Which of the European monarchs have the right of legislative initiative? Are there any who do? I'm finding it difficult to find any information on the internet about the right of initiative in various countries. I know that the parliament always has it, and I know that in Poland the president or a large enough number of citizens do.
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2 Answers
In Liechtenstein, the prince has the power to hire and fire governments. In a 2003 referendum (BBC News), the inhabitants of the tiny state in the Alps overwhelmingly voted in favour of giving him absolute legislative powers. This was reconfirmed in a 2012 referendum.
One might argue that Liechtenstein doesn't really count, as it has only 36,281 inhabitants on 160 km².
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It does count of course, but is it the only one? I'm quite sure "absolute legislative powers" are extremely rare, and perhaps limited to Liechtenstein, but I'm only asking about the legislative initiative, which is much less.– ymarCommented Dec 6, 2012 at 21:34
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I'm not sure if it's the only one. Maybe some of the micronations do. I'm sure the pope has power too but I don't think he's a monarch.– gerritCommented Dec 6, 2012 at 21:36
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In Luxembourg every law that is introduced into parliament has to be accompanied by a letter of the Grand Duke allowing it to be introduced in his name. So in short, yes he and only he has the power of legislative initiative… Commented Dec 6, 2012 at 23:01
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@Sven Is it a real power or is will he right the letter every time, just like the Queen of the UK will never veto a law?– ymarCommented Dec 7, 2012 at 2:03
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1@ymar he tried once to veto the euthanasia law based on religious grounds and that right got taken away from him immediately with a constitutional amendment. I don't believe he would try such a stunt again, but in theory he could. Commented Dec 7, 2012 at 7:00
- The monarch of Liechtenstein has legislative iniative. A few years ago, he used it in launching a referendum… to give him much more power.
- The absolute monarch of the Vatican has legislative iniative. In the past, this has had rather hard consequences.
