Constitution of Norway

The Constitution of Norway was adopted on 17 May 1814 by a Constituent Assembly meeting at Eidsvoll, in the aftermath of the dissolution of Norway's union with Denmark, and it established Norway as an independent constitutional monarchy built on separation of powers among a king, a parliament (the Storting) and the courts. Later that same year Norway entered a new union with Sweden, but the Eidsvoll constitution itself largely survived that union intact and remains, as amended, in force today, making it one of the oldest single-document national constitutions still operative anywhere in the world. Its drafters drew on the ideas of the American and French revolutionary constitutions and on Spain's Constitution of 1812, producing a document notably liberal for its era. Norwegians celebrate 17 May as Constitution Day, and the document has been amended many times since 1814, including the addition of a dedicated human rights chapter in 2014.