The Gibraltar Constitution Order 1969

Self-Government for Gibraltar

Following the outcome of the 1967 Gibraltar Sovereignty Referendum whereby the people of Gibraltar choice to remain under British sovereignty, the 1969 Gibraltar Constitution Order and its developments begun. The new constitution that Britain introduced for Gibraltar in 1969 explicitly reaffirmed Gibraltar's link with Britain while also granting it full internal self-government. This was met by Spain's response of closing the border between itself and Gibraltar whereby they were deprived of its Spanish trade and major labour force. The Constitution was the outcome of the Constitutional Conference chaired by Malcolm Shepherd, 2nd Baron Shepherd which lasted from 16 July to 24 July 1968. The Gibraltarian members of the Constitutional Conference were Joshua Hassan (went on to become the 1st Chief Minister of Gibraltar, serving 4 terms as Chief Minister over a span of 20 years), Aurelio Montegriffo and Abraham Serfaty for the Association for the Advancement of Civil Rights; Robert Peliza (2nd Chief Minister of Gibraltar), Maurice Xiberras and legal advisor Sir Frederick Bennet for the Integration with Britain Party; and Peter Isola.

PREAMBLE

The 1969 Constitution will always be remembered for its Preamble. The Constitutional Talks almost broke down in 1968 for this point specifically. For the Gibraltarians, it was the most important aspect of the 1969 Constitution as they felt it be crucial.

The Preamble read as follows:

" Whereas Gibraltar is part of Her Majesty's dominions and Her Majesty's Government have given assurances to the people of Gibraltar that Gibraltar will remain part of Her Majesty's dominions unless and until an Act of Parliament otherwise provides, and furthermore that Her Majesty's Government will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes..."

This preamble has been called the "single most significant statement made on the sovereignty of Gibraltar since the singing of the Treaty of Utrecht" (Peter Gold, 2005).

The Gibraltar 1969 Constitution Preamble engraved onto a stalactite at the Gibraltar Museum

The Constitution

On 24 July 1968, the Government of Spain under the leadership of General Francisco Franco, complained to the United Nations Secretary General claiming that the constitutional talks were a 'further obstacle to the solution of Gibraltar's future', a statement that was met by rejection from the Government of the United Kingdom. On 30 May 1969, the Constitution was published coming into immediate effect with elections due to be scheduled on the 30 July of the same year. The Spanish Government's thoughts on the agenda was clear as they described the promulgation of the United Nations Resolutions and a violation of the Treaty of Utrecht. What followed was the decision to close the land border between Spain and Gibraltar.

Sir Joshua Hassan, 1st Chief Minister of Gibraltar and Gerald Lathbury, Governor of Gibraltar in 1967

The Constitution gives legislative powers to the Governor, who is the Queen's representative, and the Gibraltar Parliament. Gibraltar enjoys considerable self-government as the Government of Gibraltar and Gibraltar's Members of Parliament deal with domestic matters. The British Foreign Office nonetheless, is directly responsible for Gibraltar's foreign affairs, defence and security matters. With this, Gibraltar has its own legal system based on English Common Law but with her own statutes which are passed by the Gibraltar Parliament.

By Niall Serra