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The Constitution of Belgium dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the Trias Politica. The Constitution established Belgium as a centralised unitary state. However, since 1970, through successive state reforms, Belgium has gradually evolved into a federal state. The last radical change of the constitution was carried out in 1993 after which it was published in a renewed version in the Belgian Official Journal. One of the most important changes was the introduction of the Court of Arbitration whose competencies were expanded by a special law of 2003, to include Title II (Articles 8 to 32), and the Articles 170, 172 and 191 of the Constitution. The Court therefore developed into a constitutional court and in May 2007 it was formally redesignated Constitutional Court. This court has the authority to examine whether a law or a decree is in compliance with Title II and Articles 170, 172 and 191. ==The federal Belgium, its composition and territory== In 1831 Belgium was a unitary state organised at three levels: the national level, provinces and municipalities. State reform in Belgium added a devolved level to the existing structure. Since 1993, the first article of the Constitution stipulates that Belgium is a federal state composed of Communities and Regions. This means that there are two types of devolved entities at the same level, with neither taking precedence over the other. Article 2 divides Belgium into three communities: the Flemish Community, the French Community and the German-speaking Community, whereas Article 3 divides Belgium into three regions: the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels Region. Article 4 divides Belgium into four language areas: The Dutch language area, the French language area, the bilingual (French and Dutch) area of Brussels-Capital and the German language area.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Belgium_2012?lang=en )〕 Each municipality of the Kingdom is part of one of these four language areas only. The borders of the language areas can be changed or corrected only by a law supported by specific majorities of each language group of each Chamber. Article 5 divides the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region into five provinces each and foresees possible future provincial redivisions of the Belgian territory. Article 6 determines that the provinces can be subdivided only by Law. The borders of the State, provinces and municipalities can be changed or corrected only by Law (article 7). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Constitution of Belgium」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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