Nauru is an island nation in Oceania located in the Pacific Ocean, its nearest neighbors in the sea are Kiribati, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands. The population of this country is approx 10,834 with 21 square kilometers area. Official languages are Nauruan and English. 58% are Nauruans, the rest others. Christians are the majority.
Nauru's constitution has very few interesting parts. Any Cabinet member shall not hold any State office. A person cannot be a Member of Parliament for more than one seat at the same time.
These are positive aspects. Now let's discuss the negative aspects.
Australian citizenship was offered to all Nauruans in 1964. Also a proposal to relocate them to an island adjacent to the Australian mainland. But Nauru rejected the proposal. The decision was correct in their view at the time, as Nauru had phosphate mines. Nauru's citizens have gradually become the richest citizens in the world as a proportion of GDP. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, Nauru's inhabitants are now impoverished, as all the phosphates in the mines have been exhausted. Nauru is now boosting its economy by selling UN votes.
Nauru has the means to easily detain anyone declaring "insane". Also, the constitution mentions the word 'morality', but does not explain what morality is. That is, with the change of government, the definition of 'morality' can change instantly.
Admirable Articles of Nauru's Constitution
18. Cabinet.
● The Cabinet consists of the President and the Ministers appointed under Article 19.
● A member of the Cabinet shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe the oath set out in the First Schedule.
● A member of the Cabinet shall not hold an office of profit in the service of Nauru or of a statutory corporation.
27. Legislative powers of legislature.
Subject to this Constitution, Parliament may make laws for the peace, order and good government of Nauru; laws so made may have effect outside as well as within Nauru.
28. The Parliament. (Part of it)
● A person shall not be at the same time a member of Parliament for more than one constituency.
Facts of Nauru's Constitution
Preamble (Part of it)
WHEREAS we the people of Nauru acknowledge God as the almighty and everlasting Lord and the giver of all good things:
AND WHEREAS we humbly place ourselves under the protection of His good providence and seek His blessing upon ourselves and upon our lives:
5. Protection of personal liberty.
● No person shall be deprived of his personal liberty, except as authorised by law in any of the following cases:-
● upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed, or being about to commit, an offence;
● in the case of a person who is, or is reasonably suspected to be, of unsound mind or addicted to drugs or alcohol, for the purpose of his care or treatment or the protection of the community; and
● for the purpose of preventing his unlawful entry into Nauru, or for the purpose of effecting his expulsion, extradition or other lawful removal from Nauru.
62. Long Term Investment Fund.
● There shall be a Long Term Investment Fund constituted by the moneys that immediately before the commencement of this Constitution constituted a fund called the Nauruan Community Long Term Investment Fund and by such other moneys as are appropriated by law for payment into the fund or are paid into the fund as provided by clause (2.) of this Article.
● Moneys constituting the Long Term Investment Fund may be invested as prescribed by law and income derived from moneys so invested shall be paid into the fund.
● Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 59, no moneys shall be withdrawn from the Long Term Investment Fund (otherwise than for investment under clause (2.) of this Article) until the recovery of the phosphate deposits in Nauru has, by reason of the depletion of those deposits, ceased to provide adequately for the economic needs of the citizens of Nauru.
63. Phosphate Royalties.
● Parliament may provide for the establishment of a fund for the benefit of persons from whose land phosphate deposits have been recovered and for the payment into that fund of amounts from the Treasury Fund and for the payment of moneys out of that fund to those persons.
● Parliament may provide for the payment from the Treasury Fund to persons from whose land phosphate deposits have been recovered of such royalties as are prescribed by law.
