favor, one against and three abstentions. The thirteen ethnic Albanian deputies from the Kosovo province of Serbia boycotted the parliamentary session describing the proceedings as “illegitimate” and a “gross manipulation.” The constitution entered into force on April 27, 1992.
Note: Serbia and Montenegro were the only two of the six former Yugoslav republics to re-elect their former communist leaders in their first multi-party, democratic elections in 1990. Former communists also dominated the Yugoslav Federal government during this time as the disintegrating federal union made these elections unimportant for most of the 6-republic Yugoslavia, allowing the former Communists to retain power. This gave the former Communists great influence over the constitution-writing process.
Note: In 1990, Albanians in Kosovo declared their independence and adopted their own constitution. The Serbian government suppressed this movement. The disenfranchisement of the Kosovo Albanians from the constitution-writing and adopting process further escalated fighting in the province.